Oliver's Chop House & Bourbon Bar at Derby City Gaming and Hotel — Restaurant in Louisville

This place has a upscale Ruth Chris's atmosphere, with a Texas Roadhouse service and food quality. My family and I chose to have dinner to celebrate my birthday but it was more of a birthday celebration dinner disaster. The atmosphere was beautiful, and I was so excited you to just relax and enjoy a luxurious dinner at one of Louisville's finest... but... It took 30-35 minutes to get our salads. Our reservations were for 9:15, at about 10:20 our main entree finally made it to the table, only after I requested to speak to a manager, inquiring about our dinner. Our waiter which I can't remember his name, but I remember he was an impressive 7'1 tall, was prompt for about the first 15-20 minutes of our visit. He seemed to disappear the longer we waited for our dinner. When we first got there the restaurant didn't seem over packed, and they were offering a restaurant week menu, so having been offered this menu I assumed it was easy enough that dinner would go without a hitch. Wrong!!! Once we received our dinner I asked to speak with the manager, same thing, can't remember his name, but a bearded man. I asked him since it's taken forever to get our food and at this point the restaurant has been cleared of customers and closing could he comp some of our bill. Explaining the times on our food and the fact a table that was seated after us had received their dinner a long time before us. Well this guy has every excuse why our food was late, "oh we're busy" " it's restaurant week" "one of your plates required a chicken leg" ( which was the size of a chicken drum) "the chicken takes a really long time to cook, you know not really having prep space" I'm just looking at him wondering how any of that makes sense, and how is it our problem. He refused a comp on our bill, but offered us free credit play!!! Really!!! What in the actual hell!!! I don't want your free play, I came here for dinner, not games!! Hands down the worst experience!! I was also told since dessert was included in the meal, (which we took to go because we were tired of setting there) I would receive a voucher for a free dessert later for my birthday, which I did not. For a $200 meal this place was a joke and a circus. The manager doesn't care, and our waiter didn't have the common courtesy to keep us informed on why our dinner was delayed. Would not recommend, ZERO stars!! We'll never step foot back in that place, and I'll continuously tell people how terrible of a establishment it is!!! To top off the whole experience the food was Texas Roadhouse...

The service we received from Carla was absolutely amazing. She is such a bright spot in your day. She loves to get to know her customers and has an impeccable memory. She knows I want a Riesling to start and a Malbec with my steak. She offers the crab cake because that’s our favorite appetizer. We’ve followed Carla from a previous place of employment because she’s that awesome!

This was the first time trying Oliver’s. There were definitely wins and a few small misses but I know they are easy fixes. The staff went out of the way to make sure the small things were corrected.

I did order a lemon drop martini that came with what I thought was a sugar rum. Unfortunately it was a sugar/salt mixture but Jones made sure to come apologize and Carla had a new one made.

The appetizers arrived quickly and were delicious. The meatballs were flavorful and those caramelized onions delightful. I could have went without the corn bread. I don’t feel like it brought any significance to the dish. Oysters were good but throw some more horseradish on there for us spicy people. I liked that the carpaccio was refreshing but really would have loved more sauce(maybe some grainy mustard). Last that crab cake was perfect. The sauce was flavorful and the cake was ALL crab. The little pieces that were caramelized along the edges were my favorite bites.

The bread came in between the apps and main entrees. The rolls were fabulous and had almost a pretzel type exterior but a warm, soft, and fluffy interior. I couldn’t decide on just one entree, so I ordered two. The bone-in ribeye and the scallops. The ribeye was cooked to my preference and the seasoning was spot on. I ate the entire thing which I never do. The steak was topped with roasted garlic which made it even better. Now to the star of the show, the scallops. I wish the dish had 10 of them on there because I would have eaten every single one. They were seasoned and seared, then placed on a red pepper puree. They were topped with Parmesan cheese and the dish highlighted bacon and micro shiso peppers as well. I couldn’t get enough. It was just that good.

We ended the night sharing just one dessert because we were full. It was the White Chocolate Cashew Mousse. The mousse was light and not overbearing. The flavor was quite lovely and I would order again. Carla made the entire night fantastic and I can’t wait to...

The atmosphere is excellent. The staff is excellent (except the waiter starring at my wife as he walked by, and not just a glance but a full on stare and still walking).

The food is okay. The bread they serve is to very good!

Meatballs: We ordered the meatballs as an appetizer. Something happened and the botched that order. So the host (very nice gentleman) asked if we would like a shrimp cocktail (on the house) while we wait and the meatballs would be out, we said yes. The meatballs eventually came out but we took them home. They are okay.

Shrimp Cocktail: They are okay, you get (5) for the price. They were a little warm so it seemed that they were sitting out for a bit. We have had much better shrimp cocktails at Connors Steak & Seafood restaurant with a lower price and better (home made) cocktail sauce.

Lobster Tail: My wife ordered this, and she said it was okay. Still not the worst or the best but once again we have had much better lobster tail at the same local (small chain) steak & seafood restaurant. The price at the time of the meal was spot on for other places. The size was just a little smaller for the price than at Connors Steak & Seafood.

Burger and Truffle Fries: I order this, and once again it was okay. Not the worst or the best. It was not cooked they way I asked (medium well) and I was not about to send it back. The presentation is excellent. The toppings are a little too much for me. You put this and that and that on top a burger and you are just taking away from the meat but don't get me wrong, the toppings were good. I have had a much more excellent burger at Jack Fry's for roughly the same price. The truffle fries are excellent.

So all and all it was an okay dinning experience. Would we come back? Maybe? I don't know if we had an off night with them, since we were there just as they opened up? I personally think I can recommend (2) better local restaurants, with the same items, better tasting food, for about the same price. Our bill was roughly $100 without alcohol, the shrimp cocktail and meatballs were...