JohnnyLukes KitchenBar — Restaurant in Wilmington

JohnnyLukes KitchenBar has been a regular dining spot for me in Wilmington due to its CONSISTENT excellence in delicious cuisine, customer service, incredible atmosphere and the BEST MIXOLOGIST in Wilmington! However, my recent visit on Friday, March 8, 2024, left a lasting impression. I brought my father who had flown in from out of town, hoping to share the exceptional experience that JohnnyLukes usually provides.

Upon arriving at 7:30pm, we noticed an empty high-top table. Instead of a warm welcome from the hostess, we had to approach her ourselves and ask if the table was available. She replied 'No', mentioned that there was a wait and requested our contact information. My father and I understood and patiently waited by the door. Unfortunately, the initial hiccup continued as we observed the same table we initially aimed for, empty for a puzzling 15-minutes, only to be told it was now available.

Despite these initial challenges, our evening took a positive turn when we were eventually seated and greeted by our delightful waitress, Jewel! She skillfully handled our orders with care and kindness! As we were waiting for our food and drinks, we were shocked to see a group of 4 people walk right in the same door and sit down at a table next to us without being requested to wait or provide their contact information. Once our orders arrived, my father was able to savor the fantastic food and drinks I had praised. However, the experience took a downturn once more when I requested the same bartender for my second drink, only to have Morgan, a different bartender, prepare it. I tasted it and politely asked for adjustments, which led to a complete unprofessional response and meltdown. In fact, Morgan proceeded to throw up her hands and yell I make this drink all the time! Not only was she comfortable enough to have a very public outburst in front of my father and I seated across from the bar but the customers seated directly at the bar. My father and I watched in horror yet again at her expressing dissatisfaction openly in front of customers. Given Morgan's visceral reaction, I wondered to myself, is it really that uncommon for customers to occasionally ask for their drinks to be tweaked or was she disturbed by particular customers having the audacity to ask for modifications?

At this point, my father and I were ready to leave, feeling disheartened by the inconsistencies in service and unprofessional behavior. Despite Jewel's effort to rectify the situation by asking the manager WITHOUT prompt to remove the untouched drink from our bill, the request was denied. Despite this setback, we acknowledged Jewel's exceptional service with a generous tip.

Leaving the restaurant, completely mortified at our initial greeting or lack there of; the fact that seating rules seem to only be applied to particular customers; Morgan's unprofessional behavior and the manager's unwillingness to even check to see if we were OK. We vowed never to return, echoing Maya Angelou's wisdom: "I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Jewel's outstanding customer service stood out, but unfortunately, it could not compensate for the overall...

My son surprised me with dinner for my birthday. He took me to Jonny Lukes (my choice) on Dec 19, 2023 at 7pm. It was my actual birthday. I have anaphylactic food allergies and have been able to eat there twice before with no issues. But this particular visit was terrible. We were seated immediately inside to avoid possible smoking in the upper area. Our waitress greeted us and brought our drinks. She then asked what we wanted to order. Neither the birthday girl, I went first. I asked to speak to the manager or kitchen manager, but was told no due to them being busy. While I was a bit concerned, I decided to continue since it was my birthday and my son was trying to do something nice for me. I explained that I have anaphylactic food allergies and that I order the same thing each time. She asked what my allergies were. I explained tomato, potato, all peppers (not black or white pepper as they come from a different food family), but others like paprika, bell pepper, red pepper flakes, etc as well as peanuts and shellfish. I asked her if she was going to write them down. She looked at me like I was dumb and said no! I have a great memory. I said but there’s a lot to this list. She again pushed back and said I got it. I replied, it’s my life and if you screw up, I have to deal with it. She was pissy from that point on but did write it down. She had to ask me to repeat the list a couple of times to make sure she had it write. Guess her memory wasn’t that great after all! I placed my order, Alfredo with no shrimp, keep the mushrooms, onions, and spinach. The Alfredo sauce has to be made from scratch given that there are red pepper flakes in it. Again, in the past it’s not been an issue, but that night, our waitress came back to the table to tell us that the kitchen was not willing to make my food… they just don’t have time!! Y’all hurt my feelings!! So I had to leave. There is literally nothing else that I can eat there. So we went to another restaurant which put us late to the surprise birthday party that my husband had put together. I was 30 mins late to my own party!! In my opinion, this kind of experience is unacceptable. It’s even worse that you messed up my birthday and the gift that my son was trying to give me and made me late to my own surprise party!!...

My first visit to Johnny Luke's KitchenBar was approx. 8 months ago and wanted to try out what they had to offer. Well, last evening was my second visit and JL impressed me once again after picking up my curbside order!

FOOD: Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad with a bowl of She-Crab Soup. The Blackened Chicken Caesar is the same meal I ordered last time and it instantly catapulted toward the top of my list of best chicken Caesar's. The spices on the grilled chicken breast are flawlessly applied and the chicken is so tender, it practically melts in your mouth. So damn good! JL's Caesar dressing is also something very special. Somehow, JL's packs all of the flavor of a traditional Caesar dressing into their own creation, with very light consistency. The flavor of the anchovies in the dressing is completely balanced and the Romaine lettuce is fresh and crisp. Honestly, this salad was better the second time around! In addition, I ordered a bowl of She-Crab soup to go with the salad and, once again...very nice. The soup was hot, full of fresh crab and don't even get me started on the velvety, creamy "broth". I found myself devouring the soup before I touched my salad. Once I finished my meal, I was full and felt great, rather than feeling sluggish. SCORE: 5 STARS!!

SERVICE: I called ahead and placed an order for curbside pickup at 5:15 pm and pulled up at 5:45 pm. The pleasant staff member walked out almost immediately, was masked and provided great service for the short duration of time I was there. Although the mask was on, you could still "see" the smile coming from her. Service was prompt, friendly and delivered with care. The only small thing missing from this interaction was an introduction of the staff member's name to amplify personalization...but this is just being picky. Well done! SCORE: 4.8 STARS!!

OVERALL SCORE: 1ST AND 2ND visits were both sensational! The food is wonderful, service is consistent and I feel that JL's would be a go-to place when you don't know what to order. They have a diverse menu and can appease to any palate....