Jules at Market — Restaurant in Bristol

I heard a lot about Jules@market. When the house jazz band was scheduled we took the opportunity to check it out. The ambiance was great. A subtitled film noir projected against one wall while the jazz trio played against the opposite wall. We loved that. There’s an open kitchen design which really works in an otherwise tight space. One small minus is that it could be vented better. I came home smelling like food. Having said that, the food was exceptionally good. I read some reviews that spoke about small portions. My response is- if you want tonnage, eat fast food or at a chain restaurant. Jules@market is not that. Everything was fresh and on point. One drawback- most restaurants that offer sparkling bottled water also offer flat. I was surprised that Aqua Panna wasn’t available but Pelligrino was available. We don’t drink tap water so I was forced to drink carbonated water which isn’t the greatest for my stomach. Had I known I would have brought my own. Now the service- the staff was super friendly. I left over 20% because of this. But, to put it bluntly they need training. The food is great, the prices are high, the ambiance is amazing. The service should match but it doesn’t. I’m being specific in this review because I love that Bristol is changing and growing and want this restaurant to really really succeed. So here are my comments:1) when people put utensils together to the side it indicates they are finished and the plate can be removed. When it is open and food remains don’t ask to take the plate. 2) Remove all dirty dishes promptly- out bread dishes and used butter stayed on the table the entire meal 3) clear the table before bringing dessert. Looking at dirty dishes while eating the most perfect key lime pie detracts from the experience. 4) timing could be better. We waited 25 minutes for our appetizers and then waited again for a side after being served our main courses at separate times. Have someone follow the server and put the entire course down together. 5) Not once were our water glasses refilled by staff. We poured the Pelligrino ourselves 6) Never bring the plastic bus bins onto the floor to clear a table. That’s for diners, not nice restaurants. Use a tray to remove dishes if need be. I eat at high end restaurants and the service makes the night. That’s why we tip and don’t get take out, we like to relax and have a pleasant experience. I’d love to come back and have the amazing food ( worth every Penny) and have the service be more on point. The food is perfect, fresh, tasty, excellent presentation. The staff couldn’t be friendlier- really lovely people. The ambiance is great, quaint and inviting. I gave a five star because I think the service just needs a little tweak.

UPDATE: After posting my review I was contacted by a man saying he was the general manager. I’m not sure how he got my phone number but I wish he would not have called. He was positively berating me about how my review was damaging, he had 15 people to keep on payroll, his family was from Bristol, and I just wrote the review to benefit myself. I could barely respond. He was erratic and attacking. It was off putting considering my teenage son was in the car as he wouldn’t let up and was on speaker. At first I tried speaking with him. I felt my review was good, fair, and spoke very highly about everything except the service- which others have critiqued similarly here on google review. After five minutes of him venting I was still trying to make things right and asked if I could make a suggestion. His response was very rude. He said,” if you make it quick.” At that point I realized that whatever is going on in his life- he decided to take it out on me. I was done. I said,” Never mind. Have a good day.” I later heard that the jazz house band who I was seen talking to was fired and told that I complained about the music. That’s absurd and a lie. They were fired as some sort of weird retribution or maybe they can’t afford to pay them anymore and used me as a scapegoat. Either way this restaurant is not...

TL;DR: The owner Jules horribly mismanages reservations, blamed me for being unhappy with that, tried to make her hostess bear the brunt of it, and threw a tantrum like I've never seen before.

We attempted to dine here Friday night. They offer indoor or outdoor reservations. We opted for the first indoor reservation, which was 8pm. There were many available earlier outdoors, but this was a windy night, and one of the features that they advertise is their open kitchen design, an experience you only get inside.

We arrived at 7:55 and checked in. The hostess began looking at outdoor tables, and I politely reaffirmed that our reservation was indoors. She said there was no such thing as indoor or outdoor reservations and that neither was guaranteed, but we could wait for something to open up. We then noticed that another couple was waiting in front of us with the same problem.

I asked the hostess to check how long we would have to wait. She went inside and came out 5 minutes later and told us, as well as the other couple, that there were two 2-tops getting dessert. It was now 15 minutes passed our reservation time, so I called the hostess' attention to the fact that their terms on OpenTable state that reservations entitle you to 90 minutes, and asked that they hurry these tables along so they can meet their obligation to us. The hostess went inside and I assume attempted to do so.

Another 10 minutes went by while we waited - I won't say patiently at this point, but courteously and unobtrusively - and someone walked out carrying food. She walked by us and asked if we'd like to sit outside, and I explained the situation. Her face visibly didn't want to hear my recounting of events and she cut me off and said they were very busy. I responded that may be the case, but we were now pushing 25 minutes late on a guaranteed indoor reservation and this was being mismanaged.

She walked inside speechless as if I had just kicked her puppy. The hostess then walks back out and says to us "Jules doesn't think this is the restaurant for you." Yes, the woman had in fact been the owner, and on top of her unwillingness to sympathize with our poor experience thus far, she spinelessly sent someone else out to tell us to leave!

After a minute or so of the hostess trying to diffuse things, Jules walked back out. She asked to step to the side, which I did, because I assumed there was a misunderstanding that we would work through, and I didn't want to make it a public spectacle for her sake. She continued yelling about how busy they are and how she's trying her hardest, which, okay cool, but you're a professional restaurant owner and I've never had anyone in a service management role yell at me about how hard they're trying - especially after I had spent 30 minutes giving them the benefit of the doubt to make things right. I tried to calmly ask her to let me get a word in to explain how things looked from my perspective - that they have a reservation book with guaranteed indoor and outdoor reservations and a 90 minute max rule - things that they actively setup in their reservation system, which if enforced would avoid situations like this - but she continued to cut me off. At one point she actually yelled "we don't have any rules!" and said I was attacking her, and again said this wasn't the restaurant for me. I responded that if calm and collected feedback about a horribly mismanaged experience feels like an attack, then I don't think this is the business for her.

She then yelled "I've been in business for THREE AND A HALF YEARS!" as if that's an eternity that ranks her among the elders of the restaurant business and indemnifies her from doing any wrong.

At that point I picked my jaw up off the floor and we left. I can't believe how that all unfolded. I am quite seasoned when it comes to high-end dining, the experience and management expectations that come with it, and customer etiquette, and never in my life have been so surprised by such an end-to-end failure. Really...

Not a to-go friendly location if you are not going straight home. They do not provide silverware or napkins to consume the food and the food is packaged in containers that are not microwavable.

Despite the fact I informed the individual I was placing my order with that I was staying at a hotel, it was never disclosed that they do not have to-go silverware. She even suggested to me that it would be nice to eat my meal by the river (which seems weird in retrospect because how would I have been able to eat it?) Upon finding out they did not have silverware for to gos, I asked where a store might be that I could purchase silverware. I ended up having to stop somewhere on the way back to the hotel (mine doesn't have silverware as they don't serve any meals), this took about 20 minutes and my food ended up being pretty cold.

I called the restaurant to inquire if the metal containers were microwavable and I ended up speaking to the owner, Jules on the phone. The conversation was not very pleasant and ended up making me way more frustrated then I was to begin with being forced to buy silverware and eat cold food that I paid almost $90 for.

She informed me that I should have requested to take their flatware with me, with the intention of bringing it back to the restaurant that evening when I was finished using it. As I didn't do this, the entire situation was my fault. She went on to inform me that a restaurant of their caliber should never be expected to provide plasticware with their to-gos. Frankly this was a haughty and superficial response. I have been to numerous restaurants that where of a higher quality, higher price point, and better caliber that provide microwavable packaging and to-go utensils that didn't feel or look like cheap plasticware with their to-gos.

I am road warrior and travel full-time. Not once have I ever encountered a restaurant that expected me to provide my own silverware to consume a to-go and had no option of any kind for me to consume the food with. I have been informed before that they don't offer to-gos BECAUSE they don't have the silverware to go with it or the appropriate packaging. I ended up eating my salad to completion, washed out the plastic bowl it was packaged in, placed the asparagus in it, microwaved it, consumed them, and then repeated with the scallops.

I ordered the Avocado toast, Beet Salad, and Scallops. The Avocado toast was amazing and delicious through every bite. The blackened shrimp was perfectly complimented by the avocado. The ciabatta bread it was placed upon was toasted to a crisp but yet soft consistency and had a tasty flavor that would have stood alone. I'd highly recommend this dish!

The beet salad was fine. It was quite small and didn't stand out in flavor to any other beet salad I've had. Honestly the vinaigrette actually made it rank below other beet salads I've had at "lesser" restaurants.

The scallops I will admit were reheated but compared to others I have had reheated left quite a bit to be desired. They seemed to be over seasoned. The pureed peas and whole peas did not compliment the scallops at all and seem to clash with the seasoning used on the scallops. The capers cause further confusion. The entire combination was confusing and did not make for a pleasant flavor for the palete.

The asparagus was well season and full of flavor. They were very well cooked, firm without being tough. I'd have this side dish again.

I personally ate all of these items. Due to the proportion size of the Avocado toast and Salad, I was content without being overly full where as I feel at the average restaurant I would have been unable to eat all three of these items by myself and in...