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| - I'd like to preface by saying that I plan on placing a call to the manager to report the experience I had here. While some people take joy in obliterating the reputations of businesses with one-star ratings on Yelp, I don't like giving only one star, especially for a locally-owned, non-franchisee establishment with good food. We just don't have enough of those here and they should be cherished. However, the experience I had at Bar+Bistro, combined with lackluster visits since writing my last review really leaves me no choice but a one-star review.
The food is as great as everyone says. It's creative and delicious and consistently so-I've only had one dish here that I didn't care for. The drinks are great and they have decent happy hour specials. As far as food and drink goes, they have it right.
The service ranges on a scale from apathetic to unwarranted hostility, the latter of which was received on my latest visit. I've sat at the bar most times when I've come here and have found the bartenders to be more interested in talking to friends and more regular customers than taking a simple drink order from me. Most times I felt like a burden sitting at the bar, taking up valuable time from the bartender that they could be using to discuss who Biffy is boffing with their friends at the other end of the bar. I'm so sorry it's asking so much for you to place a cup under the faucet of the sangria jug and take the three seconds to pour me a beverage. Perhaps I should've hopped over the bar and done it myself as it would've been less of an inconvenience.
My latest and very last visit (4/22/12) involved Sunday brunch with three other friends. Our waiter was nice enough-friendly and personable, a little forgetful, but seeing as he was the only one in the dining area for a bit I was ready to let that slide. Thus began theme one of the day: retardedly long lapses of time. Two parties were seated next to us maybe 15 minutes after we sat down and before we even received refills on our coffee, their food came out. So we waited. And waited. No food. No sign of our waiter. Just four very hangry girls in various stages of hangover waiting on food that was possibly being sourced in another state.
We stopped the waitress serving the table next to us, to ask for refills and find out about our food since our waiter was nowhere to be found and with great insincerity she put her hands together, smiled and said "Let me get your waiter!" Thus began the coexisting theme: unnecessarily hostile service. Why did she have to say it like that? Even though it wasn't her fault she should have apologized and non-passive aggressively offered to get our waiter for us. Our waiter arrives back after another long lapse of time to tell us that our ticket was lost and our food was being made right now. The food starts to arrive about 20 minutes later in ridiculous intervals of 5-10 minutes between dishes and there we are, nearly an hour in and only 3/4 of our party has food, which is now getting cold as we wait for the last dish. What happened to the party of 8 that had arrived after us you ask? Oh, they had FINISHED THEIR MEAL AND LEFT.
I finally asked for the manager and after a small, fragile woman who could not process my complaint was sent over to our table, the waitress who had made it clear that we were an annoyance to her, was sent over to share in the snarkiest of tones what a busy day it was for them, how they were so disabled with only one chef on staff and how poppin' the patio was. Yes, the busyness of the patio was preventing the food I ordered over an hour ago from getting to the table. Her attitude was completely hostile and she treated us like we were making a big deal out of nothing. The apology she gave after the list of excuses was insincere and anything but apologetic. Then she continued to insult me by offering to take my $2 coffee off the tab. How kind of her to offer such a generous discount! After my strong suggestion that she remove my entree from the tab, she did.
The delay in food to table I could let go. The inattentiveness of our friendly waiter, I could also let go. The lack of consistent refills, forgiven. The utter lack of concern and boorish behavior of the waitress/manager/restaurant muscle was unacceptable. She treated us like we were being unreasonable and like it was US who had made the mistake when in fact the only mistake we'd made was ordering food and expecting it to arrive before Memorial Day. Her disgusting approach to the situation was unprofessional and an embarrassment to the restaurant industry. I am really sad to have had such a terrible experience at a restaurant that really sets a local standard as far as food goes.
I will not be back. I will not make any more referrals. This place is dead to me and I can only hope to erase the horrible experience I had here with a substantially better experience at another restaurant more deserving of my business.
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