Makers Social — Restaurant in Columbus

I'm so bummed about our experience at Makers because I was SO looking forward to it.

I went with two friends of mine, booked a reservation for 2:45. None of us had been there before so we were all pumped. Checked in and the staff member let us know they were waiting on some groups to leave- fine, totally get it. We finally got seated around 3:20. By the time we placed our food and drink order, ordered our crafts and received everything, it was pushing 4:00.

One of my friends and I picked projects that involved paint and were slated to take 90-minutes or so. Staff was super friendly, easygoing, and the vibe was very relaxed.

Everything was going great until 4:45. I had just ordered another drink a few minutes before when another staff member came around to let us know there was a private party coming in at 5, so everyone had to be done by then. Um, excuse me? How come there was no mention of this at any point in our many interactions with the staff? Knowing this, I would have selected a different project and certainly would not have ordered a second drink (which arrived promptly at 4:50, leaving me to chug my margarita- it's a good thing I didn't need to drive home immediately after!).

We were then rushed into getting as far as we could on our projects and then given "to-go" bags of some of the supplies we would need to finish our projects, which is a good idea in theory, except the paint was placed in those tiny little plastic to-go cups restaurants use for ketchup- great for ketchup, not so much for paint (the two containers of paint spilled all over the bag almost immediately after we left and mixed together, rendering them unusable). As staff helped pack our to-go bags, we were constantly reassured that we could also "come back anytime to finish". Two members of my group (myself included) live 45-minutes away- when were we ever going to have an opportunity to do that?!

When we paid, the staff member stood right there the entire time while staring at us, and it was a different staff member from anyone we'd really worked with so far, so I felt guilted into tipping, despite the poor experience. A staff member stopped by to apologize, gave us her business card and told us to email her if we wanted gift certificates (note: if you work in service and mess up, don't make the customer do extra work in order to get your olive branch gift- just give it to them right there! It's not hard!).

All in all, I spent over $100 for 2 drinks, 1/3 of an appetizer (split among my friends), and a project I was only given partial time to complete before being rushed out the door with an offer for gift certificates that in order to get, I would have to reach out to THEM. It was a pretty piss-poor experience overall and extremely disappointing, especially considering how easy it would have been to remedy- for example, if we had been told about the timing when we arrived, or while we were selecting our projects... I'd like to assume that this was just a fluke, considering the number of good reviews for this place but unfortunately, living so far away combined with our experience and the price of everything, I don't see myself going here again.

For potential new customers- I'd suggest still giving this place a shot; if it had been a normal evening, I suspect we would have had a fantastic time. I just hope for your sake that there's no private party booked...

We made reservations, once there and inside the staff just stared at us until we wondered around a minute trying to find a spot to sit, then was asked if we made reservations and was seated. The staff asked if it was the first time there and we all responded "yes." Was handed drink menus and the craft menu. Nothing was really explained other than "if you need some ideas, there's a corner over there." We sat at the table for 15 minutes before a staff person came back to our table and asked if we had picked something. We each picked something different. One of the things that was picked, they ended up being out of. The staff really offered no help and spewed through the cement instructions in less than 30 seconds. They spent the majority of their time complaining about having to clean up after another party that was in there.

Some of the instructions they have given on their craft cards and at the cement mixing station are unclear/confusing. They also say you can pick certain things and then they don't give you the option to actually pick them.....

The vibe of the place-minus the staff- was welcoming and nice.

The drink menu was decent and they have a decent beer list.

Overall, it is somewhat overpriced for some of the crafts, especially with no one to check on you and help you.

I chose the cement trays. It was about $50 total for...

Good concept for an evening out, but needs some work to be really good. They have a VERY impressive hard-to-find bourbon collection, which I was shocked to see...but a terrible wine selection (canned wine is never a hit). The projects are pricey (compared to a canvas painting evening where you have instruction/guidance and get a good bang for the buck).

If you're planning to make something that requires any sort of stenciling or painted design, plan ahead and know what you want your end result to be unless you simply don't care and are just there for the fun of it. Make a side trip to Michael's and buy a set of lettering or design stencils and cut them carefully. Don't even try and use the ones they provide because they are blindly trimmed, not organized, and missing letters. I tried THREE different stencil font packs from the notebook and all were missing letters I needed to do any sort of lettering and we cut every which way but the right way. I ended up bringing my piece home to complete it after being there 2.5 hours. As for designs, they only have a paw print stencil. If you're making the serving tray/lazy Susan option, make sure you bring the tools to make what you envision. The tray is the best piece for the price tag in my opinion. Again, great concept, but needs...