The River Company Restaurant and Brewery — Restaurant in Virginia

DO NOT WASTE MONEY HERE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

This restaurant is comically bad. From beginning to end, it was a complete disaster and demonstration that the management has no idea how to run a higher-end restaurant. Honestly, what I saw tonight points to management that couldn't run a greasy spoon diner.

1.) Before we go, we call to ask what type of steak selection they have. The person answering the phone was so confused and scattered, we went in thinking there were no dry aged steaks sold there any longer. That turned out to not be true, but it would have been wonderful if that was their only mistake.

2.) We arrive and ask for seating outside. Please understand - the place was 75% empty. We are told all tables outside are taken and would we like a table. We follow her thinking we will be given one of the tables near the windows since there are none outside. Better than nothing, right? Nope, instead, she takes us to a table as far away from the window as possible right in the middle of a high traffic area. We ask for a window seat and she looks like I just handed her a calculus test. We explain we would like a table with a view. This computes and she finally takes us to our table.

3.) The server, who spoke to us in the manner of a frustrated girls basketball coach, told us about the special of the evening, a dry aged (yippee!) 14 oz ribeye. We both ordered the special and I asked for a different starch and a shrimp skewer. What was eventually delivered was a completely different type of steak (a very tiny filet). No shrimp, no different starch. We were then told that the server didn't understand what the special of the night was and they would get us what we ordered out to us right away. Cut to twenty min later (to cook steaks to rare) and two very poor cuts of bland, tasteless meat arrive. I have had better steaks at a Golden Corral - not an exaggeration. The shrimp came along this time, but were, of course, cold. The different starch never arrived, but I didn't even ask given what a cluster the kitchen must be.

4.) Red wine was served ice cold. Obviously kept in the fridge.

5.) The table next to us had to send back one of their meals and it took over 20 min for them to get ANOTHER HAMBURGER. They weren't very happy either.

In a nutshell, the service and food is laughably bad and I would have been furious had I not been using a gift card somebody gave me. Avoid this restaurant at all costs - it's obvious that people who don't know the basics of restaurant management are now running it. It may have been a nice place in the past, but based on tonight's experience and the huge number of empty tables there on a Saturday night, it won't be long...

AVOID THIS PLACE.

Nice setting, that's about all they have going for them. Service was horrible. I don't mind waiting for a table, especially during a busy night. However, once we finally were seated, everything else was just crap.

1.) Went to bar while we were waiting. Took about 10 minutes for them to acknowledge me, this after one of the bartenders was texting on her phone, saw me waiting and trying to get her attention, she went right back to texting. Drinks were OK.

2.) Finally seated, took 20 minutes for the server to come see us and take our drink orders. Drinks were brought about 10 minutes later.

3.) Server comes to take our food orders about 20 minutes after dropping our drinks off.

)Drinks were only refilled after being empty for at least 15 minutes. Server looked at the drinks, even if only 1/4 filled, wouldn't refill.

5.) Took us an hour and some to get our food, this is after I approached the manager and told them how long we'd been waiting. He stated that since they were busy, it would take a while. . . Gee, I'm sorry your kitchen can service your size restaurant but that sounds like your issue, not mine.

6.) Food arrived and was crap. Shrimp and pasta was just horrible, prime rib was average at best. Food temperatures were all over the place. Apparently cooking something "medium" meant going nuclear on the burger.

7.) Manager arrived later and asked "Well, you think it was worth the wait?" No. No food is worth crappy service. You don't get to exchange one service for another. If I went to a another high dollar restaurant (which this is), I expect all aspects to be good. When told this, manager dismissed our complaints and walked away saying "Well I'm sorry to hear that."

Avoid this place, there are other restaurants in the area that value their customers way better. You could get better service, food, and prices at an outback steakhouse or...

After a 2 hour process, I was refused service after all. The waitress was totally unprofessional, I'm not sure she knows that her job entails customer service. I am from New York, thus I have an out of state ID. I am always happy providing multiple forms of ID when asked. The waitress asked for my ID, I provided her my Drivers license, she said ok, took my drink order and left. The waitress was then gone for at least 15 minutes, me and my boyfriend actually started talking about how long does it take to get a drink? She comes back and blatantly just says "I don't feel comfortable serving you, your ID seems fake, I have to refuse service to you". I told her I am happy to provide multiple forms of ID and provided her with my Virginia tech ID and my credit card, she still said she was refusing me service. I was appalled, I told her I have no problem having the cops come to scan my ID. I asked to speak to the manager, and again there was a long wait. I brought my ID's to the bartender and other employees who were all satisfied with my forms of ID and stated they were acceptable. I had to ask two other people for the manager since the waitress just vanished once again. Finally the manager came out and was apologetic, but at this point I felt that the restaurant did not deserve my business. I am still appalled that I was not even given the opportunity to provide a second form of ID and was just instantly discredited due to an obviously inexperienced waitress.

Additionally, before we seated they gave us a handful of issues over minutia such as moving inside if it started raining.

We will not be returning here, nor recommending this place to anyone. We should have listened to the other Yelp reviews about the terrible...