Sutton's Family Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Lexington

I flew in from California to spend Father's Day with my 80-year-old Dad, and Sutton's was his pick. He's a longtime regular, always tips well, and enjoys the bar ambiance. After a 12 hour day traveling to my Dad, I was picked up and rushed straight from the airport to make it there in time -- walked in at 9:20 PM. They close at 10.

Out of respect, I even asked the host if we were cutting it too close. He smiled and said, "You're fine, sit wherever."

The second we sat at the bar, the female bartender looked at us and said: "Guess I won't be getting out of here at 10." No smile, no grace, just guilt-trip energy like we were a burden for daring to come in during business hours. I used to be a server, so I felt nervous already and had voiced this to my Dad but he was so so so excited -- the parking lot was quiet, and I didn't want to be "that table." But this reaction? It was instant hostility. I don't know her name because she never said it.

I mentioned to the bartender I heard what she said and she had nothing to say except "Well we do close at 10". Again we walked in 40 minutes before close and it took 10 minutes to even be acknowledged. When we were she shouted from the bar " Do you know what you want?". No introduction. No Happy Father's Day. Just attitude.

It felt so uncomfortable, decided to switched to takeout. While waiting my Dad ordered coffee. Even then, I overheard someone in the kitchen laughing and saying, "Who the f* orders coffee right now?" in response to my dad's order. Again -- he's 80. It was disgusting.

To make it worse, we saw other guests come in at 9:40 AFTER us, sit in the dining room, and be treated politely! A couple at the bar even ordered drinks at 9:58 as we were walking out! So apparently, the attitude was just for us.

And despite all that, I still tipped 20% on the to- go order because I've worked in this industry. I know how it feels to serve close to closing. But I also know you don't take that frustration out on guests -- especially not ones who show up 40+ minutes before close and are trying to be respectful!

When I brought it up to the manager, Shell, he couldn't have been less interested. No apology, no ownership -- just blank indifference. He mentioned that they sometime forget guests can hear the kitchen- How about not say it at all?!

If you're wondering why your Father's Day business was slow ( which the bartender was also talking about) , maybe ask yourself how many guests you make feel unwelcome the moment they walk in. When I lived in Lexington, Sutton's used to be a local favorite. After this, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

You embarrassed my father on his day, and you made sure I regretted honoring his request to go...

Not impressed. First time at this restaurant 8/15/20. Called ahead of time and spoke to a wonderful gentleman who was extremely polite. Arrived and was seated on patio. Waited 10 minutes to be greeted by server, waited 20minutes to get a beverage. Had to request bread and was told that the owner had a “thing” about the bread and preferred that orders/entrees were ordered 1st prior to bread being placed on table. We would have ordered but it seemed difficult to get server to return. Asked for ranch for salad and received a different type of dressing. Couldn’t ask for ranch because the server never returned. Ordered meatballs as an appetizer, $8 and came with 4, seemed a bit pricey to me. Server finally returned and refilled empty drinks and food still wasn’t ready after an additional 30 minute wait. We were told they had “run out of the white sauce and it had to be freshly prepared”. When our food finally arrived, we were asked if we wanted fresh grated Parmesan and, oops, they only had three spins left in the grater so she had to go get more and then we saw her inside offering it to other customers and she never returned so we just finished our meal. We were hoping to make it to Baskin Robbins with 15min to spare but it took that long to get our check and for the server to run back twice to get to-go containers because she only brought one when we requested two and by the time all of that was completed and our card was returned Baskin Robbins had closed. $70 for 3 meals with drinks and an appetizer. Food was good but not that good and service was subpar at best. Probably...

Hopefully we caught them on an off night. The experience was very disappointing. Starting with the good: The staff were very friendly and enthusiastic. The place was clean. And, that's about it. The scallop special was thoroughly overcooked, rubbery and hard. My friend got it replaced with chicken fettuccini, which was at least edible. The noodles and sauce were okay, but the chicken was spongy. I had the spaghetti and meat sauce. There was nearly a quarter cup of tomato water at the bottom of my bowl. The sauce was bland. It tasted like sauce from a cafeteria had been ladeled over the noodles just before serving. No attempt had been made to infuse the noodles with flavor by finishing in sauce or similar. My other friend had the chicken parm, which was just okay. The breading was soft, but the chicken did at least have the taste and texture of chicken. Noodles and sauce for that dish were again, just okay. Perhaps worst was the bread and oil that was brought to our table. The bread arrived cut in half by someone who doesn't know how to use a knife. The bread was crushed at the cut, instead of having been sawn with a bread knife. The cut edge was also hard, meaning the bread had been left out after cutting. We ate it anyway, and they brought more bread and seasoned oil. The bread was teh same, but the second portion of herbal oil was rancid. We asked that they check their oil and they confirmed it was bad. Not a good experience all around. We could have had better food for the price cooking for ourselves...