101 Downtown

Formerly denouncing this establishment for corruption and falsifying testimony pursuant to a criminal investigation. If you want to go to a place where you can feel safe, DON’T GO HERE! Went to 101 for the first time. Witnessed an individual hitting a woman in the face. Bouncers (considerably smaller than average males) did not take appropriate steps in addressing problem. When my friend and I stepped in to defend and protect the woman, we were assaulted and hit by said individuals and friends. We called police outside and bouncers from 101, who were not even present at the scene, testified to a conflicting story! Will denounce to the Better Business Bureau.

Awful. I came here for Sunday brunch and had the asian fried rice. It was blend, overcooked, and boring. I never leave food in my plate, but I did today. I wouldn’t recommend this place.

This review is for the bar/​night life side of 101 only.
The night I went here the beer taps were down, they were out of several different liquors, and we ended up getting served semi-​warm Stella that clearly hadn’t been stocked anywhere to chill before a busy Saturday night. There was also no toilet paper in the women’s restroom when we arrived at 10:30 pm… and we were the first group to arrive. How was the bathroom not checked before opening on a Saturday night? Two thumbs up to the blonde bartender in the front, but thumbs down for the rest of the place.

This review is for their brunch. I come here every once in a while with friends for the $ 15 all you can drink mimosas/​screwdrivers/​bloody mary’s, which is a great deal & the awesome waitstaff never has a problem keeping them coming. However, they barely have any vegan options, unless you want a salad or potatoes. For such a fancy shmancy place, I would think they would have some blackened tofu option or something like that (it wouldn’t be too difficult to keep a block or two of tofu in the freezer). Overall, good place, but $ 25 for a salad and some potatoes I could’ve made at home did not making a satisfactory meal.

This review is relative to other Gainesville restaurants, not to be confused with what is expected in any big town.
I’ve been here a few times for dinner and for drinks, but this review is for their champagne brunch.
First off it’s only $ 15 in addition to your meal for unlimited mimosas, screwdrivers or blood Mary’s and they were tasty. So regardless of their food they automatically get 2 stars.
The 3^rd star is solely because the manager is great! Our waitress seemed frazzled at times and her attitude changed when I complained about my food, which I will explain below. But when she took too long to refill our champagne (which I understand happens sometimes) the manager just gave us a whole bottle. In the past I have had similar experiences with this manager, to my husband and I he makes 101 Downtown relevant.
Food: We ordered chicken and bacon waffles which was lackluster at best. The waffle had no bacon and it was described as a Belgian waffle but it was very dense and didn’t have great flavor. The chicken was fried chicken strips which were ok but nothing special.
Next I ordered the Eggs Benedict and well there wasn’t enough hollandaise sauce and the eggs were overcooked. It defeated the purpose of ordering Eggs Benedict. The hollandaise sauce did not taste good either I asked them to take it back. My waitress seemed a little annoyed, but to me if the poached eggs is over cooked why would I eat it?
The show stopper was their Waygu. This was my husband’s order and after seeing his, this is what I changed my order to. It was delicious, well flavored and cooked to a perfect medium. It didn’t come with everything I asked but I didn’t want to complain anymore as our waitress went from happy go lucky to annoyed when I told her the Eggs Benedict were not good and I didn’t want to eat them. I will return for this burger but only this burger, I don’t really trust anything else on their menu.

Why do you take reservations if there are no tables for the reservation. Reservation was made two days prior. We were told that the waiting time for seating was currently 15 to 30 minutes. Amazingly it only took 7 minutes to be seated. But an hour later, nothing, the waitress is advising that the kitchen is backed up. The manager has been summoned but he has problems in his kitchen. We gave up and walked out after 1.25 hours. No food was delivered to the table. NOTHING. What a waste of time. I would love to give zero stars. Will never come back. Would not recommend.

Tony, 101’s manager, reached out to me after my last review and asked me to come back and try his restaurant’s brunch again. I appreciated the outreach because that shows that he cares about his restaurant and public image, and I appreciate that. He even set up a reservation for my husband and me.
We arrived at 11:00 AM, when they opened, and we were seated right away, this time inside. We sat at one of the booths, and while they were comfortable, they were also kind of sticky, which grossed us out a little bit. But overall, the ambiance is nice. I really like the interior. It’s a cool space.
We ordered different items from last time. I ordered the shrimp and lobster crepes ($ 10) and a side of home fries ($ 4), and my husband ordered the lobster benedict ($ 14). We also ordered a few mimosas, which were great.
This time around, our food and drinks were served promptly, and the food came out way faster than expected. Our waitress was attentive and polite; she provided excellent service. Our waters were refilled consistently throughout our meal (no choking down food this time).
The star of the show was the home fries. $ 4 may seem like a lot for a side, but you do get a giant bowl of them, and the seasoning they coat the fries in is delicious. They also came out hot, like they had just been made, so that was nice.
My crepes were OK. The ingredients were all delicious; however, I just thought the meal lacked substance. For $ 10, I got three very thin crepes. Because I had the home fries, my meal was filling, but if I had just gotten the crepes without a side, I would have been very disappointed and probably still hungry. I’m surprised there aren’t more crepes on the plate or that the crepes don’t come with a side.
My husband liked his benedict but noted that both of his eggs were overcooked. This was disappointing since eggs are the star of any benedict. When cut open, the yolk did not flow out of the egg onto the meal; it just stayed in place. Regardless, he ate it all and was happily full.
Our bill totaled $ 45. That’s for two meals, a side, and two mimosas. I thought this was very pricey, but my husband reminded me that it’s downtown GNV, where leases are more expensive, and that they cater to a certain clientele. While I still wasn’t happy with the price, his justification made sense. (Personally, I would just rather spend $ 15/​person for all-​you-​can-​eat brunch at Café C, where a mimosa is included in the cost.)
Overall, this was a MUCH better experience compared to our previous one. It is a little pricey for my taste, but for others that may not matter. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to go here for brunch again, but I would like to try their dinner menu (I’ve had many of their appetizers before during happy hour and they are always good), and I would go here if I were part of a group that was going.

First of all, I would prefer to give no stars but the system does not allow that. We made a reservation for 1pm. We arrived on time. There were 3 of us. We ordered our meal and waited and waited and waited… We waited 50 minutes and we were told that the food was coming in 10 minutes. More than 10 minutes passed… nothing. We asked for the manager. He came to the table and promised that the food will be out in… you guessed it 10 minutes and admitted that even though most of the patrons made reservations, they did not plan for a busy day. We eventually had to leave without eating. I would never go back to this restaurant again.

After looking around online for a new and fresh place to eat, I found 101. We had made a reservation and requested a private table for 2 and they put us at the table right behind the hostess stand in the center of the place! After the waitress came and pulled the menu out of the back of her super tight pants and after we say the outrageous prices, we got up and left after waiting 20 minutes for our waitrwss to show up. Marks Steakhose next door was very accommodating and I will NOT recommend 101.

This place used to be the shit. Whoever is managing now obviously gives more fucks about sorority girls dressing like idiots in pajamas than quality of food and service. Brunch here legit made me want to cry. After sending my fries back once, the second batch just made me give up on eating completely and stick to the warm ass mimosas they serve out of a pitchers. And wtf is up with ‘biscuits and gravy’ are you fucking kidding me? You call that a meal?! Come on now. I know who owns this place… And he KNOWS what quality is, so wtf is going on here? Just an FYI: The pitcher on the bar isn’t helping people get drinks faster. Train your fucking team and hire a new executive chef; there are good looking people in this town who know what they’re doing when it comes to service. Hire them.

Excellent service, food and drinks! Always love coming here for Wine Down Wednesday’s. Alyson is our favorite server!

High class, great ambience! Food prices right… not sure why others called it over priced. You get what you pay for, and it was great! Try the stuffed dates appetizer.

101 Downtown serves as a restaurant by day and nightclub by night. The food is superb and the bartenders make amazing mojitos.
Make sure to check out their Techno Tuesdays and great drink deals.

Overpriced cover and drinks for a poor alcohol selection and amateur bartenders. Relies on a pretty interior and employing pretty, unskilled people.

I found this place from my SkyMiles dining, which had a 4 star rating, but I should have went with the Unilocal rating — always more accurate. It really is a 3 (maybe a 3.5). The food was good, but nothing stood out as amazing. The goat cheese dates were probably my favorite. It’s a mix between a tapas restaurant and regular dining.
We also experienced some of the service issues as other people reported. Even though it was dead, it was almost like they coudln’t get rid of us fast enough.
The ambiance is nice and very trendy, plus outdoor seating.
Also, look at their website for the most recent hours. Unilocal and SkyMiles both had it wrong.

I gave this place 3 stars because although the food was good, the service was not up to par.
When we sat down, we were informed that they were out of two of their Sunday brunch dishes, which was fine (it was nice to know ahead of time).
After we ordered and our food was about to come out, I was informed that pesto was not available and that was one of the things I asked for in my omelet. This perturbed me as pesto was the main reason I ordered what I ordered and was not able to change it because I was told after the food was already made.
This place has good food and overall I had a good experience, but that is not acceptable to tell a customer something is not available after the food is made and being served.

This is a tough review because there are way too many aspects to giving this place a rating. I’ll start with the food and drinks.
The food is decent. 101 Downtown tries to be fine dining but falls a little too short. On your birthday you get a free meal of your choice, so check plus there. The food ranges from palatable (the steaks) to really impressive (any of their fish dishes). The sweet potato fries are a must have.
101 Downtown also features one of my favorite Sunday morning brunches. They have all you can drink mimosas, screwdrivers, and Bloody Mary’s, which is never a bad idea. The prices are also much more in line with the quality of the food during this time and I highly suggest the shrimp and lobster crepes. Also the sweet potato fries, that’s a breakfast food right?
Now onto the 101 Downtown’s evil schizophrenic other side: the nightlife. Some time around 9pm all the employees start moving the tables and transform the hip modern restaurant into a late night twerker’s paradise. Frankly, it’s not my scene and has gone downhill since I was a naïve freshman, but to each their own.
The complimentary valet parking is nice due to the lack of free parking in the area. If i could I would give the restaurant 3.8 stars but I’ll give them the benefit of rounding. The bathrooms are nice too

Came here for a graduation dinner. They were able to accommodate for a 14 person party easily.
The lounge is very well engineered and decorated with a more private room and bar in the back. The ambiance is romantic, classy and modern.
The menu options are actually interesting. Lamb, duck, seafood, and steak are all the high class options. My favorite was the coconut lamb. Seafood pasta had huge scallops and the steak was absolutely delicious.
I liked how they split up the menu into different sizes. You have the option of sharing small plates and having one huge entrée to yourself.
The only complaint is that the steak and lamb were over cooked but we did have a large party.

I have as many mixed feelings about this place as I do about it’s sister at midtown, minus the deep seeded hatred of the people there and the joyous love I feel every Sunday Funday.
It’s a good place to pregame on Tuesday’s because there’s no cover in the beginning of the night and they serve free drinks from 10pm-​11pm. Seriously, tip the bartenders. Their jobs suck and if you tip they’ll give you a nice long pour. Anyway, the guy who DJs these «Techno Tuesdays» owns Spannk and is a founder of Neon Liger, so you won’t be listening to whatever horrible crap they usually play at places like Sharab on a Thursday. However, you should probably leave after 11. Unless you like watching 19-​year-​olds in ill-​fitting Forever 21 dresses vomit on the dance floor. Then by all means stay.
Can’t comment on the food as I’ve only had brunch there, which left much to be desired. The food wasn’t wasn’t terrible, but the quality and portions definitely were not worth the price. The only reason you should ever stumble there on a Sunday morning is for the all-​you-​can drink $ 15 mimosa pitchers, which are boss. Actually all their brunch drinks are surprisingly good.

We popped in on a week night for a fun get-​together dinner for four. Arriving at 6pm, the valet dude was nowhere to be found so we self-​parked. The restaurant was almost empty, as we were clearly too early or on the wrong day for the crowd.
The sound system was pumping classic NY lounge music, which I happen to enjoy, but, the sound track went on and on for the entire evening. I think if I worked there, I would slowly go INSANE.
Once we selected a table, we discovered the chic chairs were quite low, uncomfortably low. I mean, you need a booster seat low. We switched to a booth and all was well.
We had great service and enjoyed a wide variety of very reasonably priced food, ordering randomly and sharing everything. We had lamb chops, two sets of fish tacos, a greek salad, sweet potato fries, etc. The fish tacos were delish and none of the dishes disappointed. The wine list was relatively extensive and also affordable. We considered fighting over the last bits of food but solved it, twice, by ordering a little more…
The place began to fill up later in the evening. Josh, the manager, came by to check on us in a friendly and non-​intrusive way. Thanks Josh!
The cuisine is varied and tasty, the prices are Gainesville-​low but not low enough for students, and the music is NY lounge. I don’t really know who this restaurant is catering to but we enjoyed it.