bourbon bar & grill

should be in bar rescue. should have walked out the moment we walked in. dark and slightly grimy. there was no one at the hostess stand for about 10 min. that could be forgivable but the food was horrendous. weordered2 steaks medium, the rib special, and the jambalaya. the steaks were like hockey pucks. they were returned to the kitchen and came back 15 min later completely rare, which seemed intentional. the steaks came back for the third time close enough. but it was the same steak that we had to test ourselves for doneness. even once cooked medium the quality of the meat was poor. the rib special was mushy and either microwaved or had been sitting in a steamer for way too long. the jambalaya was edible but nothing special. we got there around 7 and were told the band wouldn't start playing until 930. but around 730 they started doing sound checks which were unbelievable. don't get me wrong, i love live music. but this was 30 minutes of blasting, thumping drums. between the food, the unclean feeling, and the music, we won't be back and will be telling everyone to avoid it.

wonderful addition to hanover. i went to a taste of bourbon for the first time last week with my husband and son.
i can't begin to say enough about our experience. first.... my husbandordereda blackened steak. it was huge... not one ounce of fat on it and so delicious! iorderedthe broiled catfish stuffed with crabmeat... wow! my sonorderedthe blackenend chicken breast.... equally delicious (huge and very moist not dry).
now ... the atmosphere... done as a courtyard in louisiana... and done well.
there were so many great choices on the menu... i can't wait to go again this weekend to try something else. oh yes... the wings.... phenomenal! huge, tasty and really priced well as are all of the menu items. great restaurant!

don't waste your time!. i was there friday........not only is the service still horrible, but the food is horrible too. our waitress told us she would be better than the other waitress. weorderedan app and two dinners. we never received the appetizer and my burger was burnt to a crisp. the waitress forgot what weorderedbecause she never wrote it down. she came back and asked us twice and still got it wrong. they comped so much of our meal that all we ended up paying for was our drinks. besides the piece of metal that is sticking straight up off the floor in the dining room. thats an accident waiting to happen. i give the place less than 3 months. firing your previous staff did not help you. you do not know how to run a restaurant!

very disappointing- do not like. i must say the first visit was decent, although the service was extremely slow and the food was barely warm.

the second time was a visit that no one would believe. we firstordereda draft from the table display list. the waiter would be gone for 5 minutes or more and come back to tell us they were out of the first choice. weorderedanother and the same thing happened. after the third strike out we asked what were our selections.
weorderedour meal and that was another trip. my husbandorderedfried sweet potatoes with his meal and when they brought our meal out they announced they were out of sweet potato fries, what else did he want. now don't you think the communication should have been between the waiter and kitchen prior to making the dinner? iorderedthe 9 oz. sirloin. think of a deck of cards. split that deck with 1/4 on one side the 3/4 of the deck next to it. that was my steak in two pieces. the small piece was cold and dried out, could not cut. the other piece blood ran from it when i cut it. sent it back, came out again almost the same way. the manager came out and argued with me and then my husband that the steak was cooked medium. do you see a problem here? you don't argue with the customer..... dah. they know how they want their steak cooked. even the waiter said it wasn't medium. refused to accept and said i didn't want anything else. looks could have killed. it was thursday night and that means a free dessert. my husbandorderedhis from the prepared list......three times......the waiter came out and said they were out of his selection. finally the waiter said should i bring the dessert tray.....well why didn't he do that after the first try. needless to say it was pathetic. service was terrible. food was unbelievable. must say the onion rings were good. this place must be operating on a cash only delivery for their supplies. why else wouldn't they have what is on the menu? there were not many people in the establishment. oh well. looking for something different but this certainly isn't the place to go. lacks communication between the staff/manager/kitchen. no training given to staff and lack of customer service is a major problem. failure to treat customers in a friendly manner and failure to have what is on their menu is going to be their down fall.

terrible all around. first i apologize to anyone who went to this place because of my original review. i gave it a few months since the first time i went during their soft opening, but this place will be closed within months. the heat was still not working so they placed us where a band should be playing and only 4 other tables being served. our drinks arrived 30 minutes later and another 30 minutes for our salad and bread. i was tired of waiting for additional drinks so iorderedthem directly from the bar. the food was horrible. the crawfish ettouffee resembled baby shrimp (look at pics) and reminded me of rubber, which was paired with a sauce that was unappealing with a mild heat. my wife's first attempt of her steak (medium) was well done and her crab cake did not come out with her meal. the bourbon chicken was grilled chicken slabbed with bbq sauce over white rice and tasted terrible. the chicken and shrimp jambalaya was very mild with seasoning but was appealing given its accompaniments. 2nd attempt for the steak was medium rare and bland. the crab cake finally arrived 10 minutes later after receiving her 2nd steak, but was the highlight of the all the meals. my crown royal and diet was made with jack. the pinot noir iorderedcame as a pinot grigio. by the time we left we were the only table left besides a couple at the bar. the waitress apologized multiple times stating that she was overwhelmed with the 4 tables and unable to give us any attention. our waitress was seen assembling our salads in the back and also busing the tables, which was unique for a business that took approximately 2 hours to serve a table that required no additional attention. i was charged the entire entrée price for the crab cake instead of as an added side and charged for both drinks, not to mention not even given an apology for the overcooked steak and late crab cake. we asked both tables around us how long they waited and they both said that they had been there for over 2 hours. both tables were also very irritated about the service and said they would not return. the sad thing is that there was no manager to be seen. when we did inquire about our check, no one seemed to want to assist us with correcting it so we just left even advising the bartender that we would never return based upon our service tonight. please don't go here, as i unfortunately have to say that i would rather see another chain restaurant in our area then this restaurant (and that hurts to write). i will never be back or advise anyone to eat at this establishment.


-----27 dec, 2011-----

a review of their soft opening - the space is open yet romantically dark. the decor gives a refreshing sense of louisiana with the lamp posts a unique twist. there were only two other people at tables and it was rather chilly since most likely they are waiting to get the place up and running. the side room with live music should be an optimal place to relax for a drink. the bar is big and i can't wait for their liquor license to be prossessed. the kids mac and cheese was a delightful bake that my kid devoured. the corn bread was slightly dry but the pieces of corn in it gave it a nice texture: they could have been a little warmer with less napkin on the dish. the cajun crab bisque was barely warm though it had a perfect amount of crab and spice. the rib eye was a perfect medium rare and the smashed red potatoes were under seasoned and slightly cold (wish iorderedthe fries which reminded me of a boardwalk fry). the wife's steak was overcooked as well done whenorderedat medium and they quickly brought one out for her. her baked potatoe was still wrapped in foil and the skin was not crispy (it reminded me of hoss's). the side salad's need improvement if it wants to remain a higher class establishment. the wife had a 9 oz sirloin rubbed with cajun spices that had a heat that when it was cooked right i would return to order. the rib eye was bland and asked for a possible house made louisiana steak sauce but was given jack daniel's sauce (very boring). our waiter was friendly and offered us a chef specialty dessert of a bourbon chocolate chip pie which we took to go and was sweet and fulfilling.

a little disappointed. we had dinner early this evening on 3/9/12. we had reservations and were seated promptly. the waitress was attentive and the meal was good, but was disapppointed that weorderedcole slaw with the meal and " they were out of it" . you would think that on a friday evening that the kitchen would be well supplied for the weekend. we were given the menu andorderedanother side dish. we asked for cornbread that was to come with the meal. we weren told "they were out of it" . again this is the begining of the weekend, we were just a little disappointed.

first and last. when i go to restaurants i typically look to see how busy they are, more cars good food, this never came more true at a touch of bourbon, very few cars in the parking lot, terrible experience. there was only one table eating but still took 5 minutes to see a waitress, iorderedthe southern fried chicken with a side of mac and cheese and boardwalk fries. my wifeorderedsirloin steak with the same sides as i.
when the food finally came the steak was perfect, good flavor, good seasoning, the chicken hot and well cooked like i prefer but both of our sides came out cold. the mac and cheese had no flavor and the fries were burnt.

mediocre food/decent price. my wife and i went to this restaurant on valentine's day and arrived early (5:30pm). there were about four other tables of diners when we arrived. decor was warm and relaxing, but the table we sat at had a lamppost adjacent and the light was annoying.
the menu advertised sam adams seasonal brew, so i asked what that brew was. my waitress told it was spring and that she did not know anything about beer and did not drink beer. with such a ringing endorsement iorderedthe beer. we alsoorderedand appetizer of onion rings that were advertised as coming with a dipping sauce. for our main courses iorderedjamblaya and my wifeordereda seafood/pasta dish.
the onion rings arrived very quickly sans the dipping sauce. when i asked about the sauce the waitress offered to get me ketchup. my wifeordereda sangria and i a sam adams. we ate out appetizers and waited about 15 minutes before our drinks arrived. my beer was filled to about 1 1/2" below the rim of the glass. when it was drawn i am certain it had a head on it, but after sitting all that time, it was flat and only the remnants of the foam were left. sangria is usually served with fruit and in a larger glass than the traditional wine glass. not this time. my wife recieved a small glass of sangria and no fruit.
my jambalaya was advertised as having chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage. i am still looking for the sausage and the chicken was a piece of chicken breast placed atop a pile of rice with a red sauce over it. if you are looking for cajun/gulf coast cuisine, this is not the place. you would do better to try a chain restaurant like landry's.

a waste of an entire evening!!!. i have never written a review, until now. i can't remember ever having a horrible experience at a restaurant, until now.....and i didn't even eat there. we were told there would be a ten minute wait when we arrived. we went to the bar and it took the bartender 15 minutes to even acknowledge us. my husbandordereda miller lite. he had to ask the waitress if they carried miller. iordereda reisling wine. after another ten minutes i was told that they had run out of that. 25 minutes later we were taken back to a table (after i had told the hostess i wanted a booth). we waited 35 minutes and no one ever came to our table. no waitress, manager, bus boy, nobody. the table next to us was going up to the bar and getting their own drinks because i guess their waitress never came around either. the entire staff was acting terrible the whole time. scratching their heads, saying out loud that they were going crazy. not a way to run a restaurant. all i wanted and expected was a little kindness and courtesy but there was none to be found. a little smile, an apology for being so busy, i'll be right with you i am your waitress this evening.....however, no one even looked in our direction. it's a shame because we were really looking forward to trying this new restaurant. we love cajun/blackened/creole food. we will never go back because we were treated so terribly.

second time, last time?. this was the second time eating at a taste of bourbon. the first time was for their opening week trial run. that time the food was great. the service was a tad slow, but that was to be expected for the opening week.

we ate there tonight and possibly may not go back. we waited an hour and a half for our food to be brought out. we did not get drink refills while we waited, never received silverware and were not brought any dinner rolls. we had to ask the waitress to bring our food out in to-go boxes because we had to leave. when she brought out the receipt for my husband to sign she gave it to him and left. he had to go hunt down a pen to sign the check.

when we got home we were missing our appetizer that we paid for, i had the wrong salad dressing, there were no dinner rolls/corn bread and did not have any condiments that iorderedwith my potato. his steak was practically raw and had to put it back on the stove to finish cooking it himself.

i am chalking it up to the restaurant being understaffed in the kitchen and the wait staff being beginner waitresses. when we did finally get to eat at home the food was great.