The Heyward

The food was good but the portions were much too small. Embarrassingly small. I’m here for Valentine’s Day pre fixe so I can’t even order more food. I’m hungry and bummed. :(Not a huge fan of sugar but I was waiting for the cake assuming it would be a moderate portion. Actually, no. I’ve never seen a smaller piece of cake. It’s like someone knew you were on a diet and gave you exactly 3 spoonfuls worth of cake. It’s amazing! It’s a Barbie-​sized cake. I wish I’d taken a picture but I was so hungry that I ate it all in 60 seconds. Note to the kitchen: flour and sugar are not expensive ingredients. If you’re gonna skimp on the meal, at least give your diners a substantial piece of cake. Jeez…
oh and service is unpleasant. And– do I need to listen to heavy metal on V day? No bueno.
The bill was $ 100 each. Wow.

Came here for brunch back in December, and had a good experience.
The place was not packed, which was quite surprising for a Sunday in Williamsburg.
The place looks great, the service was good and efficient and the food was quite good, I’d say above average (and the average around here is quite high given how picky people are with their brunch).
All in all I’d definitely recommend it.

The food was exceptional. It looked like a cool place (which it is) but we were really impressed with how delicious the food was. The menu is simple with four or five appetizers and four or five entrées. We had a very large kale salad as an appetizer. For the entrée we had a delicious hanger steak and the short ribs. We also indulged ourselves with the bacon and cheese biscuit which was out of this world and the southern red velvet cake for dessert. The atmosphere was of a local place that you would come back to over and over again.

I needed a last minute spot to meet friends for dinner in Williamsburg but didn’t have a reservation, I had been recommended The Heyward so decided to give it a try. I was greeted by the host with a welcoming smile, and as I was early she suggested I sit at the bar whilst waiting for my friends. Great bar, friendly barman and fantastic vodka martini. Once my friends arrived we were seated right away and dinner was delicious. Attentive and knowledgable service, relaxed ambiance, and really great food and wine. I will be back!

After a few lovely happy hour experiences, my friends and I had a mediocre to bad dinner, which doesn’t make us want to come back any time soon…
The atmosphere is lovely and it was pretty chill for a Saturday night. The waitress was friendly. Everything started pretty well. But then the food came… The vegetable skillet pie was pretty good, but our $ 15 salad had old, yellow salad leaves in it. When I told the waitress, she said «Oh no!» and that was it. Then the entrees came: Three people had the $ 28 fish; all three fish portions were quite small for the price, but one of the pieces was substantially smaller. The waitress’s reply was «That’s the special one!» No offer to bring a bit more, or anything. Additionally, the rest of the plate consisted of mealy rice and overcooked vegetables. Definitely not a $ 28 entrée. Our side dishes were also pretty bad: dry/​oversalted cauliflower and burned Brussels sprouts.
Worse than the food was that our waitress just left in the middle of the service without informing us, leaving the place with one (quite indifferent) waiter. We were ignored for a while and once we got his attention, he made no effort to explain what had happened. He even picked up the signed credit card slips before we left without saying anything.
There’s a reason this place seems pretty empty most nights: overpriced food and indifferent service do not make for a welcoming neighborhood joint. Save your time and money and visit the lovely Witlof a few blocks away for a taste of what the Hayward should be/​feel like.

One of the worst experience in a restaurant. The service was horrible and the food quality is not worth the trip visited 12÷27÷15. Wouldn’t recommend this place for an enemy, definitely won’t recommend it for any friends.

This is seriously one of the tastiest spots in Williamsburg! Every dish is impeccable and I don’t say this about a lot of places as I am a chef and tend to be hyper critical! But always impressed here.
The shrimp and grits/​octopus/​hangar steak and Red kale salad are my favorites

Awesome brunch! I love the french toast breakfast sandwich there. it has everything in one bite. its sweet and savory. The spot is pretty and relaxed, especially for a Sunday. they give complimentary bread pudding in the beginning of the meal which was delicious as well. I could eat a whole plate of them,… or maybe i did :)

Terrible omelette, didn’t taste like anything and very obviously made out of tetrapak. Small portions, no bread and slow service.
The shrimp and grits was ok but lacked seasoning.
Nice location though but overall very disappointing and I’m still hungry!

The Heyward is fantastic. As a local Williamsburg-​er, I’ve stopped by for lunch, dinner and brunch now — it’s quickly become my go-​to spot in the neighborhood.
It’s an elegantly casual + beautifully designed space (check out the working vintage phone) with killer cocktails paired with unique, delicious and approachable food. It’s the kind of place you can visit for a drink and oysters, or buckle down for the full affair. The menu is full of creative, sophisticated takes on classic southern dishes — for dinner, I had the excellent shrimp & grits and a beautiful chilled seafood salad; at lunch it was all about the fried chicken sandwich (hot chicken) and at dinner I paired the summer melon salad with their cheeseburger. Looking forward to trying more!

As someone who is from the south and repeatedly experienced homemade grits/​biscuits from many a southern lady. I can tell you that The Heyward does their southern food right. With a sophisticated spin, they’ve managed to take southern food and elevate it past the standard fare.
I recently had a lovely brunch their with friends. I had the market omelette which had beets and goat cheese and it was so incredibly light and wonderful. Of course with light and wonderful, I had to have one of their amazing sides. So I ordered the biscuits with fresh compote and honey. «I want to just eat this with a spoon» was my friends response to the peach/​pear house made compote that was served alongside perfectly crispy biscuits. For drinks, we all went for the house bloody mary, which went over very well. I’ve been a couple of times and their cocktails are all amazing and strong (which is why we’re ordering them, no?)
Long story short, my brunch was incredibly relaxing, everyone who waited on us was pleasant and made sure we had everything we needed, and my friends loved knowing there is a brunch spot in Williamsburg that not only has great food and cocktails, but a great playlist and super chic dining room. Think this is the new spot for one of those amazingly long dinners with loads of great cocktails and awesome conversation.

The Heyward stands where once was a very much loved café concert called Zebulon. Although I regret not experiencing the live music of Zebulon, my feeling is that part of the love which surrounded that place –as I read and heard from people– took root and grew new interesting branches. The Heyward is an exquisite and elegant restaurant that helps raising the class of a neighborhood in which too many restaurants mingle with others.
Every time I go to The Heyward, especially at dinner or for a late night drink at the bar, I always enjoy that ‘casual sophistication’ that speaks perfectly to my Italian soul. When the staff greets you, they are carrying on with that mood, being friendly and cool but also polite and on point when questioned about the menu. And then the food comes and… Yes. Thank you. Keep bringing me more. So I look at the chef and the cooks, jaw dropping because of their awesome dishes, and we exchange signals of mutual appreciation from across the restaurant. Because obviously the guys in the kitchen are cool too in this place.
Not a single bad moment here. Ever.

The Heyward needs to decide whether it’s a bar or a restaurant.
If it’s a bar, it’s perfectly adequate for our Williamsburg neighborhood. Good strong drinks, albeit at the top of the expensive chart — $ 15 for every cocktail. They’re not exceptional drinks, but they’re good.
If it’s a restaurant, the food is above average — you can see the cooks working away in the open kitchen in the back. But there are lots of problems. An otherwise excellent cheeseburger suffers from limp, poorly grilled bread. Grits suffer from too much cream and cheese, and the fish of the day (tile fish during our first visit) suffers from under-​cooking and it was brought over cool to the touch.
Where The Heyward really screws up is on service. We understand the Williamsburg so cool it hurts vibe with service, but this staff really takes nonchalance to a new level.
There’s never a host at the stand, so when they see you walk in, they’ll saunter over and sit you down. Water glasses went routinely unfilled and basically every time service was desired, it required beckoning a server to come over to you. When they did, it was very rudimentary involvement, no smiles, no «how is it?», etc.
The overall feeling you get dining here is that a bunch of 20-​somethings were handed the keys, hired all of their friends to handle front of house for them, and decided to open the doors.
Unfortunately, creating a comfortable vibe for patrons (especially at these high prices) requires more than just hiring your friends to phone it in, passing the time during work hours until the group can share cocktails at the end of the shift.
Given how many other options are nearby, we will not be returning to The Heyward.
Long story short — if you’re going to be a bar, don’t serve food, or make it clear that food is just a sideline.
If you’re going to be a restaurant, you really need to do it right; hire the right staff, and hire an adult, experienced manager who understands how to create a desirable experience for patrons.

I’ve given this place 3 tries. I hesitated to write a review. But, after tonight, I had to. I hope the chef & owners might read this & see how easy a fix it is to make this a 5 star review.
1^st and 2^nd visits — went for brunch. The food was incredible! Seasonal vegetables. Eggs cooked perfectly. Awesome avocado toast. Great Southern inspired dishes. But, the staff was terrible. Honestly, seemed like there wasn’t even a manager on duty. Staff all felt like it was a first day at a job. Not first day at a restaurant job. Just, simply, first day at a job. Food was so great the first time, though, that we gave it a second chance. Again, food was incredible. Service was atrocious.
3^rd and final visit tonight. Got there around 10pm for a glass of wine. There were about 4 or 5 tables still finishing dinner. Clearly, the restaurant was slowing down but the kitchen was still open. I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. I was immediately surrounded by 4 – 5 employees who had clearly just finished work & wanted their shift drink/​meal. They proceeded to yell across me. The employee next to me played a game loudly on his phone. They all laughed and talked across me, a paying customer. Again, there were still at least 3 tables still seated after dinner. At one point, the manager walked around & literally threw tip envelopes at the employees. Like, tossed the envelopes across the bar in front of me. Again, a paying customer. She also didn’t seem to care at all about the lack of professionalism of her staff.
I have worked in the industry for 24 years. I want to love this place. The food is amazing. The chefs clearly have tons of talent. Unfortunately, the owners have hired a group of idiots to run and service their restaurant. I feel really bad for the actually talented chefs.

I guess you need to have a popped collar button down to get treated like a human being in this place.
My boyfriend and I were treated like second class citizens immediately. Our water was never refilled. Our bland mediocre food took too long to come out.
Can’t wait to see what’s in this space next!

Delicious! Beautiful décor with charming ambiance. Service was a bit aloof, but that’s the only reason for 4 stars instead of 5.
My wife had the hanger steak, cooked medium. Really lovely. Tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. Excellent.
I had a few starters and sides in lieu of an entrée: the shrimp and grits were hands down the. best. I’ve ever had. I don’t know what they did to them. Not really authentic Charleston style or anything but let’s not be romantic: they were spectacular. And a good size for an app.
You should go.

Me and my company came here at a night for couple of drink.
When we came they were not so busy and could have seats without waiting.
We sad at their bar counter and ordered a drink for each other.
The interior is nice and at night the lighting is dim but lighter than other bars around.
The bartender is very nice and easy to talk with, and the whole space is relaxed and there is nothing really negative.
The problem is that there are hundreds of similar bars and noting I found standing out about this place.
Meaning I probably will not have reason to come back to here or think of coming here when I am around.

Great (strong) drinks, nice atmosphere, attentive waitstaff and good food. We had a great time and will be back for more. It felt right to be there and the open kitchen in back was a nice location to sit back and observe the happenings at the spot. Each item we ordered was flavorful and stood on its own as a strong course. From the market salad to octopus to duck and special fish is the day (they had me at trout) we thoroughly enjoyed each item and left feeling great as a result of the ploughmans elixr. A very burly and delicious drink.

A beautiful private dinner downstairs with the best friends a lady could ask for makes this place a super win.
Dinner and wine selection is fantastical and for the time being I will refrain from making recommendations for fear that the masses will corrupt a beautiful spot. I will be back tho. No doubt.

Short Review — A little expensive but very good restaurant with a flair for southern seafood style dishes.
Long Review — I came here on the Sunday after Valentines day seeing a place to take my wonderful GF to dinner. I read about this spot recently opening up in my hood and shrimp and grits pretty much made it a done deal. I made an (unnecessary) 8pm Sunday reservation and awaited the night.
Sitting down we made quick work of the menu and placed our order. First up was the shrimp and girts as an appetizer. The grits were creamy and with a little kick. Shrimp were well cooked. There was no cheese present which was actually rather refreshing, especially as an appetizer. Truthfully I feel like you could have gotten a little bit more here, both in the shrimp and grits department. It was not enough to split.
For an entrée I went with the New York Strip with foie gras butter. It was cooked perfectly and one of the better steaks I have had in a while. Portion size was more on point here and it clocked in around 10oz. It was backed up with some perfectly cooked and crispy fingerling potatoes, steak frites ain’t got nothing on some perfectly seasoned fingerlings.
The GF went with the crab soup. I did not try any however I could see from where I was sitting it was a little light on the crab. She did like it but echoed the opinion.
We finished with a split chocolate confection that was great, but not memorable enough that writing this review a week later I can tell you exactly what it was.
Other than the food the service was satisfactory (one waitress had a completely unacceptable amount of perfume on) and the space itself was well laid out with a great vibe. Would I come back? Eeeeeh not sure. The portions on a whole was a little slight, and the prices I feel were 25% too high for what was being dished out.