Brine

This place had oysters that were not shucked properly which ended up with sandy oysters-​YUK! That’s the worse. I have so much better than this place. Just a run of the mill wanna be seafood place… Not.

My wife made reservations for Father’s Day. Our server was smug. The menu was poorly laid out. Multiple items were not available. It wasn’t overly crowded for a major dining out day. The kitchen staff was shucking oysters on the bar and it wasn’t appetizing (let alone sanitary?). The table beside us asked our smug waiter where their meal was as it had been almost an hour. Then another table spoke up and said it had almost been hour too. The smug waiter didn’t apologize or demonstrate a sense of urgency. We walked out.

I left Brine Thursday happy and full of booze and happy hour oysters.
The meal started out great with an amazing Punch ($ 6) and $ 1 Rappahannock Oysters. We decided to get a sampling of appetizers and salads and share a main. This was a good decision as I don’t think we could have managed to eat 2 entrees.
The Plankton Pasta was delightful. Served warm in a rich brown butter sauce, it had a combination of flavors that I had never tried and left me wanting another serving (and wishing I hadn’t agreed to share). The Lambs & Clams I didn’t like quite as much. The clams were fine as was the lamb (served meatball-​ish), but the bread and broth were the stars. I guees Bread & Broth doesn’t have the same ring to it? Then, we had the Blue Catfish on a bed of lemony arugula. This was quite good and the Preserved Lemon Aioli was nice too. The real stand out was the side we ordered to accompany it: White Corn Polenta, Appalachian Cheese. For those who may be confused, this is fancy hipster restaurant speak for Cheese Grits. I won’t give them too hard of a time because I nearly popped a pant button trying to shovel the whole portion in my greedy greedy mouth.
We finished with a Profiteroles which the waiter described as «life changing.» I can’t say that it was a conversion experience, but they were a real delight. They held up well to the caramel ice cream filling and the portion size was perfect for 2 zealous over eaters.
I’d love to come back again for the punch, the pasta, and those awesome cheese grits– I mean White Corn Polenta, Appalachian Cheese.

The service was very relaxed. I was surprised that the place was empty when I first came with my friend.
Anyhow, the guy that served us was very friendly. Very open and did give a straight recommendation. The portions was smaller but in America, portions are ginormous so i appreciated the smaller portions. The food was amazing, the restaurants environment and setting was amazing, and service was great. The food took a little bit to come out but I had company so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Oysters are typical oysters when being far from the water. It wasn’t as meaty as I hoped but it’s expected. I love oysters no matter what, so I enjoyed them all. I love the variety of oysters they have though. What’s more awesome is that they have happy hour for oysters! My kind of place that’s closer to me I just wish this place got more recognition :(this place is great; just takes a certain audience to appreciate this place. I recommend this place to people who are willing to try something new and want a nice setting :)

I went here with my cousin and his friend during happy hour and I was excited to hear that they had $ 1 raw oysters everyday from 3:30−7pm! For HH, they weren’t too incredibly busy when we were there (maybe around 4ish?) but service was seriously lacking. There were so many servers walking around or standing behind the bar but it was so difficult to get their attention that we felt ignored. We ended up being there longer than we intended because even paying for the check took a long time for them to come back to our table. But for $ 1 oysters everyday, I’ll probably be back again in the future and hopefully service is improved.

We went there for brunch and the food was very good. We were a group of 10 and they accomodated us pretty quick. Service was very good and attentive. I tried the ceviche and it was super tasty I highly recommend it. The pork belly were ok. The chowder also was super flavorful also recommend it. The steak and egg plate was a little cold when it got to the table but the flavors were amazing. Will definately will return to try the dinner menu.

I threw a large party here and attended a large party here. I thought our bartender, Carrie, on both occasions were fantastic. Oysters were delicious and they have a great selection of wine. The bar is really cute and super spacious, but it closes down at 1130.
I had the oysters which were delicious and the ceviche which was tiny! It was good but I definitely think the portion size could have been better especially considering the price.
The place itself had a cool vibe so I wouldn’t mind returning.

The oysters were obviously very fresh and the drinks were good. Bill might have been slightly higher than I had expected though.

***Happy Hour Review Only***
If you’re in the mood for oysters, this may be the spot for you. During the HH, they offer $ 1 oysters. If you sit at the bar, you can see the Oyster shuckers hard at work. The Oysters are fresh and tasty with their housemade hot sauce.
I gave it only 3 stars because quite frankly, their HH is not enticing. My two cents is that when restaurants offer HH, they usually offer small shareable plates that give a sample of what the restaurant can offer. The only thing on their HH are the $ 1 oysters listed above. None of the other menu items were offered. That was a letdown for me, cause during the standard HH time, I just want small snacks and not a full blown entrée.
I want to try their full dinner menu sometime, so that I can give an overall rating, but I wasn’t overly sold on the first impression to come back right away.
The service was great though and the ambiance is open and inviting.
Bottom Line: If you want to try fresh Oysters, I would recommend giving this a try!

We came here for Mother’s Day and first of all parking was so hectic that day, probably because of mother’s day and the farmer market. There are plenty of parking options there as well three garages and plenty street parking.
Now onto the food and drinks. I ordered a Hardywood single barrel draft. Love this beer! I’m from Richmond and lived near the brewery so this is a must. We ordered the honey pot which came with 12 clams, 12 oysters, ceviche and shrimp. It was a good value. Oysters and clams tasted so fresh and salty. The shrimp were huge. Ceviche was not bad. A little bland.
Now for the main dish we got the whole fish meal. And it tasted ok. It was very very bland. Needed a ton of seasoning.
The burger was good. Nice traditional no frills burger.

Hello, oyster happy hour! I don’t think they had any other foods on HH. The oysters were fresh and delicious.
They have a selected list of drinks available for HH as well — I think one type of white/​red wine, a beer or two and a special mixed drink.
They had all their menu items available. The tuna melt we ordered was underwhelming. It had no top bun so it required a fork/​knife to eat (makes no sense for a sandwich).

Phenomenal restaurant. We finally had the opportunity to check out Brine on a Saturday night. We came in to a lively restaurant and sat at the chef’s oyster bar for an interactive experience. Inside is very chic, with high-​end finishes, a sleek bar and a pretty bumpin atmosphere. We sat there for awhile waiting to be served, contemplating getting a table, but eventually being served. It was kind of on the brink of taking too long all night but at the last minute we would finally get service. They were just busy. And understaffed. So I’m not going to take a star away for service because when we were inevitably helped, service was warm and friendly.
We started off with a couple of cocktails. I had the Spring Fling, which tasted like absolute heaven and was probably one of the best cocktails I have ordered in a very long time. Perfection. Then we ordered the ceviche and the bison carpaccio. We were FIGHTING over the ceviche; probably one of the tastiest ceviches I’ve ever had. The salted bread rolls they serve are so good. We ripped those apart and dipped into the ceviche juice. Fantastic. The carpaccio was delicious as well, nice and thin, like a prosciutto with a nice piave cheese and other spices. That gets 4 stars, the ceviche gets 5.
After that we ordered a couple oyster shooters. What came out was pure genius. A deconstructed oyster shooter of sorts; some kind of an effervescent concoction in a glass with an oyster atop the glass, like you’re about to take an Irish car bomb. Add a dash of their amazing house tabasco sauce, and this is going down in history as the coolest, tastiest oyster shooter I’ve ever had. How creative and clever.
For entrees, my boyfriend was going to try their daily roast but they were out of the chicken it was served with. So he opted for the flat iron steak and I chose from the simple fish menu: seasonal swordfish. Per the bartender’s suggestion, he brought out all 3 sauces. I found the best sauce to be the green salsa verde. You could tell it was made fresh, in-​house. The swordfish was cooked to perfection, succulent and steaky. My bf’s steak was also cooked to perfection and delicious. We ordered a side of their braised greens. It was good, perhaps a little too sweet for my palette (those raisins!). And with my meal, I ordered a glass of their great house rose on tap. I wish more places did this!
All in all, this was a pretty perfect meal. I’m sure had we sat at a table we would have received more attentive, prompt service so I’m not going to fault them with that. Mainly because everything we consumed here was outstanding and delicious. Add to that a chic, lively atmosphere, and Brine stands out as the best restaurant in Merrifield. Class act.

I came for the oysters HH like many others. HH is pretty limited as far as food and drinks go. There is maybe one white wine, one red, one beer and one «special punch» as far as drinks go, and just oysters in terms of food. We only really came for oysters, but of course we still ended up ordering something else. But HELLO PEOPLE– they do HH every. SINGLE. DAY!
The tables are SLIGHTLY awkward as they will try to seat multiple parties at the larger 6-​top tables. When I arrived, I was meeting friends. I arrived first and we told we could use this 6-​top, where only 3 people were sitting. I had a group of 4, and the 3 people really did NOT want to share. They put their coats/​purses down on the extra chairs just to show they weren’t really into that. Lucky for us, they ended up closing out their bill shortly after we arrived and we snagged that table before anyone else could. When yet another party of 4 came, they were placed in the top empty seats at the end of the table. Still weird.
I like the interior and the open kitchen. I feel like most of the places in Mosaic have a similar feel.
If you come for just oysters, it’s good deal. The bison carpaccio is weird. The bill can and does add up quickly.
You’ll definitely find me here chowin down on some oysters!

I’ve been here multiple times and have been impressed with the food and service each time. I love the ambience, the simple flavors of the food, and how fresh everything tastes.
I’ve had the fresh fish, the oysters and their fries.

Came here for the first time with a big group for friends’ birthdays. We dined there as a small group before meeting up with everyone else, and I was not particularly impressed with the food. The only dish that was really memorable was their potato wedges, but it came with a super tiny portion. Or perhaps it was just so good that I gobbled them down too quickly?
Their innovative drinks were pretty interesting, though. Their Rizal was one of the most popular/​famous drink, I think, something about it winning first place of something. It was good, but a lot of my friends thought it was too overly citrus-​ish. I LOVED their daily punch. It has some interesting spices that I cannot recall, but includes cinnamon. I don’t like alcohol too much and I HATE spices in any of my drinks (alcohol or not), but this daily punch… for some reason, was very good. It came with an extra tiny cup (4 ounces) with a slice of lemon floating. It immediately reminds me of Christmas. It was also pretty light, which was perfect for a lightweight drinker like me. I think I had 3 cups, and I wasn’t even buzzed! Woot woot!
I also wanna mention their oysters. I didn’t personally eat them, but they got two pretty different reviews from my friends. They either really like it or really hate it. So… hmm. Perhaps the quality is inconsistent?
Nice décor/​ambience. I can see it as a pretty cool hang out or low-​key date spot.

We came for the $ 1 oysters happy hour special price. We started with this and ended up ordering entrees from the menu. We had the flat iron steak and grilled trout. Portions were just right.
The chowder however had only a few pcs (I counted 3) of oysters and mostly potato in it. It’s also noted that the soup has been in a warmer for awhile. Not a fan.

This place is great, all the way around; an outstanding addition to the mosaic district line-​up. Awesome industrial open/​trendy layout while still providing a intimate/​rustic ambiance at each table.
The cocktails are a cut above the rest and are some of the best I’ve had. I’m not normally a sweet cocktail person, but the Rizal is worth the indulgence (made with fresh guava). they have number of great beers, and plenty of great wine varietals and really champion the sparkling and whites.
The menu is focused on providing an expansive variety of high-​quality seafood centric fare. For example, they have a minimum of 3 local VA oyster species as well as typically another 3 oysters varieties from other areas of the country/​world on their raw bar menu at all times.
We destroyed a couple dozen of the Rappahannock oyster which were meaty, juicy, and accompanied by their in house hot sauce and vinegar concoctions that really just brought it to the next level. All the oysters on menu had an amazing happy hour price. The table bread was incredible and way too addicting. I highly recommend the seafood rotisserie; we had rotisserie perch and mackerel with clams and we ate everything down to the bone. The chocolate du pots was just okay, a little unfocused and overwhelming but the actual mousse was rich and delicious.
Paul was our server and he really took care of us… really set the tone for exceptional and personable service. Can’t wait to visit again.

Go here for the oysters. My measure of a restaurant is what they do well and this place excels with their oyster quality & exceptional price.
The service is very good and food seems to be OK.
Jame & I decided to take advantage of the .75 oysters since ¹⁰⁄₃₁ was the last day of the deal. We were going to see a movie at the nearby theater.
We had the shrimp, bean casserole and brussel sprouts as well. The shrimp were tasty and good sized.
The Croxton family has done a great job of turning around the oyster farming business in this area & the Rappahannock oysters are delicious.
They also have outdoor seating and the closeness to the theater and other Mosaic shops make this destination work checking out.

I love the sex at Brine. Yes, you caught me. It’s just sooooo good. The way she looks at you and you look at her. The way she feels in your hands. How wet she is. How she messes with your head when shes around you. Her delicious taste. Her smooth finish. Y’all know what I’m talkin’ about right?
NOOOO you sickooos!!! Brine is not a sex club. Get your dirty mind out of the gutter. I am referring to their completely awesome rosé on tap of course. It is called «SEX». Seriously try it. Their Woodford old fashioned is a great option too.
It goes great with the oysters. It is even better with the oysters that are ½ off during happy hour and better yet with the .75 cent rappahannocks that are on menu during happy hour during October. Get on it.
They have a lovely seafoodie menu that changes seasonally. I was sad to see their summer beets go but luckily those were replaced by a phenomenal butternut squash dish. Also if you have never had brussel sprouts before this is a great place to try them. As far as seafood goes, come for lunch and get their crab cake sandwich. That puppy is massive and it is a damn great crab cake. Scallops and tuna tartare were both good but nothing out of this world. I really enjoyed their tuna of their fish menu (this changes daily based on what is picked up from the market). Their fish come with a variety of sauces. Just try them all and choose for yourself.
I also wanted to give a huge shout-​out to Megan for helping us setup a work happy hour. She made us feel right at home and everything went seamlessly. I am not even from the area but I am sure my company will be sure to use them again for an event in the future.
To sum it up. This spot is perfect for a date or a happy hour with coworkers. You can post up at the raw bar feeding each other oysters (referring to the date idea as I hope you wouldn’t do this to a coworker). They have great cocktails and a variety of beers and wines on tap. The patio area makes for a perfect outdoor setting to people watch as couples walk by with their dogs around Mosaic or women carry back a bag of about $ 7Million worth of yoga pants from lulu right up the block.
Anyway, thank you Brine for always taking care of us. I will be sure to be back soon.

I have been on a serious oyster kick lately. Maybe it’s because I only had my first taste of oysters last summer (I know! I’d been missing out my whole life!), or maybe it’s because of the summer heat, but lately I just can’t seem to get enough.
So when it came time to pick a spot with a friend to meet up for happy hour, Brine seemed like a perfect spot! Half-​price Rappahannock oysters plus a selection of $ 5 beers? Sounds good to me!
My friend and I ordered a platter of 2 dozen oysters, and were amazed when they came out ENORMOUS. Seriously, the actual volume of oysters must have equaled out to be double or triple what you might normally get. And best of all, even though these oysters were gi-​freaking-​gantic, they tasted perfect. Really, really great, fresh stuff.
They also had a special punch on the menu as part of happy hour — some kind of fancy lavender gin lemonade thing that was crisp and delicious.
I’m proud to say that we worked our way through every single massive oyster… while the two dudes sitting next to us couldn’t even finish their measly order of 20 shells. ;)
I’ve also eaten at Brine for dinner, and really enjoyed my meal. I highly recommend the lambs & clams if you like something a little heartier, and, of course, their catch-​of-​the-​day style seafood selection is where it’s at.
Brine, I’m sure I’ll be back — and soon!