ACACIA mid-town

11/27/11

Didn't make it past one bad cocktail.

by CBDL123 at Citysearch

My husband and I had never been to Acacia Midtown. Given the multitude of positive reviews and recognitions, we were excited to give it a try for Husband's birthday this past Saturday (11/26/11). Being a local restaurateur, Husband enjoys sitting at the bar for our meals – in a nutshell, it enables networking and I do not mind it.

So, we enter the building and set our sights on the perfect seats, right at the corner of the bar (Husband’s favorite) – things seem promising. An uninviting barkeep gives a lackluster greeting by tossing a cocktail menu in our general direction. I overlook this as an honest slipup on his part - “maybe he’s busy”. Given the special event, I deviate from my usual cocktail staple (vodka & water) and inquire about the difference between two vodka-based specialty drinks, emphasizing that I do not enjoy syrupy, sweet drinks. Following an unenthusiastic description, I make the seemingly appropriate choice. Husband orders his usual bourbon on the rocks. I watch the bartender prepare my beverage with care but to my disappointment, the end result is exactly what I said I didn’t want – excessively sweet with the consistency of syrup. I’d really hate to know how sweet the other specialty cocktails are, as this one was described as “not overly sweet.” The bartender chooses not to response to the cringes displayed on my and Husband’s faces after sampling said drink.

We ask for a menu – this is the point in time in which we realized that all the previous “slipups” were, in fact, deliberate actions of an ill-mannered bartender - “We’d love a menu.” His response, “Did you tell the hostess?” (Um…what?)

Husband: “Are we not allowed to eat at the bar?” (No one stopped us from sitting here.) “Well, we’re at ‘max capacity’ and we normally require reservations for the bar so I have to check on that,” the bartender states with an exhausted tone.

He leaves us confused as he speaks with the hostesses for several minutes. When he returns, he responds, “Since you’re already here, I guess you can stay.”

Alright now, sure, it’s Saturday night but it was a little after 9 PM and this “max capacity” thing… to me, this means a packed house, waiting list, servers visibly hustling. Why is it then, within my direct field of vision, I see several unoccupied bar seats, at least 3-4 empty tables and a near-complete lack of direct floor staff?

Husband isn’t pleased. We ask for the tab and I politely say, “thank you,” as the bartender hands me the check. He did not say a word in return! He did not even look in our general direction. I was shocked.

I really wanted Husband to have a wonderful birthday meal, which we were able to find elsewhere. We enjoyed a dining experience in another restaurant that did not include being made to feel completely unwelcome and with a bartender who understood the definition of sweet and syrupy. We were originally excited to finally try Acacia Midtown and now, thanks to this one particular bartender’s complete lack of appropriate customer service, I doubt we will ever return. There are too many good restaurants in this town to ever have to pay for bad service.

04/27/11

Rude waiter, average food

by chellewarren at Citysearch

We went for restaurant week with several friends. They refuse to seat you until your ENTIRE party is present. And they are rude about it.

They won't split checks. At these prices, they should split checks for you-- otherwise people just end up not ordering drinks to make it easier to do the math at the end. Not a smart way to encourage sales, guys. They won't even loan you a calculator to HELP you do the check splitting at the end... seriously, what do they want you to do?? Our waiter actually said to us, with a roll of his eye and oozing with attitude: "can't you just use the calculator on your phone?" Really? What if I left my phone in the car? Besides-- coping an attitude with a guest doesn't do much to impress.

The food was beautiful to look at , but really just average overall. The beef shortribs were the exception, they were excellent. The crab cake was bland. The rockfish was average. The side dishes were uninspiring. The macroon ice cream dessert tasted like pure sugar, with no other flavor. It was pretty gross.

Bottom line: if you want to overpay for average-tasting (though lovely to look at) food, served with a side of "smarmy" from the waitstaff, then this is the place for you.

I won't be back.

02/16/11

Expensive but delicious

by graceacoustic at Citysearch

I love Acacia. I only go there when my boyfriend and I want to treat ourselves, or for a special occasion, but I'm never disappointed! Their dishes are creative and enticing. I always, always leave happy!

10/29/10

Great food, rude staff

by cnurach7 at Citysearch

I chose to have a girls night out dinner here during Restaurant Week as many of us had never been to Acacia. I made a reservation for 12 three weeks in advance. We ended up having 13 in our party the day of our reservation. The hostess acted extremely rude and refused to accommodate us so one of our guests offered to leave to alleviate the situation.

The food was superb but I would never go back to this restaurant again. You can get excellent food AND excellent customer service elsewhere in Richmond.

07/14/09

If you like noise

by wheeldog at Citysearch

We have had many pleasant dining experiences since moving to Richmond. My wife and I were great fans of the Acacia at the previous location. We had waited several months prior to trying your new location with expectations that it would be an improvement over the previous location. What a disappointment!The noise level in the restaurant was such that it was almost impossible for wife and I to converse all though we were only 3 feet apart. Our table was unfortunately placed next to a loud group that contained a woman with a donkey bray laugh and another with a shrieking laugh - but I guess some people are just loud and inconsiderate and become more that way the more they drink. I had hoped that the entrees would be a redeeming feature - unfortunately such was not the case. My crab cake entree had the consistency and taste of the grits that were served as a side -always thought crab cakes were solid not semi liquid.

I guess I could have had the server move us to another table and I could have sent the entre back. But I like to see restaurants do their best without any intervention from the guest. Your best fell very short of the mark. The only redeeming feature of the evening was the attentive server.Her prompt service allowed us to depart the noisy environment as rapidly as possible.

• Pros: Service staff
• Cons: noise, location, cuisine