Water Street Kitchen — Restaurant in Winchester

This was our first time here and we opted for outdoor seating. The atmosphere and vibe of the restaurant and its surroundings were very laid back and enjoyable. The menu has a fine array of tempting dishes - we chose the fried green tomato appetizer and these were some of the best we’ve ever had! Hot and crispy and flavorful (eat them with their boom boom sauce and you’ll be blown away.) Next was the main course - chicken and waffles. The chicken fritters are spectacular! These were also hot and crispy and flavorful - don’t know the secret to their breading, but it’s beyond anything we’ve ever had. (The waffle was also good but a little too sugary for my taste. Every time I took a bite, it felt like I was chewing sugar crystals along with the waffle.) Paired with the cheese grits and crispy Brussels spouts it made for a memorable meal. All that being said, the service was a much different story. Our waitress seemed pleasant enough, but a little distant. Once she took our meal order, she never interacted with us again (even though she passed by our table multiple times during the meal). Another server brought our food and later, when I ran out of water, I ended up flagging down a different waitress because our server never once came back to our table. The final straw was when we finished our meal, we sat and waited for our check for some time, but again, our waitress never came back. I ended up going inside and asking a counter person for it (side note - our waitress was still on duty, she was inside at that counter wrapping silverware or some other chore, so she was obviously still on duty and not on break) and there was a small extra charge on the check that wasn’t anything we had asked for - I questioned this charge and the counter person removed it for me and I paid the bill. I still left a tip for our waitress as I was once in the restaurant business and I know how hard they work, but it would have been a much larger tip had she taken care of us a little better. I also would have left a 5 star review for this place if the service had matched the rest of the experience. As I stated before, the food was amazing! It’s still worth your time to stop by and check...

We were told to seat ourselves which wasn’t a problem then we set for ten minutes before anyone even came to over to our table. We finally were given menus and nothing else. We watched other tables around us being taken care of with not a peep from anyone like I’ll be right there. Then we ordered two old fashioneds. Our server came back a bit later set them down without a word and walked away. Both of the drinks had about four partially melted ice cubes in them. Our waters as well as others around us had no ice at all. Our server never came back to check on us so we really couldn't ask for more ice. If there was a problem with their ice maybe make us aware. When our fried green tomatoes arrived another server placed them on our table and left. We hadn’t gotten any silverware or plates and you would’ve thought she would’ve noticed. We set for another five minutes before someone who may have been the manger looked our way and we ask for some and he quickly got us both. Unfortunately the fried green tomatoes with flavorless. We finally got the attention or our server and we ordered our meal. My husband had the roasted half of a chicken with bbq sauce and shoestring fries. His meal looked as if it had set under warming lights for sometime and his fries with ice cold, not even warm. My ruben and side salad were the only part of the meal that was good. We were going to order more drinks but our sever was once again no where to be found. By the time she arrived back and we had to actually flag her down my husband didn’t even want another drink but I ordered a glass of wine. We had to hand her our empty glasses and our empty appetizer basket to take away. These our obvious things that a well trained server should know to do. It seemed like there wasn’t any management their or they just didn’t care. This was our first and most likely our last time visiting this restaurant. The place was busy for a Friday evening and we did notice other issues with orders around us so maybe a bad night but still they need to train their staff better and maybe not take as many breaks because this is what it...

The food delivered to our table was marginal at best... We ordered Deviled Eggs, the Sunday Fried Chicken Sandwich, and the Daily Quiche. The consistency of the Deviled Egg's filling was runny and slightly watery, and seemed carelessly scooped into the interior of the egg rather than piped in to the center. The flavor also seemed highly acidic like a large quantity of pickle juice or vinegar was added to them; probably contributing to the lack of viscosity. The Sunday Fried Chicken Sandwich was just OK. The interior of the chicken was dry, and the breading lacked flavor. Where the dish could have possibly been saved was with the side dish, but unfortunately it was paired with some potato chips that might as well have been taken out of a Lays bag. The daily quiche was cooked well and had a nice crust, but the salad it was paired with was a handful of iceberg lettuce, and the side of tomato soup it also came with would have been better used as a pizza sauce - very sweet with flavorings of oregano and basil... hardly something I would consider tomato soup. The service was slow, and the price after leaving a tip was just under $50.00. If I were the restaurant owner I would never have allowed the quality of food to be delivered to a customer's table for the price I paid.

Southern Comfort food is not made with truffles, foie gras, or realistically any other expensive ingredient. For the price paid, the food should have been some of the best southern comfort food ever eaten. It was far from that. We won't...