The Rustic Spoon - Red Mill

I always come here on Thursdays because of the great deal, but I keep coming back for the food, ambiance, and friendly servers. Everything I ordered was amazing: Firecracker Shrimp, Fried Calamari, Crabcake Bites, Crab Dip, Butter Clams, and the Pineapple Crush were all delicious and well-prepared. The atmosphere is perfect for a relaxed night out, and the staff is always warm and attentive. Both locations are very clean, including the bathrooms, which is always a big plus. Consistently a great experience every visit!

My first time to come in this restaurant. I came with 4 friends. Our food was enjoyable; ambiance was okay and service was great.

The food is outstanding! We've been to the other Virginia Beach location several time and they are both excellent!

We've dined at the Rustic Spoon at Red Mill before, but this was our first time trying their brunch, and it was absolutely fantastic. We went during Restaurant Week, so the place was packed, but thanks to our OpenTable reservation, we were seated right away. It was a Monday, and at the Rustic Spoon that means $3 Bloody Marys. I quickly ordered one to start while we browsed the menu, trying to decide what to choose. Although the Restaurant Week menu offered plenty of tempting options, we both went for dishes from the extensive regular menu. My husband had the Country Ham Benedict, a traditional Eggs Benedict with generous slices of country ham and perfectly poached eggs on an English muffin. I debated between the stuffed and traditional Classic French toast, ultimately choosing the Classic, served with fresh berries, link sausage, and a side of cheesy scrambled eggs. Everything arrived hot and delicious—a perfect start to the day!

We've always had a great experience. Food is amazing at a moderate price. Ambiance is just right.

food was fantastic, as well as service

5 stars all around. Everything is so good. I try something new every time we go and I have never had something I didn't like. The owner is always helping out and making sure the customers are happy. I cannot stop raving about this place.

I came here on New Year’s Eve knowing there would be a wait, but not concerned about the wait at all. We sat at the bar to get a cocktail and appetizers. The bartender was visibly annoyed with getting more customers and even asked us to give her a second. She did this any time new customers sat down. There was a regular who frequents the establishment sitting next to us. Both bartenders were rude to him, responding to him like “oh yeah, that’s super awesome…” and he requested more than once that they change the channel to the NYE ball drops around the world, but they never did. He mentioned to me that he asked them, but that they were probably just too busy. It would have taken 1 minute to change the TV to accommodate a customer who comes in so often. They only seemed to be nice to him when he needed another drink. Our cocktails were great and I liked the creative twists on an old fashioned. The appetizers were unremarkable. We had the Brussels sprouts, calamari, and risotto bites. Our wait time was a bit longer than estimated, but we were sat after we finished closing out our checks at the bar. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive, though slightly forgetful. I appreciated her telling us that she made mistakes and it honestly did not negatively impact our experience as most would think. My husband and I shared a wedge and the ribeye special. The wedge was warm, almost like it was made first and put under the warmer while the rest of the food was finishing. The ribeye special was covered in a gravy and sat atop mashed potatoes with broccolini. It was finished off with a massive bone cut in half for the marrow. The steak was bland despite being a ribeye and smothering it with gravy made it taste like meatloaf… and not in a yummy way. Golden Corral makes better meatloaf than this ribeye. The broccolini was not cooked thoroughly and also bland. After dinner, we wanted to try dessert since I was still hungry and it was NYE after all and we were celebrating time with our family. My daughter had the tiramisu cheesecake, my husband had the crème brûlée, and my son & I ordered the death by chocolate. Our dessert was so gross that we ate two bites and decided against eating anymore. It tasted like batter was put into a cup and microwaved, then added Oreo’s and whipped cream. So gross.

We usually come here for breakfast and it is mostly delicious which is why I was so disappointed about this evening.

We were quite disappointed. We order DoorDash from this restaurant frequently. The food is usually pretty good. I saw a Facebook add for their New Year's Eve menu which sounded intriguing so we made a reservation. Upon arrival, we were WAY overdressed for this place. We were attending a NYE celebration and were dressed accordingly. Almost all other patrons were casually dressed (e.g., jeans, t-shirts, sneakers). That was a little disappointed, but at least we knew the food would be good -- or at least we thought. We each ordered an appetizer. My wife's came pretty quickly. It was a pear salad on their special NYE menu that she did not enjoy. My appetizer came ~15 minutes later (lobster bisque) and was delicious. But, we expected them to arrive at the same time so that was frustrating. We were good sports and the waitress apologized saying there was 'a mixup' in the kitchen. Fair enough. Another 40 minutes went by with no main course. The waitress then said there was 'a ticket mixup' in the kitchen and asked if we wanted to cancel our orders (sign....). We did not. We were starving. After ~10 minutes we received them. My wife's steak was way undercooked. We sent it back. So I ate my sub-par osso bucco without her. It really was not very good. My wife's steak came when I was almost done. She did not like it. I tasted it. It was a bland rib-eye that was not good. The waitress did give us a 15 percent discount on our bill without us asking which we appreciated. But, the overall experience - including the food - was pretty poor. As a result, we will not be back and they lost a fairly regular DoorDash customer, too.

We enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the service and food! We will definitely be going back and telling our friends and family about it

I am obsessed with this place. I literally order here almost every day at this point. Every single thing on the menu is five stars. Let me tell you why. I’m from California and I’ve had access to truly some of the best restaurants in the world. Rustic spoon does it right. They keep their menu small and there is so much detail in every single plate. They only use the highest Quality ingredients and freshness and it shows.

People are yearning for high-quality and they’re willing to pay for it. And nonetheless, I feel like for what you get from this wonderful restaurant their value is so good. I would pay double for the plates I get.

So many businesses and restaurants choose to cut corners by lowering quality and they think they will make more money and it’s a disservice to people. People don’t want cookie cutter corporate BS. They want quality and want to be able to rely on it.

One time I did venture into the restaurant and made a point to introduce myself because I wanted to buy a T-shirt. I told them hello my name is AT. I’m the one who orders from you guys literally every day sometimes twice a day and now they send me little messages And surprises and it’s just so sweet and special. Best food I’ve had in VA beach. ❤️ thank you all for your commitment to quality and not selling out!!!! Patron for life.

Always a great experience !!!! Delicious food! Better atmosphere ! Always enjoy Rustic Spoon ! Local Favorite !

The Rustic Spoon is “The Best!”
The food is fantastic! A gift certificate from The Rustic Spoon is a perfect idea!

The food is great. They offer quite a bit of seasonal menus. Customer service 5 stars.

Wonderful! Jaime, Erika, and Vicki are just so friendly and charismatic! The food and service are 10/10!