Village Square Restaurant — Restaurant in Winchester

My wife and I go to Village Square every time we visit Winchester. We've been coming from Baltimore a couple times a year for about six years now. V² was great. They used to have a full seasonal menu and everything was fresh. Over the years they have settled on a more stable menu with some new seasonal options. Unfortunately with this change, the quality of food has dwindled.

Our past visit was very forgettable...or at least I want to forget it. I ordered a seasonal dish, the pork shank. Sounded delicious. Unfortunately, the pork shank was not cooked all the way. In fact, it was still frozen in the center. I informed our server that the dish was not cooked properly. He asked if I wanted the kitchen to cook it more. At that point I was pretty turned off so I ordered the burger which was Ok.

The manager came over and half heartedly apologized for the dish and said my burger should be out shortly. We continued our meal and ended up ordering dessert.

When the bill came, they obviously took off the pork shank... but that was it. I know that they don't have to comp anything else, but in my past experience most places will either not charge for the replacement dinner, or they may offer a free drink or dessert (something that costs them so little to keep a customer happy).

I hate to say that we won't be coming back because we have had so many great experience and shared a lot of memories here. But they have not been able to match the quality we came to expect when we first started...

My wife and I ate here last year on our yearly summer sojourn north and it was good and that is why we came back this year. Sorely disappointed, we are compelled to write this poignant review. Terrible, just terrible in every way. From the service to the food to the atmosphere, everything was disjointed. The staff were out of touch with each other and their customers causing long waits and attempts to serve us food that other customers had ordered. The cook in the kitchen seemed like a volunteer at a Rotary Club hoagy kiosk that you would find at a county fair. We ordered Filet Mignon and Sea Bass. The meats were overcooked and tasteless except for the canned gravy and mushrooms, which were disgusting. The vegetables were also overcooked and bland, flavorless, and the risoto was insipid. The potatoes were as salty as Ahab. The overcooked, limp green pepper and onion that drowned the unrecognizably finished Sea Bass was embarrassing, as if al dente was not a concept. The medium rare Filet that we ordered was medium well. It was replaced with another medium Filet. We were done at that point, but nice job on the spears of Romaine and the shaved parmesan. Really, the only thing we enjoyed was the sparkling water and each others company. Not bad for $98 bucks. Not! We probably should have drank a couple bottles of wine first to help dull the senses and choke down the effluence....

This could be a great mid-range restaurant. Unfortunately, they are trying to broadcast as a top-tier restaurant with the price, and for us the experience just did not live up to that and we left unsatisfied. If the price was 1/2 (or even 2/3rds) I would give them 4-stars. For a $100 meal, we were unhappy with the very dirty bathrooms, the greasy feeling of the floor, and the wait staff that seemed to be more applebees-level than top-tier (overbearing, smoke smell, poorly fit clothing). Lots of little corners are being cut here to keep the cost down, and it shows - you can't get a cocktail without some sugary syrup added, the tableware and server water pitchers were all lower quality choices, the chairs are not comfortable. At a lower price point, that would all be OK, but man was I unhappy that this was billed as a premier experience. It's not terrible, you won't ruin your evening here, but you'll overpay and be unimpressed by the service and ambiance. The food was pretty solid, I would give the food by itself a 4 or 4.5 stars - but again that is out of place with the rest of the restaurant lacking in upkeep. I'm not talking about "old and quaint" (which I would have loved), I'm talking about "unmaintained and grungy". We did enjoy the comfortable seating area near the front door, that shows hope for setting a unique tone, but the experience was downhill once we got...