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| - I've been to Kitchen 56 for a couple of happy hours before and the experiences were probably about 3.5 star-worthy. The outdoor patio is cute, the wine selection is decent, and the happy hour is better than the Vig's if you prefer wine over beer. This solidly-decent streak was broken last night when seven of us showed up and were told there was no room for us on the patio. Fine, we took a table in the dining room. A manager stopped by to apologize for not being able to accomodate our desire to sit outdoors. We forgave her.
Our waiter was surly, telling us he was the one who was "forced" to help us. I get that it was a wry joke (maybe!) but there was zero humor behind it, and he seemed more genuine than not. He then informed us that we did not "qualify" for happy hour because we were not seated at the bar or on the patio. He was so unapologetic that I thought he was joking. We asked if we could have the special anyway as we were there specifically FOR happy hour and had intended to sit outside if the few tables had not already been taken. He disappeared to ask and returned with a solid N-O. We decided that this would not stand, and walked out as multiple members of the waitstaff and the manager watched, expressionless. Guess they had already made too much money that day and didn't have any more room for ours.
The dining room was empty, by the way. WTF mate? Seven of us could easily have racked that tab up to $200 in drinks alone, if only they had let us partake of their flimsy happy hour deals (which do not include food specials) for the one hour that was remaining of the special. Real nice, Kitchen 56. REAL NICE.
They really deserve one star for that as my previous experiences weren't exactly shining examples of service, but, unlike the staff at Kitchen 56, I am feeling a little generous today.
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