Giuseppe’s Ristorante Italiano & Bar

«Ideal Fusion»: Gastro-​Jazz-​Libation-​Ambience-​Service
True serendipity, OMG so awesome, what a unique satisfying experience ! We searched-​reserved on Open Table to find this place before arriving (from Raleigh NC) in town for a quiet relaxing dinner before my daughter’s (UK grad Alyse 2011) wedding weekend. Thank you, you set the tone kicking off a memorable week end for my daughter’s wedding.
We sat in the lounge area near a romantic window corner on a step up platform across from the awesome bar with blue lighting & few flat screen tvs & jazz/​music section. Everything was superlative; from perfect ambiance (subtle/​balanced lighting, conversational noise level, live subtle jazz in the background, David playing sax, trumpet, flute, clarinet, & keyboard on a nice play list), impeccable-​pleasant-​professional service & knowledgeable recommendations («Melinda»), major league «ridiculous» wine/​cocktails/​spirits (especially bourbon & scotch) (oh yeah had «Pappy & Blanton’s & nice Malbec) selections, amazing fare (sauces-​dishes) focused on Italian freshly custom made at time of order (reasonable wait time), and finally bringing the nights experience together was our excellent wait person Melinda creating the perfect synergy.
This place can hang with the most discriminating «Foodie», yet the classy relaxed décor, the attentive «non pompous» customer orientation, and reasonable pricing makes it fit for all folks & occasions. Nice dining room, separate lounge bar music area for drinks & Hors d’oeuvres at the bar or dinner there in adjacent seating or in the separate dining room.
«Mangia Mangia» Giuseppe’s Ristorante Italiano Lexington’s gem can hang with any 5 star restaurant in Chicago, La, NY, Seattle or Florida; don’t miss this food & relaxing jazz experience.
Ciao Phil & Liz

Great and authentic Italian food. Who would of guessed we could find this in Kentucky. Better than most in the SF Bay Area. Started with an unbelievable bacon gnocchi. Then a great scampi fra Diablo and a pasta Mona Lisa (never heard of it, but an earthy cream sauce (mushrooms?), sun dried red peppers, snap peas, etc. no room for dessert. Only caveat — Frau thought it a bit salty.

Lexington has started to step up their food game, but this is still sub-​par. Ok to good Italian food and overpriced, but thankfully excellent service. I would say go somewhere else, but there isn’t too many options. My brother and I took our mom out for a post Mothers Day dinner, she had mentioned she had never been and been wanting to go. Disappointed because you would think with all these raving reviews it was the most excellent food that had ever had… again, it was good, but didn’t blow me away in the slightest. We got a table that was in a dark corner, there were quite a few lights out in our section (I don’t think we needed the romantic spot).

Been going here for many years, Don’t know what has happened. We average about once a month primarily for the great fresh catch and the way it is always prepared perfectly, not to say the great service. our server was not attentive at all, think the server may be new had not seen this server before, we know a lot of them In addition to not being attentive to us the food was less than we had gotten before the Planko Crusted Halibut we have had here before was very dry and overcooked, no one came by to check after our food was delivered, we got refills on water from the bus boy. Server never asked how the food was. Hope they fix this as we did luv going here for a great dinner and we hope to go back and get the quality we were spoiled by. (Maybe there was a new cook) No excuse for the server or Manager who never came by he was there we seen him, he liked working around the bar.

Lobster Ravioli in Sherry sauce is a MUST! Veal Saltibuco was also delicious according to the husband.

This was our first time at Giuseppe’s and I’d say all four of us were very satisfied. The service was quick and attentive. Hannah was a very helpful and engaging server! Everything was fresh, well prepared and tasty. We were happy with calamari, shrimp scampi, Caesar salad with chicken, portabella and pasta and fettuccine Alfredo. As a bonus, they threw in dessert for our 25^th anniversary, which was very nice and a real treat. We will be back.

Excellent Italian food in a quaint yet sophisticated atmosphere. Service is excellent, as well as the drinks. Wonderful place for two to enjoy a quiet night, or listen to jazz in the bar on weekends. The best Italian restaurant in the Bluegrass, and a hidden gem. Parking can be tight, due to the restaurants longstanding popularity!

Ok, this place is reviewed to death, but it is a go to for me. I love the dressy causal thing here. I’ve been there in 6 in heels and strait off the firing range and the servers have always treated me the same. I’ve never had bad food and after 20 years I think I’ve had everything on the menu. I will swear to you this place makes the best steak in town.

My wonderful boyfriend took me to Giuseppe’s for Valentine’s Day dinner. I had never been there for dinner before and it had a wonderful romantic atmosphere: dark lighting, roses on each table, and a musician who played various instruments throughout the evening. The only thing that killed the mood were the two big screen TVs near the bar that were turned on.
There was a set menu for the night. For $ 75 per person you received a salad, entrée, and dessert. To start off the night I had a Captain Morgan sunrise cocktail. It was perfect, not too sweet or too strong. They brought out warm, crusty bread to the table with spreadable creamy butter. We split calamari as an appetizer and it was delicious. It had little pieces of sliced banana peppers included and the sauce was very tasty. For my salad I chose the Italian wedge. It is a wedge of iceburg lettuce topped with gorgonzola dressing, tomatoes, croutons, and delicious crisp pancetta crumbles.
I chose the Fettucine Aragosta for my entrée. I really enjoyed the rich creamy sauce, pasta, and spinach, but chunks of the lobster were strangely chewy. My boyfriend loved his lasagna with Italian sausage and ground veal. I had a bite and liked it a lot too.
For dessert I chose the Italian cream cake. It was very light and creamy.
Our meal was perfectly spaced out and drinks were never empty. This is a wonderful spot for special occasions.

After driving four hours and hitting lexington around 6pm, my travel companion was telling me she was craving italian. I’m still trying to be low carby, but I started thinking that meatballs would be tasty. After talking it over, I talked her in to coming here. I am a firm believer that this is one of the better Italian — style restaurants in the city.
Of course everything on the menu sounded good. She started off with a cocktail and we ordered a couple appetizers. She wanted to try the gnocchi and the risotto balls. Both were very tasty. She ended up ordering a salad that seemed just like a salad you would get any where. I ordered the butternut squash soup. I loved the velvety texture of the soup.
As for entrees, I ordered just the meatballs. She got the shrimp diavolo. My meatballs were smothered in a tomato based sauce. The most surprising thing is how tender they were. I also stole a jumbo shrimp from my friend — it was spicy and flavorful.
Still trying to be good, I opted out of dessert.
This is such a charming place. Occasionally, they have live music. This place is a perfect place for datenight. I bet they are almost completely booked for valentine’s day. If you are wanting a reservation, I suggest calling soon.

I was in town for business, and I was fortunate to have a little bit of time to do some sightseeing. I attended a Christmas program at a nearby plantation and I found this place on Unilocal.As I drove up I knew I must’ve had a good spot because the parking lot was bursting at the seams, and the street was full. It is right off the main drag, but it is hidden behind trees she may not notice if you’re not from there.
I’d recommend a reservation, as they could be quite a wait. They were very gracious and were able to get me in much faster than what they projected.
The Pasta Vicenzo was my choice and it was the right choice. The salad and the bread were quite tasty and very fresh. Get dessert. I did.
The service was very attentive, and the waitress is very patient as I was engaging other patrons in conversation as I am apt to do.
Great place!

I was apprehensive that the Giuseppe’s had not kept up. The last time I was here was at least 10 years ago, and back then it was very good. We came this time for a special holiday dinner. The service was excellent. The food was on point. I had chicken parm and it was great. Several had the carbonara and loved it. Nice bottle of wine to accompany dinner. We shall return.

Choosing an Italian Restaurant in the middle of Blue Grass Country well simply stated your rolling the dice. About 10 miles from downtown but near the mall off the main drag we come to this older style chalet Giuseppe’s. Friday Night Breeders Cup Weekend not your normal dining event here so I’ll give them a pass on certain things as they were busy. For this special occasion reservations were guaranteed with a $ 50.00 pay pal charge paid up front and it was to be taken off your bill at the end. Also a few weeks before I was contacted to let me know that it would be a preset menu with various options for $ 100.00 per person.
Enter to a charming dining area with areas on both sides of the hostess stand as well as bar seating and a jazz player in the bar as well. We are seated off to the right outside room where our hostess presented us our dining options and wine list. She was quite diverse with her knowledge of wine and talked me out of what I had ordered suggesting another at equal price and it was quite good KUDOS.
4 of us so lots to sample here.
1^st up Appetizer — 3 of us went with Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail 2 per person while 3^rd person had procuitto wrapped Asparagus. Shrimp were EXCELLENT though I had to ask 2 times for Horseradish. Asparagus were very good as well.
Soup or Salad: Lobster Bisque (2) were excellent hot flavorful while my Pasta Fagoli was not really very good though anything compared to my mothers usually fails but this was simply OK. Real winner at the table was their Forget the name of it Salad which was huge covered in cheese and dressings. Ice cold and flavorful could have fed 2 or 3.
Entrees:
Chicken Stuffed with Crab meat certainly different was good…
Sea Bass was fresh and good was well.
Veal Parm (2) were enormous in size with 3 large Veal Cutlets with cheese over bed of pasta. Problem was they were pre-​made cutlets that were nuked and then threw over the pasta and marinara was placed on top. Actual veal itself was really tasty but they mangled the dish the way it was heated and presented. I’m giving them a pass as I’m sure it had to do with the amount of people.
Deserts: Lava Cake with ice creak OUTSTANDING — Cannoli not homemade but very good while the Spumoni ice cream was very good the real winner the Lava cake. Coffee was hot and fresh.
had to bring manager over as the $ 50.00 prepayment was not applied to the check but that was rectified quickly.
In Short about what was expected for Italian in blue grass country nothing spectacular but pretty good considering the circumstances. Very friendly nice people.

Great fried rice balls, wine, and pasta. The atmosphere and service was great. It seemed like most of the people who eat there are older (we were in our 20s and definitely the youngest diners). The salads and break were ok but overall it was great! The cappuccino comes with biscotti :)

We ate here on a Tuesday night– and for a guy raised on New Jersey, I’m here to say the food is legit Italian. I ordered the veal scaloppine, my wife the veal Marsala. Our friends had the fettuccine Alfredo and the spaghetti carbonara. The pasta was al dente, perfectly prepared. Each of our dishes were delicious and the side of vegetables my wife ordered were also fresh and excellently prepared.
The service was fantastic and prompt! Carissa, our server was always there answering questions, refilling our glasses and provided great wine recommendations. This is a meal to be enjoyed– so if you want to eat fast– go to Olive Garden. Otherwise, treat yourself, enjoy a glass of wine, friends and an outstanding meal here.

I usually only rate the food.
But this place is the full package.
Fettuccine Alfredo is to die for.
Clean.
Friendly staff.
Décor is also quite appealing.
We will be back.

Yes, Giuseppe’s is lovely. Ambience. Good service. Had the PASTA VINCENZO –
pasta of the day tossed with sun-​dried tomatoes, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, red onions, olive oil, pecorino romano & garlic and a glass of wine. Was very good. BUT, I RARELY eat Italian out. IMO, I’m equally as good, mostly better, at it than most restaurants. In my DNA! High priced pasta dishes go against my Italian grain. That said — yes, Giuseppe’s is lovely.

Food was very good. Decent wine list which can be limited in this area.
Service was very slow and not very good.

Service was great, ambiance was great, food was even better! Started out with the Fried Risotto balls (don’t remember restaurant name) and they are perfectly prepared. Def not frozen food here and the marinara was a perfect blend that did not over power the taste. Instead it almost stole the show. Carbonara was a creamy version but still great flavor and the Chicken Saltimbocca w Marsala sauce was smooth and yummy. Will come back again for sure. Little pricey but well worth all of the food we ate.

Delicious! One of our favorite restaurants to come too! I love Italian food and this is the only Italian restaurant I have found that keeps recipes authentic, homemade and fresh ingredients. Highly recommend the fish specials and the lasagna is fantastic!!! Salads are really yummy and so are the risotto balls! Never had a bad meal and I do not expect too…