The Whelan — Restaurant in Atlanta

Very poor and classless customer experience tonight! Very unfortunate for one of our local establishments.

My husband and I frequent this establishment often to play pool and perhaps grab a late bite to eat. Food is decent and service is fair.

I was HIGHLY upset we ended up leaving due to the fact there were two small toddler age children playing around the pool table area and one playing with a pool stick. Swinging it around and disrupting everyone in the pool space to where you just had to stop playing and avoid being struck with the pool stick.

Me and my husband stood off to the side as patrons asked the adult with the children (allegedly their mom and was told is owner’s wife) to please not let the children play in the area for safety reasons and so they could continue playing. She went on to tell the patrons they are the owner’s children.

And, she continued to let the children touch the tables and swing the stick while people were playing. My husband and I never got a chance to start our game because the one kid came over towards our table with the stick. So, to avoid any issues and being injured by the child swinging the stick, we stayed out of the way.

When I went to inform an employee, they stated it was the owner’s wife and there was nothing they could do. One employee said “I totally agree it’s not safe” but the “you know how it is.”

Two of the patrons even went outside to speak with someone who appeared to be connected to the restaurant to explain what happened.

We ended up canceling our game and left. I was upset that we had to leave due to the fact that no one was concerned about the safety of the paying patrons and certainly the children. Playing around a pool table is never safe for any toddler or adult for that matter.

Overall, the customer service here has slipped significantly since we first visited this restaurant. Glad we got to experience fun times here, but unfortunately will not be returning anytime soon.

Do better Whelan owners. Look out for your customers. They are the reason why you still exist. Wishing you all the best!

To sign off on a positive note, if you happen to visit, do try their “pudding” dessert. It’s good. Beware of swinging...

The karaoke host is cordial but seems like he doesn’t want to be there - multiple times that we have visited unfortunately we have found this vibe. And regulars are allowed to sing way more frequently than non-regulars - despite being tipped $30.

Additionally, the bar informed us about 12:15 when we tried to place an order (with no posted kitchen hours in sight) that they were no longer serving food so we ordered pizza to be delivered. When we sat down with it at our booth, one of the bartenders (who couldn’t be bothered to serve us quickly when we tried to get drinks an hour before, but went out of her way, elbowing customers out of the way to get to my friend) informed us we could NOT have outside food inside the bar. We took it to the patio but… How does that make sense? I understand if you’re still serving food you don’t want the competition and we would have love to give them our business because we were starving. But if you want people to black out and become a liability because they haven’t eaten for hours, that’s a good practice to uphold. Would recommend letting patrons stay inside where they might continue to order drinks while eating food that they can no longer purchase from your bar.

Our friends love this place so we will be back but hope Whelan can find some consistency and sensibility in their food service and outside...

Made a big mistake trying The Whelan! Entered, no greeting, sat ourselves. Place was pretty empty, no one was eating, just a few customers at bar. Waiter took order. We ordered three burgers, well done, simple. Waiter brought drinks, we asked for straws, never came back, had to get straws ourselves. Waitress brought food. No apology for the long wait. Food took 32 minutes. Waiter never checked on us the entire wait. No utensils, had to ask twice. Two burgers well done, one completely under cooked and pink all the way through. Returned it, showed the pink, and said it was inedible and unsafe for consumption. Had to watch family eat and wait. Got a new burger to go. Told waiter service sucked since he seemed to have no clue. He said he didn't hear us order the burgers well done and left. Waitress brought burger to go. Staff argued when we informed them of all the issues with service and seemed to blame us for waiter not hearing well done. The service was awful. It's a bar, not restaurant. Best advice is don't waste your time and money if you're looking for a nice place to eat. Definitely not going back and happy to give my money to a more customer friendly...