Waypoint Seafood & Grill — Restaurant in Williamsburg

Please forgive me - I don't think I've ever left a review that was less than five stars, and I'm very sorry to leave a first here with Waypoint Seafood and Grill. First the food: the appetizers were a touch mixed: my wife and I split a charcuterie board that had more crackers than cheese (and not the usual selection of cheeses, but rather something way more uniform - no variety), and a few slices of salami that seemed store bought from Costco. However, there was a really excellent jam that came with it along with a few nuts and dried cherries - good on this part. My daughters had the escargot, which was prepared with a tomato-based sauce and it was ok. The entrees were very good overall: I had a stuffed flounder that was tasty, although the vegetables were a little over charred; my wife had fish tacos she really loved; one daughter had a crab cake sandwich that was well done; my other daughter had a Caesar salad with fried oysters that she also thought was terrific. Unusual to see this type of salad with fried oysters, but it worked - kudos to the kitchen.

The hosts were quick to seat us, and our waiter was a very polite, nice young man. He was kind to us throughout, and so I give him credit for this. Unfortunately, at the end of the meal, he disappeared after clearing my wife's plate and mine. We were considering ordering dessert, but as time went on (and finished plates sat next to my daughters), we decided that we needed to get gas for a drive the next day (we were visiting Williamsburg). I pulled out my credit card to pay, and we waited another 15 minutes for him to return after we had finished, even after trying to get the attention of other servers. More water would have been nice as well, however no one paid attention to us in his absence. I was about to get up to see if anyone else in the restaurant would clear our table, when he finally showed up, and again, kindly apologized. However, for this level of a meal with entrees in the $40 range, I would expect a bit more considerate service, as we certainly understand staff can become busy (perhaps the waitstaff might consider working as a team as they do at all nice restaurants, rather than freelancers?).

Interestingly, we went shopping at the Williamsburg outlet mall earlier in the day, and one of the local women at a shop we visited recommended other fish restaurants, as she and some friends had not had a good experience here - she thought other places were better and more reliable. But when we looked at the reviews, we decided to give this a try as we had a reservation on a holiday weekend night.

I wish the owners, staff, and chefs well with this place - they do a good job overall with the food, and I can tell that they do care (night in and out, we all know this is so difficult!). Perhaps we just didn't have a good night, and certainly, I've had my share of mistakes along the way. However, if we return to the area, we'll most likely take the recommendations offered by the very nice...

I had made a 7pm reservation and noted that we would be celebrating my wife's birthday. We arived at 7pm and were promptly seated. It was not until 7:10pm that Rebecca came by our table to take our drink order. We did not see Rebecca again until she brought our drinks at 7:30. My wife had ordered an espresso martini so when she brought the drinks she said to us that they had waited for the espresso to be made and hoped it was worth the wait. It does NOT take 20min to make an espresso. We had decided to not order an appetizer because we saw folks getting bread baskets and figured that would be enough until our dinner arrived. At 7:40pm she came by with our bread basket and told us that our dinner was also ready and that she would be right back with it. I ordered the Seafood Bucatini that had three clams in it and three shrimp in it and two scallops which were all covered in a very thick Alfredo type sauce. I ate the seafood, but the sauce did not taste fresh at all, and since it came out in 10 minutes, I'm sure it was not made freshly, my wife on the other hand ordered the steak salad that included some sautéed or grilled onions and medium rare skirt steak. The onions were raw and the steak was ice cold. My wife and I dine out quite frequently and have both worked in the restaurant industry for many years both in the kitchen and at the bar as well as serving. If the service had been exceptional, we could've overlooked the bad food or vice versa, but having looked forward to this night, we were utterly disappointed. This was honestly one of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever had.

PS: I had ordered a Manhattan that cost me $18 and I could barely taste any...

The experience minus the server was excellent. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful the colors and the decor are amazing. We had reservations for lunch on 5/3/2024. The Welcome from the greeter was pleasant. We were seated and was met with a “lack luster “ greeting from our server Ashely H. Who by the way did not identify herself. Her personality could have been a lot more pleasant. She shared the specials with us gave time to review the menu then came to take our order. There are certain things I look for from the server and she wasn’t very good with asking if we needed or wanted beverage refills, I had to ask twice for straws, she stayed away from us too long checking on us. In comparison to other patrons she waited on. This restaurant is exquisite in so May ways, the sever can make or break my opinion and willingness to give an acceptable tip. Suggesting your tip percentages means to me that the service will be top notch. Not in this case. I have eaten at your establishment before so bringing my friend was exciting m because of past experiences. I came from Richmond,Va on the train to especially dine at your restaurant. Ashley H. was not exceptional or anything close. The meal was the Soft Shell Crab Sandwich special, it was delicious . My recommendation to you is to train your servers to give outstanding service to everybody. The tip she received was under 18%. Thank you for...