B-Town Kitchen And Raw Bar — Restaurant in Bellingham

The bar staff were very rude. ... (Later) Reply to director's response: Thank you. I sent snail mail after the incident, addressed to the owner and manager. After 2 mos, no response. An apology would have been sufficient, and would have deterred me from posting online. This was my letter:

My book club met at B-Town yesterday. I was pleased by the initial atmosphere and the food I saw other people eating looked good, so I was planning on telling my husband and coming back sometime.

As it was, I couldn’t stay the whole evening. I was there about two hours. I ordered a beer, and the waitress never came back so at the time I had to leave, my bill was pretty light.

I went inside to pay for my drink. Three employees were behind the bar, including my waitress. There was only one table of customers inside, and three tables of customers outside. The staff behind the bar were cleaning things. I told them I wanted to pay for my beer, and the waitress knew what it was (which impressed me) and I gave her my credit card.

I tipped over 20% even though I hadn’t been asked if I wanted anything else, and while I was signing the slip, one of the women behind the bar said in a snarky voice, “So they’re all paying separate tabs?” Then she said, “That sucks.” I actually didn’t immediately realize she was talking about me. That would have been too rude.

After I signed (and tipped) I waved to the waitress and said, “Thanks!” but she ignored me. So, I tried again, tried waving at all of them, and said, “Thanks” even louder. They all ignored me, and wouldn’t look at me, and that was when I realized that the snarky comments were about me (I was inconveniencing them by paying separately.)

I was bothered by this because it was rude the way the woman was openly trying to shame me … for PAYING my bill. Even though it was a small tab, I wished I hadn’t left a tip. A tip is supposed to be for good service, not for being treated rudely. While it wasn’t the waitress who made the rude comments, she went along with the rude woman, and helped to make me regret the experience. Prior to that, though, my waitress had been pleasant, albeit inattentive.

We all think snarky thoughts sometimes, but it stinks that someone in the hospitality sector would have these kinds of thoughts. People in hospitality should be hospitable, and, especially if they want a tip, they should be wanting to make the customer happy. While this isn’t always possible, I don’t think that separating the check is that big of an inconvenience when the place isn’t even busy. Is this what hospitality has come to now?

It would have been easier for me to post my complaint all over the internet, leaving 1 star reviews, but I didn’t want to do that to you. I wanted to give you a chance to talk to your staff and encourage healthier attitudes toward customers, and, if the bartender or whoever is having a bad day and some (unwarranted) snarky thoughts enter her mind about a customer, ask her to keep them to herself … at least until the customer is out of earshot, instead of doing the worst thing possible by trying to shame an innocent patron in front of others.

I wish you and your restaurant...

POC, you might want to choose a different restaurant. When I called the person who answered the phone was so lovely that I decided to go to this restaurant based on her kindness. She stated that she could not accept any more reservations but always saves a few tables for walk-ins. I called again when I was 20 minutes away and was told there was availability at that time. When I arrived, I was told there was someone in front of me (a single white man) and someone else who had called (I told her it was me). Then, I was told I’d have to wait for 20-30 minutes. We are a family of five with three children. She then sat the single white man in an area for eight or more even though he told her it would be just him dining. After 45 minutes, a few staff walked by and reported that a table was 5 minutes late for their reservation. When the hostess called the number, a phone in the dining area rang, and she went in to talk with them after they reported they were already seated in the dining area. Seventy (70) minutes later, they decided to place us at a two-top in the farthest back corner of the restaurant and my three children at the waitstaff serving bar (next to it) with a table cloth on top of it. After about 15 minutes, the rain began to come in on my children, and we were allowed to switch to a table that had just left. I can’t say this was due to us not being white, but we were the only white people in there; the white man sat for two hours drinking a beer at the area meant for eight while we received the experience described above. We won’t return. I feel very sad and wonder when people of color will stop having these types...

This place needs some serious help (consider this 0 stars). We walked in and waited around for a few and then started to seat ourselves. A host/server came over, took us back to the front and then guided us back to the exact table we had begun to sit down at. We then waited far too long to be greeted. The food and drinks actually came out pretty quickly and were ok. However, I was then held hostage for 15 plus minutes while I waited to receive our bill after no checkbacks during our stay. I only know this because I actually used my phone to time this after I had noticed we were once again waiting too long. I finally had to ask another server if she could get our server and/or the bill. We FINALLY got the bill and I immediately gave the server my card. We then waited another 24 minutes and had to once again ask another server what was going on. I feel like our server may as well have been in the witness protection program during our visit, cause we never saw her. I literally thought of just leaving my card there to cover the bill and then calling my bank to request a new card the next day instead of waiting around. As a former restaurant manager I know various service levels when I see them, and how to fix problems when they arise. This was literally the worst and all I know to say...