I celebrated Memorial day with family remembering our loved ones who served our country that are now resting in peace. That evening, I suggested we visit our neighborhood bar Gard's since I hadn't gone in quite some time (pre-pandemic). As we walked up, some happy customers outside of the bar greeted us and we said Go Boston smiling. My fiance, my brother, and I walked into the bar and it was a full house at the bar counter so we sat on the backless stools near the game machines. My brother walked up to the bar to ask if we could sit in the dining area so we could have somewhere to set our drinks. The bartender told him no because they didn't want to get the dining area dirty. We had no problem with that. At this point halftime was now over and the bartender says you can go in the back now, what do you want to drink?. I tell him we'll sit down and decide what we want and let him know. He said loudly, "You can't come in here to just watch the game. You have to order something or you'll have to leave." Everyone got quiet. We were in shock that he assumed that was out intent. My previous visits to Gard's consisted of me being greeted by Denise, the late owners daughter. She made customers feel welcome and want to come back. We did come back, spend money and share some laughs with her and the other customers.
I was extremely disappointed that my brothers first experience at Gards was ruined by this guy behind the bar that did not tend to us like patrons deserve but more like pests for some reason. I gave Gards 1 star because this place has a long long legacy in the neighborhood (if you don't know, take some time to read up on Gard's history), the laughs we shared with the people that were standing outside the bar door prior to us entering, and lastly because the bartender changed his mind and decided that we grown adults would not dirty up the dining area with our drinks, even though we didn't make it to the dining area to show him we could clean up after ourselves. Noooo, he assumed we came to sit and watch the game WITHOUT ordering from the bar. What an insult! This incident did put a slight damper on the evening, however, we left and patroned another business, BOUGHT drinks as we intended, and watched the rest of the game. CHEERS! read more