Unless it's changed drastically, it's not worth the high prices. The ice cream desserts do like divine, however...

The one star is for a very unique and deliciously crazy milkshake, and a cafe with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I had not read any reviews and had no idea what we were walking into today. We arrived at 3:20, and had to wait until 3:40 to be seated. I understood - that was no problem to me. It was unfortunate that the young girls working the front had not been trained to act pleasant to customers - or at least not to act annoyed that customers were arriving. Once seated, it went downhill...and I would say fast, but it was actually at an incredibly slow rate of decline. We sat for 20 minutes waiting for anyone to look at us (it was hard to find anyone who was trying to make any eye contact with any customers) And at 4pm, the same person who sat us came over to take our order. She apologized for the wait, and said nobody told her we were there. Ummmm, you seated us here 20 minutes ago. We ordered 3 crazy shakes at 4pm. There was no mention of a back-up, shift change, or being short-handed. We saw a different server once between 4pm, and when we finally got our shakes at 5:15. Around 5pm, another server was taking an order at the table next to us, and warned them of a 30+ minute wait. I could not stay quiet and I chimed in to commend her for at least warning them. She was the only server we had seen in an hour, but she was not the server who took our order. She explained they are backed up, there was a shift change, and there was only one person making the shakes. She did saw she was sorry, and that "it is what it is". I explained we had ordered an hour earlier. Not her problem. At that point is was going to be another 20 minutes. We (including my 10 and 12 year olds) wanted to leave, but seriously, we had now invested 2 hours of our time (not including the 45 minute drive to get there!). So we waited. Our shakes finally arrived at 5:15. A new server did apologize. Needless to say, it was a good shake, but not worth a 2 hour wait - without any warning or ability to make a decision if we wanted to wait that long. And to be very clear...We chose to go to an establishment that is very trendy right now. I am happy to see a small business doing so well. But to never give any warning that our wait would be over an hour once we ordered our 3 shakes is unacceptable. And to act annoyed by the heavy traffic, was also not acceptable. I think they have a special place - and I really hope they can get on track to put their focus back on customers. For us, we will not drive 45 minutes to go there again. Once was enough. I hope this review will serve as a warning. It is an experience worth trying - not for the service we received today, but for the crazy shakes. But be prepared to Wait, and ask questions...so if it is a 2 hour wait, you have the choice to stay or go before you invest your entire afternoon...for a milkshake. read more

Fantastic place! Their burgers are so good! Their shakes are awesome! We will definitely go back there again!

Not the place to go if you are looking for quick friendly place to eat. The staff is lovely but we seriously sat for over an hour just waiting on burgers and fries. The fries never came until we had already eaten the burgers and were actually ready to just leave but they finally came so we took them to go. Yes there shakes are lovely and could feed 5 people but the wait time is horrible. read more

Milkshakes as big as your head! Ours was topped with an entire piece of cake! It may put you into diabetic shock - but it's worth it! Lol! We only came for dessert, so can't tell you about the menu, but well worth the visit for dessert! read more

Based on one visit after a Labor Day parade, we stopped partly because we could sit outside with our dog. Even though they were very busy, the staff was pleasant and efficient. We ordered veggie panninis with fries and large iced coffees. The coffee was tasty, with just a little more cream than we normally like. The fries were great, hot and lightly salted. The sandwich was good too, well grilled with decent swiss cheese and a little bit of pesto. Would definitely stop again! read more

This place has great ice cream and pastries but do not go if you are looking for good food. My flounder special was $16.95 and one of the absolute worst meals ever. Fish was equivalent to a frozen fish pattie. Awful. Our server said they were making fresh tarter sauce but I never saw any. The service is friendly but extremely slow and the atmosphere inside is that of a loud day care with crying babies, tons of small children and so on. Just get your ice cream and leave. read more

Wow, this is such a great quaint cafe in a beautiful little downtown area! We are not from Powhatan, and were looking for a good meal when we had an hour to kill during an event at the junior high school. Yelp led us there and we couldn't have been happier. As we pulled up, it was very promising - it's a charming little house with a very well manicured parking area. The interior was very attractive as well - very fresh and clean. It's very simple, but whoever decorated has a good eye for design. There is a nice patio as well, though it was too chilly for us to try that out. The menu is appealing, with both healthy and comfort food options, and some ambition in the ingredients. Everything was cooked well, and the kids loved the ice cream selection for dessert. If ever in the area again, we will definitely be back! read more

don't order food here smh. i went here for my BIRTHDAY dinner with my boyfriend & my chicken sandwich was COMPLETELY INEDIBLE. over cooked to the point it was a rock. i asked the waitress to please just take it away & take it off the bill & she asked if i wanted to replace it with anything but i was too turned off by the first plate they gave me. only go here for the milkshakes they should stop serving food before someone gets sick. read more

Great for ice cream but way over-rated for lunch or dinner from a value proposition. Went there for lunch to celebrate the last day of school. It happened to be $1 burger day. I had 2 burgers and shared a basket of fries with my daughter who had one of Mabel's gourmet milkshakes. The total was $28 and the milk shake arrived at our table 30 minutes after my burger despite being ordered at the same time. read more

We were a little skeptical after reading some of the reviews and wasn't sure whether it was worth the hour and 15 minute drive, but we had promised our daughter we would take her here for a "back to school" treat. We decided to come for lunch today while she was out of school in an effort to beat the crowds. We were not disappointed. My Reuben with homemade chips was delicious as was my husband's cheeseburger. My daughter ordered chicken tenders, and she said they were ok but overdone and crunchy. She subsequently ordered a blackout crazy shake and it was also delicious. All in all, a good experience and we will return! read more

The wait was a longer than we wanted (1 hour 15 min) so we decided to get an ice cream cone to go. While waiting we noticed uncovered cakes with many flies landing all over each cake. There were donuts sitting out uncovered with flies on them as well. I can't even imagine what the kitchen looks like if the public counter is this nasty. The restaurant itself seems to be poorly managed. When paying the girl behind the counter was overwhelmed taking the man behind me to pay first. Then going back and forth between checking him and I out at the same time. There were atleast 7 empty tables but a very long wait. Disappointed as this has the possibility of being a great place for crazy shakes. read more

My daughter loves Mabel's, she often goes for lunch. On the morning of April 23 my husband and I ventured out for a place near Mabel's for breakfast. The place we were going was closed on Mondays so we decided to try Mabel's- I can honestly say, in my 50 years, this was the worse breakfast I had ever had, including hospital food. The grits were at least 2 days old, I added 2 pats of butter, creamer and they were still hard, cold, horrible. The veggies in my omelette were watery and cold- the egg had no taste. I didn't even try the fruit because of the way it looked. My husbands "homefries" were Translucent and had no taste. We made the mistake of asking for blueberry pancakes, they were falling out the bottom of burnt around the edges not done in the middle pancakes. We were the only guest, so that should have given us a clue. They should just not open til 11am or offer coffee, and pastries for breakfast. read more

we came here to celebrate our daughters school accomplishment, it was her choice. she looked ahead of time and after careful consideration chose the Unicorn milkshake bc it had her favorite candy, air heads extreme. she hates whipped cream but I assured her we could leave that off. the waitress unapologetically told her that for consistency there were no alterations allowed for these $15 milkshakes, not even leaving something off if you don't like it. Then the milkshake came and my daughter barely touched it, she said it was gross and didn't even have the air heads. The waitress said they were out, and she didn't want to tell us. Why? Your establishment is dedicated to consistency unless it means leaving out ingredients you don't have and not even mentioning it? To make the whole situation worse, my daughter went to the bathroom after her completely disappointing dessert and burned herself on the scalding hot water that came from the bathroom faucet when she tried to wash her hands. Like literally ran out of the bathroom crying bc the water scalded her, her hands were fire red. She's almost 9 and knows how to wash her hands on her own. The temperature needs to be adjusted so that other children don't burn themselves. I haven't been so disappointed by a dining experience in, well, ever. read more

Great little restaurant. Erin's and the ice cream place in town merged to form this. It's exactly where Erin's was located. I've only had the burgers but they are diverse. Many people here continue to eat at county seat and four seasons but I think they are both pretty terrible. Go to this place and give them some business so they stay alive. Great onion rings too! I recommend the highway man burger! read more

Waited an hour for our mediocre food and 2 tables who were seated after we ordered received their food before us. One table had 7 people. If you have plenty of time to waste this is a good place for you. read more

Pricey and slooooooowwwww. Kind of mad they didn't let me know I was going to wait an hour for the milkshake.

I would give them 0 stars if i could. they won't let you take the crazy shakes to-go which is outrageous. people probably only come for the crazy shakes and if you can't get them to-go why get them at all. read more

We chose to celebrate our child's 17th birthday at Mabels because the crazy shakes seemed like a fun way to celebrate. We chose to eat first, then order shakes. We left home at 5pm and arrived at 5:45 to learn that there was a 45 minute wait to be seated outside. Once we finally ordered, our food arrived an hour and 10 minutes later. One guest has a severe allergy to peaches and asked the server about the contents of the fruit cup before ordering. She was assured there were NO peaches or apples, - she even "checked with the chef" - yet when the side was served, the cup was filled with peaches. Luckily the guest used her cell phone flashlight in order to look at the fruit cup before eating it (the lighting in the tent was very minimal). When the manager was called over, her response was, "I don't know why your server would say that. We have been serving peaches in the fruit cup for 8 years." She did not apologize for serving the very food the guest had asked NOT to have and would have sent her to the hospital if she had eaten it. When we were ready to order the infamous ice cream crazy shake we were told it would be another 30 to 40 minute wait. It was already 8:30 pm and it was cold, so we left without experiencing the very thing we drove so far to enjoy. The large outdoor heaters were not working because they did not have any propane. You would think with the cost of each shake (~$18 each) they could afford a bit of propane. This was a huge disappointment all the way around. But not to worry, we have learned that Coco & Hazel is much closer to home, has better prices AND has equally crazy shakes. We will be headed there this weekend. read more

love mabel's!! The staff and food are fabulous!!!

The service was very slow! Four of us came for ice cream and the first order came 10 minutes before the other three, and one was wrong, there was a fly in one water (a cup with a lid) but we were so tired of waiting we didn't complain. The waitress never came back to check on us after we got our orders. Unfriendly and very disappointing. read more

Charming restaurant until our hour long wait for the crazy shakes which were literally melting upon arrival. Overpriced extravagant dessert where the looks outweigh the low quality ingredients. Not worth the drive here or the hour long wait. Totally understaffed for the amount of people waiting. Don't waste your time, just go get some Ben and Jerry's and call it a day. read more

Been here a few times and always fresh and tasty. The burgers are really good and well presented. Don't forget to take home some of those yummy sweets on your way out. Best lunch spot in Powhatan. read more

I have eaten here about 4 times. Everything sounds so good and I really wanted to like the place. The burgers are okay to put it nicely. I have tried 2 different ones. This one particular time I got a sandwich that had turkey and apple on it and after I tasted the first bite I nearly vomited all over their carpet. I tried to take another bite and go the same grossness I had with the first bite.I have been avoiding putting this up because they are a small place and I am all for supporting local businesses but at this point maybe someone should be honest about it. I hope they turn things around. read more

Four of us for lunch on a Wednesday for our first visit to Mabel's and we were impressed overall with good service and good food. The burgers were good except for my specialty one which was dry and too well done. The other two were juicy and fresher tasting. The French fries were hot and good and the homemade chips were very good. The tuna sandwich was tasty but a bit too wet making it hard to eat. The fresh fruit side was very good. The brownie was excellent as was the peanut butter chocolate bar. The iced tea was okay. Mabel's is a bit pricy and they need to have better quality control coming out of the kitchen. read more

After an hour and 20 minute drive, we were told it would be a 45-50 minute wait. After 15 minutes, we asked the hostess if we could just be seated outside since there were tables that were open and people were being served out there. She said it would be the same amount of time for the wait. After 45 minutes of waiting, we were seeing parties bigger than ours being seated outside and inside. We went back in and asked why we hadn't been seated when there were bigger parties than ours (we had 5 people) being seated and she said "my bad, after I seat the next party you will be next and it will be another 15-20 minutes". We wanted to be inside but at that point we would take anywhere. Finally we were seated by the outside trash can where people would constantly walk over to throw their stuff away and the flies and gnats would fly out when opened. We waited another 15 minutes for the waitress to come get our order. The burgers were so dry, the chips were cold and chewy, had to ask for silverware, napkins and refills. For the price we spent ($50 for 2 adults and 1 child) and the time we waited, I would have expected much better food and service. Unfortunately, after spending well over 2 hours there, we had a bad experience and I was really wanting to love it :( read more

The milkshakes are fun but expensive by the time you tip on top of the price. The service is what makes the price a deal breaker- when you're paying $16 for a milkshake (with tax and tip), you don't want to wait an hour for it. We've been once on a Weekday and the milkshakes took a long time but nothing compared to a Saturday night! We waited 30 minutes for a table and should have noticed all the people annoyed at the tables. A group of pregnant women had to wait over an hour for their food after waiting 45 minutes for a table! We waited about 45 minutes for our food plus an hour and half for our milkshake that we ordered at the same time. Many many people were annoyed at the time it takes to get your food. The ice cream/milkshake workers seemed to be taking their time making things so it was not as if they were working super fast but had a huge line. Food was ok- the specials I thought would be better but it seems no one orders them. read more