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thumbs down for village grill

Discussion in 'Area Restaurants, Dining and Food' started by smheese, Mar 13, 2009.

  1. smheese

    smheese New Member

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    Went there last night with the family to try it out. The food was not hot, my cheese on my nachos were not even melted. The food took a long time to be served, even though there were only two other tables eating at the time (we have young children and eat at 5:30pm.) The place seemed kind of dingy. They didn't serve us the breadstick that was suppossed to come with the salad, and even after we mentioned it to them and mentioned it was to keep the kids busy during the long wait for the food, they still didn't offer up a breadstick. The pieces of bread that did come later with my husband's pasta dish were hard, several day old bread. My son spit out the first bite of his hockey pucks (hamburgers) and didn't eat anything but fries. He loves hamburgers and as a 3 yr old is not that picky, but man, these were tough and the lowest quality burger I've seen out. What a shame. Overall very poor food quality, poor atmosphere, poor customer service. I would expect this place to turn into something else again. Hopefully someone will move in there and serve quality food.
     
  2. Ozgood

    Ozgood Not a space alien

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    In these economic times, these places really need to understand that the customer wants decent service for their money. It isn't like there is a shortage of places to eat with better service.
     
  3. krmckee

    krmckee Member

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    We went once and weren't that thrilled either. Too bad, I agree with Ozgood's point. Other places are trying hard and doing a good job at it.
     
  4. wahoogeek

    wahoogeek New Member

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    wow, exact opposite experience that we had last weekend. It's bar food so our expectations were not that high but the what amazed us was how hot the food was coming out to the table. My hamburger was still steaming and I had to let it cool down before I ate it, same with our son's burgers. It literally must have come straight from the grill to our table. Service was decent, nothing great but nothing bad either.

    But, I'm not surprised that the food and service is 50/50. It's a bar first, family dining second (though they try to make it kids friendly with the game room and free dessert)
     
  5. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

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    The first time we went for lunch - fabulous. After that they went three strikes and we've never gone back. The last trip they actually forgot my meal!
     
  6. JLC

    JLC Member

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    Heh - that would have been interesting.

    "Excuse me, sir, these seats are for paying customers. Oh, you wanted something?"

    We tried them on a Monday night in the fall and we not impressed enough to ever want to return.
     
  7. dhisel

    dhisel New Member

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    I wanted to take a moment to respond to the latest thread about Village Grill. I would like to personally, apologize to anybody who has had anything less than an enjoyable visit to Village Grill. Like most people, in anything they do, we strive to be the best...we sometimes fall short. While it is easy to take the great comments I receive from my frequent table visits, I tend to listen to the "not so great" comments more.

    Please know, that I have taken great strides to bring comfortable food, and good service to this area. Thank you all for your posts. I read them all, and I use it to motivate myself and push/develop my staff(even though some might take these comments personally...I do not).

    Doug
     
  8. Thunderchild

    Thunderchild New Member

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    Where is this place?
     
  9. dhisel

    dhisel New Member

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    We are located near the Ice Rink in Ashburn. 44260 Ice Rink Plaza to be exact (behind the Shell station near Waxpool). A great map is located at www.villgrill.com .
     
  10. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    disclaimer ~I am posting as redon1 a customer of Village Grill and Broadlands resident and nothing/no one else~

    I eat at Vill Grill pretty regularly and have always enjoyed my food and had great service. they have buzz time trivia, which i LOVE, and a great bar. every restaurant has hiccups in service- that doesn't make it a place to cross off of the list. when somethings sucks, i tell a manager, when somethings great- i tell EVERYONE.

    hope those of you who have never been will check it out and decide for yourself if you think it's a good restaurant- there are plenty of people who love this place who aren't on this board to say so!
     
  11. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I've been several times and have been okay with it each time. Just "okay" though. The staff hasn't been particularly friendly, which is disappointing. They were not rude, just didn't show much interest in their work or customers. The prices seem a bit high for what one would expect to be bar food. It's hard to tell if Village Grill is trying to be a bar or a restaurant. To me it seems more like a bar with a restaurant.

    It's still a good place to relax and watch a game, though!
     
  12. dhisel

    dhisel New Member

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    Thank you for your honest posting. Initially, I had mixed reviews on my staff. The chatty people were cited for being fresh, so I had them tone things down. As far as pricing on menu items goes, I have done much research on various items. Trying to be a little more than a sportsbar, we offer higher level entree' items, while keeping many items I borrowed from my Old Dominion days (pretzels w/ beer cheese, 12 wings for $5 during happy hour, chicken gouda sandwich, etc). The biggest complaint in the beginning was the burger price. We have adjusted that, and have even offered $5 burgers on Thursdays. Kids eat free on Wednesdays is working out well, also.

    I hope this doesn't look like an advertisement for Village Grill. I just pay alot of attention to this site, and like that I can respond to peoples' concerns. I don't know if any other restaurant owners do that...I think it is important. Thanks again.
     
  13. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Hey - thanks for participating! This is the very reason we allow, and encourage LOCAL business owners to advertise in the forum - because we want to encourage a dialog between the community and owners. A constructive dialog helps everyone in the long haul.

    Welcome
     
  14. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    dhisel - I do not care what you serve. You have a GREAT beer selection! :tgif:
     
  15. Chsalas

    Chsalas Active Member

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    I agree, the beer was good!

    The food is "OK" i've had better, I've had worse. The atmosphere is nice though!
     
  16. dhisel

    dhisel New Member

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    I have read a number of posts stating that there appears to be a focus on my bar side. Granted, we do have a loyal happy hour crowd, so it would be easy to come to that conclusion. My focus is on the dining aspect, though. Having been open almost a year, we are already on our 3rd menu revision. The beer selection is the easy part (listening to regular customers). The dining side is a bit more difficult since regular diners are not as regular as bar guests. Soups made from scratch, as well as many sauces, are just a couple things that set us apart. Now serving breakfast on the weekends is something many are enjoying as well.

    I assure you, any suggestions made on this board will not fall on deaf ears. If I can do it, I will. It has been suggested to me to offer a 15% discount to anybody who mentions Broadlands HOA, so I will do that. Again, thank you everybody for your input.
     
  17. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    i can vouch for the french toast being delicious, and the Bloody Marys- SPECTACULAR. in my top 3 outside of The Man's... :)
     
  18. dhisel

    dhisel New Member

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    One last note. Village Grill now has a Facebook page. Search: Village Grill Ashburn. Specials, events, etc. Check it out.
     
  19. FJR Zute

    FJR Zute New Member

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    I'm glad Doug hopped in here to post. It's not easy pleasing EVERYONE and as I know from owning my own business in the past, it's sometimes hard to find good help, especially for minimum wage.
    I would have hoped the original poster wouldnt have jumped all over an opportunity to slam someone on this community forum without first bringing the issues to the owner himself, or at least the manager on duty.
    I know for a fact that Doug and his staff try very hard to run a respectable business, despite the wide-variety of dining choices in Ashburn. Yes, they're location is a bit more bar-centric having an incredible selection of beers on tap and a suitable brew-pub menu, but the entrees (and portions) are also very good and it's better than youre gonna find at most of the other "chain" restaurants.
     
  20. smheese

    smheese New Member

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    sorry, redon, but I have to ask, is there anyplace in town you don't frequent regularly and love? I can't take someone's posts seriously when they claim to love every place they eat. I rave on this board about truly wonderful establishments (Ex: Cafe Rumi), just as much as I rant about truly bad experiences (Ex: that Panache restaurant). I would hope that others are giving honest assessments and opinions of a place since this board is where I come to get real consumer's advice....

    It's nice to see the restaurant owners caring and responding on this board too, so the more honest a post on a restaurant review, the better for all of us, including struggling business owners...
     

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