Rafferty's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

We came to Rafferty's for dinner tonight. We were here last year at the same time. My father in law loves this joint so of course we had to come back. We came for an early dinner tonight to beat the crowd. Walking up the ramp, we were instantly greeted by one of the hostesses. She had the door open for all of us to trickle in. One hostess got our menus ready and the next host got us sat at a table/booth combo table.

Deanna (I believe that was our servers name. She had on really cute flamingo earrings.) greeted us with her beautiful smile. She got our drink orders started while we were looking over the menu. Our drinks were dropped off and orders were taken.

We started off with the nutty honey butter croissants. I remember eating these vividly last year so it was a must have today. They were so soft and buttery. The sweet glaze on top was so good. These things could ruin me if I lived here. It was hard only eating one.

I ordered the sunshine salad tonight. Chicken salad with a side of fruit. The fruit had a citrus topping on it. I'm not gonna lie, the chicken salad didn't do it for me. It had a good amount of apples, celery and grapes in it. The chicken was nicely diced and mixed well into the salad so you got some in every bite. The dressing of the chicken wasn't my favorite. After a couple bites I knew it wasn't for me. The fruit on the other hand was delicious! I love love loved the citrus topping they used on the fruit. It was so good! I enjoyed the strawberries, cantaloupe and honeydew very much! I ended up swapping out the chicken salad for more fruit and I'm not mad about it!

My husband ordered the pineapple soy marinaded ribeye for dinner. He did start off with a delicious Cesar salad. The salad was heavily dressed and the greens were so crisp. I got a few bites of his ribeye and it was so good! The steak was tender and so flavorful! It had beautiful char marks on it! I was jealous at how tasty his steak was! We were talking about our future meal next year and this steak will be my next meal for sure! I also did get a taste of the fries, which were so good! The fries are limpy and soft which are my favorite! The chicken tenders were good, especially dipped in the honey mustard sauce. Needless to say, I got a bit of everyone's meal and it was all fantastic!

I want to compliment Deanna. My father in law ordered sweet tea and it did come out pretty light. It was expressed to us that there was something wrong with the ice tea machine. Deanna brought a fresh soda out for my father in law. While we were eating, Deanna brewed fresh ice and sweet tea for us! She brought out a fresh glass of teas and brought to go cups as well so we can drink the rest of it later. Servers like Deanna are special and I'm happy she served us tonight.

Tonight's visit was nice. Even though I didn't like my chicken salad, Deanna made sure I left happy. She went above and beyond and I appreciate her for that! I look forward to coming back next year and having the same ribeye as my...

I'm writing this review in hopes it finds it way to the correct manager or owner. I'm a 55 year old individual who has been eating with the Rafferty's establishments in several locations since I was 12 years old. I have always recommended Rafferty's very high in food quality, atmosphere, and service. This review is not a complaint it's what I would call a courtesy notification. It's a term that I like to use since I have been in the hospitality and and manufacturing workforce for over 30 years and I'm very appreciated when people bring these things to my attention. On 11/08/2023 my son and I was going to get a late lunch and we were in the Athens Ga. once again Rafferty's popped up at the top of the list. Upon arriving at around 2:10pm through the front door we noticed four employees in the hostess or check in area. Two employees leaning up on the prop and other two standing there nobody greeted us and there was no conversation going on with them. As we were standing being observed by the four not one word was spoken from any employee. I was waiting for a welcome to Rafferty's or how many is in your party as I looked at my son as time was passing. I said, hey two please. I thought enough time had passed so I would break the ice with the first words. Three of the four just looked at us and each other and the one employee who was almost laying all the way backwards on a prop in the back said, what about the bar? I replied, fine nobody pointed showed us to it or anything it was extremely obviously they didn't want to be bothered with us. As we made our way to the bar I looked the restaurant over to see if other areas were closed for repair, closed off for cleaning etc. nothing of that sort. We sat down and my grown son said, wow that was strange. I replied, yes I told him I almost just walked out because it was very clear they didn't want to be bothered. The lady/employee at the bar was very nice she explained the specials and told us the details which eased the discomfort not not feeling welcome. Rafferty's was not busy at the time two others at the bar, and I counted 16 other customers. The quality of the food was good and the waitress was good. Then we paid the check and was leaving once again, exiting the door the same four employees were in the lobby area three of the four had their phone out scroll or playing. I urge the management team or owner to take a look at their staffing needs this would make a good coaching topic. This type of perception will in the end get you a minimum return as I said, above if it would have just been me I would have walked out. I never felt the need to beg anyone especially when I paying the bill. I'm just glad there wasn't a group with us that day. I hope this courtesy notice finds it way to the someone with leadership...

I was extremely disappointed in the service that I reviewed. It took ten minutes for me to be acknowledged once I was seated. Finally my waitress came over and asked what drinks we wanted which we told her and order our food at the same time. Once the food came we realized that we needed forks and napkins. We waited for about five minutes before I went ahead and hunted down some silverware. Finally after 20 minutes of my food being delivered she came by and asked if everything was okay. Well it wasn't. My wife didn't have her lemons for her water like she asked and there was bacon and chives in her soup that she didn't want after specifically asking what was in the soup and the waitress never mentioned bacon or chives. She came back to clear the plates and I asked for the check. once we got the check it took about ten minutes before I was able to flag a different waitress to close us out. (The manager walked by me three times and just looked at me. Didn't say anything). When I was signing the check and doing the tip my waitress finally came over and was shocked that we had gotten our check already. We told her we had another waitress close us out and she said alright have a good night. I was absolutely appalled at the level of service I received. Being a manager in customer service has taught me that customers pay your wages not your employer. If you don't have customers you don't have a job....