BRU Burger Bar Lexington — Restaurant in Lexington

FOLLOW-UP: After several back-and-forth correspondences with the General Manager (Shannon), we agreed to a return visit and I'm happy to report our previous trip proved to be the anomaly we hoped it would. Everything, from the service (Adysan was our waitress) to the food (chicken sandwich, fish sandwich, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, chicken bites, strawberry milkshake, bread pudding), was top-notch this time around. We thoroughly enjoyed every element of our evening and we look forward to returning again in the near future.

ORIGINAL: We had ordered takeout from here a few times during the pandemic and was consistently impressed. So this was our first stop once restrictions were lifted to celebrate our son's birthday with my in-laws. I called an hour ahead and asked if they had seating for 10 (five adults, five children ranging 2-7). Granted this was no easy ask but they confirmed they could support.

We showed up 1 hour later and despite finding our reservation, it still took 10 minutes to piece together a functional configuration. After seating, we placed our food & drink orders when one of the children got sick at the table. We cleaned everything up as best we could with the cloth napkins when the child got sick again. The young waiter was frozen in terror and the opposite of help: -we asked for more napkins and he brought us 4 cocktail squares -we asked for something to place the soiled cloth napkins in and he brought us a server's tray -we asked for to-go containers for the four family members and he brought us two small boxes we pointed out two of the entrees were missing and despite his insurance they were coming, the party members gave up and left 10 minutes later

We don't fully blame the waiter as he appeared to be stretched pretty thin. There were 3-4 hostesses at all times and this waiter had our 10-person table plus a 14-person table behind us with no help.

As for the food, everything was pretty underwhelming. Everyone reported their burgers were overcooked or bland, we never got our onion rings, and the quantity of pork on the nachos was laughable (essentially just tortilla chips and pico de gallo).

We paid our bill and gladly left. The last we saw on our way out the door, the tray of vomit-covered napkins was still sitting on the floor - our apologies to our fellow patrons. This was one of the worst dining experiences in our parental career, but I'm giving them an extra star for how great the previous...

I was so disappointed in our experience on New Year's Eve. Our server was possibly really unhappy about working on New Year's Eve; either that or she's new and/or unskilled. I had several issues, but she basically ignored me even after making eye contact multiple times. The man who greeted us was possibly the manager, and he was extremely helpful and friendly. He is why I didn't put one star on this review, frankly.

The details: We ordered the three-dip appetizer which had decent portions of the dips and only came with about six very thin and small slices of pita bread. It tasted pretty good, but when I pointed out the discrepancy, our server said it would be a $2 charge for more bread. Wow. It was already a $9 appetizer, and we couldn't even eat the dips. I ordered a turkey burger...just don't. It was the driest turkey burger I've ever had, totally overcooked and hard. It had a chutney on it that wasn't bad, but the whole thing was barely edible. I was trying to chew it when our server asked how our food was...I was shaking my head and trying to swallow when she said "Good!" and walked away. Again, wow. I caught her eye and motioned several times and she completely ignored me. The manager I mentioned before was very observant, and immediately after I caught his eye he walked over to ask how he could help. I explained that I was trying hard to choke down my food but it needed something, mayo or anything. He kindly went and got two types of mayo for me to try, which made it possible for me to actually eat my cold, dry, hard burger. No extra cost, so there's that. My husband liked his beef burger okay, and my daughter enjoyed her mac & cheese and fruit.

I was really unhappy about the sub-standard experience on a holiday, particularly when the other servers seemed really friendly and helpful. To her, though I didn't catch her name (she has blonde hair and a grumpy expression, that's all I remember), I really wish you had helped us more. We always tip extra generously on holidays, but that is the one exception in 14 years of dinner out together on NYE. (We tipped 15%, and we never, ever tip that low unless we get terrible service.)

Update: We finally returned with a gift card, and the experience was much better. The food was fine, and the server was relatively attentive. Stick...

Food Fun Adventure Weekend took Fat Man Reviews to Bru Burger in Lexington, KY. Bru Burger is a small chain of 13 locations in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. They serve local fresh ingredients.

My fiancé started with a Kentucky Breeze made with Woodford Reserve, orange liquor, ginger ale and orange garnish. The drink was sweet with a nice orange flavor. The bourbon finished well.

I tried the Walnut Old Fashioned made with Elijah Craig Rye, walnut bitters, maple simple syrup and a walnut. The walnut hits in the very beginning then the maple takes over. The rye is kinda buried, and it is very sweet.

I ordered the Bru Burger and fries. The burger is a nice size that comes with taleggio cheese, bacon, tomato jam, caramelized onions, chopped lettuce and mayo. The bun fits the burger well. The burger was cooked a perfect medium, the cheese is a soft slightly fruity cheese, that pairs well with the tangy sweet tomato jam, which was excellent. The bacon was cooked to a nice chewy crispy crunch. The onions were not caramelized as much as sautéed in my opinion and there was some liquid from the onions that made the bottom bun slightly soggy. The entire burger was great from start to finish. The fries were hand cut, and they were fried and seasoned well. They were served with a homemade ketchup. It reminded me more of a sweet BBQ sauce than a ketchup, but it wasn't terrible. It needed a little more vinegar in my opinion.

My fiancé tried the Garlic-Three-Cheese burger and fries. It was made with Swiss, American and Mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic and truffle aioli. The burger again was cooked to a perfect medium. The cheeses were melted well. The garlic was pretty up front but not super over powering, but the truffle aioli was not really found. I needed some pickles to cut through the salty gooey cheeses, but it was another excellent burger. The fries again were cooked well.

Bru Burger offers several appetizers, sandwiches, salads, lots of burger selections that you can substitute with lamb, bison, turkey or chicken and even some vegan options. They offer a full bar with several handcrafted drinks and a nice craft beer selection. Bru Burger is Fat...