Jefferson Social — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Overpriced downtown bar—too be expected. Out of control bouncers—not expected.

I’ve been here a handful often times, each time a negative experience. However, I’ve held off on writing a bad review in case it was an “off night.” But after this past visit I was truly disturbed by the lack of composure from the security and bouncers.

A man was smoking inside, and while obviously against the rules and over-served (which was their fault), I watched as the bouncers literally threw him outside headfirst and knelt on his neck. His head was bleeding and he almost lost consciousness due to the force on his neck—this seemed excessive for smoking. Then his friend who was sober came over to talk to the bouncers. He made no aggressive moves, in fact he held his hands up and asked what his friend did. Instead of explaining the situation they repeatedly hit the friend and shoved him until he too fell onto the street and was injured.

Shortly thereafter I left the premises to get an energy drink from a nearby convenience store. On my way back I paused for a moment next to the group that was still on the street, two of them bleeding, others discussing what they should do. I then continued back to the bar to sit with my table. When I arrived the bouncer shoved me hard in the chest and refused to let me in because I was “with them.” I explained that I didn’t know the group he kicked out, and was just walking by them, and he shoved me 2 more times and started threatening me until a second bouncer stopped him and let me in. If he hadn’t, the first bouncer may have knelt on my neck too. He seemed to be looking for an excuse to assault someone.

So ya, overpriced bar with bouncers that assault....

My daughter, granddaughter and I visited this restaurant on Memorial Day. There was a home Reds game against the Phillies and it was quite busy. When we approached the door, we were immediately met by an employee by the name of Marcus. The first thing out of his mouth was "our kitchen is backed up, we're not taking any orders except for drinks to go!" Might I add, we didn't get a hello, how are you, how can we help, thanks for stopping by but... He was very short and rude and not very welcoming. My daughter and I were about to leave when I noticed a couple empty tables in the outdoor terrace area. We decided to sit down, just to wait awhile. Literally, 30 SECONDS after sitting down, a waitress was at our table. She gave us menus, and asked us what we would like to drink. My daughter and I were kind of confused because of what we were just told by the previous person. When we mentioned what Marcus had told us, she said "oh it's not that bad, we're a little backed up, but your food will probably be out in 20 minutes." WOW! Totally a different experience from what we encounterd at the door. So we ended up staying. Our food was great and waitress was very sweet. Honestly, Marcus should probably work on his customer service skills. Also, keep up with the communication and what's going on in the restaurant. Might I add, he was also clearing off tables while having a lit cigarette in his hand. Seriously? You let your employees walk around dining patrons with a lit cigarette? I realize we were outside, but this is a bit too much on the unprofessional side...

Waitress was very rude- she didn’t want to take my order and constantly rolled her eyes every-time I asked for something. She had a tie dye shirt on. I asked to simply place my order when I got there and she rolled her eyes and said “it will be a minute we’re busy” literally barely anyone there and the way she said it was so disgusting. I asked for one refill after an hour of being there. A glass of lemonade and she said “it will be a minute” and runs to another table and starts chatting with another table. Didn’t get one refill from her the whole hour. I had to go to the bar myself to get the refill. Then she lied about the wait time on my friend’s order. She said the order would take 30-45 minutes so not to order it. Ended up ordering anyways and it come out in 15 minutes. I normally tip a lot but unfortunately only got $1.80 from me and .50 from my friend. Worst service I’ve ever received. No “do you need anything ? Does the food taste good? Do you need a refill?” Judging a book by its cover it seems like but she’d be surprised. I guess 4 African American Law students still can’t get a little respect at a restaurant. Saw her busting tables getting refills for the old white men though! All good, just won’t...