Bistro at the Bijou — Restaurant in Knoxville

Disappointed!

Website pictures and menu looked good. The review was mix so we gave it a try. We are disappointed! People's reviews are pretty right, food is ok and service is bad.

Our waitress was a sort of scatter brain? I asked water with a lemon and brought water without lemon. I asked again and she never did so my hubby went to the bar and got it for me.

She also did not know what tap beer they serve. She kept looking back at the bar and trying to read off and said she need to go ask the bartender.

My hubby ordered Protein Power Lunch -Served with cup of soup or house salad and choice of side. He chose grilled salmon, fingerling potatoes and house salad. He chose Balsamic vinaigrette for salad dressing and our waitress brought ranch. Food : Salmon was ok and potato was under cooked.

I ordered Andouille Sausage Benedict - Poached eggs served on biscuits with hollandaise sauce. When the food came out, I asked for hot sauce and she never did. My food got cold while waiting for her so my hubby went to the bar again and got me the sauce. Food : Biscuit was over cooked, potato scallop was good, sausage tasted good but was tough.

She never refilled our water or came by to check if our food was ok. Yup the service was slow and bad.

We won't be coming back. The ambient by jazz players in the cafe was the only good thing we would keep for father's day brunch.

A note to a owner - Please buy some pens for your restaurant for customers to use to sign credit card copy. Not only our waitress bought the pen that was dead but also it's someone else's business logo pen. We grabbed the one from table that people just left and the pen was from Hyatt hotel. Unless you are trying to promote their business, it would be nice to have your own or plain pens? We told the receptionist guy that pen was dead and he said they are dying from not having enough pen...

Another thing, please buy a sign for your bathroom. A rough door with hand written with a marker next to the kitchen wasn't easy to figure that was...

The atmosphere and service were fantastic, and I think that is what keeps this place in business (and warrants my 3 stars). It is certainly not the food. This was my second time visiting Bistro. I came many years ago on a recommendation, but was severely disappointed by the food and said I'd never come back. Since then, I have heard so many other people say how much they like the restaurant, so my husband and I came back on a whim this past weekend to try it again.

There was live jazz, which was a treat, and our server was quick, attentive and friendly. Unfortunately, the food was still mediocre and bland. I ordered the bourbon pork chops with peaches. While the pork chops were super tender, the whole meal lacked in flavor and needed SALT. The most flavorful thing on my plate was the green beans. The potato salad was dry and flavorless. We ordered fried okra as an appetizer, and it was pretty good (hot and fresh) but also needed salt. My husband got the salmon patty special, and again, it lacked in flavor and salt.

I'm thinking the popularity of this restaurant is based on a category of diners who do not like to step outside their culinary comfort zone: don't like new flavors and don't like spice/salt.

Not sure we'll be back.

Edit to respond to owner: I think it is a fair review, as I came back to try your restaurant a second time (to prevent bias from 1 experience), and gave my honest opinion (much of it positive, I might add) which is what a review is supposed to be. I have removed my comment about the green beans potentially being canned. I rarely use salt at restaurants because food is typically pre-seasoned to...

Let me preface this review by stating this was an isolated incident, which probably doesn't reflect on the overall integrity of the restaurant itself. I have eaten here many times, and received excellent service and excellent food. Today, however, was not one of those days. I had an hour and a half between classes and wanted to grab a relatively quick lunch. I assumed lunch would not take longer than an hour. We arrived at the Bistro, were seated and greeted by our server promptly. I should also preface this by stating that myself and the person I was eating with are both servers. She brought our drinks and took our orders promptly.We ordered a salad and a panini off of the specials board. At this point the restaurant is not packed at all. 20 minutes goes by and the tables that have come in after us receive their food. We haven't seen our server and our drinks are empty. She avoids coming to our table and leaves us drinkless for a good bit of time. After 50 minutes without food, we try to grab our check, and she quickly runs to the back saying that our food is probably up. I was expecting the best looking salad and sandwich of my life (why else would it take almost an hour to make?) This was the first time she has even addressed us since she took our orders. She brings out the food, which looked mediocre at best (which is COMPLETELY uncharacteristic of this establishment), and claims that it was the kitchens fault. I am a server, and it probably would have been best if she had fessed up to not ringing in our food. She didn't apologize once for the mishap. Probably the worst service I have...