Blind Squirrel - Florence — Restaurant in Florence

Squirrel is beautiful and the concept is great. But they don't manage it well for the branding. It is supposed to be, in this order Music - Grub - Sports... the music can be great but it can also be horrible. You can have an excellent band but the sound system and how the restaurant is set up doesn't showcase their talent... or you can have an excellent band but that band doesn't understand how to run sound for this type of venue so it's do horribly loud that it runs everyone but their little 10 person following off. The managers do not know enough about music to put in guidelines and let the bands know that if they don't abide by them they they don't get to play...

Also the staff has totally turned over and so many people there are new. It's not the great service you used to have. This is a growing pain I guess .. but I can't help thinking it's because it's so hit or miss with the crowd because they don't cater to bands with big followings (except the local Doghouse) and instead do what all other restaurants in Boone County do and cater to families with young kids. Which kills the vibe after 8pm and therefore you lose your crowd... so it's empty almost all the time when it used to be 3 hour wait ... and then it moved to at least crowded.

Now it is a nice grave yard. They've changed the menu and it's a bit better .. . but the place needs to be managed to BE A BOND SQUIRREL...

You can cater to people with kids and elderly until 7pm. And you make a change over on vibe, lighting, and bring the bands in and let people know that no one under 18 is permitted after 9pm. It's done all over the place

And you hire a person who knows music and bands and who knows how to run sound ( we are here in Boone County, I promise) to manage along side the person who hires the bartenders, cooks and HAVE THEM also be over who is doing social media. Am entertainment person who understands the restaurant business but who is over creating the enegry that's needed to get the vibe back

Otherwise it will continue to die. It can't compete with Drakes, Tilted Kilt, Hooters, Chliis, Cheddars etc etc etc when they ALL DO THE SAME THING now in Boone Cty. The only difference is that Tilted Kilt has girls with push up bras and tiny shorts serving... and hooters has its brand and vibe... and Drakes has better food

But none of them have bands and au Squirrel should be killing it... but this part is...

Thought we would check it out for an impromptu date night. Our server was very nice and attentive. We ordered the nachos, not knowing their size, only wanting to share them as an appetizer and also order a meal. I really found the nachos to be pretty bland and not live up to all the hype apparently. They did have one thing going for them, it was the largest plate of nachos I've ever gotten at a restaurant. But, sometimes it's quality over quantity. The nachos seem to be just melted shredded cheese, some diced tomatoes, some sparse diced red onions, along with some large fresh jalapeno pepper slices. I hate those, and that ruined it for me personally. I only like pickled jalapenos on nachos 😞. I came in craving some nachos with jalapenos lol so I was sad. The special spicy sour cream tried saving them for me. We got half chicken, half beef. I didn't taste any kind of taco seasoning or Mexican flavor in the protein options at all. The chicken was in very large chunks. Like fajita strips. 🤔 Seemed weird... It tasted like the frozen Tyson chicken strips in the bag, definitely not fresh chicken, tasted processed and rubbery. We also ordered fish and chips which subsequently came in a small basket! Three average pieces of fish. Not particularly flaky, batter average. The twisted fries were better than the fish! We ordered several drinks which were mostly ice of course, but they were good. The drink menu was very nice, and the selection was great I must say. I feel like we will go back, maybe try a different appetizer and enjoy some beers next time. This is much more of a bar than a grill. Also cute little stage with live music close to home to enjoy. Lots of comfortable places to sit and hang out. Apparently they open up these big garage doors that make the front walls when it's nice, we'd like to experience that. Seems like this place would be great if they revamped and expanded...

Nice open atmosphere, parking well you might have to walk a little bit, it's on the hill top and some of the other businesses don't like you parking in their area's LOL. (recommend to the owner buy out the rest of the slumpy businesses and turn them into parking ;) )

~Large bar area with everything available, plenty of bar seating enough for about 40+ stools. ~Sofa and lounge chairs available around the bar area (drinks only) so drink, enjoy and wait for a table to open up. ~Plenty of seating all throughout the entire place, usually a good mix in mingle crowd and everyone is pretty friendly. ~Service staff was very polite, friendly and helpful, has a home feel. ~If your going to bring your "Children"... please bring them on a weekend afternoon or in the afternoon. Let the ADULTS have their time without "Children" running around, most of us ADULTS are trying to take a break from all of that stuff. Also keep in mind it is mainly a pub/bar why would you bring your "children"? ~The menu is pretty limited for a bar/restaurant I had the chicken wings (overly breaded and a bit too salty) they were also a bit over cooked. Fries, just normal fries nothing fancy Mac&Cheese, it was good but was missing that pop of flavor, (salt and pepper)

Bar was clean and has multiple bartenders All the open tables (very few) were all clean For a Friday night not too packed but very busy, I sat next to a repeat customer at the bar. They told me Friday Night, Saturday Night were pretty busy and usually standing room only. It's a great place for singles for mixing and mingling. This place is by no means a dive bar, they have class and the place has a level of elegance. The only thing they need to improve to get a 5 star from me is the menu and the food quality. Maybe hire a professional chef to advise and train the staff a bit.

I will be coming back here as it is a nice spot to...