Every time I dine at this restaurant I have a memorable dining experience. One of my favorite items…read moreon their summer menu is their R&R Hanger Steak. A Hanger steak is a long, flat, flavorful cut reminiscent of flank steak and skirt steak, only more tender. In the US, hanger steak is most commonly called "hanging tender" or "butcher's steak." It gets the latter nickname because it was historically a "secret" cut that butchers would keep for themselves rather than sell to the public. Other names you might see on menus for this cut are Hanging tenderloin and Bistro steak. All that I know is that it's the best piece of meat that I have ever eaten and it has been at this restaurant. So that was the main reason I came to dine here today and my expectations were completely fulfilled. When I arrived, I was greeted by a friendly, young lady with the warm welcoming of a regular guest. She happily took me to the table I had requested when I made my reservation online. It was a table facing the bar with their open kitchen on the right of me. I like to watch the bartenders and chefs in action as they create their amazing drinks and culinary masterpieces. Immediately after I was seated my server Tim came by with the usual familiar greeting, welcoming me once again for returning to dine there and thanking me for being such a loyal customer. I had the usual cold water and this time started off with one of their Butterfly Kisses Mocktails. It both looked and tasted amazing. For appetizer I had their VA Oyster Wraps, followed by their special salad of the day. And for the main entrée I had their R&R Hanger Steak. Everything was timed appropriately and was served at the right timing. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and the high-quality of their food and drinks. For dessert I had my favorite, their Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta. What a way to end a spectacular dinner. I highly recommend this restaurant for an exceptional fine dining experience.

While The River and Rail has many things going for it: great location, adorable atmosphere, fancy…read moreand delicious cocktails and delicious food, one thing they don't have going for them is their ability to stay true to their operating hours. My friend and I walked in at 9 o'clock EXACTLY on a Thursday night to have a drink. The sign on the door said they were open until 10:00. There were 4 or 5 tables seated, enjoying dinner and cocktails. 5 or 6 people at the bar. There was no one to start with at the actual hostess stand and servers saw us standing at the door but did not approach us even though there was an hour left on their operating time. So we walked directly to the bar and sat down. We had just eaten at Fork in the Alley so all we wanted was one drink and we figured an hour was plenty of time to get that done. The first thing the bartender said to us was "The kitchen is closed." Not "hello" or "Hey what can I get you?" but the kitchen is closed. I said "oh I'm sorry I thought you closed at 10:00." He said "well, that's up for debate we were actually discussing that right now. We're basically closed but you can have a drink because it's not like the rest of these people are going anywhere." What do you mean that's up for discussion? Your hours say you're open till 10 o'clock, it's 9 o'clock I have an hour to eat and have drinks! The other bartender, or perhaps he was only a bar back, gave us a very disapproving look. I get it, I work in the food service industry. I'm a server at a 4 diamond restaurant, and I hate when people walk in minutes before we close and want to sit down. But if we post that we're open until 10 and you walk in at 9:45 I'm going to serve you and treat you like anyone else that walked in at 6:00 because it's your tips that pay my bills and put food on my table. It's definitely not the hourly wage I get from my employer! And as a server I never walk into a restaurant with less than 30 minutes to close. And it's more like an hour if I'm looking to eat a meal. I know you want to go home. When it's the end of the night and I'm at work, so do I! But there's an hour left and I wanted one drink. That's it! We continued to get disappointed looks from a few other employees even though we weren't the last people in the place. I told my friend (it's 9:45 at this point) that we obviously need to go since servers are standing around looking at us like we've got the plague. We paid our bill and promptly left. Two couples still at the bar. It's 9:59 right now as I'm writing this at home (you're still technically open btw) but I left feeling like I had stayed hours past your closing time. It's a real shame because we really enjoyed our drinks! They were super yummy! And I'm always getting asked by guests where's a good place for a late night cocktail and I used to recommend The River and Rail right along with Lucky's because we had a shuttle that would take guests out, but after tonight I won't be doing that anymore. Because there's nothing worse than feeling unwelcome at a restaurant that is still open.

Having recently moved to Roanoke, we headed here on a recommendation from son and dil. The diner…read morewas busy but spots were open for us. From a great comprehensive breakfast menu and over a big cup of coffee, we ordered. I had the "Little Boy" that include 2 eggs and 2 either bacon or sausage. A pancake and biscuit w sausage gravy accompanied the eggs and bacon! She had chip beef gravy over toast, a hard to find favorite of hers! Service was quick, pleasant and efficient, the breakfast was yummy, ample and a great experience! Glad we discovered a nice old school diner w a great menu, great vibe and service!

Everything went well! I had the 1 pound burger and it was AMAZING! Can't recommend this place…read moreenough!

Service quick for beer after quickly seated. Waiting 30 minutes for 10 wings and cheese curds…read more Otherwise it's a great atmosphere, super friendly waitress

If you place a future order, be prepared to be told they can't find your order, that you made a…read moremistake you ordered somewhere else. You start making calls to see if maybe the order got diverted to the other location, then you find out that no. It's here. And they act shocked that "oh they found it!" Then you wait 20 minutes past your pickup time and you ask for an ETA and they say "it'll be a few more minutes" Just really appalling.

Great food and beer! Stopped in for a flight and a snack, and was pleasantly surprised at the…read moreamount of options with both food and drink. We ordered some truffle fries and the jalapeño popper burger, and both were delicious. The beers were all fantastic, but J particularly enjoyed the pecan amber ale. Our food and drinks came out quickly and we were very well taken care of. We had a nice seat outdoors on the patio area and people watched. We will definitely be back when the tap list rotates!

It's pretty clear that this place has no idea how to make pretzel bites. You should advertise them…read moreas salad croutons. Didn't taste anything like pretzel at all. Also the buffalo chicken macaroni is one of the worst I've ever tried. I'm glad this place isn't in my hometown. They would have closed by now.

Excellent Espresso Martini's! 3 beans with great foam. Love there Blacken Chicken on a salad…read more.. Very fresh Salads. Highly recommend.

Nice ambience, with good food and service at reasonable prices. Half-price burgers on Wednesdays,…read moredelicious shrimp, and grits are two of my favorites

I've oftentimes have driven by this establishment and wondered what's inside. So today I decided to…read morego and explore it. After all, I've often liked to sit in the front row when attending live events. What I found was a bit disappointing. More than a restaurant this is a place to drink beer and cocktails while watching a game on a large screen TV. It has a very limited food menu and when I went the place seemed deserted. While I was there only one other customer came in, drank two beers while watching the big screen TV, talked.over the phone, and left. My server was very nice and friendly, but the food left much to be desired. I ordered a BBQ Burger that was listed on the menu as a 1/3 lb Angus burger with onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese, and BBQ sauce. Sounded great but I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review. The beef patty was small and dry and the one onion ring looked beaten. Even though it has a pool table in the back and signs up that seemed to have activities going on throughout the week, this is not a place that I would like to be in the front row, especially for the poor quality of their food and questionable ambiance.

I don't get the positive reviews. We went for lunch on a weekday and the place was dead. The…read morewaitress was inside watching TV and the cook was outside smoking. The ambience of the place left much to be desired. I won't eat at a restaurant that is empty at a time it should be full. I figure others know what I don't. Not recommended.

I had high hopes for this place. Beautiful atmosphere, friendly service but the price for the…read moreportion was a little more than I would have ordinarily paid. I had the grilled salmon. The salmon was slightly over cooked and a tad bit salty. I wouldn't recommend not going but give them a go. It may have been an off night.

I came in with big hopes and feel torn about this review. I think the issue is there are so many…read moreunique and amazing restaurants within walking distance in downtown Roanoke that my expectations are HIGH. The dining area is an interesting mix out copper table tops, wood chairs, and exposed brick walls. Character. I had a pineapple upside down cake cocktail. It was yummy But it was filled with tiny ice slithers that made it difficult to drink without choking on ice until the slithers melted. I always appreciate a good Luxor . The food was fine... I was just hoping to be awed. I had the grilled salmon was looking, for medium but it was definitely well done. It was will seasoned and I was hungry, so none went to waste, lol. I was just hoping for something special. The veggie side was small and basic but well seasoned and the potatoes were also well seasoned but missing the Chicago butter sauce advertised. Instead it had a tiny smear of what I'm assuming was cocktail sauce. I tried the cheesecake bread pudding which was their bread pudding of the day. Overall it was good. I wouldn't have minded more cream cheese and was kind of disappointed the strawberries came out with the leaves still attached. At this price point, I don't want to have to remove things on my own. My server was great, she was training someone new but still managed to be perfectly attentive without being over bearing. With Sidecar and Stock so close by, it takes a peak performance to get me to repeat a restaurant stop when I'm in town for work. This was a solid 4 today but there are 5 star worthy places that have my attention.

The fact that they get their bread donated and its left outside in the morning the day before the…read morestore opens at 845am is the sole reason I will NEVER step foot in there. Edit: its now 9:30am and the paper bag full of bread is still sitting on the stoop. At this point it most definitely has had cockroaches, flies, mice, and rats crawling all over it.

I cannot believe I have not written a review for this place when I go literally every week. Show…read morePony is such an amazing addition to the Roanoke area. Every Monday they have $2 oysters which always makes it worth going. The drinks here are AMAZING!!! it's so unique and so delicious! I enjoy that the food menu will have rotating items on top of permanent items. I cannot recommend the chicken tenders more. Everyone who works there is always nice and welcoming.