Azur Restaurant and Patio — Restaurant in Lexington

We ate last night 03/13/21 at the Azur restaurant celebrating our ambassador visit to the Maker's Mark Distillery! From the nearby hotel, I called Azur. We had some slight difficulty getting a table. However, we were told that a high top table was available but we would need to be done eating and gone by 7:30 p.m. which was no problem as we walked straight over from the hotel at 5:45 p.m. We got seated and our server was Sarah. She was friendly but she got busy. The restaurant has a modern look, the atmosphere is really nice with the outdoor patio and the ambiance is really chill. The menu offers a great variety of food! The cornbread they bring to the table is really good! My disappointment started when they couldn't provide the sushi rolls listed in their menu. I was ordering some for appetizers. I was told that they get them from the sushi restaurant next door and for tonight's meal, they were not available. We opted for the scallops wrapped in bacon. They were very good! Later, I wanted the 14 oz. prime NY strip steak ($40.00) and was told that they were out of that too. I opted for the 10 oz. prime sirloin ($24.00) medium-rare. My wife ordered the sea grits. The steak arrived but another server and it was really tough to cut which was very disappointing! Partly through eating the steak, I remembered that the steak was supposed to have lump crab meat on top. Mine had arrived without the standard lump crab meat which was another disappointment! As a lover of bread with dinner, I had also asked that some cornbread arrive with my steak to which it did not. I asked another server to get the cornbread as Sarah had other tables she was managing. I did let Sarah know about the missing crab meat. She did bring the lump crab meat to the table dumping it over my half ate steak. I did show her how tough the steak was to cut and there was no offer from her to make it right (not free but maybe another one etc. or a free dessert). She said, well, it is the prime sirloin cut. I thought to myself, yeah but for $24.00, it should be a better cut! We did order dessert and that was really good (made by a staff member). Not sure why they were not on their A game! Also, if food is on the menu, have it available! I can understand the sushi rolls but your best steak?....C'mon man! We would go back to give them...

We made reservations for 4 during the EatLex event. The menu is limited for this event, but with the low cost, it is to be expected. We were greeted, offered drinks, and cornbread was brought to the table. After a few moments, the waiter took our order (four event dinners, two with appetizer, two with desert) and left to place it with the kitchen. The appetizers came fairly quickly, and we split them among the four of us. They were very good (oysters Rockefeller and Pimento nuggets), and were consumed quickly. Dinner took a bit of time, but that is to be expected when you order fried chicken. Three of us ordered the chicken and the other Pot Roast. The food was Excellent.

This is where the evening deteriorated. The waiter disappeared. Water glasses remained empty, dirty dishes started piling up to the point that a manager stopped to collect some of them. Still no waiter. About 20 minutes later the waiter returned, filled the water glasses, and started collecting dishes. We requested to go boxes for the remaining chicken, and each plate was removed, and extra food returned. He then took the orders for desert(bread pudding and peach blueberry cobbler, both very good) and left again. 5 minutes later he arrived with the desert, and within a minute or two, the checks. Had the restaurant been busy, I could have forgiven the bad service, but it was 7 pm on a Saturday, and the dining area was only about 2/3 full. No excuse for this level of service.

During the entire evening, live music was playing. It was so loud, conversation was very difficult. The musician was good, just too loud. I can honestly say I will not return if live music is provided.

I know that Azur is a high end restaurant and a $20.00 meal is not the target audience this place is aiming to entice. However, if you are going to offer an introductory special, I assume you want these customers to return. Bad service and loud music is not the way to earn my business.

On a separate note, I have eaten here several times, and have always had great service and a nice atmosphere for my meals. This is the first time I have been in on a Saturday evening, and it will probably...

My first visit (!) to Azur fell during the inaugural Food News and Chews Chicken Sandwich Week, which was devised in-part by none other than Head Chef Jeremy Ashby. There were only three sandwiches in the line-up that I HAD to try, and this was the perfect one to kick off the week. The Orange Honey Butter and Red Chili Glazed and Dipped Fried Chicken Sandwich with lettuce, gouda cheese, pickles, and smoked garlic mayo was nothing short of perfection! Albeit very sticky and messy to eat with all those components, but I wouldn't change even a single element. Did I mention it was perfect? Our table opted to start the meal with the Smoked Salmon and Artichoke Dip appetizer, which was rich, flavorful, and just plain DIVINE! Apparently it was also one of the newer items on the menu, and the the housemade flatbread chips it came with were crispy, layered, and perfectly fried. I could eat this entire meal again, if I'm being honest. 4/5 in our group ordered the chicken sandwich, but the one who did not absolutely raved about her salad with grilled salmon. Every portion was about 50% bigger than what you'd expect at most restaurants, so the prices were more than fair. My only qualm, and the reason this review is missing one star, is the sub-par service. I won't say it was bad, but it was most certainly not good. Our reservation was at 7:30, so I get that the volume of diners before us was probably overwhelming, but it was evident that our server did not want to be there anymore. I can't convey her attitude appropriately with words, but when she brought out a brussel sprout salad that we did not order, I'm fairly certain she took it back to the kitchen, removed the beets, and brought it back out posing as the table-sized portion of brussel sprouts we ordered as a side. When my boyfriend was finished with his beer he requested another, then waited almost 20 minutes for her to acknowledge that she hadn't brought it, begrudgingly. If she had been even a tiny bit nicer, this would EASILY be a 5-star review. I can't wait to come back and try something from the extensive regular menu (and hopefully improve...