I stopped at Three Sheets Saloon for a nightcap shortly after midnight on May 15, 2015. I did not try the food, as I had already eaten.
The bouncer checked my ID, and was very cordial.
The bar was not very busy. I'd place the amount of patrons at 20-30 people, under the service of at least 2 verifiable bartenders on duty, plus an array of at least 2 support staff (barbacks, bussers, etc.)
Max, the male bartender on duty, was attentive, prompt, and very pleasant. He serviced my requests for refills in a very timely fashion. His conduct was above and beyond what I consider to constitute "professional" for a bar of this nature.
The female bartender? Oh, I'm not so sure. She didn't do so much as acknowledge me. After about forty-five minutes of being there, it could be reasonably inferred that she paid a disproportionate amount of attention to male bar patrons, while ignoring females with empty glasses, some waving their hands in an attempt to flag her down.
I tried to make sense of this woman's behavior - to excuse it somehow. I'm a firm believer that there is almost always a logical explanation for poor service, one that allots the server some leeway for the mishap. However, I couldn't ignore the fact that nothing justified this woman ignoring every female patron in the place (myself included), while her male colleague, Max, tended to both men and women, in as timely of a manner as he possibly could, while she engaged in a convoluted form of verbal canoodling with every male patron within earshot of me., including (but not limited to) men who were with female counterparts.
I stayed until last call, and when this woman announced last call, I motioned toward my almost-empty drink, and verbally stated with clarity that I would take one more and pay immediately. I was in no way intoxicated beyond the point of handling another drink (I'm writing this review shortly after arriving home from the bar). Yet, she made direct eye contact with me, acknowledging that she had heard my request, and she failed to provide me with my final drink. She then proceeded to not serve me for several minutes.
This begs the question of why the heck this woman hates females so much. I ended up flagging down Max and acquiring my final drink with no issues, implying that as a professional in the industry, he did not feel I was exceeding the bounds appropriate for being served alcohol.
My piece of advice to this woman is that you're making less money when you pay excessive amounts of attention to male patrons, while ignoring the female patrons. I tip 20% as a baseline standard at a bar in New York City. Nevermind if the service was substandard. If it didn't suck terribly, I tip 20%.
The only reason I tipped 20% tonight was because this woman's colleague expressed a concern for serving any and all patrons who needed service, regardless of their gender. If it had been her alone, I would have left a big fat 10% of a tip, meaning "you showed up for work and did nothing, congratulations!"
I have reservations about vocalizing a low opinion of service, as I don't want to feel responsible for the loss of someone's livelihood; however, I feel not one ounce of remorse if this bartender gets disciplined or let go over this review.
Oh, one last thing: the bouncer was extremely pleasant in wishing me a good night, in addition to Max's mindful tending to me and to other customers. read more