Stronghill Dining Company

I love the décor of this place but… It is dying on the vine. I have been here a dozen times over the years it ha been open. The lat couple of times have not been very good. Last night we went and there were vey few people there (not a good sign) compared to past visits. As a previous reviewer indicates, this is a great place to hang out on a couch for a drink… but I think that is all they have right now… The food last night was not hitting on much. The fried oysters had absolutely no flavor, the fish was covered in spice to a degree in which you could not taste the fish (this is not how blackened fish should be), the grilled shrimp were lacking any pizazz as they were laid on top of flavorless white beans. The food just is not hitting on much. With all the amazing restaurant in town, it is a shame that one that has such great atmosphere is slowly dying. I will not be going back, I am sorry to say, unless there is a serious shakeup in the kitchen.

My girlfriend and I live a block away, so Stronghill is our go to place for brunch on the weekends. We have only been there for brunch so I cannot speak to all the negative reviews of dinners and happy hours. However, we have been to brunch many times and has been fantastic every time. The menu has wide range of choices from your basic eggs, bacon and toast to more unique items like the crab eggs benedict. There are always creative specials as well. I had the pulled pork huevos rancheros this morning and they were bad ass! Our service has always been quick and friendly and the music has even been good. It’s not cheap, but I think reasonably priced for the amount that goes into the food. I recommend the weekend brunch highly.

My wife and I stopped in after a movie last night and boy were we disappointed. Even though it was 8pm on a Saturday night, the place was only around ½ full and we were seated immediately in a booth adjacent to the bar. From then on, there seemed to be some kind of competition among the many servers to see who could avoid eye contact with us the longest.
After 12 minutes without any contact my thirst won out and I ordered drinks from the bar and brought them back to our table. 10 minutes later the drinks were gone and we still hadn’t talked to a server. That’s when my wife ordered take out from Kitchen 64, which is about a mile north on Boulevard.
On our way out the door I stopped by a group of employees who were huddled around the bar talking and gave them a heads-​up about why we were leaving. To their credit, they seemed genuinely sorry, and from the pained look on the managers face, this wasn’t the first time that customers had left for the same reason.
We weren’t even upset, we were just disappointment. The place seems to have everything going for it except service. But that’s enough to keep us from going back.
You’d think the one thing a restaurant near a movie theater would be good at would be prompt service, but that’s an opportunity missed at Stronghill. My advice is to keep on going about a mile up the street and eat at Kitchen 64.

I went here with a friend because we had a Groupon. The «vibe» here is really cool and I would give this place 4 stars to just hang out and drink on the couches. However, the food isn’t that great. The charcuterie plate was cold and needed cheese and more meat (not the rabbit patte!). The flank steak was cold and really tough, the shrimp was cold and the chili sauce was gross. Our server, Carl, was actually really good.
I wish they would make the food a little more simple and not try to by so everything with their food — the pairings just don’t really work??? Probably will not eat here again…

Love the new Small plates… fried chicken n Mac n cheese are awesome… service can be spotty tho.

Pork was under cooked and crab cakes were salty. The Pumpkin Ale Sweet Potato soup was delicious though.

The waitress was really attentive during drink orders, but after taking our food orders, service wasn’t so good. It took 45 minutes for our food. The crabcake sandwich was good, and my dining partner enjoyed the mac and cheese, asparagus, and grilled chicken; but, it was all overshadowed by the long wait. I will go back there because it is nearby, you can find parking easily, and the food was good after all.

We went to Stronghill again Saturday night after a movie with a group of friends. It was not a great experience. There was hardly any staff and the two people I saw working seemed like they just wanted to go home. We went back to our house and ordered a pizza from Dominos! They were happy to deliver and take our money.
Anyway, we give up on this restaurant.

Alright, so I typically don’t review a place after my boyfriend reviews it (that’s just overkill) BUT this is a special case. There was something about this place that didn’t immediately entice me, but after the bf bought a groupon I decided to give in.
I was immediately pleased with the décor and friendly atmosphere, but this was all ruined by our horrific food experience. I got the pork chop that was decent, and my bf got the fried chicken. Yes, this is going to be about the bloody chicken incident in the review below. In case you haven’t read it… his first plate arrived with a piece of bloody, raw unappetizing slab of fried chicken. Disgusting. Okay I’m all abut forgiveness and I know everyone makes mistake, so I decided to let it go. Maybe we were just those REALLY unlucky customers who get that one bloody piece of chicken the restaurant will ever serve.
Well, unfortunately this was not the case… fried chicken plate #2 was dripping with blood as well but we didn’t discover this until after we took it to-​go and arrived home. We immediately called and they offered a gift card. Seriously? Ya I’m dieing to go back to a place who almost gives me salmonella with a plate of oozing bloody chicken. Since the meal was obviously inedible the restaurant should have insisted on giving us our money back AND a gift card if they had any sense of customer service.
The other thing that really irked me about this place was that when the check arrived our waitress told us that the chef was paying for the fried chicken. Now I’m not in the restaurant industry, but shouldn’t she have just said that it’s being taken off our check so we weren’t filled with guilt wondering if this poor guy’s kids would go to bed hungry that night because we took away his last $ 20. Just sayin’.
Needless to say we didn’t go back to pick up our gift card and won’t be returning.

Went in excited about the menu and starving. Good comfort food in a convenient location and maybe a few drinks sounded like fun to me.
The place had a nice electic look, but it was extremely hot inside.
I ordered the pork belly grits appetizer. The grits were pretty decent, but the sauce on the pork belly seemed like generic grocery store barbeque sauce. My girlfriend’s goat cheese salad looked nice, but the dressing had a very peculiar taste. Pass on both.
Service was slightly slower than average.
For our entrees, my girlfriend had the pork loin and I ordered the fried chicken. Her pork was decent, but not better than what a novice can whip up in the kitchen in a few minutes. My «light plate» portion chicken was enormous and very heavy and greasy. It looked very good before I bit in. After a bite I notice blood. The chicken was thoroughly bloody throughout. How I like a steak, but certainly not my chicken. I had it sent back.
Ten minutes later I had more chicken. It was scolding hot, and I was somewhat unappetized after seeing blood stream down my plate a few minutes earlier. I decided to focus on my sides of mac and cheese and brussel sprouts. The mac and cheese was excellent, the brussel sprouts could have been better. I boxed the chicken and took it home.
After we got back home. Guess what. Our second order of chicken was also very bloody. I can forgive this mistake once, but to give the same person bloody fried chicken twice for one order? Unreal.
The food was ok, the restaurant was hot, and I was given bloody chicken twice in one night. This restaurant does not deserve a second chance.

Had dinner last week using up a Groupon with hubby. Started with fried portabella potstickers which were ok… they tasted too fried for me. We tried the open faced meatloaf sandwhich with mac n cheez and fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. The food was ok, nothing special. The mac n cheez was very dry and disappointing with very little creamyness or cheese. Service was great but just didn’t care for the food.
The atmosphere is really cool! Love the huge chandelier and the seating area near the bar. This would be a cool place to meet people for a few drinks.

We haven’t been back since they simplified the menu into more comfort food. I have to say that we were not impressed. We both had the evenings special, barbecue marinated pork loin, just OK. Corn pudding served with it was good otherwise we can do better at home. I really love dining out and we dont mind paying for it either. I just expect something better then plain fare. The pork loin was a bit dry and did not seem of the best quality.
Good beer list!
We also had the unpleasant experience of diesel /​paint? fumes upon walking in. They really need to try and figure out how to deal with this problem. Not great to be breathing these fumes while you are trying to enjoy a relaxing meal.
Our waiter was not happy, at least it seemed that way. We asked nicely about an item and he just restated what the menu said in a blank kind of voice as if he didn’t want to be bothered. He warmed up a bit when he brought the check, I wonder why?

I’m always on a brunch kick and came here at the suggestion of a group of friends.
Décor and ambiance are awesome. On a sunny Sunday morning the small room was bright, sunny and inviting thanks to the row of windows lining the roof. The staff was super friendly and pushed tables together to seat a party of 8. The chandelier that hangs from the center of the room is also rockin’.
OUTSTANDING items: Monkey Bread, Waffles (HUGE). I think this is their specialty, because there is a «waffles du jour» on the brunch menu.
MEH items: Coffee (the usual restaurant variety), and my «classic» breakfast was just downright greasy. The eggs were kind of oily, as were the home fries and sausage. I will give them some props for making their own sausage (at least, it seemed that way to me – hand formed and with spices that aren’t run-​of-​the-​mill).
Overall it was a ‘like’ and I am still interested in trying this place for dinner since it’s so close to the Bowtie Cinema.

We had lunch here last weekend. My wife had the Turkey sandwich and I had a shrimp po boy, and both were solid. I really liked the Fried Jambalaya Fritters. I think the menu online is outdated (there were a few things missing on the actual restaurant menu). We ate dinner at Stronghill a couple of years ago (which we also enjoyed) – not sure why it took us this long to return.

I went here for restaurant week, for the first time. I really enjoyed the décor. The restaurant doesn’t seat many, and it’s a bit small for the one side restaurant/​one side bar design they’re going for, but overall a very attractive place.
The food and the service were both exceptional. I enjoyed all three courses, as did my date. The food was presented well and was flavorful. The oyster appetizer was especially appealing.
The only downfall was the banana bread pudding they offered for dessert. Though it was delicious, and served with vanilla icecream that was out of this world, the actual banana flavor was lacking. It was more of a traditional bread pudding, instead of banana. This was a disappointment to my banana obsessed companion.
Regardless, a beautiful dining experience. I definitely recommend it for a hot date. ;)

Stronghill is a spot I have passed a zillion times since it opened not long ago. I was pleased to see another business populate the previously «rough» block of Boulevard to compliment Buzz and Ned’s as well as the new Bowtie Movie Theaters in a rebirth of the Boulevard/Scott’s Addition corridor. One issue I have had is the fake ferns that are used in the planters above the windows on the exterior of the building. This worried me and perhaps made the need to try it a little less urgent.
So, the other night we roll in there to give it a shot for dinner. Well, we were hit by such a strong smell of diesel fuel/​oil/​fumes that we just could not stay and eat there, especially when looking at the prices on the dinner menu.
The restaurant is in an old industrial store front and is attached to a motorcycle repair shop. Need I say more? For the prices they are charging and the strong odor that takes away from the dining experience enough to make us leave, I can say with honesty that you can skip this one.

My review is for LUNCH only.
I’ve eaten lunch at Stronghill a few times and it’s always been okay, not great, but okay. On one visit I went for the Fried Virginia Oyster Po’ Boy. It tasted okay, but the oysters were small, there weren’t a ton, and the lobster remoulade on top was more mayo-​y than flavorful. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t really anything I’d order again.
On a later visit I ordered some sort of special soup and duck confit over a salad. The soup was pretty good, but I found some cellophane in it. I let the kitchen know, and this wasn’t a big deal, but also didn’t leave a positive taste in my mouth. The duck salad was kind of blah. Cold duck meat, greens and not much else. After the soup mishap, the kitchen gave us free dessert, a slice of pecan pie that was very good and left a more positive taste in my mouth.
Service has always been efficient and prompt. I love the interior. The owners really went out of their way to gut the building and create a beautiful space with a nice bar and great art deco-​inspired murals on the walls.
So overall, nothing I’ve had at Stronghill has been bad, but it hasn’t been awesome either. With the chic atmosphere, I wish the food would just be better.

Nice place! Very good food — some interesting wines also. If you need to sober up a bit before the drive home, Movieland at Boulvard Square is right across the street!
Seriously, the isn’t the best restaurant in the RIC but it’s pretty darn good.

3.5 stars.
(I feel like fucking Gordon Ramsey writing this review.)
Strong Hill Dining Company, you have true potential, but need to make a couple of modifications. It’s like I can see your kitchen thinking and challenging norms, but not always reaching the correct conclusions.
1. Don’t mix your designer martinis with cheap vodka. The vodka catches unpleasantly in the throat, and ruins your creative flavor combinations.
2. Don’t place your salmon steaks directly on the wood grill. Far too much sharp, bitter smoke infuses in the fish, which ruins the dish.
3. Don’t undercook your fish. Moist, flaky fish with slightly translucent color is excellent, but wet fish is unappetizing.
4. Dispense with the generic orange sauce that serves as a plate base for most of your proteins. It is not particularly flavorful, and has no unifying quality.
5. Consider your pairing of meats and accompaniments. The presence of crab croquettes with my filet mignon (which was excellent) did not enliven my palate, as lump crab, steak, and potatoes do not complement each other when taken as a single bite.
6. Put some spice in your jalapeño deviled eggs. Those beauties could be thrilling spitfires! I do like their fresh, green flavor.
7. Keep your mussels just as they are, but dispense with the overly fried croutons. Your broth is heady with herbs and your mussels are remarkably fresh.
Make these changes, dear Strong Hill, and I think accolades shall be yours. Because there is true creativity in your kitchen, and the most spectacular chandelier in Richmond lives in your dining space. Also, your bartenders are fabulous, and your service is earnest. Good luck.

This rating is strictly for service, atmosphere, and late night drinks. Unfortunately I did not arrive early enough to eat so I will have to update that later. Regardless… this place is beautiful, very welcoming, and a great spot for late night drinks with good friends.