Black Cat Tavern — Restaurant in Barnstable

Place is pretty good, but not exceptional by any means. This was my second time dining here. Reserved a table for 5:30 which wasn’t ready until 6. We were offered to be seated inside but we requested outside and decided against changing anything. They tried to move the table in front of us along as they had warned them of the time they had when they were seated but they weren’t able to move them along. We would’ve preferred if they were asked to be moved inside since there was a table available and we had reserved the one they overstayed their welcome at, but I’m no restauranteur and don’t know if that could be done.

Menu is extensive, which is usually not a good thing. Means the staff is alright at everything rather than solid with the items they stick to. Plus it takes longer to decide as a patron. Once seated and decided on our orders, we got all our orders in, drinks, everything. Service was pretty good, but maybe a little behind due to the cramped setup they have inside which means there’s a bottleneck between the bar, kitchen, and service doors leading outside. Had to try to walk through myself at one point to use the restroom and had to wait for a parade of staff and patrons to pass through first going each way. The bathroom was also flooded due to some problems with the urinal.

Food started coming, and one of my party realized that there was bacon in the clam chowder, which isn’t standard in the dish (although it is a common addition), nor was it listed on the menu, and which this member of our party doesn’t consume. We managed by sharing some of each of our meals with the individual. The food was pretty good otherwise. I had the crusted day cod, which had a little too much cream and a thin crust that I could see but not taste nor feel the texture of due to the cream which was a little underwhelming, but the cod and crab themselves tasted good.

However, the lack of clarity on the clam chowder’s bacon is concerning, especially considering that many religions do not allow for the consumption of pork. I don’t think most sane individuals would pursue a legal case for such an issue (although they could), but it does show a lack of care by the establishment for certain patrons. I strongly urge management to replace their printed menus and adjust their online menus to reflect the pork in the chowder for the benefit of future patrons.

Overall was fine. Not sure if my second time was good enough to warrant a third, but I can say it was good enough for a second experience, so take that...

Food and atmosphere were great, but the service was not. My friends and I went out to dinner to celebrate our friend's birthday. Our waitress, an unpleasant blonde woman, rushed our table while eating, meanwhile telling other tables to take their time. For example, she took my friend's fries basket from her hands while she was eating. Additionally, she kept circling the table while my friend was trying to finish her meal and kept asking, "Still eating?" in a rushed tone and side-eyed our table continuously. Our wait for food was longer than expected, but understandable given how busy the restaurant was. Also because of how dismissive she was she spilled water onto our table, phones, and cameras without acknowledging it. We also asked the hostess if the restaurant offered a free dessert for birthdays and we chose one for them to bring one out, but once we had our meals taken from us, our check was immediately ready. However, what we found to be incredibly rude was that when we asked to get separate checks, she said she could not do it and we offered to list how much to charge each card, she sighed, said we could, and then shook her head as she walked away. After we listed out all of the amounts where we included tax and tip, she returned to our table and said, "How do you know the tax is correct in this? Are you sure?" in an annoyed tone. We did include these factors and found that the way this comment was worded was unnecessary. After we found out we did not need to include tip during this initial charge, she sighed and proceeded to begrudgingly make us to list the name on the card and the items on the meal that the card would charge for. While we understand this was an additional effort for her, if a restaurant does not offer creating separate checks, going through this process would be something the waitresses must do. She did not offer this when we initially asked and made us feel as though we were largely inconveniencing her time. I also found that my bill was several dollars more than it should have been, even factoring in tax and tip. Overall, we felt as though she was not treating us with the same respect and time as the other customers. We enjoyed the food, but because of the service we did not have the most...

Retrain management & hosts on ADA laws instead of blaming the local Board of Health on what you can/can’t ask. Also, it helps if management isn’t caught in lies when the hostess SPECIFICALLY said that she needed to know what to do and where to seat us. When mentioning to the manager about how the staff needs retraining, she tried to backtrack and blame BOH on what they’re permitted to ask. Sorry, but the LAMINATED document you handed was verbatim from the ADA website & didn’t state anything that remotely came from your mouth (ie. vests are not required). 2 questions, that’s it. Neither were asked. We were told a 30 min wait for the outside when I said we can sit inside, that’s when the hostess didn’t know what to do and kept paging others. The manager also was rude and walked away while I was speaking - WOW. She couldn’t handle it when I stated the laminated document said nothing relative to what she told us her staff was trained to look for as an identifier for an SD - because they should be trained on what behaviors to look for if in doubt. Our server Kevin, was fabulous, the food as well (scallops wrapped in bacon, buffalo cauliflower, steak & lobster, swordfish and the parm risotto). The second beverage tasted nothing like the first -where’s your consistency? Is it lost with the misinformation that you tried quoting? From the looks of reviews, they do have a problem with throughout the restaurant in general. Maybe y’all need to have better team meetings and hire a liaison to educate everyone on ADA laws, oh wait, I explained that’s what I do 🫢😬, but it looks like they need to have a refresher in other...