Haywood's Piano Bar

I've been visiting Lexington for years but for some reason or another never made it to Haywood's until last night (1-08-21) though I've always intended to, and this visit was actually on a whim. My date (a Lexington resident) had mentioned to me that she had also never been, and she found that there was a reservation open, so we grabbed it. Haywood's calls itself a piano bar (at least on the cocktail napkins) but it's really an upscale eatery that features live piano, and the music had apparently began just before our arrival at six. While we're on the subject, I'm not sure if the pianist (who was obviously talented) was playing from a fake book or from more detailed arrangements, but the tunes seemed to all be in the same upbeat jazz style, even though some of the standards could have used more lush and languid arrangements when it came to the ballads. On to the food: we started with the cheese and charcuterie plate that featured their pickles (made in-house), a Wensleydale lemon cheese (unusual and nice) a balsamic Bellavitano, a unique kiwi and lime jam also prepared in-house, and three cured meats, all beautifully arranged. Our entrees: for her, the mushroom tagliatelle which she loved and looked terrific and for myself, the grilled bone-in pork chop served with braised red cabbage, German spätzle, and finished off at the table by our server with a pork jus from a carafe. Everything in my dish was perfect and the cut was substantial. (We actually had to pack up part of our entrees for home as we were foundered on the cheese course.) We also had an a la carte order of their phenomenal roasted Brussel sprouts, so, of course there was no room for dessert. Overall an excellent first impression from an establishment that we'll be getting back to sooner than later now that we know what we've been missing.

This is the beat meal I’ve had in Lexington! We had the apple walnut salad, the scallops and ribeye. I’m really picky about scallops because I used to get them from the dock in Stonington, CT. These were so delicious and fresh. The steak was cooked perfectly, charred to perfection. Our Brussel sprouts were also cooked with some charring, my fav and the sweet potatoes were like a dessert. Not only was e food excellent, but the service was top notch. We ordered hot toddies and the bartender personally came to the table to ask us how we’d like them made. She recommended some excellent whiskey that paired well with the tea and honey. Piano player was also a nice touch!! Highly recommend!!!

Poor street signage for out of town guests. Boasted Tomahawk steak online which drew us, but they weren't on the inhouse menu. Very limited selection otherwise. They had to run across the street to get dinner rolls while we waited. Place seemed over price, pretentious and lacking in menu choices. Based on how few tables were there at 6:30 on a Saturday night, I don't think they will make it very long. Find another place to patronage for a better meal.

My husband and I dined here on a brief trip to Lexington and the entire experience was exceptional. The staff was incredibly friendly. We started with delicious cocktails. I would strongly recommend the Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned. It was extraordinary. Our dinner was superb. I loved the blue cheese butter on my steak and the truffle mash was outstanding. We found the piano music to be delightful and added to our experience. I highly recommend dining here.

We had reservations here on Wednesday, 7.28.21 @630pm. Very disappointing. Our waiter, Giovanni was very professional, upbeat and completely knowledgeable. The manager, Joseph was exceptional. Our complete disappointment started with our appetizer. We received One, YES just ONE chicken stuffed ravioli and paid $16 for it, YES $16 for One ravioli. Then we both ordered there only rib eye, (10oz.) and was that a mistake!! Please keep in mind the place was not busy and we don't want to be rushed but when I'm waiting for over an hour for 2 very thin steaks that is a huge issue. When our meal finally arrived is was cold and all cut up. Giovanni returned them to the kitchen to be heated up. Our issues with this is, "What restaurant or steakhouse serves any rib eye steak dinner NOT a sandwich, cut up? We have dined at many, many steakhouses and we have never had any of our steaks cut up. Weird. Long story short, we were not happy with any part of our meal BUT, the manager, Joseph, handled our situation extremely professionally, respectfully and kindly in such a way that he made our miserable experience tolerable. Every restaurant needs a manager like him.

We made reservations in advance, but got seats in a high chair table, which we requested to change but they couldn't accommodate us. I suggest the restaurant to differentiate tables in the reservation system. The appetizer we ordered (cheese and charcuterie) was no longer available, and we were only told that after we ordered. The main entrees were well cooked. At desert time, the option we ordered was also unavailable. Overall, hard to judge the food quality as we planned to order items but couldn't try them.