Let me start off by saying that the wait & bar staff are absolutely incredible here! Great service and excellent attention to detail. Security could use more training but more on that later... Food was just OK
This review is purely based on a bad and frankly disgusting experience we had recently with ownership/management as I believe the situation (we) had was less than 1 star-material. I will also add that I have been coming to The Boardwalk as a performer & a guest alike for nearly 15 years collectively, so this review is directed (in part) towards the new ownership.
We attended a sold out memorial show for a very close friend and music industry colleague who had recently passed away. So already, as you can imagine, this was shaping up to be a very emotional evening for a lot of the attendees - some of which being family, family friends, friends since elementary thru high school, and fans alike - and the last thing on anyone's mind was having to deal with a "situation"
Throughout the night, myself and others not only observed but experienced firsthand, a middle aged man (who was clearly inebriated) grabbing and groping on some of our female friends when moving through the crowd or simply (and I quote) "trying to squeeze by" when there was plenty of room for him to do so without the need for physical contact. We brushed it off the first few times in hopes that it wouldn't happen again. Obviously this character had gained some sort of confidence, whether it was the alcohol (which the bar staff probably should have observed as excessive) or the fact that nobody had the courage to stand up to this vile person.
Fast forward to a break in-between bands on the front outdoor patio... Guy says "excuse me" and lifts up my friends shirt and puts his hand on the small of her back as to insinuate that he needs to squeeze by when there were ZERO obstructions between him and where he needed to go. As my friend turned around and realized it was the same person who had just done the exact same thing to her not minutes prior, she felt compelled to call him out for it (naturally) and let him know that everyone is aware of his behavior. As soon as this man got called out, several other female friends (and strangers) showed up saying that this character did the same thing to them. It was very clear to everyone at this time that this was not just a "one off occurrence" and that it was an intentional act of harassment and vulgarity. I will also pointed out that this dude was not there for the show nor the memorial. In fact, when asked about the person we were all there to celebrate, his response was "who is that and why should I care?"
Once things got a little too heavy/heated for comfort, we thought it best to alert the door security of the situation. As it did take them several minutes to regroup, respond and address the situation, we allowed them to do their jobs and try to calm the storm so to speak. Security basically heard both sides (that of the perv and then my friends who had been affected by his antics) and they had the man stand and wait outside near the street all the while, taunting at us, asking us to fight, which in our minds, was an indication that maybe he had been asked to leave... NOPE! Not 5 minutes later, this sick-o was back inside, standing at the bar, ordering more drinks, becoming more intoxicated and laughing it all up with his friends and who we believed to be HIS WIFE! How embarrassing for her...
...but how embarrassing to be a small business owner/manager and allow this sort of thing to happen to some of your longtime patrons and potential future customers. You should truly be ashamed of yourselves for being complicit in this. Whether this man is a regular, a friend or otherwise stranger is NO EXCUSE to allow this behavior inside your establishment. Not to mention, training your security personnel that it's okay to allow someone like this to just waltz right back inside where it could have easily escalated into something much larger. Absolutely shameful. This would have NEVER happened under Mark & Sandy's watch...
All in all, the memorial show was a success and we didn't let this small man and his gross behavior deter us from the real reason we were all there
I truly hope that when you read this, you will reconsider visiting The Boardwalk in 2023 and beyond. It's sad to see places that you've grown up to cherish & revere become something much different but it's even sadder to think that there are still folks living under rocks in some fantasy world they've made up for themselves where they believe it's okay to grab on women without being called out for it. And when they do, deny it and be treated like royalty. What century are you living in? read more