Side Hustle Local — Restaurant in Bothell

Warning: Owner is apparently nitpicky, and retalitory with reviews with less than 3 stars. The owner apparently harrases people that have issues. No matter how small the issue. Example: instead of trying to help with a restricted diet problem; Instead talks down to me; being in DENIAL of fixable issues, and unwilling to help me improve my review with any helpful suggestions i may have missed on the menu. . . Could prove me wrong by listing even a single thing on the menu... that is free from: (wheat, barley, coconut, & pork) instead owner tries to make person that made review feel bad, by throwing shade. Not comin back. EVER.

Review: i'm gluten free, with multiple allergies, free from gluten, coconut, & pork. lots of issues... i couldn't find a single thing i could order on the menu, even after asking a server, i was only told "we buy the fries from cash and carry", so i left the party early... unsure if the fries were gluten free or not. Or anything else, for that matter. I suggest dont bring people with food sensitivities here... they might not be able to get anything, or will be confused at if they should try. i did previously say something nice here, but i changed it to this because the reply of the owner was rude, picky, and unhelpful for my problem with their restraunt. :Review end.

Side note: 1.owner seems to think its ok to nitpick reviews that are unfavorable, instead of actually trying to UNDERSTAND what the problems are for each person and WHY they may have had that problem/opinion.

[Also to THE OWNER: i claimed nothing. I DID NOT write the review on the SAME DAY I CAME IN. NOT ALL PEOPLE WRITE A REVIEWS ON THE SAME DAY THEY VISITED. YOU WERE SO RUDE... You only had to SUGGEST SOMETHING FROM THE MENU. I will be sure to tell other locals how customers are treated here... 😢 I HAVE DIET RESTRICTIONS, WHY YOU GOTTA GIVE ME A HARD TIME FOR IT? LIKE IT'S NOT HARD ENOUGH FOR ME TO FIND SOMETHING TO EAT?😢 Ps. Menu is hard to read/find what you want.] GOOD LUCK SCARING AWAY LOCALS LIKE YOU DID ME, & MY FRIENDS.

2.Dont give a hard time to people online because your servers don't know what they are serving. (Please educate your servers; if i ask if your fries have wheat or flour on them and they tell me you buy it from cash and carry... that doesn't tell me anything..., and then wont check, it makes me assume; it's the same ones that my work gets,... thunder cruch with wheat starch breading/batter.)

The reviews on yelp have a LOT more 1 and 2 star reviews for this place than google does. All seems to stem from bad service, and...

No one was at the door, but they seemed confused and annoyed that we were wondering around trying to figure out if it was self seating (they did add a cardboard sign). The staff is new and learning their way around, so I can't fault them there. They were not well trained and didn't know the beer yet.

2/6 on beer. The Scotch ale tasted like they added juice, others beside the Stout and the Dark Lager were lacking flavor. It was almost like drinking a SMASH where they spun a wheel to pick hop and malt combos.

The Shepard's pie was a soupy mess. With a dense dry bread, which 100% was not focaccia, to sop it up. The potatoes disintegrated the second they touched the other ingredients, it was that soupy and they were closer to Idahoan.

The flat bread (again not focaccia as claimed but a thick closed texture), was decent but about 2/3 the quantity, a couple dollars more expensive than other places around that serve similar things downtown.

We were excited to try the place, but at their price points (about $95 for a couple), and this being an additional location for an existing place, I really can't justify giving them the benefit of the doubt that I would give another place struggling to find their feet. Even their website explains how their mission is to bring food a beer of a better quality than we can get already. Luckily for us their claim doesn't hold up and this isn't the best available.

Edit: Ratings revised to take into account the response from the owner of this chain. The wait staff at the time had 4 stars and I explained that it was from lack of training. Poor food quality, mislabeled products, and condescending marketing are not first day issues. The issues I did mention are quality control or conscious choices made by the owner whose snarky response is a great way for the rest of you to understand...

On several occasions James the owner has touted the Sunday roast to me upon hearing my English accent. A taste of home complete with Yorkshire pudding which apparently his wife who is from Lancashire I believe has taught the staff to make. I was looking forward to trying it and finally had the opportunity today with my husband and daughter. What a letdown. The Yorkshire pudding was very pale and floppy the rim was browned but had no crispness the whole thing was sad and soft. The potatoes 4 small bite size pieces although brown on the outside were raw in the middle. Cooks all over England fret over these two components more than the meat if the roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds aren’t right the whole meal fails. My husband pointed out that the potatoes were raw in the middle when the server came to check on us and he very kindly said he would get us replacements. A few minutes later he came back with 4 small potatoes hotter than the ones we had but still raw in the middle. There didn’t seem any point in trying again. I will say the meat was cooked perfectly, we had beef I can’t vouch for the pork. The peas and carrots were fine too with the carrots having a bit of bite to them and the gravy was tasty. Our server gave us a discount but the bill with tip still came to $119. I’ve seen some other people review the roast and praise it. I can only assume we came on an off day or the kitchen staff need a refresher on how to cook potatoes and Yorkshires properly. I won’t be taking a chance on it again. I’ll stick to the coronation chicken salad, which...