Bee & Butter

"We had reservations at 7. We were seated right when we checked in. The atmosphere is great! The food was just okay. Our service was not great at all. We ordered an appetizer that never came. Our waitress never acknowledged that we didn’t receive the appetizer. We had to get her attention to get our drinks refilled. We were excited to try this restaurant. Sadly, we will not be returning."

"When I walk into a restaurant I tend to form expectations based on the menu. Bee & Butter is asking $49 for a NY Strip and $45 for crab cakes, which places it among the most expensive restaurants in the NRV. Neither the service nor the quality of food justified the price. My initial impression of the restaurant was poor after entering. Bee & Butter has an open kitchen, and the three men in the kitchen were dressed less professionally than I would expect for a restaurant of this type. Their chef’s uniforms looked soiled and disheveled, and all three were wearing backwards caps, generally of some NFL team. Service was a bit slow at the beginning. We were greeted shortly after we sat down, but the server disappeared for about 15 minutes before coming back to take our appetizer order. My wife was disappointed we weren’t seated at the window; there are a large number of tables along the back of the restaurant with a view and we were instead put at a 2-top at the front. I believe we were the first ones seated inside for dinner and when we left the restaurant only one or two of the tables with a view were occupied. We started with the wedge salad. It had entirely too much dressing on it; it seemed I was eating more dressing than salad. The dressing itself did not taste of blue cheese, and I felt the toppings on the salad were too sparse. For our main course I got the grilled chef’s cut and my wife the bolognese. The chef’s cut was served with potatoes, tomatoes, and a mushroom, which were all quite good. They were warm and well-seasoned, but I cannot say the same for the beef. It was both cold (seemingly below room temperature) and under-seasoned. The food came out fairly quickly after we ordered, so I would be shocked if the beef were cooked to order given the temperature it was served. The bolognese was better, and much closer to real bolognese than any other restaurant in the NRV. That said, it lacked the intense heartiness and creaminess of good bolognese. It seemed to have breadcrumbs on top, which is unusual for bolognese and would have ruined any creamy texture. After the main course we explained to the server we were interested in dessert, but on a time crunch. She dropped off a dessert menu then disappeared. 15 minutes later she had not checked back, and I had to grab someone else to bring our check. For much of this time our server was at the bar conversing with her coworkers. At one point I witnessed a bartender place a drink at the bar to go out, when our server grabbed a straw, plunged it into the drink, plugged the top of the straw with a finger, and withdrew it to take a sip. So at least one patron of Bee & Butter had a cocktail sampled by our server. There was little to like about Bee & Butter, unfortunately. Both the food and the service fell well-short of expectations. I will say the restaurant itself looks great and the views are fantastic."

"Met old friends to check out this restaurant with beautiful views !! Yes it is spectacular to see the rolling ranges to the north and great views of Radford and surrounding areas. Lauren our server was great and the food was prepared to perfection. A great informal experience. The flow from appetizers to salads and then our meal was very smooth !! My Manhattan strip was cooked to perfection !! We'll come back again !!"

"We had such high hopes and heard all the hype about this place! A Michelin Starred trained Chef and Menus in Radford, Virginia! COUNT US IN!!!!!! What a shock to us in every way!!! The prices were shy-high and reward was not even as good as Chik-fil-a!!!!! $46 for a cold and super fatty short rib????!!!! Not to mention the Ice-cold fries for another $8-$12! What the heck just happened????? I'm being punked!!!!!! Right????? It was so bad that we started to giggle because we thought at any moment the TV Show Punked was going to reveal itself! But to no avail...It would have helped them tremendously if it was!!!! Dear GOD!!!!!! I've been many many places in the world and in the States over the years, but this place will take the cake for 2023 so far! There has never been a place so faked and so far off the mark than this place!!!! Seriously!!!!! I swear to God! Unless you want to pay $100 for one meal that will have you flabbergasted, still hungry and in utter shock that they think its good; RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND NEVER EVER ABUSE YOURSELF LIKE THIS AGAIN!!!! I've attached the pictures below to show you proof of the aborhorent food actually served!!!! Instead of ordering food, we should have ordered 911!!!!! Between the clueless waiters, to the clueless Managers (almost one for every Guest BTW) make damb sure you have completed your Last Will and Testament--NOTARIZED, WITH THREE COPIES!!!! DO NOT GO!!!!! RUN!!!!!!!!! This place is a disaster!!! SHOCKING!!!! P.S. Yes, we both are sick today and have been married to the toilet!!!!! We have eaten at maybe 1,000 + venues around the world and this was by far the worst food! Add life insurance before taking a chance!!! WOW!!!!!"

"I want to start this review by saying that this restaurant has been open for two days. Any restaurant is going to take time to get it's legs underneath it. If you like dining in the new river valley, this is a MUST check out venue. Rooftop dining and bar, as well as an open kitchen, make this restaurant worth a visit alone. The menu is ambitious and has options for everybody from the burger crowd to the more foodventurous. The grilled swordfish, was cooked exactly as requested and served with a delicious mixed olive and fresh herb chutney. What's keeping this review from being entirely positive is hopefully related to its recent opening. Service was not great and was entirely up to a lack of servers. Our interactions with your host, waitperson and floor manager-when they happened-were all positive. But I can't wait 15 minutes for a waiter to show up, continually wait throughout my meal for my beverage of choice and not ding you on service. I'll give it a couple weeks and go back, because it is totally worth giving another try."