Rose Marie Inn

I went back for the Sailor sandwich, and it was delicious.   We were also treated to live music!

I too have known about this place since I was a kid and have only been there a few times. Always get the hamburger but for the life of me can not see what the excitement is in the reviews. I notice that these reviews are old. Maybe things have changed in the last year. This is by far not the best burger that you will ever have in Richmond, BUT if you want to go to a neighborhood joint and drink beer and find everything else in the area closed- then eat here.

My husband and I had lunch last week at the Rose Marie Inn.  It seemed as though there were fairly decent reviews so we thought we'd check it out.

First off, the restaurant was dirty and dingy, with dusty knick-knacks everywhere.  At the end of the meal I went to the restroom, and it was not very clean, plus someone (I assume a restaurant employee) had been smoking in there, and the smoke was so thick, it was hard to breathe -- horrible.

As for the food -- I ordered the cheeseburger, and my husband ordered their daily "special" of beef stew which came with a small salad.

i will say, that was some of the worst beef stew that I've ever seen served (and my husband said it did not taste good either -- no flavor).  It was very, very watery (you could see the bottom of the PLATE  (that's right, it was NOT served in a bowl!).  There were only 3 pieces of meat and a few carrots which were the "baby" pre-packaged variety.  Along with a few potato chunks, and no discernable onions, celery or seasonings -- that was it.  It was served with crackers.  The salad was minimal with a some iceberg lettuce, and a few tomatoes and cucumbers.  The salad dressing was thick (bottled of course).  I think this "special" was $7.95.

I will say that the cheeseburger which I ordered was decent.  That's why I'm giving this place 2 stars instead of 1.  Since it came with potato chips, I ordered french fries instead -- no discount for replacement.  Full price was paid for a side order of fries which were ok, but overpriced for what was provided.

I was actually surprised how poor the food was, and how dirty the restaurant was.  The waitress, who was also behind the bar, was the only server, and the service was quite slow, but she herself seemed nice enough.

By the way, I do know that the older, female cook is a smoker, because two customers were out on the front covered area smoking, and she went out there and was talking to them, and smoked as well.  Maybe it was she who had smoked in the restroom earlier -- since I doubt a customer would do so, when it's just as easy to wait, or go outside on the covered patio/porch.

We will not go to this restaurant again.  We will stick with Melito's for our "neighborhood" casual restaurant.  Their food is fresh and good.  And except for some dusty fake plants (covered in thick dust), Melito's is clean as well.