Jean Farris Winery & Bistro

6825 Old Richmond Rd, Lexington, KY 40515, USA

Address:	6825 Old Richmond Rd, Lexington, KY 40515, USA
Phone:	+1 859-263-9463
Site:	jeanfarris.com
Rating:	3.6
Working:	Closed 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

Megan Charles

I am utterly embarrassed that I have to write this review, as my boyfriend & I made the mistake of talking up Jean Farris to a group of friends we took there on Saturday as part of the McConnell Springs tasting. The lunch JF offered was comprised of a basic menu: pasta salad, chicken salad, burgers, flank steak & eggs, or eggs with sausage or bacon. The 6 of us arrived promptly for our late-lunch reservation & we were escorted to the patio. JF did not appear to be very busy as there were only a few fellow lunch patrons wrapping up their meals. From the time we ordered until the food came, the waitress never returned to the table to give us an update or ask if we needed anything. The rest of my group finally wandered off to participate in the tasting while I agreed to text them when food arrived. It took 45 minutes from the time we sat down to get our food. Fair enough. But 3 burgers were cooked to hockey pucks regardless of temp requested, 2 chicken salads (literally chicken salad spooned out over romaine hearts), & one set of eggs & bacon (crispy eggs, limp, greasy bacon). No apps, no drinks other than water (refills were eventually ignored) & some of the spring greens used on the burgers (on the bun, not atop the meat) were slimy. During the meal, we had to get up & hunt down our waitress in order to make requests for basic things like condiments because, once the food was dropped, our waitress disappeared. When my boyfriend made mention of our experience to the management afterwards, because SHE ASKED, her clipped reply was, “Well, I guess we should just stick to what we know,” basically brushing it off. This is what I learned after my latest experience: Do not go there if you have a party larger than 4. This results in a cascade of several fees & imposed charges, as well as a decline in attentive service. If you reserve for parties over 5, they take a CC over the phone & slap you with a $25 fee for every person who can’t attend. So if you have a couple of friends who can’t make dinner at the last minute, for example, you can be hit with a $50 charge. Thankfully, that was not the case with us. My entire party was able to attend the lunch. But still, $25 per person? Alongside this fee, they also impose an automatic gratuity of 20%. While I am all about leaving a more than generous tip & I understand why some restaurants do this, in order make sure the wait-staff isn’t abused & left with an undesirable reward for their efforts, this automatic gratuity can, at times, also leave the client at the mercy of the wait-staff. That was the indignity we suffered as our waitress seemingly took advantage of the fact that she knew we’d have to pay her a tip regardless of her poor performance. As for the tasting, my friends noted how terse the blonde manning the wine barrels was. Whenever they made inquests regarding wine making her responses were abrupt and laced with a less than friendly tone. Seriously though, that is what you do on these tours, you oh & ah at the process & ask questions while taking a sip of the offered libation. If she wasn’t in the mood to do it, she should have assigned someone else to the task. Instead, she was more concerned about complaining [insert sensitive business matters that I will politely not repeat here] to a fellow staff member. Certainly not something I think should be mentioned in front of people there for a barrel tasting. So to sum up, go to Jean Farris if it is a party of 4 or less, only for dinner, don’t get the same waitress we had, & don’t ask too many questions about the wine & you’ll likely have a great time.

Michael Taylor

I was served, for ten dollars, a rice cake. The kind that tastes like cardboard. Now I really want you to understand when I say a rice cake, I am not exaggerating. It was half soggy. Sometimes rice cakes are good when they are crisp, light, and flavorful. This one was not. On top of this "dessert" base that could have passed for cardboard, is thawed, sweetened once frozen strawberries. These poor strawberries are as bland as one could possibly make them and topped with some slightly above average whipped cream. Think about eating this. Have you ever eaten Cheerios that have been left open for a few months? Now think about paying someone $10.00 plus a 20% tip for it. I would not feel so much pain for being duped by these people if it was just the dessert. The entire meal was below average at best. I ordered a strawberry salad. It arrived warm and wilted, the small handful of mixed spring greens looking like the strong leftovers of a discount bag from the grocery. Every ingredient used was bland, common, and so unloved it made me feel sad. I could go on. But I think you get the point. Where is your pride Jean Farris Winery?

Parviz Zartoshty

We have been dinning there many times. Last night 9.25.15 we went their with two guests. Made my reservation few days early for their enclosed patio. They gave us a table on the corner beside a big party . We asked our waiter if we can change our table to a better table because the people beside us were loud and our table was in the corner by the wall with no view. He said they are fully booked. The manager also came after 10 minutes to ask me what the problem was . She was short and was not helpful at all. Finally after being there for 25 minutes and having one of our appetizer the waiter said if we like to change our table we can. We changed our table and after being there for 2 hours we noticed that few of their tables were empty the entire time. The food was average this time and the waiter did forget to bring one of our appetizer. Because of the way we were treated by the manager and where lied to, I will never go back and will tell all my friends about our experience.

Mauricio Devrient

If I could choose a no star review I would because thats what we got....nothing. I organized an engagement party for a friend who flew over seas from the U.K. To celebrate her marriage proposal with 10 working mothers who made great sacrifices to attend an event that was supposed to be a happy memory. I received a phone call 2 hours before our arrival and while I was picking up the bride to be for a pre event celebration and listened to a very matter of fact message from someone who called themselves the manager of Jean Ferris, that they were closing the restaurant due to a gas leak with no further information or apology....nothing but a very insincere " have a nice night" with no follow up response to my phone calls still. Do Not support this place that has some sort or strange dark omen. There may be situations that are out of ones control but how you respond to those circumstances sure is! Absolutely NO integrity.

John Rubino

Went last night for our anniversary, and had a fantastic experience. The cheese and sausage plate were wonderful, the mussels were so tender they could have been used as a spread, and the scallops were excellent - however it was the service that blew me away. I genuinely felt like a guy wearing khaki shorts and an un-tucked plaid shirt was more concerned about our level of experience than servers at some of the "fancier" places in town where they wear ties & vests, and have assistants that refill your water after ever sip. He was courteous, genuine, never came across as a salesman. Every course was timed perfectly, and he left us alone without ever making us feel like we were being neglected. Weve been to JF quite a few times. As my foodie wife puts it, "its food how its supposed to be".