Gene McCarthy's Old First Ward Brewing Company — Restaurant in Buffalo

I don't want to leave this review. But I feel that I need to. I sent an email to the address on the website the night after the mean, but I've yet to hear back.

We went on a Friday night. It was busy as is expected. It took 5 minutes of waiting at the bar for one of the bartenders to acknowledge us. Ordered Czech Pils. It was..ok at best. Really way too malty for my tastes. We wanted to sit outside, and there was a wait, which is fine. Totally understandable. The hostess was running her ass off and doing everything she could, it seemed like everyone was. Don't know if they were shorted handed or not, but it was a very hectic environment.

We were finally seats and the hostess was very apologetic about the wait. Told her it wasn't her fault, not to worry. We sat for 30 minutes. No one came to talk to us. People outside were waiting for food. And nothing was coming out. We talked to other people and they also had no luck getting service. We tried going up to the window outside to get more beer, nothing. No service. So here we are, sitting with menus, no drinks, waiting.

Finally a server comes by. She says sorry that we were waiting and that she was unaware she had a new table. And that the hostess usually tells her. Bullshit. We saw her walking around outside to other tables. And throwing the hostess under the bus? Classless.

She took our orders and eventually brought us new beers. The session IPA, I'm sorry, no flavor. Wanted something else but didn't see our server for a long time again.

Finally got our food a long while later. Maybe about 45 minutes. My pulled pork was ok. But anything would have been ok then because I was so hungry. We all finished eating before our server showed up again to ask how everything was. She was on top of getting our payment though. She also opened the book where my signed credit card slip was as she was walking away. Someone so concerned with getting a good tip should be a better server. I know that sounds mean, but she wasn't friendly in the slightest.

Awful experience. I won't...

This place was recommended by many people in the Buffalo foodie group for the best fish fry. Although the french fries are fresh cut, I am certain that the ones I was served were reheated, I could tell by the texture that they didn't recently come out of the fryer. None of the sides were anything to write home about. The coleslaw had a slight citrus flavor to it and an herb on top that I couldn't quite decipher which gave it a distinct flavor. The potato and macaroni salad were both mediocre. The fish itself is skinless haddock, it was good quality and cooked perfectly. The batter on the fish was not dense at all, it was more light and airy, had a nice crunch on the top half of the fish but the entire bottom side of the fish was soggy. When I picked the piece of fish up vertically, liquid dripped out the end of it onto the plate, I'm not sure if it was oil or water. The tartar sauce was good but with a pronounced vinegar flavor. The flavor of the batter on the fish was rather bland. Would not recommend this place for a fish fry although I have very high standards for fish frys. Emergency Pizza used to have the best fish fry around, but it has become hit or miss unfortunately, so my hunt for a consistently delicious fish fry...

Saddened by my experience today. I’ve been here multiple times and always had a good time. Today I arrived around 4:30, the sign inside says that a host or bartender will seat you. Waited about 10 minutes with absolutely no acknowledgement from anyone. Finally a CUSTOMER said it was seat yourself.. okay? Why couldn’t the bar tender let us know that then. So we told the bar tender we’d like to sit outside and she said that was okay. Found a table outside and sat there for 25 minutes, waitress in and out of the patio with zero acknowledgement of us.. She cleaned up the dirty dishes on our table but didn’t bring us menus or even look at us. Just really disappointing to be ignored like that. Unfortunately that was such a bad experience I don’t think I will be returning. I read a few other reviews that have similar sentiments. I’ve worked in food service for a long time and it is not that hard to just have human decency and say hello to your customers. It wasn’t even that busy. 😞

Edited to add: We went to Adolf’s down the street and had a way better experience. Friendly staff and...