Stan’s American Bistro

Stan’s food is pretty good, if simple, fare. However, what keeps me coming back are the servers. The staff is so nice and personable that they can’t be beat. Vicky’s bubbly personality makes you want to smile and Erin’s ability to carry on a conversation is unparalleled, just like her Bloody Mary.

We (the family) went in on a Saturday evening early on Labor Day weekend. I had been craving wings for a couple of days and decided to try Stan’s since the missus did not want to drive all over town looking for a place. I just wanted some «pub» food really. They only have one style of wings here — but they do a good job with them. More sweet than hot, but they had good crunch on the skin and not overly coated. A little harder to eat than most wings since these were four (4) full-​size wings from a full-​size chicken, not those tiny things you get at most places.
I had the 3-​alarm burger. The missus had the shrimp and the kids had chicken tenders and quesadilla. No complaints from the children and no leftover quesadilla. A couple of tenders and some fries was about it. The younger one still goofs off too much at meal time anyway.
The cocktail sauce was a little hot for my wife’s taste and even looked pale. She added a few dabs of ketchup to even it out. Otherwise her food was spot on. My burger was cooked exactly to the temperature I requested. It was a tad underseasoned. The jalapenos were nicely sauteed and still VERY hot.
Normally I would probably have given only 3 stars but the owner checked in on us a couple of times and the waitress was very attentive. It was a low-​stress dining experience and I think we will be back.

So I was really surprised to see how large this place was on the inside. It is a good sized place with a full bar and plenty of seating. I went in for the special (Fried Chicken). I must say I was surprised that I ordered the 2pc and got a wing and what looked like a flattened chicken breast. It was however very good. The Mac and Cheese was really good. I would definitely go back to try more of the menu.

The fried okra, drinks and music (Herbie D and the Danger Men) were great. Everything else was a disappointment. The entrees, the butter-​soaked «steamed» broccoli, the crabless dip, the shoe leather roast beef, and the below average service. This isn’t a place to visit a second time… unless you like the band playing.

Fun décor, great neighborhood bar/​restaurant. Stan is very friendly & funny & you’ll see him hanging out getting to know his regulars most nights. Great happy hour (12−7pm) cozy bar & live music on the weekends! Fried chicken really good & so are the nachos. Always have had a pleasant interaction with the employees at each visit. Happy to have Stans in the neighborhood!

First, I have to say that we eat out a lot and we only went here by default, because The Landing was closed. We were on our bikes and our choices were limited. The service was decent. The drinks were way too expensive for the portion. The wings were undercooked, the potato skins bland. The fried okra was frozen and the meatloaf tasted like it was from a microwave TV dinner. The ambiance and aesthetic are nice, but the food was so bad we won’t go back. I was tempted to give it one star, but I like the feel of the place and the service was average. I was here about a year ago and wasn’t impressed. Thought we would give it another try and were very disappointed. Don’t waste your time or money here. If you want better food go to The Landing, BWW or Finn McCools.

I had the meat loaf with mash potatoes and Broccoli. This is a popular dish and I was not let down. The mash potatoes could use more flavor though. Great food, good service, and excellent entertainment. The manager is a retired fireman — a real nice guy that loves his job. The bands start playing at 8pm so family can hang out and listen until the adult crowd comes in.

Mixed feelings…
Took the family here last Tuesday for the first time and let me start off by saying the décor is pretty cool. It’s all decked out in firefighter gear and cool little signs but that’s about.
My daughter and I took advantage of the buy one get one BBQ burger deal which was pretty good. Nothing special but good. On the other hand my wife decided to get the chicken tender basket. The tenders appear to be hand breaded so there is potential however when they arrived at the table they were undercooked in the middle. When we ask the waitress to have them recooked she didn’t seem crazy about the idea but nevertheless took them back the kitchen. The refired ticket took so long my daughter and I were able to finish out burger and fries for the new tenders we brought back out. At this point we ask for a box and decided just to take them home. (more to come below)
More customers started to come in I wouldn’t call it busy but there was 4 – 5 people sitting in the bar area and 5 – 6 tables on the other side. The catch is they had 1 waiteress working the bar, waiting on tables and seating so EVERYTHING took forever. Waiting to get served, getting drinks, waiting on her to make it back to request refired tenders, daughter ask for a coke (wait for it), waiting on tenders to be cooked, waiting for a box, when the box comes she brings the coke and finally waiting for the check. While all of this was going down the owner was sitting at the bar with I’m guessing the wife. She eventually got up and began to help seat and take orders.
Ok back home and wife ready to eat tenders… undercooked AGAIN. Microwaved and gave to the dogs.
The place is on the pricey side. We won’t be going back.

Pretty nice spot!
They have live music most Friday’s and Saturday’s, my favorite is the 151 Band.
I ordered the Prime Rib Dip sandwich and really enjoyed it, the sweet potato fries were pretty great as well!
I will definitely be coming here with some frequency and am glad to support local this local business!

Place was packed last night. We ate fried shrimp, hamburger w onion rings and prime rib. No one was impressed as everything arrived Luke warm and over cooked? Prices were reasonable and the sampler appetizer platter was good. While Rhondells have seen better days they seemed to get their second wind as the night wore on and played some decent dance songs. All in all not a bad experience. I will go back and try the Nachos next time!

Been here multiple times. Owners are friendly.
I get the bistro burger every time. Sweet potato fries and they give you honey for them. So amazing!

Perfectly cooked steak. Need I say more? The answer is no, but I will anyway.
They had a live blues band playing. The volume was a little higher than I would like it, but the band was excellent. I had the ny strip. The cut was a little thin, but the steak was seasoned very well and cooked exactly as I asked.
One thing that will definitely keep me coming back is the beer. They keep the bar stocked with local brews.
There will be a next time and I think I’ll be trying the ribs.

Stopped in for Lunch today at Stan’s American Bistro for the first time. I was quite surprised! Very nice setup, very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The background music cool as well, especially since being played through a quality sound system vice cheap overhead speakers as in most restaurants. (Superb mix of blues, contemporary and etc). The wait staff were excellent, and the overall feel was great.
We ordered the special for the day, Roast Beef with fries for me, and a salad for my wife, with an appetizer of nachos. All of the food was great! Quality ingredients and preparation. For lunch, there are daily specials, and I can’t wait to come back in again and try the flounder and some of the other specials also.
A great, clean, modern and well-​run establishment. I’m definitely returning! 4+ stars.

Great for lunch, I popped in with my customer to get away from the office and try to build a consulting relationship over a meal. It was a good choice. We let the waitress recommend something and went with that.
Club Sandwich was a good choice. I opted for the sweet potato fries as the side. Plenty of bread, turkey, ham and of course bacon with just enough mayo that you knew it was there but not too much. The fries were perfect, though I’m guessing out of a big bag of frozen. No biggie — they were tasty and took care of the big pile of ketchup.
Sweet tea was tasty and refilled often.
Hard to go wrong with two good lunches for $ 22 plus tip.

Five stars for both Stan’s & Unilocal.This was our first trip to Virginia Beach & we were looking for something better than standard chains. Having used Unilocal with success in DC we simply plugged in our hotel address & picked the restaurant that most appealled to our mood.
Service and the food were great — it was a slow Monday night in August, so YMMV. By the time we had left, we knew everyone by their first name.

After a long day I needed a drink and a bite to eat. I turned to Unilocal as I often do to make a suggestion on somewhere new. I decided on Stan’s Bistro which is located near the court houses in the new Harris Teeter Shopping Center. I really liked that they have a stage for ‘Open Mic Nights” every Wednesday. Just something different to break up the week. I was disappointed that I was only able to order appetizers after 9pm. This usually means an array of greasy, unhealthy food for dinner. The BF and I decided on the sampler platter of 4. I was underwhelmed by the flavor or lack there of even for cheese sticks, potato skins and BBQ chicken wings. Our waitress Codie was very friendly and attentive. I hated to give only three stars but felt that it was fair… I hope to come back in the future and get there early enough for a real dinner!

Nice setting with a first responder theme. The menu provides some history about Stan and why he opened this establishment.
Seating is quick and orders are taken quickly, but food delivery is slow. Today, we had to request our food «to go» as it took 45 minutes for delivery. I realized too late that «to go» order was incomplete. This is not the place to go if you are time limited.
In general, the food is acceptable, but there are few healthy choices. Will not return.

This was my first visit here. The main color theme here is yellow and red. There is definitely a firefighter theme to the place.
Seating was immediate and the server was prompt with getting the drink and food orders. The menu is small, but the options are good and varied.
For dinner, I had the fried shrimp with onion rings and macaroni and cheese. The meal was very good. The shrimp were cooked well. I had onion rings and macaroni and cheese as my sides. The onion rings were great; they were cooked perfectly and they didn’t come out greasy. The macaroni and cheese was also great. There was plenty of cheese in it and was not hard to eat, as it wasn’t over cooked.
With that being said, this is a great place to go. This place is located near the courthouse. The only reason why I gave the place a four star rating instead of five was due to the service experience. When ordering, our server Zach didn’t seem to know the menu as well. However, he may be fairly new there. It would not stop me from coming back. I was there in the early evening, but they do have live music starting at 8 pm on weekend nights.

Ordered ½ chicken salad sandwich with cup of shrimp bisque followed by strawberry short cake for dessert.
Chicken Salad Sandwich: The half was more like a quarter vs a half– think slider size.
Bisque: Was very good but don’t go searching for any signs of shrimp … You will not find it.
Dessert: AWESOME!
I would go back again. It’s much better than the nearest alternative in the area– fast food, pizza or chinese.

I hate to be so negative towards a place that just opened but this place is not ready to be in business.
As we were seated, about ¾ of the place was full and I noticed just about everybody was waiting for their food. Not a good sign. Our waitress was pleasant enough but there was only so much she could do being at the mercy of the bartender and the kitchen crew.
For drinks, I ordered a basic gin martini and my wife ordered a cosmo. About twenty minutes later when they arrived I noticed just how small the cocktails are. It might have been happy hour but you do not generate return business by skimping on your drinks. Also, the martini was nearly undrinkable. It was close to room temperature and tasted like nothing but cheap turpentine gin. I reverted to a simple vodka and club soda with lime just to dull the horror of this experience. That is one drink that is tough to screw up.
We ordered a starter of wings for $ 7.99 and after about 30 minutes, what we got was a plate with five wings on it covered in an overly sweet, sticky sauce. No individual plates were offered. We had to ask for them but the server never showed up with them until we had eaten the wings. If we had waited they would have been cold.
We both ordered burgers for our entrees. Carbo kid ordered the roast beef with macaroni and cheese. I asked for my burger to be cooked medium with a sunny side up egg (i.e. runny yolk please). What I got was a nearly incinerated burger with an egg fried over hard, which is truly pointless in my book. I also asked them to hold the avocado but true to form, it came with it anyway and it wasn’t just your ordinary avocado. This stuff was rock hard and woefully discolored. I’m talking a reddish hue. I’m not sure what you have to do to an avocado for it to take on such an appearance. Did they try to pickle it or something? Just gross. My wife asked for sweet potato fries and received regular fries.
Carbo kids meal was so bad she asked if we could go to the nearby Harris Teeter to pick up something to eat afterwards. The cheese sauce had no flavor, even after she laced it with salt. Poor kid. The meat was dry and almost unchewable.
Most distressing, though, is the fact that there is no presence in the dining room at all from either the owner or a general manager. There was no sense that anybody was in charge and taking responsibility for this disaster in motion. Also, I suspect that just about every menu item comes straight out of the Sysco catalog and is simply thawed and heated up for serving by this inept kitchen crew. I’ll bet almost nothing, if anything, is made from scratch.
The restaurant business is simply too competitive for a place like this to succeed. Customers are too savvy to settle for such poor performance. Even though this place is close to home, I don’t see us ever making a return visit. I would rather drive an additional 10 – 15 miles to get my money’s worth at a restaurant worthy of the label.