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A fine-dining steakhouse and American-cuisine destination located in a restored 19th-century building in Mineral, Virginia. The Lions Den 1837 honors local railroad and community history while serving premium dry-brined steaks, seafood, and thoughtful seasonal dishes in an elegant yet welcoming setting.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 81 Tavern Rd, Mineral, VA 23117
Phone: (540) 872-7245
Website: https://www.thelionsden1837.com/
Menu Photos
Related Web Results
The Lions Den 1837: Home
The Lions Den 1837 in Mineral, VA. A fine-dining steakhouse and American‑cuisine destination located in a restored 19th-century building in Mineral, …
The Lions Den 1837 Restaurant – Mineral, VA | OpenTable
Built in 1837 and lovingly restored, The Lions Den 1837 invites you to dine inside on of Virginia’s most unique historic landmarks. Located close to Lake Anna …
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Experience one-of-a-kind dining inside one of Virginia’s most unique historic landmarks. Built in 1837 & lovingly restored, this building has welcomed travelers …
Reviews
Gabriel Garcia
Dill Salmon and Burrata Caprese appetizers were fantastic. 14oz ribeye was good, not great. The mashed potatoes were really good, you could tell it was fresh made. Bread pudding is fantastic. The restaurant has a nice light romantic and service was good. The only downside is the parking, it’s an unlined lot and you have people parking six feet apart making it difficult to find a spot.
… moreClint Harding
I seen advertisements for this restaurant on Facebook and I figured I had to give it a try. The location is quaint and the historical references to this restaurant are interesting. The menu offers a nice variety of options. The bread service is definitely a nice start to the meal. We tried the mussels and the wagyu appetizers, both were very tasty. The main courses we had were the Wagyu flank steak and the salmon. The steak was tender, tasty and prepared perfectly. The salmon was delicious, prepared well and accompanied with a very tasty risotto. Our server was fantastic. She was friendly, informative and attentive. We will definitely be returning to this hidden gem.
… moreMaria DiPoce
I would rate this place a 3.5-4 star out of 5.
There were some serious misses.
The food in my opinion was okay. Nothing to write home about and not good enough for us to be back. Also not bad enough to send it back but just okay. I had heard really great things about the food here so we were excited to try it. The service was not great. Kitchen was in the weeds for sure during service. The waitress forgot our drink order so we got our appetizers before our drinks. She also asked us if we wanted the check before our deserts arrived it was just off. She needs more training. The ambiance is the only thing I would be back for if I were in the area. Mind you we drove from Richmond that’s a 55-60 min drive so if we were in the area I would go to the speakeasy get a drink and an appetizer definitely would not to dinner again.
… moreThere were some serious misses.
The food in my opinion was okay. Nothing to write home about and not good enough for us to be back. Also not bad enough to send it back but just okay. I had heard really great things about the food here so we were excited to try it. The service was not great. Kitchen was in the weeds for sure during service. The waitress forgot our drink order so we got our appetizers before our drinks. She also asked us if we wanted the check before our deserts arrived it was just off. She needs more training. The ambiance is the only thing I would be back for if I were in the area. Mind you we drove from Richmond that’s a 55-60 min drive so if we were in the area I would go to the speakeasy get a drink and an appetizer definitely would not to dinner again.
Sean LoPorto
Probably the best steak in what I would consider the Fredericksburg area. High quality meats with plenty of seasoning cooked exactly like you ask them to be. Drinks and deserts are top notch. Dinner for 2 will probably cost you about $150-250 for a couple and it’s worth every penny.
… moreRick Johnson
A Hidden Gem Worth the Journey
We may have underestimated the back roads of rural Virginia in our low-slung sports car — lesson learned! Next time, we’ll opt for something a bit more terrain-friendly. But once we arrived, the experience was well worth the adventure.
From the moment we were seated, the service stood out. Our waitress — new to the team and working her second weekend — was an absolute delight. Her attentiveness, charm, and genuine care for getting everything just right made us feel truly welcome. It’s rare to find someone so naturally suited to hospitality.
Dinner was exceptional. I chose the Cowboy bone-in ribeye, while my wife enjoyed the filet. Both cuts were beautifully prepared. I did order medium rare and my steak leaned slightly toward medium. It still retained a pink center and was tender enough to slice with a standard table knife — though I’d recommend a proper steak knife for the full experience. The filet was flawless: buttery, perfectly cooked, and a joy to savor.
Appetizers were equally impressive, and the ambiance struck just the right balance — relaxed, intimate, and ideal for conversation. This is the kind of place that invites you to linger.
We’ll absolutely be back. Next time, with an SUV and an even bigger appetite.
PS – We both talked about the dinner the next day, tells you how much we enjoyed the experience. Hopefully we get to try the patio next time.
… moreWe may have underestimated the back roads of rural Virginia in our low-slung sports car — lesson learned! Next time, we’ll opt for something a bit more terrain-friendly. But once we arrived, the experience was well worth the adventure.
From the moment we were seated, the service stood out. Our waitress — new to the team and working her second weekend — was an absolute delight. Her attentiveness, charm, and genuine care for getting everything just right made us feel truly welcome. It’s rare to find someone so naturally suited to hospitality.
Dinner was exceptional. I chose the Cowboy bone-in ribeye, while my wife enjoyed the filet. Both cuts were beautifully prepared. I did order medium rare and my steak leaned slightly toward medium. It still retained a pink center and was tender enough to slice with a standard table knife — though I’d recommend a proper steak knife for the full experience. The filet was flawless: buttery, perfectly cooked, and a joy to savor.
Appetizers were equally impressive, and the ambiance struck just the right balance — relaxed, intimate, and ideal for conversation. This is the kind of place that invites you to linger.
We’ll absolutely be back. Next time, with an SUV and an even bigger appetite.
PS – We both talked about the dinner the next day, tells you how much we enjoyed the experience. Hopefully we get to try the patio next time.
Eric Johnson
We made reservations and were promptly seated. I ordered the 12 oz ribeye, baked oysters and a Ceasars salad. My wife ordered mussels, Ceasars salad, and Sacchetti pasta.
We started a meal with cocktails. I ordered a Manhattan and my wife had the lemon drop martini. They were served promptly. The lemon drop had no sugar on the rim of the glad but was all down the side of the glass like it had been spilled. My $20 Manhattan was made with dry vermouth, not sweet vermouth. A terrible drink! No, I didn’t send it back, I don’t want to be that guy looking for a free drink. As we drank our cocktails, the waitress came by and topped them off with the rest in the mini dink Shaker. She put my Manhattan mess into my wife’s lemon drop and put her lemon drop in my so called Manhattan. Inexcusable.
The bread was very good with three kinds of butter to choose from.
Appetizers were brought out with the salad at the same time. We are now playing tetris with dirty bread plates, salads, and 2 appetizers as the table is very small. Didn’t see the waitress for quite some time to ask her to take away the used plates and bread.
The baked oysters were okay, not great, low on flavor.
The waitress never offered us clean silverware, so I’m my salad with a fork that was just used on oysters.
My wife’s mussels were not bad but placed on a placed on rice that cold. As a result, the mussels were Luke warm.
The main course was served. My $56 ribeye was cut super thin, less than a half inch. It wad tough as shoe leather. It was hot and cooked to order properly, but the steak was a terrible cut of beef.
My wife’s Sacchetti pasta was luke warm. The sauce was so thick on it. Much like peanut butter consistency. Maybe it was on the heat too long reduced down to a thick paste?
You have no choice on your sides. So smashed fingerling potatoes served barely warm with 5 mini asparagus. This steak was so awful, you would do better going to an Outback or Lone Star steak house.
We were hoping for a nice place to eat on special occasions. They self describe their restaurant as “contemporary fine dining”. What we recieved was Sizzler quality meat, poor bartender, amateur waitress making the dining experience even worse than it should have been.
Maybe we showed up on an off day. I see many rave reviews. Based on our experience at $100 per person I will only give them 1 star. This is a hard pass from me.
… moreWe started a meal with cocktails. I ordered a Manhattan and my wife had the lemon drop martini. They were served promptly. The lemon drop had no sugar on the rim of the glad but was all down the side of the glass like it had been spilled. My $20 Manhattan was made with dry vermouth, not sweet vermouth. A terrible drink! No, I didn’t send it back, I don’t want to be that guy looking for a free drink. As we drank our cocktails, the waitress came by and topped them off with the rest in the mini dink Shaker. She put my Manhattan mess into my wife’s lemon drop and put her lemon drop in my so called Manhattan. Inexcusable.
The bread was very good with three kinds of butter to choose from.
Appetizers were brought out with the salad at the same time. We are now playing tetris with dirty bread plates, salads, and 2 appetizers as the table is very small. Didn’t see the waitress for quite some time to ask her to take away the used plates and bread.
The baked oysters were okay, not great, low on flavor.
The waitress never offered us clean silverware, so I’m my salad with a fork that was just used on oysters.
My wife’s mussels were not bad but placed on a placed on rice that cold. As a result, the mussels were Luke warm.
The main course was served. My $56 ribeye was cut super thin, less than a half inch. It wad tough as shoe leather. It was hot and cooked to order properly, but the steak was a terrible cut of beef.
My wife’s Sacchetti pasta was luke warm. The sauce was so thick on it. Much like peanut butter consistency. Maybe it was on the heat too long reduced down to a thick paste?
You have no choice on your sides. So smashed fingerling potatoes served barely warm with 5 mini asparagus. This steak was so awful, you would do better going to an Outback or Lone Star steak house.
We were hoping for a nice place to eat on special occasions. They self describe their restaurant as “contemporary fine dining”. What we recieved was Sizzler quality meat, poor bartender, amateur waitress making the dining experience even worse than it should have been.
Maybe we showed up on an off day. I see many rave reviews. Based on our experience at $100 per person I will only give them 1 star. This is a hard pass from me.
Allen Nuccio
This was recommended as “best of the best” by locals in Lake Anna. The downstairs speakeasy sitting section had a nice atmosphere. The steaks, unfortunately, were not good. My whole party ordered steak, and other than the steak tips, none were cooked properly. My ribeye that was ordered medium rare was medium and had a grainy consistency, and the fat was completely white and cold and not at all rendered. For $56 you would expect better than that. Even the wagyu crostini sliders were overcooked and almost gamey, making me question how fresh they were. Two of us had sides of the bacon Mac and cheese, which was flavorful but had clearly been sitting under a heat lamp for a while.
The server was friendly and the host was nice, although he asked three separate times why we were there and how we heard about the restaurant. They also made quite a big deal about my son’s birthday although all they actually provided was what amounted to a small desert item that could be consumed in a bite. Honestly I wasn’t expecting anything, but the fact they kept talking it up and then did that was odd.
If this is the best Lake Anna has to offer, well, that doesn’t speak well for the local cuisine. It was objectively not good, overpriced for the quality, and plain disappointing.
… moreThe server was friendly and the host was nice, although he asked three separate times why we were there and how we heard about the restaurant. They also made quite a big deal about my son’s birthday although all they actually provided was what amounted to a small desert item that could be consumed in a bite. Honestly I wasn’t expecting anything, but the fact they kept talking it up and then did that was odd.
If this is the best Lake Anna has to offer, well, that doesn’t speak well for the local cuisine. It was objectively not good, overpriced for the quality, and plain disappointing.
Faith Hopkins
Had a wonderful time here at The Lion’s Den! Gavin and the host did an amazing job making us feel welcomed, and they were both very competent when helping us decide between dishes. Food was flavorful and perfectly portioned. Everyone took pride in their work and were committed to maintaining a high standard of service. We loved that they also wanted to preserve Tavern on the Rail’s legacy while also building their own.
Excited to come back for the next occasion 🙂
… moreExcited to come back for the next occasion 🙂
Cindy Curtis
“Excellent food and outstanding service in a wonderfully quiet, relaxed atmosphere. Everything was thoughtfully prepared, unhurried, and thoroughly enjoyable. A perfect place for a calm, quality dinner—highly recommend.” ❤️
… moreMichael Costanzo
What a cool place. Tucked in the woods away from the hustle and bustle of urban fine dining and in a historic building. Great atmosphere with excellent staff. Our server Gavin was outstanding. From the homemade butters to the wagyu beef flank appetizer we were hooked from the beginning. The main courses didn’t focus on quantity but impeccable quality. My tenderloin medallions could have been cut with a plastic fork and the red wine sauce was used to soak my potatoes because it was so delicious. Can’t wait to go again!
… more