J. Alexander's Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington Township

Long story short, if you consider the entire experience, I was very underwhelmed, almost to the point of a 2 star rating. As we entered, I was impressed by the decor and how nicely and promptly our group of 5 (without reservations) was greated and seated. The ambiance was certainly nice and, given that it was a Wednesday evening, I certainly noticed how busy they were and felt a definite energy. Our server, Alyssa, promptly greeted us and got our drink order. From that point on, I was less and less impressed. My simple whiskey and coke took a very long time to get and when it came, some other server just walked up to the table and asked who had a whiskey and coke ordered. His approach immediately struck me as odd and seemingly out of place with the character that and service level that I assumed based on the menu, prices, and atmosphere. Our server did check in a few times to see if we had any questions on the menu or needs. Having never been there, I had a few and asked for some recommendations. Our group had a couple with salads, the salmon, a steak, the veggie burger, and I ordered the bayou pasta and a cup of gumbo. Our server warned me that both were pretty spicy and I told her that I was fine with that. Meanwhile, our group had an order of the spinach dip, which was certainly tasty. When the two salads came, another server brought them and again they had no clue who ordered what, even though our server took the orders around our table in order. After taking our orders, our server asked if I'd like another drink and I asked that she bring it when our meals were delivered. While the others in our party enjoyed their salads, I waited for my gumbo and tried to catch our servers or someone's attention without making a spectacle, which was a failure. I finally caught our server's attention and asked for my gumbo. Just as that discussion was happening, the entrees were brought to the table so I told the waitress that she'd missed the opportunity for me to enjoy the gumbo that she had recommended and reminded her about my drink. We again had to deal with the clueless people fumbling around with trying to get the food to the right person and our server didn't even try to help. My entree, the Bayou pasta, was very clearly made with tiny processed scallops, tiny shrimp, and had some shredded crab meat sprinkled over it. I can say that the pasta was well prepared. Overall, it wasn't tasteless, but it wasn't anything close to spicy. Otherwise said, I can get a very similar meal, with the same grade of seafood, at any mid level restaurant like an Applebees or TGIFriday and at least get a nice piece of garlic bread or something along with it. As I was about 1/2 way through my entree, our server finally delivered the drink that I'd asked for with my meal, along with a complimentary sample of the gumbo and an slight apology for the mistake with my order. As I was quite hungry, and the Bayou pasta was reasonably edible, I cleaned my plate, and then decided to try the gumbo. On the plus side, the gumbo had somewhat of a decent taste profile and wasn't made from bargain ingredients, but again it was very mild. As I mentioned, my experience was far from what I expected, and pretty much a 2 star experience. The rest of my party, all of whom had been there before, were not as disappointed so I rounded up 1 star. But, I don't plan to go back and certainly can't...

We had a long planned dinner with good friends of ours. Both of us have large families, with small children so going out is a very involved. We ordered appetizers and drinks which went well and were good. We then all ordered at the same time. Approximately 20-30 minutes later half of the entrees arrived. We waited approximately ten minutes for the second set of four entrees. Then we started to wonder where the other food was, as nobody wanted to be rude or eat without everyone having thier food. Finally after approximately 20 plus minutes I tracked down another group of servers to inquire about our food. The second set of entrees arrived somewhere after thirty to forty minutes later. The manager came over and explained that they had forgotten to make the order, and had a scripted conversation meant to deescalate the situation, which is probably standard procedure. It bordered on sarcastic and was a weak apology. Never in that time once did our main server come to check on us. I had to initiate contact to remedy our missing food. Needless to say that put a damper on the evening. We were then informed we could have free dessert, or rather were told we would order dessert. It was on the house they said, but then three times after that our server said she would be happy to take the "free" dessert off of our bill. Don't worry I'll remove it from the bill, so not really sure what type of psychology 101 that was, but it was laughable and basically insulting. I don't leave reviews good or bad normally for anything. It was just a major major disappointment after hearing good things, and then having dinner ruined, a sorry and sarcastic scripted excuse and not very good free dessert rammed down our throats so it could then be taken off the bill as a favor. My steak was medium well at best instead of medium rare to rare. I will give them kudos for the trout and czarina dish, both very good. When the preparation to have an evening out is extreme and a hurdle, is then ruined by forgetting to enter an order, zero follow up in a timely manner, and a lousy apology-- it's very dissapointing. Try a little harder next j Alexander's, present a honest and not trying to be funny excuse, and don't present free dessert as a favor then say you'll remove it from the bill. Follow up with your customers very soon after they get thier food, that way you won't have one couple with cold entrees, and another couple with nothing. A 250 dollar dinner should have at least an expectation of follow up and some attention to detail....

This was hands down the best experience my wife and I have had at a restaurant. Better than our experiences at Chart House, Ruth's Chris, Melting Pot, and Fleming's.

Parking was great and easy, something you don't find at many Dayton Restaurants. When we first walked in the door, we noticed It was darker lit and had a fantastic ambiance, and no table was too close to another. Our waitress was very nice and professional. All the staff worked together to fill drinks, provide silverware, and everyone smiled when they greeted or served us. The Waitress made suggestions and comments about her favorite items. My wife and I decided to share an appetizer and split a ceasar salad. They put the salad on two separate plates for us without us having to ask.

The appetizer was the Mexico city spinach con queso dip and chips. It was great. It came with a fresh tomato salsa that we mixed in the dip. It was so good! The ceasar salad was not drenched in dressing. For our main courses, we ordered the fillet mignon with béarnaise and a grilled pork tenderloin with Thai bang bang sauce. I got the steak cooked medium, it was probably cooked closer to medium rare, but this was not an issue for me as I eat steak anywhere from seared raw to medium, flavor wise it was delicious as was my wife's pork tenderloin. The bang bang sauce was sweet and spicy without being overwhelming in either direction. We also tried the NYO (not your ordinary) Mac and cheese. It was creamy and delicious, a little too rich, though, and needs another flavor profile to perfect it, in my opinion. Still, it was so good. Lastly, we had the house made key lime pie for dessert, and the Waitress suggested coffee. The pie was a perfect balance of sweet and creamy with lime that was not overwhelming. The coffee was decent, French press coffee, a little acidic, so we added a little cream and sugar. While everything may not have been perfect, most things were, and they earned a well-deserved five stars from my wife and I. No place I have eaten has touched their level of kindness and service.

On a last note, the server let the supervisor, Victoria know it was our first time, and she came over and spoke to us about our meal. Just a fantastic level of care and professionalism. My wife and I will be back for regular dates!

Thank you for the experience, Victoria and J....