Michael R.
Yelp
To save you the trouble of reading a play by play of my dinner (which is healing for me, but probably not particularly interesting for you), here's The Bottom Line:
The food was not at all what I expected. Cheap and underwhelming. The service weirdly bad, with emphasis on the weird. The ambiance was wonderful. However, the space is drafty and not properly heated, especially in winter. Very expensive for what it is, yet inexpensive for what it's trying to be. A skin deep fine dining experience.
It's been about a week since we came to Buck's, and do not know whether or not my experience was just an aberration, and not indicative of the usual quality of the restaurant. It certainly was not the best first impression, and I do not intend on trying for a second, or if I do, it will be alone. I would not want to risk ruining a second special occasion over it.
We called in reservations for Jan 20 at 5PM. The weather outside in Louisville that evening was frigid. About 8F and windy. We arrived at 5PM sharp and the door was locked. Both myself and my wife were dressed reasonably well for the weather, so we waited. A second and third party arrived. When a pair of high schoolers arrived, one in a very stylish but very much not seasonal dress, I decided it was probably time to try to get the doors open. It was about 5:05PM at this point, and so I called.
The gentleman on the other end of the line picked up promptly and was aghast that the door was locked, and raced to open it. As he was opening unlocking both doors, an blonde lady, whose name I do not know, but who seemed to be the maitre d' suddenly yelled at the man to not unlock one of the doors.
We were ushered inside, and another customer (who, only walked up as the doors were opening) got into the maitre d's face about being locked out. The maitre d' very nearly bit his head off about it.
We were seated next to a lovely window, giving us a scenic view over the parking lot. Shortly after the maitre d' seated another table with an older man and woman who she seemed to know, and she stood there talking for about 5-8 minutes. This was, again, very shortly after the restaurant opened, and there was a line, now of about 20 people waiting.
Let's pause.
Ostensibly, this is a fine dining establishment. I understand that people make mistakes, and sure it's a bad look to open the door 5 minutes late, only after prompting, especially when it's dangerously cold outside. However, the gentleman I talked to over the phone and then in person very briefly seemed contrite, and rushed to fix the issue. The best you can make of a bad situation. A+
The maitre d', who should be better trained than the waiter to handle these sorts of situations, made a series of mistakes that I can only term amateurish.
Why is she yelling at a subordinate in front of a customer? The front door situation could have been handled a few moments later, quietly, after customers have come through. Yelling (loud and annoyed sounding) between the wait staff is not a good 2nd impression, especially if the first impression was being locked out!
Next, yes, the guy complaining about being locked out was 100% a huge self-absorbed ahole. I was a second away from telling him off myself. But a) I'm another customer, and b) I knew he had only just come up. She had absolutely no way of knowing that, as far as she knows his criticism is actually valid. What I got out of this interaction is that she is short-tempered, unable to handle criticism, and unable to apologize. As far as she knew, that man had good reason to complain, he was locked out in single digit degree weather. These interactions colored the rest of the evening, leaving my wife stressed, tense, and regretting not leaving immediately.
Anyway, our server was Natalie. She was absolutely wonderful, and the only reason this review isn't 1 star. Attentive, empathetic, went above and beyond.
We tried the Chicken Liver, it wasn't to our liking. The Caesar salad had almost no Parmesan, the lettuce seemed a few hours old, and the dressing was bland. I can't put my finger on what was wrong. Our entrees came out room temperature. I believe her when she told me that she had brought it out immediately, because the butter on the steak was never melted, so it was cold when it was added. She was able to get us moved away from the drafty window (we were legitimately shivering), despite it being a somewhat annoying request, and was able to heat up our food for us. I got the special, which was rack of lamb. The cherry on top was clearly from a jar, not fresh stewed as part of the sauce. The steak was tough and sinewy (ordered med rare). Likely choice or perhaps even select? There was also no cap on the ribeye.
We were comped the appetizer without asking, we tipped as if it wasn't; it was our mistake. Overall, the night was a partially mitigated disaster. There's so much more I want to say, but I'm out of chars.
