Over the Charles Rooftop Bar — Restaurant in Boston

I am writing truly hoping that my experience was a fluke and I do believe they are capable and have been offering a good service generally but my experience yesterday was not it. Let me preface this by saying that it has nothing to do with the rain/storm that happened. Everything that happened after it started raining was reasonable giving the situation. We went to the rooftop to vela my mom’s birthday. I called to make a reservation then called again as soon as they opened to inform them about the birthday and ask if they could just help us sing her happy birthday. They offered to write happy birthday on a plate and sing with us which I thanked them for. As we arrived (7:32) the table was not ready yet which I didn’t and still don’t mind, it happens, but after that we started to have constant problems. First thing was that one of us ordered a soda/sparkling water and when it arrived it was just hot plain water. We called the waiter back and informed her of the issue and she exchanged the drink…for another warm regular water. We gave up on that. Secondly I ordered my drink which was the passion bourbon smash. As the name suggests I had passion fruit pure, bourbon, mint and citrus. After waiting a little too long the drink arrived and when I tell you that was a glass of straight up bourbon with the thought of passion fruit that would be an euphemism. It was unbelievable strong and granted, had I ordered a glass or bourbon straight up I’d be delighted but that wasn’t the case. I consider myself a pretty okay drinker, never had a problem with strong drinks but damn. And it wasn’t just me, had everyone else try it to see if I was the problem but no, no one could even sip it. Once again, after waiting a hit minute to even see her again, we called the waiter and asked if she could exchange that for a different drink (the same as someone’s drink) and that was the last time we saw her (the drink never arrived). We had ordered our foods when the drinks arrived and after god knows how long they arrive. And they were all cold. I ordered a burger and the patty arrived extremely cold. We ordered a crab cake sandwich that was also extremely cold, the soup was cold too. Like, you could tell that they had been sitting out for a hot minute before someone was able to pick them up. Everything else was bearable because the were cold plates. And again, all of these interactions happened after long waits without being able to even see our waiter. Not saying that it is all her fault, god no, but there was a clear problem with either organization, time management or understaffing, if not all of the above. After we were done eating it started raining so we had to run inside and that was the end of our “stay”. At this point I had long forgotten about the happy birthday so that’s that. Again besides everything the view is amazing and I quite liked the atmosphere. Again, do believe this was a fluke but was just so...

My husband and brother hosted my surprise 30th birthday party for me at this location and we faced a number of issues despite paying over a $100 per person for 15 guests: The staff set up a long table for us with not enough seats. The table wasn’t in a corner location where logically a large group could be by themselves, but instead we were stuck next to 2-3 smaller tables and constantly asked to stay seated, which is perfectly fine but there weren’t enough seats. The venue told us they would have made arrangements had they known our party size increased from 12 to 15, but my husband texted the manager far in advance to share this information and ensure there was enough notice for the restaurant to prepare. Of course with not enough seats, we could not all sit. The manager kept rushing us out of there. Our large party of 15 was ordering drinks and apps and would have loved to order entrees but the manager was extremely rude and told us we needed to leave by 8:15pm because he had other reservations. Why did it not occur to him to let us know in advance that the reservation had a deadline? If we had known, we would have planned to be out of there or not go there at all. For a 30th birthday where we paid for all our guests, I would have liked for everyone to have a good time and not move around from one restaurant to another. Overall, the service was poor and the manager was rude. I would never return to this place for this reason. We have left a review in the past and been told we would be contacted but of course no one reached out. Great to see how large parties and customers are treated!

Don’t believe a word the owner’s response to these reviews says. He is making up stories to make honest reviews sound customers are...

DO NOT PLAN SPECIAL OCCASIONS HERE. My partner planned our anniversary, she was planning to propose to me here and I was unaware at that time. She had emailed and explained in advance her plans a month in advance to managment, she wanted a nice evening with a good view. We dressed up and booked a hotel room to enjoy our night. We had a reservation for 7pm, once we got there it felt off, we had to wait 10 minutes for our table and the staff was dressed in street clothes, I saw one servers underwear. There was no decor (pillows for seats, plants, candles) or music playing to create an atmosphere just worn down tables and chairs and 1 string light that was half working. There was even one customer openly vaping and blowing large vape clouds. They gave us a middle table so the view was more compromised by other customers. Finally, the menu SHRUNK in size, my partner chose this places for all the vegetarian options boasted about online. There was 1 impossible burger offered and 1 side salad. We got up and left within 5 minutes of being seated. She was so upset she cried in disappointment. We found another nearby restaurant that went above and beyond for her last minute and had a lovely proposal. This place is probably fine if you just want a bite to eat with a view, but beware this place is not what it looks...