If I could rate this place zero stars I would, but had to choose at least one star to write a review. I had the most awful experience with bartender (small bar to right of entrance) on Friday 4/7/23. My friend and I normally love this establishment and went often when it was The Phoenix. I had reserved a table in advance and one of our favorite bands was playing (Don't Tell Lisa). When we entered there weren't many people despite the fact the band was just starting to play. Hostess was very nice and she offered us a choice of several different tables. We elected to sit at the bar since we like to dance and bar is close to dance floor and there were seats available. Bartender was grumpy as soon as we sat down. We ordered Truly (5% alcohol) and cups with ice and straws. My friend accidentally knocked her drink (she's on the shorter side and was standing up she accidentally hit the straw sticking up out of her drink with her arm). She was not overindulging, and neither was I.
We are both over 50 and do not go out to get drunk, rather enjoy a few drinks, listen to live music, and dance.
We had danced to several songs were having a great time until we were sitting at the bar again. Another male employee came behind the bar and asked the bartender how he was doing. He certainly wasn't working very hard because they were only 2 other people at the bar in addition to the two of us and I didn't see anyone else come up to order drinks as everyone was going to the 2nd, larger bar. I heard the bartender say to the other employee "the guy at the end of the bar was a pain in the ass" and make a comment that two of us "kept knocking over drinks". Mind you it was only one accidental spill at this point. About an hour later my friend knocked over a 2nd drink (again it was an accident). She immediately began trying to clean it up. The bartender wouldn't have even noticed had we not signaled him for some more napkins to clean it up. He was too busy talking to another employee (female this time). He didn't even attempt to clean up the spill, rather threw a pile of napkins on the bar, quite rudely. A few minutes later he said "Ok ladies time to leave". I thought he was joking until he said "you knocked over 5 drinks between the two of you. Time to go home". I told him it was 2 drinks that were spilled and it was her, not me, who did so. He contradicted me, quite rudely and said "No, it was 5 drinks between the two of you". I don't know who taught this guy to count, but they weren't successful.
While I can see how a bartender may be frustrated with spills, especially if they are very busy, but he wasn't busy at all. Also bartenders are supposed to be trained in being able to determine if people may be intoxicated or not. IF he thought we were intoxicated is asking patrons to leave immediately, and drive home, really the best approach? If he had offered us water and said he couldn't serve us another drink, due to the spills, we would have understood and would have stayed to dance a little more but he was such a jerk!!! We will NOT be back. In fact my friend was supposed to go back on Saturday night with 3 other people but when she told them what happened they elected to go elsewhere. read more