The Julep Cup Restaurant and Seahorse Lounge

Very very expensive place to eat but the food is amazing! My mom has a condo upstairs and I always eat here when I come visit. I love the place!!!

Could be a 4 star if some attention was paid by the owners and staff. Great food poorly executed by a poorly trained (but willing) staff with zero support from the chef. 3 weeks after the fact I am still irritated how a simple celebratory meal could be destroyed. $ 377.22 for very poor food.

weird décor, there are better drinks and service in town, won’t be returning

Okay, so this isn’t going to be a great review (you probably got that from the 1 star). Now, if you read back in my previous reviews, you can probably tell I look at a bunch of different aspects of the experience before judging. So, lets start with the setting. We went here for Easter with my mother-​in-​law, sister-​in-​laws soon to be extended family, and some other family/​friends. We sat in the Seahorse Lounge because there were 20 of us. We were greeted promptly but it was a bit uncomfortable the way everything was arranged. One of the servers came over to a table near us and was just very abrupt with her tone, saying things like «what do you want to drink» as opposed to «may I get you something to drink». It was these small things throughout the meal that really got my attention.
We ordered off their set menu, 1 table at a time. Some tables started getting their appetizers, others just receiving their drinks. Then things just got worse. One of the tables right in the middle never had their appetizer order taken, and a table behind them already received their entrée. The table that received their entrée was done before we received our appetizer, and by the time we got our appetizer the table that hadn’t had their order taken was just getting drinks. Everything came out so scattered and it made absolutely no sense. You have a set menu to ensure you can deliver food to large groups in waves of courses, not waves of tables.
A little about the food… I ordered the fried chicken, and I wasn’t disappointed. A table in our group, however, received two orders of fried chicken that were raw inside. This didn’t make me feel too happy since I had already ordered my meal. My wife got the country ham sliders, and they weren’t bad. One person at our table got the Lamb, and for $ 32 I would have rather driven to Malones and had Sushi and a Filet. There wasn’t anything about the food that left me amazed, not based on the price reputation.
Back to the service. We finally got finished and they were starting to bring the bill around. One member of one of the tables in our group asked to have HIS table put on one bill. One of the servers heard something completely different and put the entire room on one ticket. This created a disaster only seen in the movies. After 30 minutes (and I am not exaggerating) of waiting on them to correct the tickets, someone pulled out a card, put the entire $ 600 bill on there, and we just handed him cash. There was no manager intervention to apologize, the lady that made the mistake sat down at the bar and watched TV while everyone else tried to work on it, and she complained the whole time.
I will NEVER go back to the Julep Cup. If Coach Cal invited me down there and offered to pay for my meal and anything else I wanted, I would ask to go to McDonald’s before eating here. It is a shame because I know people have had good experiences, but wow this was one for the books.

A VERY disappointing Easter brunch this afternoon! I have been to the Julep Cup several times and this visit was review worthy (in a bad way!!). The wait staff was EXTREMELY UNORGANIZED i.e. they took orders from our group in such a way that ¹⁄₃ of our group was finishing their entrée before the other side had even received their appetizers!!! (I will give them the benefit of the doubt, there were 22 of us, but…). Two orders of chicken were RAW and NOT comped (completely unacceptable) and one of the waitresses (which I am told was the manager) was VERY rude and unfriendly to our table and those around us. At many points, she was SITTING down at the bar in our room not doing a single thing to help with the awful experience we were having (which was blatantly obvious by the comments I heard in the room). The food was great, but the experience was compromised by poor service all around. And to top it off, at the end of the meal, the lady whom I was told was the manager, could not figure out how to split the checks up (after it had been clearly explained to her several times). She ended up putting all 22 peoples meals on ONE ticket and left it for us to figure out (after she so kindly added gratuity onto the final price without asking …) I WILL NOT be going back to the Julep Cup anytime soon neither will I be recommending them to my friends or family!

Wonderful experience. I had the grilled pimento & my mother had the Rachel turkey with tomato dill bisque. I recommend it all. The waitress was very good.

Went here for happy hour drinks and apps. I would recommend the fried tomatoes, pretzels or spinach dip. The drinks and wine menu is huge. It is rather quite for happy hours and known to have a mostly older crowd that live in the building. But there was plenty of room for a group of ten, although not much else going on. Not the most happening place in Lexington, but I liked it for the comfortable atmosphere that reminds me of my grandmothers, eclectic living room.
I would definitely go back.

Let me first say this is a beautiful restaurant. The décor is very warm and inviting. I was with a party of 13, we were seated immediately and our reservation was very early in the dinner service.
Our server was very nice, knew his menu and worked hard to make us happy. However, by the time we ordered dessert he seemed to lose steam. He forgot some coffee orders, stopped filling water glasses and we literally waited 40 minutes for dessert to arrive.
The food was wonderful! Not one complaint out of thirteen. We ordered a variety of items. Seafood, fried chicken, beef borginon, salads even the liver and onions were fantastic.
All in all it was a great evening and I will visit again next time we are in town.

The food was terrible. Suffice it to say that 2 of 8 people only ate about two bites of their main course.
The service was almost as bad. In addition to the 2 whose food was so bad they didn’t eat it, 2 others did not receive the food they ordered.

When I think of what Lexington/​Kentucky is all about in regards to horse country, this restaurant comes to mind. The restaurant is decorated with many pictures of horses and horse racing. The owners are really nice people who make sure their guests are really taken care of. I went to the restaurant to create a menu for a company event and though I did not go with this restaurant due to the size of my work group, I still appreciated the time spent coming up with a great menu. I later reserved the private room for a meeting with our upper management executives and they LOVED the food and restaurant. I also went to check out the food and I had the bass sandwich which was really meaty and tasty. I would definitely go to this place again or refer this place to anyone that enjoys great food with a cute/​warm atmosphere.

I came here for dinner w/​a bunch of friends, a bachelor party, and we had mixed reactions after we left…
Décor: This place is pretty nice, but VERY old school. It looks/​feels like the parlor of an old plantation home — not really a good spot for a bachelor party (not my choice…). We sat outside on the patio and were much more comfortable. We were also able to be much louder (as opposed to the 6-​inch voices everyone was using inside. Seriously, to quote Rodney Dangerfield, «If it got any more lively in there a funeral would’ve broken out.»
Bathroom: It is very clean and inviting. Not sure what the salt is for though, and the wall decorations are a bit odd…
Staff: We had an awesome young guy as a waiter, his name was Major. He was super speedy, great with recommendations (food, and where to go out after) and was Johnny-​on-​the-​spot with drinks. He also tried to sweet-​talk the price of Pappy down for us (didn’t really work). The only other staff that was memorable was Mary Washington, the live singer they had inside. While we didn’t get to hear sing (b/​c we were outside) I’m sure does a good job — most of the other people there seemed pretty excited for her set.
Food/​Drink: Everything we had was very good. It’s a bit hazy as to exactly what we ordered but the drinks were cold, and strong, and the food was hot, fresh, and tasted great. We had a bunch of apps and a handful of us ordered the Fried Chicken (which was a HUGE plate of food and delicious!).
Value: This place seems like it would be very pricey but it actually is not too bad. Drinks were moderate and the food was priced right where it should be given the portion size.
I don’t know that I’d come back, as it really isn’t my/​our type of crowd, but we had a really good experience. Major was awesome and the food was great.

I love the Julep Cup — it has amazing atmosphere, usually very helpful staff and is in a great location. The food is usually top notch too.
I ate at the Julep Cup this weekend. They had one of my favorite wines for sale by the bottle, so that made me happy. We were seated at a lovely table, with plenty of room. There was a string duo playing music which was a wonderful touch.
Friends ordered the scallop special which was delicious and the scallops were prepared just right. Several of us shared both raw oysters and oysters Rockefeller — both were not so good. The oysters were gritty and tasted rotten. We probably should have sent them back.
And the service was not very attentive. She brought items at odd times — for example, appetizers at different times and we all had our meals, except for one of us and it took forever to get that one (even though two of us had the same thing).
Again, I love the Julep Cup and will return again. Just a few tweaks on the service and food and voila, everything would be better!

I decided the Julep Cup was the place for our Valentines night date. The atmosphere here fit the bill very well, quiet live pianist, upscale, intimate, a complimentary Valentines day rose, and very «Lexintonian» in general. We had the Calamari and deviled eggs as appetizers. Deviled eggs were good, but the calamari was fantastic and different than any other that I have had. My wife had the Kentucky trout, and I had the beef bourguignon. Both entrees and accompanying side dishes were absolutely excellent, and much of their menu was locally sourced. We had a service blip; we were seated and did not have a waiter for some time… Once I let them know, the manager came quickly, apologized, explained there was a mix up, and brought us 2 comp’d glasses of great red wine, and also comp’d our coffees, which were also strong and very good. Overall service was excellent, a blip like that on Valentines is understandable, they took care of it very well, and we were very happy from that point on. Our waiter was attentive, and we had a wonderful night out. A great, classy, southern bred spot for a special occasion! We will definitely go back!

Great salmon and the appetizer of calamari was great also, overall a great experience!

No bueno. I visited a few years ago but at that time the quality of the food and (more importantly) the waitstaff was far below the standard I would expect for a restaurant at that price level. Given the quality and quantity of pretty great options in Lexington, I find no reason to go back to this place. Not worth your time.

First let me say that I was very surprised at some of the negative reviews on here. I consider myself very well traveled and a fine-​food fanatic and this was my best dining experience in Lexington so far.
I will admit if you place this in NYC or San Francisco, it would not be the best (however still at the top) but, in comparison all other food I have had in Lexington, it was hands down my favorite.
First let’s talk about atmosphere. It is elegant, relaxing and peaceful. We went on a Tuesday night to celebrate my companion’s birthday. He always goes all out for my celebrations and I was looking for someplace romantic and memorable. We are both food snobs so I wasn’t sure if I could find a place where he had not already been and someplace that lived up to the other magnificent dinning experiences we have shared.
I booked our reservation online and put a message that we were celebrating a birthday. I will say that I was disappointed that no one noticed the note and it was never mentioned during our visit. But it was a minor thing in an overall great experience.
The dark red walls, luxurious fabrics, mood lighting and comfortable seating make this seem like a 5 star establishment, and with the exception of the Thoroughbred racing décor, reminded me of some hidden gem in mid-​town Manhattan. It is definitely a place for romance or special occasions.
While it is located in a luxury condominium building, once you step inside you easily forget where you are and feel as though it is housed in a southern plantation. They do have a wonderful covered veranda with outside seating. The place was not busy the night we went so we had our choice of several booths or tables.
The man who met us at the door and seated us was also our waiter. Bless his heart, he tried to be the best server possible, but there was something about him that was awkward and oafish. Again let me state that he was very attentive, but he seemed rushed and was short of breath often. He was also waiting on the outside tables and seemed overheated and lightly sweaty. The reason I mention this is that the rushed and disheveled persona seemed out of place in such a relaxed and elegant setting. However, his desire to please overcame any other flaws.
Now on to what matters most — the food. We started with fried green tomatoes (wonderful) an also included the sweet potato entrée as an appetizer selection. It was by far one of my favorite items of the night. I would suggest to the owners to consider adding it as an appetizer offering.
We followed up with salads that were farm fresh and unique. I couldn’t decide which dressing so they gave me samples and I settled on an amazing Apricot Vinaigrette.
For dinner, my date had the most glorious and perfectly fried Chicken livers with mashed potatoes and greens as a side. The greens were perfectly seasoned and I ate more than a few bites off his plate. I had the roasted chicken with winter squash and a fruit chutney that was perfect with the chicken seasonings. Both entrees were delicious.
We ended the meal with a chocolate bundino, which is a baked-​to-​order dense chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream and bourbon sauce. The waiter warned us to test the bourbon sauce before we poured it on and it is a good suggestion for non-​drinkers. This was the most intense, flavorful bourbon sauce I have ever had. You don’t want to take a breathalyzer following this dessert.
It has been several weeks since my visit and I can’t get the experience out of my mind. I am planning a return trip soon and can’t wait to try more of the incredible cuisine. I have been working on a way to get my boss to give me two hour lunch breaks so I can make The Julep Cup a regular lunch destination. If you have any ideas on how to spin this, I am open for suggestions.
if you live in or around Lexington, Ky I would suggest you ignore the negative reviews and try this out for yourself.

Super food, super staff, super owner, great entertainment with Beth Mankel – what more can I ask for???

Im a traveling musician who makes it through Lexington, KY once a year.
On a recommendation from a fan a few years back I went to eat dinner at The Julep Cup. I was immediately taken by the décor which is based on horse racing (Kenneland racetrack) The wait staff were very professional, very attentive and extremely knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list.
First the wine list. They had wines from all over the world. The owner who is also the executive chef helped us pick out the perfect wine, a Bordeaux, which was also an excellent value.
The food was delicious. I had tuna steak and my friend had the flank steak.
Both were expertly prepared and cooked to perfection.
I had a raspberry soufflé for desert which was other worldly! The prices were very reasonable for a four star restaurant
I have been back every time I come back to Lexington and will continue to for years to come.

Never going back.
Everything sounded great but what I experienced wasn’t great or wasn’t even on the plate.
Charcuterie plate came to the table incomplete. I guess they thought I was dumb enough not to notice the plate wasn’t complete because when I asked the waiter about it he said he didn’t understand what I was talking about.
So I asked to see the menu again so I could point out the missing rillette. The waiter went back to the kitchen and was told it had been 86 for the night. I was still charged full price for half a plate.
Atmosphere — 4 stars Enjoyed the live music.

I agree with Natalie. Atmosphere is 5 star.
Though I may never be back, The Julep Cup will continue to serve up great memories of a romantic meal in a far off city.
We started with mint juleps (of course) and an appetizer of cheese. I;m not selling it well here, honestly I can’t remember the name, but I can suggest to skip it for something else. Way to much garlic mixed into the spread… there were a lot of other appetizers that looked wonderful for you to try.
So I knock half a star for the app. and another half for my entrée. I had the short ribs, and while ok, they didn’t shine. I was instantly jealous of my girlfriends wonderful Shrimp & Grits.
The patio was nice, if not a little too breezy, and the proximity to the building’s (a beautiful red brick apartment building) parking lot and the main street were not an issue.
I recommend giving this place a shot.