Julep's New Southern Cuisine — Restaurant in Richmond

This is our second visit to Juleps and will, most likely, be our last. While the food was very good and the restaurant is comfortable, we were sorely disappointed with the service. The restaurant was busy, but not packed, yet it took our server quite a while to take our drink order. He dropped the drinks off and didn't tell us the specials, returning a good 15 minutes to do so. While we were enjoying the time with our friends, it was an hour and 15 minutes after being seated before our meal was delivered. Despite the fact that all four of us were eyeing the bananas foster being prepared at nearby tables with watering mouths, no one asked us if we wanted dessert until close to an hour after our meal had arrived and our plates had been cleared for awhile. By then, it was late and we, sadly, declined dessert. Our server seemed "put out" that we were not ordering dessert.

In addition, as we were standing to leave, two servers came rushing out of the kitchen, flying behind us almost bumping into us and said, "Pardon me, young ladies" barely giving us time to get out of the way. I was thinking it would have been more appropriate if they had paused for a moment to let us get out of the way. (Side note: two 60+ professional women are not "young ladies" and find that quite patronizing). Then, one of the servers came back with empty plates at top speed, walked in between us saying "Coming through! Coming through!" Not sure if there was someone timing them to get back into the kitchen, but it was quite surprising. We weren't standing there talking. We were literally gathering our coats and trying to walk out.

Given the cost of the food and the ambiance that Juleps tries to provide, this type of thing should never happen. There are too many other wonderful restaurants in the area and I would expect Juleps to want people to...

My sista-friend and I had reservations there at 5:30pm before the Brian Culbertson show at the National Theatre last night. (Side note: He was awesome as usual!!!🔥) So, we researched restaurants ahead of time as we were traveling in from Virginia Beach/Chesapeake. Our desk clerk at Marriott also recommended Julep's. Thank God the Hotel shuttle dropped us off because parking near the restaurant is scarce, but we could have walked there from the Marriott. A huge shoutout and thank you to our amazing waiter Kareem for his outstanding customer service ( friendly, efficient and professional) as well as his spot-on menu recommendations and ensuring we were out the door on time for our Brian Culbertson show!!!❤️ I had the Beef Short Ribs, and no knife needed! My sister got the NY Strip, med and cooked to perfection (juicy and pink). We loved our wines, white zif, and pinot noir. I would have given a five, but as a Chef myself, I feel the soup should have had more crabmeat, or it should have been carefully folded in to maintain the lumps and make them more visible. They also could have garnish with some crab as well, but the soup flavor was delicious. Our fried green tomatoes were actually fried too hard, but the pimiento cheese served with it was a nice surprise as I am not fond of pimiento cheese. The decor and ambiance were very inviting. It was moderately crowded with minimal noise, so overall, it was a great experience, and thanks to Kareem, we will...

This was our second visit, and we love the ambience and overall quality! However this visit was a bit less enjoyable than our first a year ago. Understandably covid19 has changed some things, but customer service should never be one!! Waiter was knowledgeable, but a bit too hurried, especially since it was early and not crowded. The biggest frustration for our party was the lack of options or room for substitutions on the menu! Waiter kept saying the chef sf doesn't "like changes"....well since I'm the consumer, and both eating and paying for the meal, the chef's lack of wanting changes shouldn't be as important! In a diverse country, there should be room for minor meal substitutions, like vegetables!! Or for those that don't prefer spicy foods vs those who do. Waiter seemed frustrated when we asked for our drinks, even though he wasn't thorough in getting our order for drinks other than alcoholic beverages!! When we opted not to have those, things as simple as offering other drink options were a bother!!! When I finally got his attention and asked for sweet tea, he never responded, just came back and plopped it down on the table...wow!! Really had a great first experience, but not exactly sure if I would return in future, and sadly I had highly recommended this restaurant to the rest of our party! I left feeling let down and...