Element Bistro Bar and Lounge — Restaurant in Jacksonville

My husband and i came here and had an excellent meal and drinks. The server (i think Chris) was very nice and attentive and our food was great. He's also a great bartender. I had the duck breast ans hubby had steak. Both were very flavorful although the portions of protein could've been a bit larger. My duck breast and his steak were kinda tiny. The veggies were AMAZING also. The fingerling potatoes were sooo delicious. The cesear salad was awesome as well. I wish i would've asked what kind of moscato they were serving bc it was the best moscato I've had lol. We brought our 2 children. A 6 month old and our 5 yr old had the bbq chix flatbread with fries. It was delicious and she gobbled it up. Although its more of a bar type of scene there were a couple of booths to accommodate us and it was totally fine having our children there. It was on a Sunday night when there was no live music so it was a pretty relaxed vibe that was comfortable for a family. We went bc of a really great groupon deal but i think my husband and i would go back without the groupon bc the prices were a little high but not outrageous. I was happy with our experience here not to mention VERY impressed with the very young chef who's back there throwing down n the kitchen. I tipped him personally and thanked him. Only thing that kept me from giving 5 stars was the tiny portions of duck and steak. Lol it...

If I could give 0 stars, I would. I purchased a Groupon and attempted to use it twice. About a month ago, my wife and drove downtown to eat there. We tried to go in and were stopped at the door and told "it is tatoo night and we needed to pay $10 each to enter." Uh, no way! We just said we would come back another night. We drove back Thursday, May 24, 2018 and were met at the door by the cook who said, "We aren't serving anyone because I had a death in the family." (I sympathized, but that's no reason to close a restaurant, and why were you at the restaurant if there were a death in the family?) This next part is the worst: She then said, "We are having an Urban Group of African Americans come in 30 minutes and are unable to serve you." (My wife and I are not African American). This restaurant needs to be shut down immediately for racial profiling and discrimination! Do NOT go to this restaurant!

edite: I had an email dialogue with the owner "Jon Mroz" who said I had "childish behavior" and then finally blocked me from emailing him. This is no way for the owner to treat customers, even if the customer is upset at poor customer service. He should accept responsibility and make necessary changes to improve...

Yikes. I love that we are bringing more businesses into downtown, but this one leaves much to be desired.

I have been to both the bistro/bar side and the nightclub on two separate occasions and was thoroughly unimpressed. Both spaces are far too cramped to serve their purposes. What kind of serious bistro has only two tables? The food was quite honestly something that I could have prepared in the dining halls at college. The paninis were sadly squished on pieces of white bread and severely lacking in filling - we tried the steak and the Cuban. We tried the Cali wrap as well, which was overdressed but good. For appetizers we had the tuna tartare (strongly do not recommend, very lacking in flavor) and the BLT sliders - the only thing I would order again.

Cocktails were good, I would recommend those. Decent selection of local beers. We were served by a very nice young lady who was helpful to us, but also totally left in the dark by her kitchen staff.

In summary - save your money and...