Watch Hill Proper — Restaurant in Louisville

We were in town for the Kentucky Derby, and so my wife searched out places to eat that not only had good food, but were in line with a Kentucky visit. With over 2000 choices of American whiskey to choose from (the largest selection in the world), this was a no brainer.

WOW!!!!!!!! First, rhe 20 foot (or so) high wall of whiskey behind the main bar, complete with ladders on wheels, is jaw dropping and, alone, is worth walking through the doors.

Second, the chef took the time to hit a home run in all four aspects of the dining experience. The presentation of all three appetizers and two entres was a delight to our eyes, the aroma of every dish tempted us to dig in immediately upon receiving our dishes, the texture of each morsel was perfection on our palettes, and all of our food exploded with such unique and mouth watering flavors. The seafood was so good, we thought we were on the east coast, and the pasta dish rivaled our favorite Chicago Italiano.

Second, the service was beyond welcoming. Our server, Mo, was a charm among charms, as she had a smile a mile wide and took the time to discuss every detail of every food option we were considering. At no point did she make us feel like we were hoarding her time (I tend to talk to servers a bit longer than I should). She not only was friendly, but it was obvious that she genuinely enjoyed working here.

Chris, the manager this night, was a most gracious host. He not only stopped by with complimentary champagne for us to celebrate our 20th anniversary and my wife's birthday, but midway through our evening, he pulled up a chair and answered every question we had about the story behind the restaurant and also the intricacies of the different whiskeys they had collected. He also surprised us with two shots of bourbon creme to send us on our way after our two hour experience.

Is it spendy? It is well within the range of a finer eating excursion, and all the patrons which joined us this evening seemed to agree. Everyone was enjoying the atmosphere and tempting plates.

It is a good thing that we don't live in Kentucky, as not only do y'all drive crazy here, but we would be visiting Watch Hill Proper way more than our wallets would allow.

What a wonderful experience!

OH, AND THE DRINKS ARE BEYOND...

Absolute failure!

Apparently this restaurant does not understand they are in the service business. Claiming the worlds largest anything, you would think this would come with a high level of service. The restaurant is a short distance from Louisville, but our group figured the bourbon selection would be worth it.

The service was super slow, the delinked were routinely empty, and the server refused to take appetizer orders until he had all the drinks in. A long time later, he was back to take entree orders.

60 min - one drink, no appetizers 90 min - yeah! Appetizers! Finally another drink 120 min - no entrees, only excuses!

I’m a very patient customer. I’ve traveled over 2.5 million miles to over 30 countries around the world. We eat out multiple times per week, and this experience was an all-time low!

Rather than a free round of drinks, or some bread to munch on the service hid from our table in the kitchen. Our table had to flag down other team members just to refill water glasses.

The servers answer - another big groups order was in front of us and their 600 sq ft kitchen could not cope with this many orders - we just needed to wait. Wow! OK, then find another way to keep us happy - you’re in the service business!!!

EVEN WORSE - The manager / owners answer - the orders were entered just an hour ago, we needed to be more patient, but ZERO accountability of how they could do better. They stood at our table and argued with us for over 10 min instead of just trying to deliver a decent experience.

Unbelievable!!!

Attitude starts at the top! Without new management or new owners this place does not...

We came to Watch Hill Proper to celebrate an anniversary and went to try a new place and we were not disappointed. I think the absolute BIGGEST thing they did great was atmosphere and service. The restaurant had this fantastic feel to it and it was so comfortable but elegant without being pretentious. They had a live singer and the atmosphere with the bottles and the music is fantastic! The service is also probably the best service I have ever received in Louisville and maybe even anywhere else which I loved. There was never a moment where we didnt have water or get what we needed. Our waiter Chris was attentive, informative and helped us make our anniversary memorable. Now, lets talk drinks - they were amazing. a fantastic quality of drinks and I will be back to try many more, you can tell the effort and attention to detail they put into their cocktails. Last but not least, the food. We had a crab cake that was delicious, fresh and light! The steak was a quality cut and was very flavorful while also not being dependent on a bunch of frills to help it be that way. They had a Sablefish dish that was fantastic and cooked perfectly . The dessert was alright overall but did not stand out as much as the rest of their food and I have seen other restaurants be a little more creative and they did so well with everything else that I was disappointed that it wasnt more uniquely tied to their overall experience. That being said, do not get me wrong, desert was delicious, it just wasnt up to the very high standard they have...