Haywood's Restaurant

"Dined here on 10/4 for our anniversary dinner which was noted in our OpenTable reservation. Upon arrival, neither host nor waitress acknowledged the occassion. Atmosphere is visually appealing, but AC was blasting too cold and noise level very high. Adjacent couple also complained about AC. Service was non-existent. The waitress that took our food order never returned to our table to take our wine order or to ask how are meal was, only saw her again when she delivered the bill. Food - My wife ordered the Lobster Pasta which had a bland sauce and a very minimal amount of lobster, totally NOT worth the $38. I had the Halibut which was average. I will NOT return to Haywood's. The prior night we dined next door at 'Bistro on Main' and enjoyed a much better experience from start to finish."

"We went here for brunch with reservations at 11am which is their earliest brunch time. Pros: We were sat quickly and our server Taylor was attentive and lovely. Our drinks were wonderful. My wife got a Bellini and I got a Bloody Mary. The food came out pretty quickly and was hot and well made. My wife got Eggs Benedict and I got Steak and Eggs. Both sides for my dish were good. The fingerling potatoes were well seasoned and the greens had a tasty dressing that was light and not overbearing. The atmosphere was relaxing with light music playing but not so loud you couldn't have a conversation. The Cons: We were one of the first seated parties of the day and yet we still had to brush crumbs off our seat. We saw multiple other parties have to do the same which to me suggests the night staff didn't do a great job cleaning. While my bloody Mary was very good, $15 felt a little high. My steak and eggs were also very good but the steak preparation was a little weird to me, chopped up fine with onions almost like bulgogi meat. Again, was very tasty but an odd choice that left me wanting more, especially for $26. Overall a decent experience but I think unless I was staying at the George's (we stayed at the Abigail Inn) and wanted a conveniently decent meal nearby, I don't know that I'd return for brunch. I would have to try dinner to be conclusive of the restaurant as a whole."

"Nice atmosphere and they had a live pianist playing during my dinner service. All the food was fabulous. The one complaint I have is that the service was subpar. The waitress didn't do a very good job of explaining the specials, the chicken special was described as, "seasoned different than the normal chicken on the menu". We ordered the cheese platter that was on special and wasn't told what cheese were on the plate, there wasn't a fork or a cheese knife with the platter either. Overall though, nice place with good food."

"Cozy experience. We walked in without reservations and were immediately greeted with a warm smile and welcomed in. We were quickly seated. The staff was kind and helpful, especially JJ, with all the food recommendations. And the food was exquisite! The duck livers were delicious, and the steak was just right. The pianist continued softly through dinner and was quite a delight. Thank you!"

"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."