John K.
Yelp
When we arrived, my wife and I explained to the waitress that we were driving Skyline Drive for our anniversary and was looking to cap the event with an anniversary meal. Unfortunately, telling her didn't help. The waitress was exceeding friendly, but that turned out to be a bad thing. Throughout our meal, when we asked for something, she would leave, but then we would watch as she stopped and visited at length with every other table in the room -- while we waited for our drinks, for salads, for bread, etc. At one point, after leaving with our request for refills, she stopped at the table directly across the aisle from us (4 feet away) and talked with them for literally 10 minutes.
I ordered the roasted turkey dinner which came with stuffing and broccoli. My wife ordered the meatloaf which came with mashed potatoes and onion straws.
To go with our meals, we ordered an $8 bread basket which prompted great expectations. However, it came out with literally 2 store-bought Parkerhouse roles, 2 smallish pieces of cornbread and one other small non-descript bread item. You get far better at most other restaurants for free. It was definitely not a premium, $8 bread basket.
Then both of our meals came out. Cold. The broccoli was the coldest dish (that was supposed to be hot) that I have ever been served at a restaurant. I asked the waitress if she could just microwave our two plates of food. They had pretty good flavor. They just weren't hot. She took them, and quite some time later, she came back -- without our food, and announced that they were remaking them. Then the dishes came out a second time - unbelievably, still not hot. I pleaded with her again - just microwave them. She took them and then came back a third time. STILL not hot. She was very apologetic, saying that she had zapped them for a minute. That clearly was not nearly enough.
We asked (twice) to see the manager - once asking our waitress and when they didn't show up, and with our waitress missing, we asked another waitress to ask the manager to come see us. She finally showed up, and when we summarized our anniversary experience, she expressed regret, but explained that the waitress was fairly new and just needed some more training... (You think?) To make up for everything, she offered us free desert. We left.
On Skyline Drive, go for the scenery but skip the Big Meadows Spottswood Dining Room. You will thank me for it.