Bistro on Main

This restaurant is chic, great hospitality and the food is awesome. Very good portions. Wine choices are excellent too. The bartender is attentive. Highly recommend the Bistro salad and the Shrimp & Grits!

Awesome food and service. Great salads and steaks. Always feel welcome! The staff is amazing as is the food.

Cute place downtown with quiet ambiance, friendly and attentive staff, and a fantastic refreshing summer salad. Brownie a la mode was rich and was the perfect serving size. We enjoy coming here each time when we are in town.

After dropping our three kids off with my parents, my wife and I hit up the Bistro on Main for a «just the two of us!» dinner out. Maybe it was the sweet taste of freedom or maybe it was the house Cabernet — but everything was pretty darn good.
My wife had salmon with sweet potato and spinach. Fuji apple chutney on the salmon provided some appley goodness to the well-​prepared fish. The sweet potatoes were pleasantly creamy and with just enough seasoning to let the natural flavors shine through in a pleasing way. The spinach neither added nor detracted from the dish.
I had the chicken scallopini, which was okay. It could have used a touch of salt on the chicken itself (I’m being picky here) and some capers might have helped bring out that tangyness I was missing. I was glad the chef didn’t skimp on the prosciutto, though. The pasta was cooked nicely.
For dessert, we split the mousse, which was overall tasty — white chocolate and dark chocolate mousses served parfait style with homemade whipped cream and strawberry slices. The dark chocolate had a strange plastic aftertaste both my wife and I noticed, but it was by no means inedible. We still finished the whole thing.
Overall, Bistro on Main offered a tasty dinner and is worth a second look the next time we are nearby (and sans kiddos.)

All is not well in Denmark…
while the Bistro on Main has traditionally been a bright spot of well priced tasty fare in this lovely little town, we find upon return that the kitchen has been hijacked by cardboard chicken and an overzealous application of sugary dressings. The almond crusted chicken salad — a long time favorite and staple in the Shenandoah diet — has fallen upon hard times and cries out for the attention of the most capable and normally perspicacious management.
This long time admirer looks forward very much to revising this review with two additional stars upon due correction of this sad and alarming state of affairs.

Bad food, slow service, stuffy atmosphere.
There are other places to eat bad food.
I ordered the eggplant, portabella thing. It fell apart and the mushroom was thin and rubbery. My girlfriends chicken was bland and dry.

We had fantastic service and food. They had a stuffed chicken breast special — stuffed with bacon, cheese, and spinach. It was baked in a puff pastry and very delicious. The rice that came with it was completely bland, however. I would substitute anything else for the rice. All the other meals and sides my group had were good. We split a bunch of desserts and they were all wonderful.

Here after an Easter Sunday family memorial up at VMI, reservations were made previously by another family member and we were seated immediately when we arrived.
They were out of the soups that day, so I didn’t get to enjoy my normal light lunch of soup/​salad, so me and my best friend decided to just go for the salad alone. The prices are on par for a little niche place like this, but I wasn’t really thrilled by the selections. The staff there was very friendly and attentive, and overall it would have been a little better if I could have sampled some of the items there given the time. If I do make it back up there, I will definitely return to try again.

Service was good, the menu fairly standard. We went for brunch on Sunday and tried both specials — a stuffed chicken breast with rice and overly-​oily spinach. The chicken was a little dry, but came covered in a sauce so that helped some. I had the crab cake benedict, which was only ok (the eggs were boiled solid through with hard yolks and not even close to poached) and the cheddar grits, which were under-​seasoned and uninteresting. At least the fresh fruit was ripe… Not a terrible meal, I’d try it again — i saw the table beside us had properly poached eggs, so the kitchen is at least capable of making them the right way when focused.

I placed my reservations for today, Valentine’s Day, on January 13^th and received an email confirmation.
We arrived a few minutes early and immediately were told that our table was not ready. 15 minutes later, the table still wasn’t ready and we were offered a window seat at the door or we could wait another 10 minutes for our table.
I don’t particularly like sitting at the door of any restaurant, but on a night with 26 degree temperatures and snow blowing, I really don’t want to be blasted with the cold air every time the door is opened. The hostess was snarky and rude and offered no reason except for «there are a lot of things going on». I’m aware that it is Valentine’s Day, hence the reason why I made reservations over a month ago.
Earlier today around 12:30, I received an email reminder of my reservation time and it requested that I call the restaurant if I needed to make changes.
At 5:29 pm I received a text message reminding me of my reservation and asked me to reply 1 to confirm or 2 to cancel. I replied 1, and received a confirmation again.
Maybe if they had sent any one of those reminders to the snarky hostess, I could have enjoyed a nice dinner with my love rather than a less than appetizing burger at the only place in town that wasn’t full.
I understand that things happen, life gets crazy, but when you are rude and act like I shouldn’t mind sitting in a window in below freezing weather with snow blowing in when the door opens, I would have been more inclined to write a better review. I don’t even know if the food is any good, but if the service is any indication of the quality, your best bet is to go to McDonald’s.

Had lunch here during the past weekend and I can’t really complain. My salad was fresh and the service was O.K. I had read some of the other reviews and kind of expected a bit more I suppose but I can’t say I was disappointed at all.
Maybe if there was any where to improve it would have been the beer selections. We also caught them at an odd hour for lunch so I think they may have been scrambling during a work shift.
The atmosphere of the place was pretty generic but keep in mind we sat at the bar so I suppose it could have been more cozy elsewhere.

My husband and I had dinner at the Bistro on Main tonight and it was amazing. I ordered the Spring Rolls for my APP and the Bistro salad (I highly recommend). For dinner they offered 3 specials of which I chose the filet cooked to a perfect medium rare. My husband chose the fish, also cooked perfectly. The service was also top notch. Our water glass never went empty. They serve a good size portion of food too. You won’t leave hungry, but you will leave satisfied and excited about the next time you return so you can try something new, like the shrimp and grits yum.

Great atmosphere and service but the positive ended there. Summer salad was just melon with very little else — no goat cheese or walnuts as promised. My Cesar with Chicken was Okay but the chicken was dry, skinny and tasteless.
I can see where some like this restaurant and wish them the best, but I don’t think we will be back if we are in Lexington.

I moved from Lexington to Charlottesville, VA about a year ago, and this is the restaurant that I will drive over an hour to eat, if I’m feeling like a fantastic meal.
The service is awesome, they’re so friendly and always willing to help accommodate you even if you forgot to make a reservation or show up early or late.
All meals are awesome. I’ve been probably been 25 times in my life, and tried everything on the menu. My favorite meal is the duck, and the olive tapenade or Brie appetizers. The beer bread (served to all tables) is fantastic. Nothing like it. I usually order some for myself when I order to take out, and eat it for the test of the week as a snack.
Bistro on Main is one of my top 5 favorite restaurants nationwide and I will always be loyal to it. Thanks for rocking!

Simply amazing. A very busy restaurant in an otherwise not overly busy town. Walking in the door, we knew this was a good sign. For an appetizer, we tried the calamari. Normally we shy away from seafood when we’re not at the beach, but the recommendation from the server was so strong we had to try. For our entrees, we both ordered one of the daily special dishes, my wife got Tuna encrusted with black and white sesame seeds resting on a bed of green tea soba noodles. The sauce had a great kick of spice, with a vinegar taste. I ordered the NY Strip steak with a bleu cheese cream sauce that was simply wonderful. The steak, normally not my favorite cut, was phenomenal. Tender, melt in your mouth steak, bite after bite. It was resting on great mashed potatoes and green beans. If we’re back in town, we’re going back!

Wow, Unilocal does it again. Found this bistro after visiting Unilocal and a few local recommendations. Looking for a good steak, I decided to try the Bistro on Main and I was not disappointed.
Immediately upon entering, I was warmly surprised at the beautiful furnishings and attention to detail provided by the courteous and friendly wait staff and hostess.
Having my mind made up on steak, I must admit that the menu was full of reasonably priced possibilities. I started with a «Bistro» salad which was delicious. It was mixed greens with goat cheese, slices of pear and warm poppyseed dressing which had just the right amount of sweetness. I then landed on my NY strip, cooked to perfection with a bacon and molasses glaze which was simply delicious. It was not to sweet and the steak quality was very good and a big portion. The steak included herb roasted potatoes and fresh green beans with just the right amount of garlic. Oh yea, did I mention the beer bread that was included which also provided an awesome flavor.
Not knowing at all what to expect upon entering, I was greatly surprised and left having one of the better meals in awhile. I would truly stop again if in the area and highly recommend this restaurant to others.

My boyfriend and I loved it! We both had the bistro bacon cheeseburger with the beer battered fries and it was magnificent!

This restaurant set the bar for excellent service and food. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive during our stay. The selections on the menu were all very appetizing and we would have been happy ordering any of them for our appetizer or main course. We ended up selecting Brie for our appetizer and an order of Pecan crusted trout and chicken linguine with lemon cream sauce. We had no trouble finishing our dinner and ate every bite — very delicious meals! We highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants high quality food and service.

My husband, 3.5 year old daughter and I just ate dinner here. We are traveling down 81 and didn’t want to stop for fast food. When we walked in we were unsure if we were dressed appropriately (we were wearing crummy jeans and tshirts for our road trip), but they assured us that we were fine. They sat us and we had a lovely dinner. I had to prep my daughter that it was grown up restaurant and she had to be quiet and extra good. They didn’t have a kids menu but we’re very accommodating to her. She wound up with the burger and fries, and it was really good! Hubs and I had the brie appetizer and it was delicious. They also served homemade beer bread that was out of this world. I had the jambalaya, which was delicious but had a little too many tomatoes for my liking. Hubs had chicken scallopini which was amazing!
Our waiter was pleasant and attentive even though the dinner rush came in right after us.
Overall I would definitely go back. The food was delicious and the service was great too!

Oh, Bistro, how I love you.
So many good memories here, from brunch, romantic dinners, my bff’s rehearsal dinner, drinks at the bar, etc.
I’ve never had a bad meal here. The bread is great. The atmosphere is intimate. The people are nice. Lexington needs more places like this.
It’s a bit on the small side and doesn’t accommodate groups well. It’s usually crowded, but plan ahead and make reservations. It’s also a little pricey and doesn’t gear well towards a student budget.
All that in mind, if you’re visiting from out of town, definitely stop by here. It’s one of the best places in town.