Fireside Chophouse Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Williamsburg

Do not disqualify the bad reviews like we did, and give them the benefit of the doubt. My family of 4 went for dinner on our vacation last night. When we sat down we were told drink choices And it was made clear nothing besides water, sprite and coke had free refills... Ok, fine. But the choices for a young child who doesn't like soda, slim to none. You get peach lemonade or water. I ordered a cabernet for $10 a glass. Tasted like old barefoot wine or something of that sort. Very unfortunate given the vibe when you walk in. Everyone is in "fancy" restaurant attire, cloth table covers, etc. Had the vibe of a 5 star gourmet restaurant!!! Anyway, we ordered calamari and spinach and artichoke dip for appetizers. You could tell the spinach dip was dropped into a small bowl and microwaved. It had that look around the edges of being microwaved too long. The chips that went with it were just plain round tortilla chips from a grocery store. Nothing exciting. You get a huge dish of chips and 4 mouthfuls of dip. Calamari was good, the dip for it was strange. No peppers or anything with the calamari though. Very plain. My daughter got a steak, medium rare, with a salad ($3.50 upcharge) & fries. Husband got flounder, I got salmon, both with mashed potato and veggies. Youngest daughter got pasta and sauce. The steak.... Oh boy. It was like it was taken out of a freezer and thrown on a grill and hoped for the best. No natural juices at all. Outside was hot, inside cold And purple. Clear sign of frozen meat. Had to ask for au jus to try to cover up the VERY bland and dry flavor of the meat. My fish was ok, the salmon. Very very bland. Husband said flounder was the same. The side salad was iceberg lettuce, 1 slice of tomato, and onion galore. No croutons, no cucumber, and TONS of ranch dressing. The mashed potatoes were good, but served as a scoop of ice cream. I got one broccoli floret and 5 slices of carrots. If we didn't get apps, I would've still bee hungry. Rolls came out right before our meal. No one was offered refills on drinks nor were we asked if we would like dessert. Honestly, with the huge variety of restaurants around, spend your money...

My family’s experience with this restaurant left us wondering if we would ever risk eating out again for fear we’d stumble into a restaurant as bad as this. We really should have taken heed of the couple next to us that sprinted out of the restaurant before their food came. We should have taken the hint and followed them out, but we were foolish enough to stay. I will start by saying that their saving grace was the food, but good taste was not enough to distract from the poor service and lack of cleanliness. Our waiter came to the table and began to (violently) fill our water cups. He sloshed the pitcher of water at us like we were 16th century witches on trial, one by one, throwing ice and water all over us and the table. We forgave this because our server was elderly, and we assumed he couldn’t see well and was guessing where our glasses were because only half of the water made it into the actual glass. When our drinks came, our family of six stared at our glasses for minutes before mustering up the courage to drink as the glasses were greasy and covered in grime. We asked for new glasses, silverware, and plates but some of the replacements were just a gross. Not to mention some of the soda brought was room temperature and my wine had something floating in it. When the food came, our waiter accidentally rammed his hand through a side of rice and sent rice spilling all over the table. He acted as if he hadn’t thrown more rice than a wedding and didn’t offer to replace it. My family isn’t what I’d call religious but a few prayers were said before we began to eat from those plates. When we were half way finished with our meal, he brought out the bread that was meant to be served as an appetizer. The atmosphere of the restaurant was not ideal either, I’m not sure if they were going for “plantation” but the elderly black staff dressed up in white and the elderly white manager hovering over the staff like an overseer definitely made me feel like I was about to wade in the water. Again, the food tasted fine but considering the price in tandem with the service and dirty dishes, I would steer clear...

Where do I even begin with Fireside Chophouse? Me and my mom were here in Williamsburg visiting for a few days, and we wanted to try a restaurant that we've never had before. We ended up coming to Fireside Chophouse right next to our hotel that we were staying in. Just by looking at the parking lot, I was feeling kinda sketchy about this place. When we went inside, the place was so empty we thought that the place was closed. However, they were open, and we got seated into the establishment. The first red flag was when me and my mom ordered our drinks, and it was clear to us that the cups were not clean. I initially ordered the baby back ribs with a side of fries, but the man who took my order said the ribs would take a long time. So, I ordered the pork chops instead. My mom, on the other hand, ordered the seafood plate (grilled flounder, 3 shrimp, and crab cakes) with mashed potatoes. Now, the real disappointment started to set in, ladies and gentlemen. The pork chops were so tough that it was hard for me to even cut through them, and what's worse is that they were just so bland! It felt like I was eating through a leather boot! No seasoning, no love, no effort, and that's just sad to me! The fries were crispy, but they didn't have any kind of seasoning, salt, or pepper. My mother's food was not any better. The flounder was so bland that she didn't even want to finish it. The only decent thing that she had on her plate was the crab cakes. The fact that this restaurant charged $30 a plate and then you don't even get what you paid for is absolute highway robbery! And you wonder why y'all don't have any of the locals dining at this establishment. Safe to say, I will never be back here ever again after the experience me and my...