The Main Dining Room at The Greenbrier — Restaurant in West Virginia

I was extremely hesitant in coming here for our anniversary dinner due to my previous two poor experiences in other restaurants at the Greenbrier. My husband and I decided to go forward with our reservation because there was really no where else to go for dinner and we wanted to give the Main Dining Room a chance. We assumed this might have the priority kitchen. The server and hostesses were nice. My husband knocked a point down because the server (at a 5 star resort restaurant) was not familiar with what was being served.

We ordered a cheese plate to start. I was too skeptical to order the cheese plate, however my husband insisted. Yup, three slices of cheese from the cheese section at Walmart for $30! It was the most pitiful plate of cheese that I have ever seen for double the price. Then our food came. I got the Maryland Crab Carbonara ($65) and he got the Haddock with tomato and chorizo stew ($57). I tried his haddock and it was the most awful thing I have ever had at a restaurant. ZERO flavor in that dish, it tasted as if it was marked down haddock from Aldi's. My dish was edible but it had no seasoning. I was looking around in the restaurant in disbelief that there was no riot forming for how bad this food was. The bill came to around $230. We decided to take the hit as a learning experience to never go to any of the restaurants at the Greenbrier. I do wish I would have cancelled our dinner reservation, some lessons are expensive. I don't know if most of the Greenbrier clientele lacks exposure to good food or what the situation was. I did not have a single good meal at the Greenbrier. The prices reflect five star but the quality and taste reflects amateur home chef. They have tons of J-1 Visa workers & a culinary school. I wouldn't be surprised if they "train" their J-1 Workers without cooking experience in that "school" for cheap kitchen labor....

What a wonderful treat at the Greenbrier Main Dining Room this week! Our table of 3 people sampled several of the delicious appetizers including the Cream of Mushroom soup (which doesn't always sound super exciting but wow, it was incredible!). The Warmed Brie Tart and Arugula & Avocado salad also did not disappoint. For the main course, we had the Seared Scallops, the Harissa Cauliflower and the Basil Pesto Stuffed Chicken, all exceptionally prepared and exquisitely presented. If you haven't eaten here lately, you're going to want to check it out as some recent very talented additions in the kitchen are producing phenomenal results! There are so many other wonderful sounding items on the menu, I hope to go back soon to try some more. Lastly, the dining room staff was professional and friendly, we were well-cared for throughout. The longevity of service of the staff really speaks volumes. Both servers had been at the Greenbrier for decades so they know the resort inside and out and delivered a high quality dining experience that we will be talking about for awhile. Kudos to the Greenbrier Main Dining Room Chefs and staff, we'll be back! Last thing as I was adding photos...even the breads were fantastic. Don't skip the cornbread with bacon...I don't even like bacon but I loved...

Personally disappointing--food and service. I ordered a Caesar salad that was parmesan and lettuce, they forgot the dressing. I sent that back and waited. Was charged for it (of course). Next was a crab cake that was straight out of the can. I realize it's WV and you don't go there for the seafood. That said I've had better crab cakes in WI. And lets face it, they are a state away from the Chesapeake. If they cared, which they don't, they would make a proper crab cake. This one was about twice the size of an Oreo for $20. The entrée was a rabbit ragout. There was at most 0.25 ounces of meat in this dish. Literally 2 - 3 tiny shreds. I effectively paid $40 for a well seasoned bowl of noodles. Then the service. Water never refilled, never an inquiry into how the food was at any point. But they did add the 20% gratuity which means that wait staff have little incentive to care coupled with the fact they have a captive audience at the resort. Finally the pretense with the dress code of jacket and tie.That's fine but please back up the ask with service and food...