Bear & The Butcher — Restaurant in Lexington

I've been here a handful of times and what I've come to expect is this. The food is good and on food alone, I'd give this place 4 stars. The service is typically average at best and on service alone, 3 stars.

Why the 2 star rating? I've had two really bad experiences here.

First time around, my wife and I went in around 7:30 on a Sunday night to get dinner. The bartender asked what we wanted to drink and we placed a drink order. When he came back with our drinks we asked for food menus only to be told the kitchen was closed and the restaurant was closing in a few minutes for an employee appreciation party. My complaint here: tell me that when I walk in so we can make an informed decision. We were disappointed not getting the chance to try the food but honestly felt duped that they were happy to take our drink order only to tell us we needed to leave in 10 minutes and there was no food.

The second bad experience came during a UK football game. I knew the majority of the 15 TVs in the restaurant would have the UK game on and we were there to watch the game. However, there was also a really good game on in Notre Dame vs. Michigan, (with the same start time), so I asked the server if they could possibly put that game on one of the smaller TVs upstairs. He said he needed to talk to the manager.

I observe them talk, then they both go back to what they were doing. When the server finally comes back to our table, he takes our order but doesn't say anything about getting the TV changed so I ask. He says the manager said no.

Right off the bat, I'm irritated that no one came over to tell me this. In my experience, a good restaurant manager will deliver unpleasant news but in this case, no one said anything until I had to ask...again. I ask to speak to the manager and he comes over. He starts off giving me a long explanation of how he can't change ANY of the different smaller TVs because people watch the game on those TVs. He then tells me he's got a couple reservations that haven't shown up yet but once they do, he'll see if he can one of the smaller TVs over. I appreciated what seemed like a willingness to at least try to do it.

After the second quarter of the game, the manager passes by again. I'm thinking, great, he's going to tell me he can put the Michigan game on but he keeps going. The next time he passes by without saying anything, I stop him and ask if the reservations have shown up yet and if he could possibly switch another smaller, side TV the game.

This is where I had to write this review because the manager flat out lied 2-3 times:

#1 - "I can't change the smaller TV, (which happens to be right next to a really big TV showing the UK game), because there is a table of guys watching that TV." I'd been observing said table to see if they were watching the smaller TV because I knew that was most likely the only one that could be changed. They were watching the big TV like most people would.

#2 - We show ONLY the UK game when they're on. His words, "what do you expect, you came to a bar on UK's campus." (Super sarcastic and rude, btw). You're the manager here? Last I checked, this restaurant isn't on campus and if you have a policy to only show the UK games, why not simply tell me that up front and avoid all of this frustration.

#3 - A table of 4 arrives and I see the manager go to the previously mentioned table of guys who were supposedly watching the UK game on the smaller TV. He asks them something and motions to the smaller TV. The guys all shake their heads. The manager then proceeds to change the channel on the smaller TV. OMG!! I was so excited to finally get to watch this other game! Yay me!! Nope! The manager changed the channel to the World Series game. Are you f-ing kidding? That was just flat out rude.

Yup, we went from "hey, I'll see what I can do in a little while" to "nope, we only have the UK game on" to a giant F you! by putting on the World Series game. No hospitality to be found. Just rudeness to the point where it actually felt...

DO NOT GO HERE FROM 10AM TO 2PM. This place is poorly managed. They are severly under staffed during this time. I went for lunch and they only had 1 bartender who did everything. She was amazing. We made sure she was tipped good for her effort. She was the bartender, host, and the waiter for all the tables. But she was obviously overwhelmed by all the work she had to do serving maybe 15 people. As a result it took a long time to get our orders in. Let alone having the food get made, which took even longer.

I got there at 12:13 ordered by 12:20. Didnt get the food untill 1:30pm. then to top it off, i got pulled pork nachos. I picked this because i figured it was hard to mess up, but it wasnt good.

After an Hour long wait for them to cook my order, it came out cold. I was annoyed.

The pulled pork looked like it was put thru a blender and almost looked like hamburger meat from taco bell. I was scared to try it. The nachos was like 13 dollars which is high for that typical bar size nacho that was made with items totaling less than probably 6 dollars.

I ate no more than a bite and was sick to my stomach. I didnt eat the rest. I let my friends try it just to make sure it wasnt just me. they had max 2 chips and didnt like it either. We told the manager about our food. Which he was nice and did a little discount for the terrible experience. he told me i didnt have to pay for it, and offered to get me something else, but i turned it down. I dont trust any restaurant to make anything twice. Let alone one that messed up a simple thing as nachos.

My friends got burgers and fries and they said their burgers were over cooked and dry. They managed to force the burgers down, but left the sides. We all left a lot of the food on the plates. I feel like it all should of been free honestly due to the terrible dinning experience, but you win some, and you loose some.

The manager discounted their food to half priced. which they are still made 8 to 9 dollars a person but not double that they charge as a normal price on the menu.

By the time we left we had spent 2 hours in this place on a lunch break and had to still go somewhere else to eat.

We lost money going there, a full hour at work due to the unreasonably 2 hour long wait. Im never going there during this time frame. Might not ever go back there, unless invited, and only in the evening when the manager said they get more business and are reasonably staffed. And only for drinks if they are reasonably priced. Maybe not even for that.

But we did try a new place and this one just happen to be a loss for us. You win some, you loose some. Good luck if you decide to try this place. I was disappointed to say the least, in this restraunt after i read so many nice reviews on this place. Really...

After being snowed in for a few days, Fat Man Reviews found its way to Bear & The Butcher in Lexington, KY. Bear & The Butcher is a casual contemporary joint, they offer dinner daily, lunch Fri-Sun and Brunch Sat-Sun.

I started with the Ashland Old Fashioned, which comes with Buffalo Trace, demerara syrup, orange bitters and a cherry. It was all bourbon. I could not taste anything else.

We tried the Barbacoa Nachos. The description includes house potato chips, house smoked barbacoa, queso, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, sliced avocado and sour cream. The potato chips are thick cut and have a great crunch, barbacoa tasted great and was very tender, the avocado was fresh, but it would have been better smashed or as a guacamole. The queso was good but there needed to be more. The jalapeños add a bright acidic punch that were wonderful. The sour cream was missing, instead there was what tasted like Cotija cheese, and it made the dish a little salty.

I tried the Smoked Salmon Burger with Smoked Gouda Mac N Cheese. The burger was made with house smoked salmon, mixed greens, tomato, cucumber dill sauce on a grilled brioche by DV8 Kitchen(previously reviewed). The salmon had a good flavor, but it was a little dry. The brioche was excellent and brought a slight sweetness to the burger. The dill sauce was great, but it was thin, and the bread soaked it up. If it were thicker then the dryness of the salmon would not have been as apparent. The mac n cheese sauce was creamy, and the noodles were cooked well. It was topped with sweet cornbread crumbles. I didn't care for the sweet taste in the Mac, not a fan.

My fiancé tried the Smoked French Dip and Tater Tots. This came with house smoked beef, grilled red onion, Swiss cheese, au jus, on a sourdough hoagie. The hoagie was lightly toasted, the beef had a good smoked taste and was sliced kinda thin. The au jus could have used a little seasoning. The tots were out of a bag, but they were cooked well.

Bear & The Butcher offers smoked wings, bar snacks, sandwiches, entrées, tacos and salads. They have a full bar, beers on tap and offer some vegan options. The Fat Man says that Bear & The Butcher is Fat...