The Pub at The Creamery — Restaurant in Arcata

I went here with some friends visiting from out of town this past Saturday (9/26/2020). I've been here in the past and have ordered take out and always enjoyed the food and service. This past Saturday I can not say the same at all. I brought my visiting friends and was incredibly disappointed and honestly embarrassed I brought them here after our experience. We arrived right before 8pm. The restaurant is listed to be open until 11pm. Immediately upon arrival we were treated with some animosity and told we couldn't be served. Shortly after another waitress came by and said she could seat us, it would just have to be outside. Finally we sit down at a picnic table outside and a few minutes later another server comes out and says we will not be served and can only get take out... We were able to order some beers while we waited and they were put into small 10oz cardboard cups and we were still charged for the full price pint beers. (15 bucks for 2 small beers in paper cups). When our food was finished someone just screamed from inside our names and when we went to retrieve our order we were treated with a lot of attitude. A lot of the sides we asked for (and were charged for) were missing and when we asked for them it was like we were asking for the world. We then tried our food and the chicken was rock hard and like it had been in the fryer 10 minutes too long. I have had the chicken sandwiches here before and they were very good. This time, not so much. I am not a "karen" or a high maintenance customer. I have worked in the service industry and kitchens for several years. I am very understanding and accommodating and generally always tip 20%. I understand the circumstances of Covid and the capacity and under staffing issues. All that being taken into account, the treatment and quality of our visit was still very unacceptable and I'm disappointed. The pub went from being a place I liked a lot and recommended to other people in the community, but now I probably won't return again...

If you guys don't want to be open until 11pm, I suggest you change your hours listed. While we sat there I saw at least a dozen people show up and get declined and told to leave (all...

I rarely leave restaurant reviews, but as others have posted, this place doesn’t just merit a review, but could be a real contender for Kitchen Nightmares. It was worth wasting $30 to experience the dysfunction. What a weird, unsettling experience. This place doesn’t know what it is - as someone who has lived in the UK, this place isn’t just antithetical, but inimical to the concept of a pub. It isn’t a sports bar. It isn’t a neighborhood watering hole or anything resembling a gastropub. I’m uncertain if it’s trying to be a restaurant. It absolutely is not a Humboldt County establishment - if your owners or investors came from L.A. to buy the old Arcata creamery, please for the love of god take this place back home with you. Stop defiling the creamery (lmao). The atmosphere is sincerely aggressive - employees are screamed at by owners drinking around the bar. Employees then behave aggressively toward customers and come with a weird formalistic attitude that is, again, both antithetical to the local culture and the concept of a pub. There are around a dozen employees wandering around, the majority of whom do nothing but behave aggressively toward one another or customers. It takes eons for food or drinks to come out. The food is trash - likely all frozen back there. The drinks are overpriced and underwhelming, though you can tell that at least one bartender is a real mixologist - they have decent concepts that are, again, out of place in this environment. Service is the worst in the county. Everything is overpriced rubbish. A few of the employees are kind hearted; the atmosphere almost puts you in a hostage movie, hoping to see them break free (they need Liam Neeson!). You get the startling feeling that the owners might bark at you for having the temerity to be a customer. Seriously, where’s Gordon Ramsey when you need him? It was worth the visit just for the weird experience (come and see it before it’s gone)!

*and I hate to be mean, really - my intention here isn’t malicious. I’m more amused than anything and wanted to add to the...

First off, there are a lot of positives about the pub. Its a in a good location, lots of tables, good food for Humboldt, and a nice outdoor seating area. However, the service I have experienced from some of the servers has been the worst I have experienced from my time being a server and going to restaurants to eat. I have ate here on several different occasions with he food always being decent, but the service is terrible.

The first time I came to the pub, our party was sat down and then no one came to take an order for over 30 minutes. When I went up to ask where our server was, the cashier said they were on their lunch and would not be back for another 30 minutes.

The next time I came to the pub with a small group, our table was sat, and then 30 minutes into eating our table was being asked to leave because there was a reservation booked.

Recently when I last went, the service was really good. The server was polite and respectful. When our servers were switched because of shift change, a new server came to help our table. The server was rude and you could hear and see in his face a tone of that he did not want to deal with us. When I went up to the register to pay my bill I was then charged an extra five dollars (+the tip, since I do think it is disrespectful not to) because our check was split 4 ways.

As a restaurant in Humboldt, I hope the pub does well and thrives. I do not mean to write or harp on this business because I want to and know there are people working very hard to keep this restaurant going because running a restaurant is not easy. I am writing this in the hopes that the business will listen to their community feedback and improve.

The pub could be a really awesome place if they can fine tune their...