Papa Tasos — Restaurant in Wytheville

First off, I have to question the reviews with five stars for this place. ALL LIES! WHO PAID THEM? I have to question their standards and places they frequent for dining. I could have went to the nearest WalMart, purchased seafood from the frozen section and have it tasting better than EVERYTHING that we ordered. The only reason this place seems to be in business is b/c it's right off the road and located conveniently for traveling patrons like myself. It was an absolute WASTE of my $49.50!!! Highly disappointed! Whoever is in the kitchen literally just has a job of unwrapping ish and throwing it in the oven...not even a deep fryer. Nothing is fresh! Our order consisted of calamari, mac and cheese, fries(skimpy), catfish, stuffed crab(which they advertised as "deviled crab"), hush puppies, mashed potatoes and salty a** packaged gravy. This food was sooooooo bad. I'm not exaggerating ANYTHING. The stuffed crab had this after taste of dish soap. They didn't even bother to add anything to the mac and cheese past unpacking it and putting it on a plate and popping it in the microwave. My 1yr old will devour every finger food in sight and even HE couldn't finish one fry that I gave to him(he played with it instead). Calamari was like chewing on rubber band; but again what can you expect after you realize all you ordered came from the frozen section of a grocery store. How can you eff up mashed potatoes? The gravy that was thrown on it, made it worse. I saved what I thought would save them from a bad review for last....the catfish.....but NOPE...NO MERCY!!! The catfish almost tasted like whiting...I dont want to say it was old but def tasted reheated a couple of times.NOTHING WAS FRESH! It was just all around a super bad experience and nothing to do with people. THE FOOD JUST FKN SUCKED THAT BAD AND TASTES LIKE THE ISH YOU GO BACK TO REHEAT AFTER 5 DAYS of cooking...I mean heating it up the 1st time in the oven after your mom told you that she wasn't bringing you home any fast food b/c there was food in the freezer .....yea....takes you back to those childhood days. The only reason why Im even granting them ONE STAR is because I cant even leave this post without doing so. That is All! I would have rathered getting a fish sandwich from McDonald's...

First time eating—hushpuppies were delicious as well as the pink lemonade. Ordered the chicken Alfredo meal with shrimp—shrimp not included. Never got the salad. Aside from that, somewhat clean and friendly but the food had absolutely no SEASONING and no taste at all. It was so bland and the Alfredo sauce was just some melted cheese and maybe homemade, watery Alfredo sauce that was barely there. Asked about my shrimp and the lady served them basically tossed in what looked like milk so I guess that’s the homemade Alfredo sauce—light whipping cream(?) and cheese—and they looked cold and barely heated; extremely clumpy and clotted looking. I was scared to eat them so we asked for to-go boxes because I figured I could bring it home and add flavor but it was a complete bust.

Husband’s steak was cooked beautifully and so was his fish, but taste-wise, zero. Tartar sauce sets on the table with other condiments and that’s questionable to me. One of the sides my husband asked for wasn’t available because they were out so he substituted. He didn’t enjoy his meal but he doesn’t like waste so he mustered through it. He’s better than I am.

Not sure if the staff is overworked and underpaid or what, but it wasn’t an extremely pleasurable experience. For the price, the food is absolute garbage, outside of those hush puppies that I probably could’ve made a meal of. And they don’t refill hush puppies, either, by the way. Parking is a little sketchy in that the spaces are very narrow—we drive larger SAVs and parked facing the street because the other spaces were too tight to park in.

I hate leaving reviews like this because I’m a small business owner and reviews make or break your business. I just wish we’d had a better experience. PLEASE HIRE A CHEF AND LEARN TO SEASON...

This place is so underrated and under appreciated.

Small independently owned business by what appears to be a very involved man in Papa Taso.

Yes he greeted me, after my waitress already began taking care of me, yes he went back to kitchen to cook, yes he checked on me and all other tables like an involved owner.

My actual waitress was super sweet, as I was traveling with dogs and had to sit outside, and she cared for me and dogs perfectly.

Like most restaurants nothing is perfect, and my only complaint of any was steak was slightly undercooked, but when ordering med-rare it’s always iffy anywhere.

Now where they may have a shortcoming or two, they make up for it in value and fresh ingredients and hospitality.

The girl at hotel recommend this place , and as always I ask her favorite menu item, her reply was hush puppies. I normally don’t do them as I think they are typically stuffed with fish or something.

Well pleasant surprise, the hush puppies are served as a free table appetizer, they don’t have fish, and they were ridiculously good. Reminded me of a sweet Italian pastry called a zepole, just without powered sugar which wouldn’t be necessary.

The salad was so fresh and piled high with a delicious homemade Greek vinaigrette filled with feta cheese I think.

Anyways you all need to show this place some love, if you care about a real restaurant in your area.

This place if it were in larger city could easily increase prices and still deliver great value.

Keep up the excellent work Papa Taso and team.

I will definitely be back when passing through...