Propagation Whiskey Bar and Kitchen — Restaurant in Plant City

Edit for response to owner: Respectfully, your establishment was aware of the problem when they came to let the reserving party know about the table being given away. Likewise, my personal concern didn’t come until today with your response to the constructive feedback being provided about your establishment (which was very well written and even made mention of wanting to try again in the future). While I’m sure you’ve filtered yourself as this is a public forum, your responses to similar concerns are indicative of your views on how you value your customers (pictures attached for reference). You have a history of not addressing concerns brought to you in the moment despite your staff being in the wrong. Mistakes happen, but your choice to be passive aggressive in your responses and not take ownership is what is truly concerning.

Original review: We drove 1.5 hours to try this as a recommendation from local friends. Based on our experience, our friends left a thoughtful review with constructive feedback, only to be met with a sarcastic response from this establishment.

After further investigation into the buried negative reviews, it appears this is par for the coarse for less than positive reviews to be met with sarcasm.

As a business owner myself, I find this reaction unprofessional and disappointing. Constructive criticism should be met with appreciation, not sarcasm. It’s a shame, as I had high expectations based on the ambiance.

The food was over priced considering the quality. Our friends’ reservation was given to someone else, requiring us to wait before being seated despite having a reservation. Our friends who called in the reservation even arrived early to check out the bar and atmosphere.

I would have refrained from leaving a review had the management handled feedback more graciously. I find it hard to support an establishment that’s unwilling to see value in teachable moments. Instead of using the review as a chance for improvement and training staff to better manage their reservations and improve the quality of food, this establishment chooses to patronize people who had a poor experience.

I hope they take this opportunity to improve, as customer service should...

Since I’m from Plant City myself, I really wanted to love this place. The food was good. The drinks were good. We came at happy hour and the waitress told us the appetizers would be half off. When we received the bill, nothing was half off. The waitress apologized and said that she was new which I completely understand. She said she would explain it to the manager since it was her fault. We ordered 4 appetizers thinking they would be half off and they were all full price. We watched her go up to the owner and he just shook his head no. We paid twice as much as we thought we were going to. The owner didn’t do anything to help. I understand that she was misinformed. But that shouldn’t be completely on us to pay for the whole bill when your employees give misinformation. Very unprofessional. The waitress was super apologetic and kind. We will not be back.

In response to your comment… Brandon, Thank you for responding. However, we were told the appetizers were half off by the waitress before we ordered. She explained that they were not half off after we received our bill and questioned her as to why they were rung up full price. Then, we watched her walk over to you to let you know that we were told by her when we sat down that the appetizers would be half off when in fact, they are full price. We saw you shake your head no and then she came back to our table and said that she was sorry, but there was nothing she could do. Since we did not want the waitress to feel bad, we went ahead and paid for the bill. We definitely DID NOT insist on paying and I am unsure why you said this in your response when you never even came to talk to us about the mix up. There was communication. We communicated with the waitress that she told us It was half off and brought us a bill that was full price. She communicated to you that we were questioning why our bill was full price when she told us that the food was 1/2 off for happy hour. She communicated to us that you said that there was nothing you could do even though she gave us misinformation. She communicated how sorry she was that she was wrong. Then we paid .., not insisting… but because that is the bill we were given and we are not just going...

My wife and I sit at the Krazy Kup for a coffee date every Friday morning and have looked with longing at Propagation Whiskey Bar on the other side of the park. We tried to go once in February and found it was so popular that reservations were required.

Well we finally made it tonight to celebrate our 15th anniversary, and I’m seriously impressed.

Our amazing server, Linsey, was super attentive and did a great job serving us, and I’d be keen to be seated in her section any time!

We had the grilled shrimp cocktail appetizer… nicely char grilled massive shrimp that were then chilled down and served with an amazing key lime and strawberry cocktail sauce. Easy 5/5 on this one! Only complaint would be for a shared app, give 6 shrimp not 5, but all good cause we shared the last one.

My wife had the steak frites which was served with a pepper gourmaise sauce. She ordered medium rare and the cook was spot on. The shoestring fries were hot and crispy, and the sauce was exceptional.

I ordered the venison rack which was served with a bourbon jam over a bed of wild grains and mushrooms and bourbon glazed carrots. I also ordered medium rare, and once again it was cooked to perfection. This was probably one of the best higher end restaurant meals I’ve ever had… perhaps surpassed by a steak dinner I had on a Disney cruise once, but also perhaps not. Most definitely beat out my steak experiences at Berns and Charlie’s in Tampa. The flavor and balance was exceptional. Most definitely a 6/5 stars here!

For dessert we shared the bourbon and vanilla bean crème brûlée which was probably the smoothest custard I’ve ever had. The bourbon was there, but not overpowering, and the caramelized sugar on top had a perfect crack and was neither grainy nor too thick.

The whiskey list was also quite good and not too steep on price.

Overall for the meal we had, and the four drinks we had including a double pour of OF 1920, getting out for $200 before tip was a great deal.

We’ll...