Miracle at Waterside District

Review summary

1. T

   Thomas

   Richmond

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined today

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Cute decor but that’s it. Very typical of Waterside’s unfortunate business model of upcharging low effort items and understaffing to save on costs. The decor was fun but that’s all you’re getting. They don’t have half of the items, everything is just a basic cocktail or appetizer given a Christmas name and up charged $5. The $16!!! cookies (6 total) were stale and clearly bought at a grocery store who knows how fat in advance. Service is incredibly slow because Waterside’s entire plan revolves around having as many big accessible bars as possible but not paying anyone to staff them. Overall the ambiance is all you’re getting here. It was alright paying $10 a person to get in and paint an ornament in a Christmasy room but when the food came out was when I genuinely started to feel ripped off. To top things off they try to bride you to leave a good review with “$5 off your $10 cover fee” which I’m sure is a response to seeing everyone here call out how low effort everything beyond the decor here is. If you’re looking for a fun decorated space to gather for drinks with your friends and do a gift each exchange, this will definitely provide the scenery for it but considering the cost and how hollow the actual food and drink experience is you might be better off spending your money another way if you really care about getting your money’s worth. TL;DR fun decor but not enough to make up for the price gauging on insanely low effort food and drink items. Essentially an uncharged Instagram Photo Booth, similar to airplane dining (here’s some goldfish, that’ll be $15)
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Hi Thomas, Thank you for leaving your feedback. I appreciate your concerns and would like to discuss your visit further. If you would, please contact me directly. I will send you a private message with my email. I assure you, do we care about our reviews and would like to learn more about your experience. Thank you.
   

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2. T

   Tina

   Richmond

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   Waste of time and money . Better decorations at the surrounding businesses than in the pop up .
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Tina, We are sorry to hear you did not enjoy your experience. Please reach out to me directly so we can discuss your visit and the areas in which we fell short. I will message you with my email. Thank you.
   

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3. F

   Fallon

   Nashville

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   It was okay, the ambiance is cool, but food and service were subpar.
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Hi Fallon, Thank you for your feedback. We would like to learn more about your visit and investigate where we fell short. If you would, please reach out to me directly. I will send you a private message with my email. Thank you.
   

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4. C

   Christina

   Richmond

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   Ambience was great. I wish there was actual food food and not just finger foods I think because all of the parties came in at the same (at 5 o’clock for us) that made the server very busy. Our appetizers all came at different times throughout the night. It was a cute place to go and have fun drinks (which I believe is the purpose) but would not recommend going if you’re hungry.
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Christina, Thank you for your feedback. We will address all of your concerns with our staff to ensure a better guest experience. We apologize for the areas we fell short and hope you will give us another chance in the future. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me directly. Thank you!
   

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5. M

   Merlina

   Richmond

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The ambiance of the pop up shop was amazing!!! Food and drinks were a little over priced for what you got. Our waitress, Ruth, went above and beyond for our table..from recommendations to fixing what we didn't like. She was A1! We did find out you there were items we could order not on the menu...that information would've been helpful earlier on in our experience, but didn't take away from the fun we had. Please add that information for next year. We ordered chicken dip..it was good but the chips were stale, this was an issue last year as well ....that needs to be fixed. The charcuterie board definitely needs an upgrade. 4 crackers for the entire board needs to be re-thought and make it more festive. Nothing about the board screamed festive or fancy...it was like lunch meat and whole bunch of cheese cubes and 4 grapes ...let's do better....overall we did enjoy ourselves
   

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   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Merlina, Thank you for your feedback. We are happy to hear you enjoyed the ambiance and that Ruth gave you great service. We apologize for the stale chips, charcuterie board, and the secret menu not being advertised to your table. We will address these issues with our staff to ensure a better guest experience. Thank you!
   

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6. C

   Cory

   Chicago

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 2

   Awful experience. Not prepared for 11am reservations. Waited 50 minutes for a drink. No hot chocolate. Servers were doing their best, but very poor operation. Extremely disappointed in the experience.
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Hi Corey, I am truly sorry to hear about your experience. This is definitely not our standard and we apologize. If you would, please reach out to me directly. I will send you my email address in a private message. Thank you.
   

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7. A

   Amy

   Richmond

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Here’s a cleaned-up version of your text: When I booked this, I was so excited. We arrived 15 minutes early, as instructed, for our 11:00 AM appointment. However, the Waterside doors didn’t open until 11:00, leaving everyone standing outside in the cold. Once inside, the restaurant/bar wasn’t ready, and staff members were still arriving well after 11:00. We were finally let into the building around 10–15 minutes after 11:00. After being seated, it took another 15 minutes for our waiter to approach us—around 11:30. We placed our orders, but by 11:55, we still hadn’t received a single drink. To make matters worse, there were no non-alcoholic beverages listed on the menu, and I had three teenagers with me. The menu options were also very poor. Seems like all the energy was spent on the decoration as I can say was very nice. When the food arrived, the meatballs were still semi-frozen, and the sliders were awful—old and poorly made. The only redeeming item was the churros, which were good. We also had to request the items included with our reservation (e.g., the Christmas tree), as the waiter provided no information or assistance. Overall, the experience was a complete failure. It felt like a poorly executed money grab. Many others in the restaurant were waiting over 50 minutes for drinks or food, sitting in disbelief. I’ve shared this awful experience with family and friends, and they reported similar issues, vowing never to return. Shame on you for organizing something so poorly!
   

   Miracle at Waterside DistrictResponded today

   Hi Amy, I am truly sorry to hear about your experience and would like to discuss this more. Please reach out to me directly, I will send a private message with my email. Thank you.
   

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8. G

   Gabrielle

   VIP

   Washington DC

   4 reviews

   2.0

   4 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   The bar was decorated beautifully, however the service was terrible. We sat at our table 10 minutes before being acknowledges. We tried to get the attention of a waitress who went to over table on our row but skipped us. When we tried to get her attention, she brushed us off. We watched servers look at us but never come to our table. It was very disappointing to watch multiple staff basically disregard our table. After finally being acknowledged, the drinks were good.
   

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9. A

   Ashley

   VIP

   Richmond

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   It was a fun time with the ambiance and activity I purchased but the drinks were not good. I took 2 sips of mine and couldn’t finish it. Neither could my partner for his own drink or mine. For $15 a drink I was severely disappointed in that. Service is slow too for the amount of servers and tables they have. I’d recommend doing it once but wouldn’t particularly return here because of the price for what you get.
   

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10. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Chicago

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1

    We visited for the Christmas bar and wow were we disappointed. It took over an hour to even receive water. Drinks were overpriced and they were already out of one of them even though we had a reservation at 11 am. We ordered 2 appetizers that were delivered 20 minutes apart. We were seated at 11 am but a waiter didn’t come to our table until 11:30, after we stopped her to ask for service. Every table around us had to do the same. Overall, I would absolutely not recommend this to anyone. Horrible experience
    

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