High Bar Clayton — Restaurant in Clayton

Yik es. Went to High Bar and was expecting a lovely experience, was SUPER disappointed. I had messaged the venue beforehand inquiring about mocktails because I am pregnant and can’t drink alcohol, and was told “yes we have mocktails! Just ask your server!” When we arrived, with a reservation for 7 people, we were shown to a 4 seater high top table that definitely did not have space for extra chairs. We asked the hostess who walked us to said table if we could have one of the (many) empty tables and she said she’d be right back. She never came back, and another waitress came over so we asked again, and after giving off some weird vibes she gave us a booth, with a table that was awkwardly tall for the seats (like, above chest level) and walked away without another word. There was an 6-7 seat table that was completely empty that we asked if we could sit at and we were told it was reserved….. we were pretty sure that it was actually our reservation but no one bothered to check. And through out our entire 2 hours there, NO ONE was seated at that particular table even though the rest of the place filled up, which pretty much solidified our suspicion that it was indeed our reservation, though we have no way to prove it since they refused to seat us there. After a few minutes she came back with waters, didn’t take orders for drinks. She was very off and seemed out of it and wasn’t making eye contact. She finally came back to take drink orders and almost walked away before everyone had a chance to order…when I asked her about non-alcoholic options and mentioned that on Instagram I’d been told to ask the server about mocktails menu, she said “well I don’t know who told you that, we don’t have a mocktail menu…” and she stared at me until I said “okay, um what are your non-alcoholic options?” Which she then begrudgingly listed, so I ordered. The drinks then took over 15 minutes to come to us, even though we watched the bartender make them within about 5 mins….they sat at the bar, getting watered down, until our waitress decided to bother checking for them so all of our drinks were watered down. After we finally received our drinks, she asked if anyone wanted to order food, and a few of us said yes and then she took one persons order then just up and spun around and walked away while the second person was trying to order, and didn’t come back for 10 or so mins. She then proceeded to barely check on us, when we were finally able to order more drinks (which we were honestly hesitant about even doing), she again let them sit on the bar after being made, which we again watched happen. When I inquired about the status of the drinks, she said “they’re still working on them” without offering to check on them, or apologize for the wait, etc. Two of us ordered food with steak, and we were not given steak knives, just butter knives…when I asked our waitress for a steak knife she said sure, then brought one out and handed it to me, unwrapped, BLADE OUT!!! The steak knife in question was also definitely still a butter knife, just pointier, but no sharper or more serrated. When our final food order was delivered, we asked the (different) server to get the manager for us. We politely requested that the automatic 20% gratuity for groups of 6+ be removed from our bill, as we had a very poor experience. The manager then expressed concern and apologized, promising to remove the gratuity tax as well as telling us she would give us a discount. She did remove the 20% gratuity, but did NOT give us a discount. Overall this was an incredibly disappointing experience and I would not reccomend anyone visit this...

My friend and I visited the venue last Friday because it's a rooftop bar and I enjoy looking at the pretty city from above. Plus, a coworker has mentioned the venue a couple of times in the last two months to me. It was a pretty night in Clayton and we were just enjoyed our meals and drinks at 801 fish and sushi at the Ritz, so we decided to scrolled through Clayton. The ambient at HB rooftop was pleasant and not too crowded. I order an apple n a lemon drop martini. A male bartender took the order. He made the martini lemon drop n he got the female bartender to make the appletini. We are excited n happy because we finally get to check out HB. Here come our drinks n oh mine it was HORRIFIC. My friend said her lemon drop taste like cleaning product "just nasty". My appletini "DISAPPOINTED" which I can't even describe it. I just know that there is NO vodka, apple liquer/schnapps..etc... n there was no garnish either. We tried to drink the drinks, but after the first taste, I took the drinks back for a 2nd chance. This time, I ask a different male bartender to make the drinks. I asked for the same drinks. He told me they don't have the ingredients to make the Appletini. WHAT? REALLY?? Wow!!! I was served an appletini (n it's NOT even an appletini) was charged $33.48 + $4 tip. The guy remake the lemon drop and I ordered an expresso martini instead. Oh, boy... both drinks looks GOOD n I was excited to sit back, relax n enjoy the view after a long couple of weeks. Smh... WE CAN'T even DRINK the drinks. Truthfully, my expresso martini taste like plain dirt water. The people next to us told us to order beer or wine the next time just to be safe 🤣😂😅. I decided to take the drinks back n ask for a refund. Yes, a REFUND. I paid $37.48 for drinks that I can't even drink. The bartender didn't know what to do so he went to talk to his manager and a few minutes later she came over and I explained to her the whole matter. 1. If you don't have the ingredients for the appletini then why didn't tye bartender tell me that instead of making a ""fake" one n think that I don't know what an appletini taste like. 2. I gave you all a 2nd chance to make it right n still. 3. You all need REAL bartenders up in the place. We left after the refund. I wasnt rude or belligerent when i asked for the refund. In addition, I met three gentlemen there that night whom told me the cocktails they ordered sucked anyway, but refused to send them back. The gentlemen leave the venue and met up with me at Cafe Napoli for real drinks.

On Friday, I took 2 of my other friends to HB ro show them the rooftop since we just had dinner at Cafe Napoli in Clayton and our bill was $494.85. After five minutes of my arrival, I was approached by a police officer working his secondary job, "the manager do not want you here. Your friends can stay. " Lol..WHAT the .. we all said. The officer escorted us 3 to the elevator. How CRAZY that they remember me from a week ago. I must be very distinctive from the crowd. When we were in the elavator going back down to the lobby, a couple also says HB do not even have the drink that his girlfriend wants either.

I am now BANNED from HB because I ask for a refund for my untasteful/nasty drinks? Seriously, you all need REAL bartenders up in there. The only thing that HB have going for them...

UPDATE It took 5 days from my initial IG post to get a response from the GM. Unfortunately, his response was not an accurate representation of that evening.

Security was called prior to any remedies to the situation (which was created by the bartender) WE requested to speak with the manager to better understand why we were getting put out when we were the ones being ignored. With that said, there was no effort to remedy the situation, which was simply the bartender ignoring us, not a lapse in service. It was a refusal to serve us.

I also want to address the accusation of my group being loud and disruptive. Both of these statements are extremely false and are micro-aggressions. This venue plays loud music and unless you are sitting directly next to someone, there is no way to hear. You have to raise your voice just to order a drink. Furthermore, the bar was relatively empty at this time, so there was no one to be disruptive to. To imply we were behaving in a way that warranted our removal was not only false but feels very charged, particularly when neither is true.

Lastly, I find it very disappointing that every other negative review is met with an opportunity to contact the GM directly to discuss the issue further. Instead, I have been ignored, blocked and events of that evening have been fabricated to discredit our experience. Had this issue was acknowledged on day one, like every other review, then we would not be here. Instead, High Bar has disabled their comments, which is extremely telling of what really happened that evening.

ORIGINAL REVIEW A few friends and I had an extremely disappointing experience on a Friday night (6/20). We arrived about an hour before closing, well within the 30-minute window before last call. When we sat at some empty seats at the bar, the bartender (a woman with burgundy red hair) completely ignored us.

It seemed like she was upset that we took those seats. She told us they were taken, but there was no one there, no personal belongings, and no sign indicating they were reserved. About 30 minutes later, a group returned, but only to pay their tab. They didn’t sit back down nor did they intend to stay. They were actually surprised at her attempt to save the seats in the first place.

After that, the bartender instructed the other bartender, who had been serving us, to stop. Then, without explanation, security came over and asked us to leave. We were never given a reason, but we can only assume it had something to do with sitting at those bar seats.

I have always had a great experience at High Bar and wanted to share that experience with a friend visiting from Chicago. Unfortunately, this put a stain on the entire evening. As long as that bar tender is working there, High Bar will not see another penny from me.

I also failed to mention, I posted a comment on their IG to let them know the review was forthcoming. Not only did they turn off the comments but they eventually removed the post all together. The post was a photo of the bartender in question. My stories regarding the incident have been viewed as well, with no...