The Jefferson Restaurant — Restaurant in Williamsburg

everything about this restaurant screams "stick it to the tourist!". went on a tuesday night around 6:30; there were only 2 other couples there. that should have told us to go elsewhere, but we'd rather spend our money with locally owned restaurants than a chain.

the food: we ordered crabcakes, country fried steak, fried chicken with ham, and fried chicken with ribs (was supposed to have been baked chicken). the crabcakes were delicious, but i swore i saw fake crabmeat inside. fried perfectly, great compliment of spices. the country fried steak: smothered in onions and peppers, first time we've seen that. on a 1 to 10 scale, it was a 6. the fried chicken was possibly the best i've ever tried; crispy, cooked well, juicy and tender. the ribs were pitiful; there were 4, about 2" long, and covered in what tasted like a bottled bbq sauce. they were, however, falling off the bone tender. the fried chicken/ham dinner: again, chicken was great, the ham was about as thick as we would use on a sandwich. for a $20 meal, it should have been a ham steak, at least 1/4" thick.

my daughter said it best, "it felt like we were eating at someone's grandma's house. it smells weird, the food's good, but everything's old". how about spending some of that $20 a plate for FRIED CHICKEN on upgrades to your restaurant?? even my teenage son raised his eyebrows on the prices; the "specials" for 20 bucks?? THAT'S a special? $20 a plate for country fried steak? $20 for baked chicken??

and please PLEASE don't have sweet little old ladies serving dinner!!! we all felt like we were watching our own grandma struggling with heavy trays; we were taught WE serve the grandmothers, not the other way around. it made us all, including my kids, very uncomfortable. we really wanted to love this place, but no dice. it's outdated, musty smelling, prices are out of proportion to the food, and we don't want to watch sweet little old ladies waiting tables. small wonder there were only three tables filled...

Over all it was a good meal. We had a party of 6 and it wasn’t busy at all, only one other table when we arrived. We had several questions and our waitress, Brandy, answered them all. She was friendly and prompt. I felt the portion sizes were small for the price. For reference 2 crab stuffed shrimp added into a meal was $10.95. We had two orders of onion rings as an appetizer, they had a good taste but the onions inside were mushy. I order the fried catfish, Jefferson salad, and mashed potatoes. My meal was good and fresh! They have really good homemade ranch dressing! Others in my party were not overly pleased with their meals. They said it was good but would go to another restaurant next time. The kids meals were pricey but my kids enjoyed the food (chicken tenders and spaghetti). The desserts were delicious!! The key lime pie is a lime cheesecake, it’s good. They bring them table-side for you to pick out. There was an issue with our bill. The waitress has to split the check prior to check out and she wasn’t available to do that so we had one person pay and would split it later on our own. No big deal but awkward when you’re standing up front with a large group. We had to call the restaurant and have them decipher our ticket. It ended up being the person who couldn’t split our ticket that had to explained it all over the phone. I think he realized this during the call and was embarrassed for how it was handled. The owner ended up coming to our hotel and leaving a coupon and refunding about 10% of our bill. I gave 4 stars because the owner stepped up to make it right. He seemed like a genuinely...

Bottom line up front: We enjoyed everything about this place, and will be back next time we are in town.

We ate here 11/29/14 - party of 3, about $60. Food was good, decor and costuming had a "retro" feel, and the staff were polite , attentive and engaging.

We didn't read any reviews before we came, and were quite surprised by how bad they are!!

Because this is a "southern" restaurant, and we are from up north, we each chose a southern specialty. Fried chicken and fried catfish were good. I got a plate that had a slice of ham, a butterflied chicken breast, and cornbread stuffing in between. it was served with a side of sweet baked apples. It was great! I wish we would have had room to try their desserts, but we were all too full from dinner.

About those other reviews - well, I would ignore them if I were you.

Most of the poor food reviews came from folks who ordered Italian dishes or seafood. I'm thinking that if you want Italian, you go to an Italian place. if you want seafood, you go to a seafood place ....but if you want good southern specialties, come here!

Yes, the wait staff is older than what you normally see in a tourist town, but that definitely isn't a bad thing unless you have something against older people.

The service was attentive and timely. It was quiet and relaxed. Definitely not the loud, fast-paced chain restaurant experience. It was a refreshing change.

They are a little heavy on the salad dressing, so you may want to get that on the side if you don't like a lot of dressing.

Yes, we...