My husband and I met for lunch here and I'm surprised to say I will never go back. It took 20 minutes for us to be greeted and get water then an additional 45 minutes to get the plain salads that we had ordered. As a server and bartender myself I know that sometimes when it's busy the kitchen can get backed up. But this wait was with only 3 other tables in the restaraunt and theres no excuse for the wait timw on water. I would hate to see how they handle four or five tables at one time. read more

To date the very best decor and innovative restaurant in Norfolk, if i saw a dance floor and a big brass band i would swear we were in the 20s.give me a torch singer every time. who would have thought to dine in a speakeasy, drinks yes food maybe but trust me what a convenience and quite the gem. Even though it wasn't restaurant week we were pleased and excited to try their menu I had the mussels, salmon on linguini and strawberry shortcake with white chocolate topping.with a bottle of moscato wine went well with everything, my wife had the salmon cakes real hand made (Not Frozen )can't say enough good about this place starting with your entrance to your exit the service is just wonderfull. With infusion drinks as our after dinner drinks wow what an experience don't change, don't leave Norfolk needs more of this! read more

Horrible, simply horrible. Ordered two manhattans and were served a poor example demonstrated by vermouth in a martini glass. After multiple attempts to discuss with the staff to no avail we proceeded to tell them we were leaving. The following head nod allowed us to believe we could go to a bar with properly made drinks. After we left and proceeded down the street, the only 2 bar attendees followed us down the street to tell us we had walked out on "perfectly made drinks". After disagreeing and offering to pay they told us the two drinks would be $40. After objecting they said they would cover it since we "couldn't". I will NEVER go to this place again. read more

I have long wanted to dine here and thought a night out with my girls perfect before a play. Reservations were made and we were seated in a drafty back corner. After waiting twenty minutes I had to get up to inquire about a wait person. One finally arrived and took our drink order. After another wait the arrived and our dinner order was taken. An hour later our food arrived at which time I registered my displeasure. During the meal the same gentleman I had asked for a wait person came over to inquire about our meal. I nicely told him of the long wait and lack of attention to our table. He immediately told me I was wrong and rendered excuses for the wait.At no time did he apologize ending the conversation with "I hope you will come see us again". The food was less than engaging, service totally inadequate, and the conversation with the management was rude. Needless to say I won't be returning. The play, however, was delightful. read more

Drinks, their claim to fame, we're not great. I had the sweetest Cosmo I've ever had ( not good). Food was so so. My pork was served nearly raw. I didn't eat it and they took it off the bill but I went home very hungry. Not a very "gluten" friendly menu read more

Came here for brunch this past Sunday with my family for the first time. Food was great. Service was great. The waitress was very friendly. The ambiance is really neat because it has a forty's feel to it. All in all, a very enjoyable experience at a reasonable price! Look forward to returning! read more

Being a local, we have dined here multiple times. The food is mediocre and over-priced. But we did like the location. The service is ALWAYS very slow, so we give ourselves a lot of time before the curtain opens next-door. This time we arrived at 5:00 for a 7pm performance, to eat beforehand. The surly waiter took a while to take our orders. We purposely ordered meals that would not require a lot of prep time. At 6:30, we still had not been served any food, including appetizers! We tracked down our waiter numerous times to ask if we were going to be fed before our show and he would shrug his shoulders. The owner was present and he promised to make it right, but our food still did not come until past 6:30. He did not take anything off of the bill. We ended up paying $120+ but had to wolf down only a few bites to make our show. We obviously did not leave a tip! In the future, we will dine at the GREENHOUSE restaurant across the street before a theater show. The food is local, organic, inexpensive, and the service is excellent. We just discovered this wonderful restaurant recently. We are switching!!! read more

Very unique place. Food was great - I had a blackened salmon special. The decor is cool with authentic decor from the 1920s-30s. The best part was the pianist followed by a jazz singer who played the flute. ...and this was a Thursday night. Very special place - we are just visiting, so may not get back for a long time. read more

Gershwins provides a 40s Great Gatsby-inspired atmosphere with live music on most nights. We stopped in on a December night, with the restaurant beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and the pianist playing some amazing renditions of classic Christmas carols. The service was great, food was amazing down to the bread and butter, and ambiance was like no other place I have been to. We will be back! read more

MUST GO!! My colleagues and I finished work late on Sunday and did not get a chance to find food until 9:30. Gershwins closes at 10 on Sundays but they did not bat an eye that we came in so late. Candida was our fabulous lovely and patient server - her personality is out of this world. In order to not tax the kitchen at such a late time, we all ordered the salmon. Let me tell you, hailing from Seattle I am a salmon snob. This was one of the BEST salmon dishes I have had at a restaurant. I prefer salmon more on the rare side, my colleagues like it more well done. All of us raved. The presentation was amazing (We dug in before I had a chance to take a pic.) The prices are very reasonable for the most excellent meal and service (about $20 for the salmon). Also the ambiance was lovely and the decor very unique. We will be going back to Gershwins as much as we can while we're in town! Thank you Candida!! read more

Stopped in on a layover on a Saturday night. It Was a beautiful cocktail bar/ restraunt with a live jazz band playing. Great looking bartenders, with great hospitality (Eric, and Dora). Even at 11:30pm they served us from the full menu. I ordered the shrimp and grits. Wow they were cooked perfect and seasoned nicely. The atmosphere is nice for a date or chatting with some friends. They ended our dinner with some amazing coconut and yellow cake, and a slice chocolate cake. It couldn't have been a better night. read more

Today is the day I'm posting reviews on all the places I have visited recently . This place looks great , ambience is very cozy but food and drinks not so as I expected . I want to try again so will see if I like it again or not ! read more

I started the night really excited about the concept and the more positive reviews I had seen, and ended up so completely disappointed! Positives: the food was good (my steak was perfectly seared but the cream sauce kinda sucked) and the drinks were interesting. That's about all that was good. Our server was completely drunk off his ass and wreaked of booze and weed, which was surprising for an older gentleman. He poke slowly, quietly, and quite slurred. We reluctantly placed our order and waited around for a while. We noticed that about an hour and a half after we had placed our orders, our server finally put them in. Which means we ended up being charged regular prices instead of the happy hour prices for our drinks and my husbands burger. Never going back here! read more

Awful service tonight. We had reservations for before a nearby show, and even sat for 20 minutes before we were given water. We gave ourselves 1.5 hours to eat before the event (which we asked the host about before the reservation, they assured it was alright), and we even ordered only appetizers. An hour and such later, we had not received our food. We went to find our waitress, who we had not seen and a while, and she said no the food would not be ready in 15-30 minutes to make the show. The party had to split up to box up the food and pay the bill so some of us could make the event. None of us ate dinner at all after an hour and a half. After this ordeal, it only got worse. I stayed to pay, and the waitress sent someone else to drop the bill off. The waitress then proceeded to talk bad about our party to the tables next to us as I am waiting to pay the bill. Waiting for someone to take the bill took at least 25 minutes, until I finally had to track down someone random to take our card. Our waitress kept walking by our table at least 5 times, but it seemed as though she refused to come back to our table. I eventually approached her as she was leaving another table and gave her the bill to take. She proceeded to roll her eyes at me and treat me with such disrespect I was disgusted. read more

Last night we left an awful New Year's party and on a whim decided to see if we could get a table at Gershwin's. The restaurant was completely booked, but the gracious hostess managed to find us a table, and we had a wonderful time. The server was adorable and energetic and spot-on every time we needed or wanted anything. The entertainment was superb. And I can't say enough about the happy and engaging atmosphere. We will remember this dinner at Gershwin's very fondly for a long time to come. read more

Made reservations for 2 - when we arrived they put us upstairs because it was "romantic". Big joke, all you can see up there is the air ducts. Then the wait staff forgets you are there - weak service. May we got a bad night but drinks not so special but food was good. If you go, make sure they seat you on the main floor, if not available, just go someplace else and come back on another day. We had many issues but management tried to make it right, but they just did not know how too. We will try one more time before totally writing this place off. read more

The service was excellent, the food delicious. The Mannings (owners) were so kind to help me arrange for a special song to be played by piano player, Cindy Clark. We stayed later than we planned because we had such a good time! read more

Alright, we went here for Sunday Brunch. Hardly anyone there. Not crowded so there was no reason the food should have been so bad. The atmosphere is nice, decorations nice. Price is good. Food was not. Wife got sausage gravy biscuits with a side of bacon grits. Grits were dry, lumpy and tasteless. Sausage biscuits had very little gravy and were stone cold. Biscuits were hard. Daughter-in-law got shrimp grits. They were very bland and you could tell the shrimp were old by the smell.(I wouldn't have eaten them, but she did) I got the breakfast platter with scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon and home fries. Eggs were over done and hard (but at least hot) bacon was OK but not great and the home fries were ok. Son got the burger which he said was OK but not great. Service was fine but the waitress never asked wife if she wanted refill on her coffee. However she did her best to bring us additional muffins when asked. Overall I will not be going back any time soon. read more

The décor was cool. The waitstaff very nice. Prices are high. Food is average.

Service a little uneven. The staff seems friendly, but move like they are confused or underwater. Great happy hour menu and prices.

I'm going to have to say this was the worst brunch I've ever experienced, and I do love some brunch. The two stars are for the service, drinks, and atmosphere which were all nice, but nothing can redeem the food. Some friends and I went here for Sunday brunch based on a recommendation. I knew things were amiss when we got the menus, which looked like they had been dropped on a wet floor, thrown in the trash, then retrieved because "oops... that's the brunch menu." The only one who actually enjoyed their food was the friend that recommended the place. Everyone else either reluctantly ate their meal or sent it back to have something corrected. I had the biscuits and gravy, with the saltiest gravy, some cheap sausage, and what I think was a biscuit. The drinks were great though, and the server was very nice. I'm not sure what dinner is like here, but I won't be returning to find out. I actually went to Ihop later that day to correct the mistake of coming here. Yes, Ihop. read more

First of all, we were seated and no one came to the table for 10 mins for a reservation we had made days ahead of time. The bathrooms were atrocious and when we politely and discreetly mentioned it to manager she said "I didn't think to look at the toilet" when she went into freshen up the bathroom it didn't occur to her to even check there so it was never taken care of. We asked for a "well done no pink at all" steak which came out rare and bloody. We were delivered the wrong meals from another party and when we finally got what we ordered 2 of the 5 meals were cold. Our waitress, come to find out, was the manager of the shift and unable to comprehend our attempts to be patient and non-confrontational resulted in her being defensive, argumentative, and rude. Even if they offered us a free dinner for a year, we would never go back there but the Christmas tree was a beautiful and the piano player is so talented. read more

Overall I had a decent experience here. I went for happy hour on a Wednesday. When I entered there was a man playing the piano which was a nice change of pace from the typical restaurant experience. The bartenders, which at that time were all women, had on tuxedos, which in my opinion were really cheesy. They looked stuffy and uncomfortable to work in. One bartender seemed to be very hot. I felt bad that they had to work in that get up. To my surprise there were no other customers at their huge bar. And it stayed that way the entire happy hour. Since all the apps were half off during happy hour I ordered the fried calamari and mussels in white wine sauce. The calamari was seasoned very well, and wasn't too chewy. I do wish they had a crisp batter. It was pretty soft. But since it tasted good I didn't mind too much. The mussels were pretty good, however I felt like it needed just a little more salt. They served the mussels with a stale french baguette. It tasted like one of those french baguettes from Walmart. That was definitely a no no. I wasn't interested in their happy hour wine specials so I decided to get prosecco, which was very tasty. I wasn't blown away, but I would come back. read more