Park Tavern — Restaurant in Atlanta

I was really excited to try Park Tavern restaurant because I had heard good things from friends and the location is great. I should have taken a look at the reviews online and steered clear.

I figured out the parking (fairly simple $3 payment for the day) and walked down the stairs hoping I was going to the right place. At the entrance I found an employee who didn’t seem thrilled by my presence and I mentioned that I was meeting a group. She barely lifted her head and pointed to the left and said “they’re probably in there.” I glanced over and saw that their main dining area was completely empty. I probably should have taken that as a sign that this place sucks but my friends were already there. I went with a group of 8 total and when I arrived there were only four at the table. I was surprised to find the bottled water on the table and my friend explained that if you want more you either buy more or fill it yourself from a fountain across the patio. The server came by about 30 seconds after I sat (which I was impressed by) but then asked us if we were ready to order. I hadn’t even thought about looking at the menu yet and it was very clear that there were three empty chairs at the table. The other three came in a few minutes later and the server came right back asking us to order. We felt that we had no choice so put in a quick order to please her. I chose the Chicken Tenders as I didn’t get a chance to look over the Sushi options. My friend heard that they do half priced sushi for happy hour so she asked the server if it was half priced. The server had a blank stare on her face and looked down at her watch and then replied “no” with a shoulder shrug. She did not tell us what time/day it happens or even show the slightest empathy. The food came out less than 20 minutes later, which we were impressed by for a large party order. I started with my fries which were room temperature and tasted double-fried. I was grossed out but too hungry to care. Then I dug into my chicken tenders and found that they were cold. Not room temperature but COLD. The chicken looked white but at this point I was entirely disappointed. I waited 10 minutes for our server to come back into the vicinity and waived her down. I explained that the entire meal was cold and she looked as if she didn’t believe me and then said “I’ll go see IF we can do something about it.” I waited about 5 more minutes and she said that she was going to have it replaced. I was starving and annoyed but happy that they were going to make it right and figured it shouldn’t take too long as we were one of 5 tables in the entire restaurant.. Then, 30 minutes later, still no replacement and the server hadn’t been back once. My entire party had finished and we were just chatting. A bus boy came by and cleared everyone’s plates. I flagged the server down again and told her that we were finished and I still hadn’t received my meal. She said she would go check and I told her to just cancel it as we were ready to leave. She then became confrontational and said “So now you want me to cancel the order for you?!” I said “yes, it’s fine we want the checks” and she said “its fine as in you want it?” and I said “No I do not want it we have been here for over an hour and we are ready to leave.” Then she said “So you’re not even going to take it to-go?” This was the breaking point for me as if I wanted to take cold food home and reheat it I would have just taken my ORIGINAL entree to-go. She came back with the checks and then we saw the Auto-Grat and realized why she had given such poor service with an IDGAF attitude. You can thank your female blonde server for the 8 of us never returning and us letting our friends know about this disaster of...

Very disappointed, we had such high expectations, seeing how nice the atmosphere and venue was. First we sat out in the tent with others around us for about 10 mins , only to be told that the area is closed and to move inside@ 8:30 pm. Than we sat inside for 10 mins before we stopped the bartender that was going to walk right by us and asked him for help. He than told us we are supposed to walk up to the bar and order but he will help us, since it’s slow. There were only 3 tables , us included, it should of been very fast , but we were in for a surprise. He seemed very spacey and un-professional, like he was new, yet he expressed he had been there for 7 yrs, deeper in the convo. So after placing the very simple order of a cheese burger for myself and wings with fries for my date..he never asked how I want the burger done or what flavor wings we wanted. I quickly went to the bar and asked to please be sure the burger is well done and if my burger came with a side, he said no, so I ordered a fry. By time I walked back to the table, another gentleman brought over , just an order of fries!!?? So, confused and hungry , me and my date proceeded to eat the fries, like an appetizer, smh. Finally, 15 mins later the food arrived... I was so happy, until I cut through the burger and it was at most, Med-rare, still red inside, Yuk! He did apologize and said he will have them make me another one. He asked me to remind him what I had on the burger, I said American cheeses, bacon, ket, mus. and mayo.. he asked and the lettuce...and then asked me, like American cheeder cheese?? huh?? About 10 more mins went by and the bartender proceeded to bring me an order of spring rolls, I asked, what is that? he said these are spring rolls, didn’t u order this, I said No, Im waiting on a replacement burger! He said but this is the correct table, are u sure? I said yes and he went to another table to take them the food. Another gentleman tried to bring us sushi , which also wasn’t ours! Finally, 10 more mins later, he brought the new burger, which by the way, came with only cheeder cheese and bacon on it... not any of the other things requested! Then he asked us if we needed anything else and my date asked for a refill on his sweet tea... a few mins later he hands another guy a beer to bring to our table, we had to tell him, we asked for a refill on sweet tea, not a beer.. We think the bartender was High as a kite! To add to this.. we just watched as people in regular clothes just kept going in and out of the kitchen.. we had no idea if they were waiters or just people off the streets!!! It was the craziest and worst experience we have ever had! We’re not sure if it was the time and day we came or if this is the norm for this place but it was a horrible ending to such a beautiful day at...

Edit: I see Park Tavern has replied in a fairly passive aggressive tone indicating that this is basically my fault for not reading signs or tiny print on Open Table. First of all, if this person (I’m assuming a man because of the tone) goes on Open Table, they will see that there is in fact the ability to book outside seating as well as indoor seating. So the implication that that I am lying about the reservation is interesting. The system literally has reservations available for indoor and outdoor seating. Second of all, the name “Tavern” in and of itself lends to a more elevated experience than the equivalent of a concession stand at a baseball game. This place is literally a self-serve set-up in a beautiful-ish building. So, if you’re coming here for the first time with a reservation on Open Table, you aren’t expecting self service and cardboard “PICK UP HERE” signs. Yes, Open Table does have some fine print explaining this, but I never saw it and it didn’t even occur to me that this place would be so chaotic. If others are confused about it as well, perhaps the restaurant could do a better job of explaining it? It’s a very disconnected experience from what you’d expect from a “tavern.” The snarky response from the manager on the reviews falls exactly in line with the dining experience. Low budget. Skip this place - it has so much potential but weirdly runs like a food court at the mall.

Made an Open Table reservation for outside/tent seating and the entire area was closed for a private event. We wandered around trying to figure out where to go because the ice skating rink took up most of the space. There were some open tables by a closed bar. There were no employees to offer any information, so all of the customers at the tables were asking each other how to get food and drinks. We were somehow supposed to magically know to get up and order food at the bar next to the skating rink. There was also a QR code on a coaster that takes you to the menu and you can place your ordere online while sitting inside the restaurant. The food is prepared in the room where we were sitting and you have to pick it up at the counter. I ordered online and added a tip because I thought the food was going to be brought to me. Nope! Who did I even tip? I did all the work!

I think this place forgot that tourists come to their restaurant and have absolutely no idea that this is essentially a super casual self-serve establishment. Maybe assign one employee the task of helping customers navigate the weird layout and ordering process? And also don’t accept reservations for areas that are closed. Just such a weird experience all...