Let me start by saying that I am not a 20 something barfly who frequents the Southside to pound shots and beer until I can stand up. I'm a normal 50 something working person who enjoys well prepared food and excellent service. I work on the Soithside and have been to this place many times for lunch. There is nothing wrong with the food at Urban Tap. It's not the best food I've had, it's certainly not the worst. The duck poutine is actually quite delicious, although I wouldn't eat it every day. The burgers are fine and the salads are fine.
My problem with the Urban Tap is what seems to be a complete lack of regard for customer service. The lunch service is adequate, unless it's busy. But something happened tonight that really turned me off. I met my husband there for a pre-concert bite to eat and he arrived before I did. He was seated at a table right in front of the open kitchen and when I got there, he told me about a 20 minute conversation he'd heard booming out of the kitchen about blowjobs. Seriously. The cooks and the waitstaff were taking at the top of their voices about the finer points of administering oral sex to men. At full volume. Shortly after I got there, I saw a large, filthy, sweaty guy in a brown chef jacket saunter behind the bar and start pouring himself soda after soda. We were there for about an hour and he was behind the bar for the last 15 minutes of our visit. I can only assume it was the cook. And other staff were wandering in and out from behind the bar taking to him. His assistant also came out and hung out behind the bar.
This is just bad form. I saw nobody that resembled a manager doing anything to supervise. As close and convenient as this place is to my office, I can't imagine going back. Yikes!