Nic & Norman's Lexington — Restaurant in Lexington

Had a negative experience immediately after having a seemingly positive experience. My wife and I had stopped in yesterday to have cocktails before our dinner reservation across the street. The young man that fixed our drink did an excellent job to the point we decided to come back after having our dinner for another drink. We ordered the same drinks as before, but unfortunately the same bartender was not there and the female bartender did not make our drinks correctly. She added seltzer water to drink, which was not one of the ingredients, and when I told her that I noticed this she attempted to throw the previous bartender, who was not there, under the bus by saying he made the drink incorrectly. She then decided to go to whom I assume was the bar manager who was sitting at the bar and he responded dismissively to our concerns by not even bothering to address us facing us, he just turned his head from where he seating and asked "So do you want another drink or what?". I was upset that 1) the bartender attempted to throw the other bartender under the bus when she was the one who made the mistake and 2) they were acting as if we were wrong for pointing out that the bartender did not follow their own ingredients listed on the menu. Then they went so far to get a an ingredient list from the back to show me and I responded "this is not on the menu you gave me so what is the relevance?" They also called in another person, I assume the restaurant manager as if this was addressing the situation. I also suspect because I am a person of color that this was also why they treated us so disrespectfully and dismissively. I refused to have the drink remade and paid for them anyway because they were acting as I was just trying to get a free drink or something. I have been to this spot 4-5 times in the past year, used to be one of my favorite places to frequent, but I will never go back again. Their customer service is horrible and I warn the young man who serviced us earlier to watch his back, because they definitely...

This a decent place for a casual dinner and drinks, food is good but there are some things to skip, service is lackluster but that seems to almost be the standard today. I have no problem going back as the prices and overall quality are good but I hope the service improves. It is probably more of a 3 star than 4 but I really enjoyed the brisket nachos and location.

Interior - Nice bar and decent tables with a view of main street.

Drinks - Decent price and a good pour for wine and beer, not nearly as skimpy or pricey as some other restaurants downtown.

Service - All of the servers were pleasant but either seemed nervous, inexperienced or otherwise occupied. I had one excellent bartender but the others were just there to do a job with the minimum amount of effort. The hostesses always seem a little confused when people walk in which initially I found odd but got used to it.

Food - BRISKET NACHOS, delicious but brisket can be a little chewy at times.

POWERBLEND SALAD, the best salad they have, nice full salad with plenty of flavor.

NIC & NORMAN'S SALAD, take a pass, there is barely enough goat cheese to qualify as having goat cheese and the greens were wilted, I sent it back for a fresh one.

BUFFALO CHICKEN, a flavorful buffalo sauce and nice blue cheese, I would get this again.

NIC-N-CHICKEN, chicken was a little over cooked but overall a nice flavor and the cajun cream corn is delicious.

BURGERS, there was very little to like, the BBQ BURGER has a good sauce and the onion straws were good but overall the burgers were overcooked and had an unpleasant flavor, the buns were mediocre and a little dry. There is a plant based burger that I might try...

i hate to leave a bad review but i had a bad experience. we got takeout last night and each item had something wrong with it. i got the frito chili smash burger and the fritos were so stale it was the only thing i could taste. there was also no discernible queso. the fries were soggy. the nic and norman's sauce (ordered on the side) was weird. we ordered a well done mexican burger and it was medium at best. bbq flatbread didn't come with onion straws and since when is it $16?? and the corn/black bean tasted different in a bad way. it was 5:00 on a friday but not busy at all so i can't make excuses for the kitchen.

more odd though was my experience at the front counter. there was a gaggle of employees, only one greeted me... and then a fellow said, in a sing song voice, "i dooont want to beee hereeee" while i was giving the name on the order. he started fervently writing on their seating chart the same message. okay. the many employees and me stood in silence for what felt like a very long time while someone went to get the food. she returned, he said "gonna throw myself in traffic!!" while i was paying. i paid the $50ish dollars and went on my way. it was kind of funny but only because i revel in those types of moments. maybe i have an aura that invites people to comfortably share their innermost thoughts on a whim. i feel bad for calling it out here publicly but i was stunned by the lack of professional awareness.

all that to say- i was really looking forward to a tasty burger but i don't think i'll go back. the vibes were not good, the food was not good. 2 stars for the host keeping it together...