The service was so slow. Our waitress forgot to put in our food order and we waited for over an hour. Even after all of the wait, it was a supreme disappointment. My fried chicken meal, that was almost $30, had about one-fifth of the amount of chicken as my son's chicken tender kid's meal. It wasn't even breast meat, and the breading was burnt. It was way too expensive, especially given you have to pay to get into the garden. The quality was way off point given the price.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
LynneM
To whom it may concern at Ginter; I took my niece to the Garden Café for dinner last night, and I have to tell it was the worst meal I have ever had in my life. I will NEVER return to Ginter again. For any reason. 1.My niece and I shared a Va Ham platter, which had no pickles, no Va ham (just slices from a picnic ham; I expected Smithfield ham), dry biscuits and tasteless pimento cheese. It was false advertising. 2.I ordered fried chicken with peppercorn/peanut gravy. It was extremely salty. The gravy was from a powder/packet filled with MSG and NO peppercorns or peanuts. The mashed potatoes were fake; flakes from a box, not real potatoes. It was pathetic, it was false advertising. 3.My niece ordered the gnocchi. It was the most horrible stuff I ever tasted. Dry, overcooked, texture was horrible. It wasn't gnocchi. There was absolutely NO sage and brown butter sauce. Mushrooms were good. Tammy, the server, took the charge for the gnocchi off of our bill. Again, false advertising. 4.My niece ordered a side of cheeses grits. They were horrible. I have never written to a restaurant in my life to complain about the food. But your food was so abhorrent, I am shocked, and really quite angry. You needed to hear this!!! There were only 3-4 other tables occupied at the time we were there; and that should have tipped us off that your food is horrible, and no one dines there. A fine institution like Lewis Ginter should be ashamed!
KirstyP
We went on Saturday January 7 at 5:30pm. It had rained during the day so when we arrived there was plenty of parking. We had a party of 7. Majority of us got the mock tail which was SO good. Our meals were also delicious. I think between the table we all had one of each of salads/entrees. Our servers were lovely and super helpful. My only complaint is that we asked for a to go box for the gnocchi and it ended up being taken to the kitchen never to return but that's ok! Great experience, yummy meal and then straight to the lights at 7pm.
DavidP
Our server, Tammy was very attentive and pleasant. We observed and heard other staff being unfriendly and curt with other guests, and complaining about guests. Generally, most of the staff seemed very unhappy. The dining area is showing a lot of signs of wear and the Garden should consider refreshing the décor. The menu was limited which isn't unusual for events at the Garden but the food wasn't worth the price - one entrée (the pork tenderloin) was lukewarm and the other (striped bass) had no flavor. We're long-time members of the Garden and have enjoyed many lovely events and holiday dinners in the past. The food in the cafeteria has always been good and well-priced. We hope the Garden will consider a revamp of it's food service vendor for the holiday season.
PattieS
We had a wonderful experience for dinner. Our service was excellent and our food was delicious, right down to the flourless chocolate cake! We loved ending our visit with a relaxing dinner.
KarenK
We literally had to wait about a half hour on a surface street even to be admited to the parking area. There, the parking guides were very friendly, but couldn't help much. The general lighting of the park was delightful--whimsical, dramatic. The wintertime restaurant menu had nice variety of selections, but was very expensive. Service was moderately attentive. We had to repeatedly ask for various standard items. The food served was tasty but surprisingly small amounts. When the restaurant briefly partly filled up, we had to start shouting to hear each other.
The gravy for the chicken entree was not the peanut peppercorn gravy listed on the menu. By the time it got to the table, it was cold and congealed. The mashed potatoes were also cold. The short rib entree's grit cake and gravy were cold. It must have been sitting for so long that the grit cake was mushy. The vegetable listed on the menu was also missing from the entree. We had to get up to find an employee to ask for some of our food to be heated, and when the manager Charity) came to the table she looked disgusted- not by the food but by us because we asked for our food to be heated. While I understand that some mistakes can occur, at the price point of the menu.. We had higher expectations. She brought extra mashed potatoes and (still the wrong) gravy to the table. It was warm-ish but still not hot. After glaring at our table several times, the manager came back to fill only two out of four water glasses, even though they all needed to be refilled. The manager never apologized for anything and made our server do it instead.
JodieB
We were very disappointed in our food. The portions were so small and over cooked. Literally, the kids meal had 3 times the chicken as the adult chicken meal at a 1/3 of the price. I was embarrassed when my family from out of town got their food. So disappointed.
Beans
Came here with a total of 3 people. The wait staff was charming, environment wonderful but the Chef must have been on vacation. My gnocchi was burned (which I didn't know was a rhing) and had no sauce (like none) served in a soup bowl. Desert was served in a Highball bar glass. Very strange experience. My companions dinners were adequate. The Old Fashioned was delicious but very, very light pour (one finger) which was odd for a close to higher end price.
AmyS
We enjoyed our meal at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Christmas light show! Our family loved the menu selections reflecting Virginia! They commented several times about how much they enjoyed their meal and how special it was to have dinner onsite after walking through the gardens! We enjoyed the quiet setting, and the service was excellent.
for a place to grab a quick lunch at the botanical gardens, it was fine. pretty substantial variety, that was nice. self-service so that was great. congrats to me!! if you pick the seating carefully & it's not too crowded, there are decent views of the gardens.
ChristinaG
The food was a joke. $24 for a chicken thigh with 12 green beans and about a cup of mashed potatoes . It wasn't like it was fancy food. We got there at 5:00 with a reservation that we paid for. There were only three other tables seated and we asked for dinner rolls. We didn't get any because they were already sold out . It was ridiculous.
AnnB
It was extremely hard finding parking. It was 30 mins before my husband parked. Food was okay. No dessert as they were out of everything. Also some side items were also out. Lastly my deposit to the reservation was not deducted from sale ticket or refunded. We come every year but this past visit was not favorable.
The food is overpriced and was not executed well, especially the gnocchi. I cannot believe they were serving the poor excuse for gnocchi and charging for it, which were pale white and doughy. The breadbasket was made up of little slides of focaccia, rock hard. To top it all off, they put auto gratuity on our bill for 4 people. It's a shame post COVID that there are some restaurants which are still doing this, but it needs to stop. Will not be going back.
HeatherC
The whole experience was nice, but the food was just good. Nothing spectacular on the buffet and we weren't impressed with Santa. My 6 year old was upset that “he wasn't the real Santa”. It would have been nice if they had someone there to take our pictures. The lights and the model trains were spectacular!
The service was so slow. Our waitress forgot to put in our food order and we waited for over an hour. Even after all of the wait, it was a supreme disappointment. My fried chicken meal, that was almost $30, had about one-fifth of the amount of chicken as my son's chicken tender kid's meal. It wasn't even breast meat, and the breading was burnt. It was way too expensive, especially given you have to pay to get into the garden. The quality was way off point given the price.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
To whom it may concern at Ginter; I took my niece to the Garden Café for dinner last night, and I have to tell it was the worst meal I have ever had in my life. I will NEVER return to Ginter again. For any reason. 1.My niece and I shared a Va Ham platter, which had no pickles, no Va ham (just slices from a picnic ham; I expected Smithfield ham), dry biscuits and tasteless pimento cheese. It was false advertising. 2.I ordered fried chicken with peppercorn/peanut gravy. It was extremely salty. The gravy was from a powder/packet filled with MSG and NO peppercorns or peanuts. The mashed potatoes were fake; flakes from a box, not real potatoes. It was pathetic, it was false advertising. 3.My niece ordered the gnocchi. It was the most horrible stuff I ever tasted. Dry, overcooked, texture was horrible. It wasn't gnocchi. There was absolutely NO sage and brown butter sauce. Mushrooms were good. Tammy, the server, took the charge for the gnocchi off of our bill. Again, false advertising. 4.My niece ordered a side of cheeses grits. They were horrible. I have never written to a restaurant in my life to complain about the food. But your food was so abhorrent, I am shocked, and really quite angry. You needed to hear this!!! There were only 3-4 other tables occupied at the time we were there; and that should have tipped us off that your food is horrible, and no one dines there. A fine institution like Lewis Ginter should be ashamed!
We went on Saturday January 7 at 5:30pm. It had rained during the day so when we arrived there was plenty of parking. We had a party of 7. Majority of us got the mock tail which was SO good. Our meals were also delicious. I think between the table we all had one of each of salads/entrees. Our servers were lovely and super helpful. My only complaint is that we asked for a to go box for the gnocchi and it ended up being taken to the kitchen never to return but that's ok! Great experience, yummy meal and then straight to the lights at 7pm.
Our server, Tammy was very attentive and pleasant. We observed and heard other staff being unfriendly and curt with other guests, and complaining about guests. Generally, most of the staff seemed very unhappy. The dining area is showing a lot of signs of wear and the Garden should consider refreshing the décor. The menu was limited which isn't unusual for events at the Garden but the food wasn't worth the price - one entrée (the pork tenderloin) was lukewarm and the other (striped bass) had no flavor. We're long-time members of the Garden and have enjoyed many lovely events and holiday dinners in the past. The food in the cafeteria has always been good and well-priced. We hope the Garden will consider a revamp of it's food service vendor for the holiday season.
We had a wonderful experience for dinner. Our service was excellent and our food was delicious, right down to the flourless chocolate cake! We loved ending our visit with a relaxing dinner.
We literally had to wait about a half hour on a surface street even to be admited to the parking area. There, the parking guides were very friendly, but couldn't help much. The general lighting of the park was delightful--whimsical, dramatic. The wintertime restaurant menu had nice variety of selections, but was very expensive. Service was moderately attentive. We had to repeatedly ask for various standard items. The food served was tasty but surprisingly small amounts. When the restaurant briefly partly filled up, we had to start shouting to hear each other.
The gravy for the chicken entree was not the peanut peppercorn gravy listed on the menu. By the time it got to the table, it was cold and congealed. The mashed potatoes were also cold. The short rib entree's grit cake and gravy were cold. It must have been sitting for so long that the grit cake was mushy. The vegetable listed on the menu was also missing from the entree. We had to get up to find an employee to ask for some of our food to be heated, and when the manager Charity) came to the table she looked disgusted- not by the food but by us because we asked for our food to be heated. While I understand that some mistakes can occur, at the price point of the menu.. We had higher expectations. She brought extra mashed potatoes and (still the wrong) gravy to the table. It was warm-ish but still not hot. After glaring at our table several times, the manager came back to fill only two out of four water glasses, even though they all needed to be refilled. The manager never apologized for anything and made our server do it instead.
We were very disappointed in our food. The portions were so small and over cooked. Literally, the kids meal had 3 times the chicken as the adult chicken meal at a 1/3 of the price. I was embarrassed when my family from out of town got their food. So disappointed.
Came here with a total of 3 people. The wait staff was charming, environment wonderful but the Chef must have been on vacation. My gnocchi was burned (which I didn't know was a rhing) and had no sauce (like none) served in a soup bowl. Desert was served in a Highball bar glass. Very strange experience. My companions dinners were adequate. The Old Fashioned was delicious but very, very light pour (one finger) which was odd for a close to higher end price.
We enjoyed our meal at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Christmas light show! Our family loved the menu selections reflecting Virginia! They commented several times about how much they enjoyed their meal and how special it was to have dinner onsite after walking through the gardens! We enjoyed the quiet setting, and the service was excellent.
Restaurantji Recommends
for a place to grab a quick lunch at the botanical gardens, it was fine. pretty substantial variety, that was nice. self-service so that was great. congrats to me!! if you pick the seating carefully & it's not too crowded, there are decent views of the gardens.
The food was a joke. $24 for a chicken thigh with 12 green beans and about a cup of mashed potatoes . It wasn't like it was fancy food. We got there at 5:00 with a reservation that we paid for. There were only three other tables seated and we asked for dinner rolls. We didn't get any because they were already sold out . It was ridiculous.
It was extremely hard finding parking. It was 30 mins before my husband parked. Food was okay. No dessert as they were out of everything. Also some side items were also out. Lastly my deposit to the reservation was not deducted from sale ticket or refunded. We come every year but this past visit was not favorable.
The food is overpriced and was not executed well, especially the gnocchi. I cannot believe they were serving the poor excuse for gnocchi and charging for it, which were pale white and doughy. The breadbasket was made up of little slides of focaccia, rock hard. To top it all off, they put auto gratuity on our bill for 4 people. It's a shame post COVID that there are some restaurants which are still doing this, but it needs to stop. Will not be going back.
The whole experience was nice, but the food was just good. Nothing spectacular on the buffet and we weren't impressed with Santa. My 6 year old was upset that “he wasn't the real Santa”. It would have been nice if they had someone there to take our pictures. The lights and the model trains were spectacular!