Emeralds Restaurant — Restaurant in Waynesboro

My Husband and I came to eat for Valentine's Day 2025. This is supposedly a local hotspot and a lot of people claim to like this place, but I honestly can't imagine why. Other than the atmosphere and delicious cheesecake, this place has very little going for it.

The wait to be seated was horrendous, and also took a very long time to even be acknowledged. Even worse, we had to wait a second time for an almost obscene amount of time just to pay our bill after we finished our food. It took a long time to get our food after we ordered. The food is quite expensive and they seem quite proud of their menu though they really have no reason to boast.

Drinks were standard, my husband ordered a soda and I had a glass of water. We each ordered the steak and shrimp meal. The steak was THE WORST STEAK I have ever eaten. IT WAS MOSTLY FAT AND TENDON, and tasted like it was on the verge of going rancid. I'm convinced that they thin-sliced old chuck-roast / rump roast / pot roast meat and attempted to cook it as a steak to get rid of the meat before it completely spoiled.

The meal came with only four battered fried jumbo shrimp. They weren't absolutely horrible but they were a little bit on the salty side and overcooked. I ordered green beans and "sauteed mushrooms" as sides. The green beans were canned green beans that were further cooked until they were practically mush- even though they were cooked with onion and bacon, they were essentially flavorless other than you could tell that they were from can. DUDE, the sauteed mushrooms were NOT SAUTEÉD AT ALL. THEY WERE CANNED MUSHROOMS that were rubbery and tasted like they were just dumped in a dish with the water from the can and nuked in the microwave until warm.

The bread that came as an appetizer and the baked potato that my husband ordered as a side were just okay. The boneless chicken wings were very good though. The side salad that came as part of the meal was pretty good (fairly simple, not super-fancy but at least they used a good salad mix instead of just iceberg) and I absolutely love whatever Chipotle salad dressing they had on it.

The best part of the meal was the dessert that we took to go, some type of caramel pecan cheesecake (tasted Divine!) that reminded me of Colby pie.

Nonetheless MOST of my meal came home and was given directly to the dog. My dog enjoyed it immensely however and probably was the most expensive meal I ever fed her.

The waitress was friendly enough but I felt like she could have been a little more attentive. It was very busy so I will give her a little grace in that regard, but we were only checked on once during our meal.

Not including the tip, our meals which were barely edible, and my husband's drink, the one slice of cheesecake to go, and appetizer boneless hot wings was almost $90.

For that price, I'd expect the steaks to be better and the vegetables not canned. We might give them another chance for sandwiches, fries or pizza, but I definitely have to say that I am not a fan and I don't understand the hype. The next time we plan on going out on a romantic dinner, we will go elsewhere.

If you want steaks, go someplace else- do not go to emeralds for steaks.

Pros: appetizer and dessert was good

Cons: crowded, difficult to find parking, long wait times both before AND after meal, most of the food was terrible and WAAAAY...

Emeralds consistently earns five stars!

We discovered Emeralds while visiting family a few years ago. Since then, we always visit when we're in the area.

We stopped by again on 12/26/18 and were seated promptly by one of the wait staff passing through the dining room. We were then waited on by Callie, a very pleasant young woman with a great personality.

The restaurant was clean, bright, comfy, and nicely decorated for the Christmas season. The other patrons in the area were all very friendly as well -- true Southern hospitality!

My wife ordered the filet mignon and I had the catfish dinner. Callie stopped by a few times while dinner was prepared to bring bread and to check on our drinks. Even though she had several other tables, we never had to ask for anything -- she was always right there with what we needed!

The house bread was a fresh-baked loaf of heaven! It was warm, fluffy, and delicious!

Dinner arrived in a very reasonable amount of time. Serving portions were very generous and we both ended up with leftovers for the next day.

And the food was delicious! My wife's filet mignon was cooked perfectly and was wonderfully tender! My catfish was sweet and seemed to dissolve in my mouth with each bite! The sides (cole slaw and hush puppies for me and a baked potato for my wife) were also fantastic.

We ended the meal with a slice of fresh homemade chocolate silk pie with fresh whipped cream. Again, delicious!

The bill (~$40) was very reasonable, especially considering my wife had the filet mignon.

All in all, Emeralds provided the perfect dining experience -- a pleasant environment, friendly, competent staff, excellent food, and a reasonable...

Hit and miss. Many appetisers were unavailable and supposedly won't be available in the future. The gravy tasted like store bought packet gravy and the Italian dressing definitely was a overly sweet store bought creamy.

Stick with tried and true and you'll enjoy the food if you don't mind an hour wait between ordering and bring served. The catfish was excellent. The steak was descent.

My southern chicken bowl while a creative concept was something I feel I could have done better at home. The chicken was dry, the bacon had clearly been overcooked long before in the oven and had been dropped onto a fairly good brand of instant mashed potatoes. I've already said my peace about the brown gravy. The canned sauteed mushrooms were excellent though. All these questionable culinary choices somehow came together into one of the most authentic southern dishes I could have imagined. I could almost taste the story of an exhausted mom cooking this meal after a hard day's work at minimum wage in a small town 45 minutes away...

...My southern raised partner who lived that exact story was insulted on hearing this though since she's quite sure she would have done it much much better, but frankly I won the awesome cook for a girlfriend lottery and wouldn't hold the average household to her culinary standards.

The service was friendly and tried to be very helpful when my first 3 dressing choices were unavailable including Bleu cheese, Caesar and straight olive oil. She did a great job keeping the drinks filled and was as fast and helpful as she could be despite a kitchen hell-bent on murdering her chances...