Capital Ale House Midlothian

Disappointing on a cold night in a drafty spot that they couldn’t get the fire going. Walk across the parking lot and take a lesson from the ladies at Café Cuterra. An apology from the manager rather than defensiveness from the initial smoke problem would have gone a long way. Took several tries to get the beer order right. Come on guys we like coming here but its less than special.

Service was adequate, but my meal was vastly inadequate. Ordered black and blue steak salad as did a dinner companion. They arrived with gray strips of beef which were supposed to be rare. I asked for a more edible cut of meat. They added a slice to the top which was barely pink. I gave up at that point, but I will not be returning.

Another great experience, John that works the evening shift doesn’t miss a thing. Great service and great beer on tap. MexiCali wings my fav.

These people excel in the art of ignore. You can be the only one at the bar and wait forever to get served. It seems as though they test you to see how long you’re willing to wait. Food is good but after being ignored for so long it’s hard to enjoy. I do like their mayo dipping sauces with the fries, kind of European.

Was a regular here years ago. I stopped in with my wife and saw not much has changed. Slow service even a longer wait to get your food. My entrée was bland and not seasoned as well as it should have been. Do yourself a favor and drive the extra 2 minutes down the block and eat real food at Sedona Taphouse you won’t regret it. If your only objective is beer then this might be the right place for you but definitely not the food!

Loved our first visit here on ¹²⁄₂₃. Food was great, server was very helpful. Would definitely come back.

We went there for our Christmas Holiday luncheon. They stuck us upstairs in the loft. There were absolutely no decorations or atmosphere of any kind. In addition, there is no sound/​music up there. It was quiet as a tomb. Plus, they gave us only one waitress for 20 people. Service was sooooo slow. Took us 2 ½ hours to have lunch. Food was just okay. We all agreed we will never return. Everyone was disappointed.

SUCKS BIG TIME!!! The kitchen can’t keep up with size of the restaurant. They can bring the drinks quickly, but they don’t know how to bring food. Expect to wait for over an hour if more than two people are ahead of you.
Never coming back here agsin. Waited an hour, talked to the manager, who offered to comp us desert… Really.
Dinner finally showed up, an hour late. The burger was slightly under cooked… but figuring the meal was late you would think they would have put a few extra fries on the plate… but they don’t think very much here… and even being late it wasn’t hot.
I blame the manager. This was beyond pi55 poor.

I’ve always enjoyed Capital Ale House. I use to frequent the one in Innsbrook more, but have been to the Southside location a handful of times this year since I now live closer to this one.
Typically we sit in the bar area to grab a drink and maybe an appetizer. On my most recent visit, I had the Giant Bavarian Pretzel appetizer. It was delish! The sweet Bavarian mustard was really good, as well as the Pimento cheese we ordered along with it. The pretzel was very soft and salted. Super yummy. Happy hour was also going on, so that’s always a plus!
Our server, Miguel, was prompt and friendly, as was the staff when you walked in.
This is definitely a great place to come and unwind!

Pros:
Large variety of beer on tap and draft. Frequently changing their specials of these.
Good food. Fish tacos are my favorite in rva. Pretzels with beer cheese dip also a favorite.
Clean.
Good service is consistent.
Family friendly.
Cons:
Pricey for the portion size.
Not as young/​nightlife bar vibe as the downtown location.

My wife and I had been going to this restaurant and their sister locations for 10 years, but the events of the night of August 24, 2015 changed that forever. It all started over an incorrect charge that was added to our bill. After that it just tumbled out of control downhill. I am a principals oriented person and it’s not about a dollar or two, it’s about the right versus wrong issue and the horrible follow-​up treatment. Long story short, this company has on board a selection of managers that have no business in the service industry and that night Chuck was that manager. He was rude, condescending and dismissive to us both.
We will not take that from any establishment, period! In the Richmond, Virginia market restaurants are a dime a dozen and no company is secure enough to treat people in such a way. Now understand, we are not and were not loud, obnoxious or aggressive people. I just will not be taken advantage of or taken for granted by a two bit establishment.
The food has always been no more than average to moderate, but we still patronized this place for more than 10 years and to the tune of approximately $ 18,000.00 over that time frame for the atmosphere and the staff. We had never had to deal with the managers and (in this case) the owner/​president before.
Not only was the manger terrible and rude, but the owner Matt was very flip about the whole situation and promised to get back to me, but never did. .. . so much for this long time patronizing couple, that is a thing of the past now!
When I made follow-​up contact, the owner Matt did invite us back in to dine again for free, but how exactly does that address or fix the problem? Keep your lousy freebie and just fix the issue instead.
I suggest you avoid this place and this company as a whole unless you just want a cheap full service burger on a Monday night and ZERO expectations of descent service to go with it.

Good food (not gourmet but above regular bar food level) and impressive beer selection. This is probably the nicest of the 3 locations in Richmond. There is also some outside dining areas as well.
I would rate Sedona Tap house down the street above Capital Ale as far as the local area because Sedona food is a little better.
I will put the same complaint I do with most brewhouses… I’m fine with the selection but people like my wife just want a bud light. What is wrong with just one single tap being a American light beer (Taza Kitchen did a great job in adding Coors regular — different but light for the masses). I can’t blame Capital — 95% of brewhouses do the same thing and still to the microbrews only.
Give the place a try you will be glad you did.

You can’t beat Mondays at Capital Ale House which is Their Infamous Burger Night. The Capital Ale House Burgers are discounted to $ 2, they normally are around $ 9.You do have to purchase a beverage to get the discount. A side of fries is $ 3, which comes with your choice of their special mayos for dipping. My favorite is the sweet and smoky mayo. Happy hour is also offered from a certain time, I believe 4 – 7, so you can get your libations cheaper as well. For normally less than $ 10 I can get a a burger, fries and a draft on Mondays. If you are on a budget but want to socialize or treat yourself check out Capital Ale House during happy hour on Mondays!

I would love to give Capital Ale a higher rating but things are just too inconsistent. Sometimes the service is awesome. Sometimes terrible. Sometimes the dishes (artichoke sandwich and veggie burger being favorites) are amazing. Sometimes not. Same with the fries. Also, if you are seated by the bar, it’s likely you will have really loud and rowdy folks who might disrupt your meal. The private room upstairs is great; the 1000 beers and specialty nights are always fun. Would just appreciate more consistency.

Really enjoyed my foodie experience here. The buffalo hot wings were HOT with a continuous slow HOT burn radiating inside of my mouth. The Long Islander with me said that they were HOT also. NUFF Said! My main goal of picking out my meal for the night was to go Light. Atlantic Salmon over barley & okra was a fantastic choice. Wow it was good. I’ve never seen salmon paired like this before. The salmon and all of the ingredients with this dish were prepared perfectly. The house’s Blonde Beer washed everything down nicely while maintaining my «go light» theme.

My parents and I came here for a late lunch over the weekend. It was my first time, but my parents had been before so they already knew we had to start with the pretzel and cheese dip.
Okay, first I wasn’t ready for how big the pretzel was going to be! It was so good. Such a nice way to start the meal. We all ordered something different but I went with the Grilled Turkey, Brie and Bacon sandwich with fries. The sandwich comes on toasted flat bread with a roasted red pepper jelly that’s delightful. It really brings all the flavors of the sandwich together.
Overall, this was a very satisfying meal and I’d definitely come back to enjoy some of their other dishes and sandwiches.

I did not much enjoy my dinner at the Capital Ale House. The problem was mostly the wait-​staff though, which is a shame, because the food was pretty good and I would probably go back for the food but I don’t know if I want to risk having another bad experience.
First of all, anytime our waitress came to our table, she would just abruptly leave even though I still had questions/​ordering to do. When she asked for our drinks, we told her, and she just sped off before we could ask about an appetizer or anything. Then she came back and we ordered the giant pretzel appetizer, and she just turned and took off again and I had to run after her to ask to get the cheese dipping sauce with it. (By the way, I liked the pretzel, my husband really loved it). When we ordered our entrees, my husband ordered the fried artichoke flatbread, (which he really enjoyed); I ordered the blue cheese burger. When my burger came out is was really really pink in the center– like rare. I was confused because normally, if they don’t ask for a temperature, it means they serve their burgers well done. But when I showed the waitress, she said «Yeah, that looks really pink… I told them medium»…So I am wondering, why did she tell them medium? I didn’t want medium, and she never asked me.
So I had to just sit there and pick at the pretzel and my side salad until finally by new burger came, but by that time my husband was finished eating. I had to just box the burger up and take it home. What a crummy dinner date. It all could have been avoided had the waitress just slowed down, and *asked* me for the temperature.
So anyways, make sure you tell them how you want your burgers cooked! :)

My husband was craving an ice cold beer after a hot football game. I immediately thought of Capital Ale House and had been wanting to try it. We were quickly seated, which was a nice surprise for a Saturday night. Hubby throughly enjoyed his beverage. The boys ordered sandwiches, which were a generous size. However, I wanted a healthier choice and the spinach salad was quite small, but tasted great! Unfortunately, the service was slow.
***Check out their website for Daily Specials!

Very good option for dinner with friends or family or visitors from out of town.
Great beer selection. Maybe put just behind Sedona Grill as the #2 spot for craft beer. I think they still have the bar tops that are chilled… you literally sit your beer down on top of a frosted bar. Very cool.
Monday’s is $ 2 hamburger night, and they are BIG. Great value.
Also has outdoor seating. Like this place a lot.

Brunette female bartender is so RUDE! Completely ignored us the whole time, and on purpose. She only caters to her friends. My husband was more than polite when we HAD TO ASK for anything and all we got back was attitude. My husband and I come here quite often for the beer selection as we like to sit at bars and have a couple of good craft beers and this place is close to home. They need to keep the two male bartenders, they’re awesome. Too bad the female bartender (she never says hello or gives her name) completely ruins the place. If you walk in and she’s working, you mine as well ask for a table. Hopefully they will realize she’s a plague on this place and they get rid of her. Then I can update this review.
Try the giant pretzel and beer cheese dip, it’s amazing!