The Blind Lemon — Restaurant in Cincinnati

A friend and I spent the weekend in Cincinnati for a shot getaway. On Saturday, October 1st, After a wonderful dinner at a fine dining restaurant we asked for suggestions of a bar to go to for an after dinner drink. The Blind Lemon was highly recommended so we went. When we got to the bottom of the stairs there was a guy sitting in a chair talking to others. We didn’t know if we had to be seated or if the guy in the chair was staff. After waiting a few minutes, we realized he was talking socially and we didn’t think he worked there. We decided we would go in the room to our left as the other space seemed like outdoor seating. As we headed that way, the guy in the chair blocked us with his hands and said we needed to wait. This was abrupt and rude. Very rude. We had been standing there for several minutes and not addressed which is why we assumed we could seat ourselves. Since he was working there he could have told the people he was talking to to hold on one second and address us, even if it was to tell us to wait a moment. Or, he could have addressed us and told us he would be with us in a moment. Either would have been better than what he did. As guest we had no idea that he even worked there, especially since we were not addressed.

He told us to follow him and took us to be seated. Even how he snatched the table back for us to be seated was rude and unkind. Then he just walked away. We were just stunned at this treatment and couldn’t make sense of it. We absolutely loved the environment of the bar but our experience had ruined it for us. We both quickly decided that there was no way we could stay at this establishment. We left minutes after being seated, before a waitress/waiter came to our table. There was no reason to be treated like this. There was nothing to indicate he worked there or was seating people, least of all him NOT addressing us. He could have easily told the people he was socializing with to wait a second, or told us to wait a second. It was unnecessarily mean and showed no kindness to patrons, which we would have been had our encounter been different.

We had nothing but wonderful experiences in Cincinnati. Everyone we’d met along the way had been extraordinarily kind. People had been overly helpful and friendly. This experience was awful and could have been easily addressed. If it is his job to greet and seat people, socializing should not take priority. Even still, we would have been alright if he addressed us and told us to he’d be with us shortly. One should assume that it’s a person’s first visit and direct them accordingly as a greeter/seater. This was by far our most disappointing experience...

Worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant/bar. Don’t go here unless you want to be berated and made to feel unwelcome.

Some friends and I planned to meet there and catch up as we have not seen each other in a few weeks. Our party planned to spend some time there and buy a few rounds of drinks. We were not in any rush.

As soon as we entered, the host was incredibly rude, asked us how many there were (2 because our group was already there), and then rudely commented, “So there ISN’T two of you then,” after we said we were looking for our friends.

I thought, ok that was my mistake. But then, the host threw menus at the server and told her to take us to our friends. We found them and there weren’t enough seats for us, so the host came back over, pointed at two of our friends, and demanded that they move. He and another woman (I would assume a manager?) then grabbed a bunch of chairs and threw them down and tossed menus on our table before storming off. This entire time, they were both grumbling and making comments under their breath.

When our other two friends arrived, they AGAIN said to us “so you have MORE people?” like we were inconveniencing them by supporting their business and wanting to spend our hard earned money at their establishment. The woman and male host again dragged chairs over and tossed a menu in the laps of our two friends who just joined.

At that point, we had felt incredibly uncomfortable and unwelcome. Still, we felt like we at least should get a drink since it was clearly such a great inconvenience to them for our party to be there. The least we could do at that point is make their GREAT troubles worthwhile.

I want to be clear, however, that our waitress, Bella, was so nice, sweet, and attentive, so we were very grateful to have, at the very least, encountered a little bit of kindness and compassion after all that had transpired.

Regardless, I will certainly never be returning after being made to feel like a burden and unwelcomed at their...

Unbelievable buffoonery from the manager.

Party of 9, we were literally the first group in at 5:05. We are seated and we moved some chairs to accommodate the rest of group due to arrive. We were literally the ONLY group back there until about 6:30!

Waitress says we’re not supposed to move stuff and we were like “okay..?”

Rest of the group arrives and this man walks out and asks if were using this bench, and the says “okay then come sit in this bench, this isn’t your house. I don’t come to your house and move your furniture”. He was the manager.

Never in my 16 yrs of food and customer service have I ever treated people like that. It was absurd. I don’t know how this place has such good reviews based on service.

I felt bad for the waitress like how rude is he to them if he didn’t hesitate to be rude to us?

We went upstairs to a separate establishment where we were treated much more cordially and the drinks were much tastier. We mentioned this behavior and our waiter indicated the guy who had behaved that way had been doing things like this for 35 yrs?! Then he should KNOW BETTER.

We will not...