Barley & Salt, Tap House and Kitchen — Restaurant in Conway

Went with my family of 3 (2 adults and 1 teen) on a Thursday evening, walked in at 7pm (last seating was 8pm) and waited almost 5 minutes for someone to greet us or even acknowledge us at the door. A server was at the host stand with her back to us and never turned around until she walked away and then headed back to the host stand when she noticed us there. The place had 4 / 5 tables occupied and a few seats at the bar were taken, so rather slow. Once we got our seats it took our server Dragon another 18 minutes to even acknowledge we were there, HOWEVER three regulars came in after we had been sitting for 13 minutes (yes I timed all of this). Before he even approached the table to greet them he brought them waters as soon as they sat down. He had to walk by us SEVERAL times and not once did he even glance in our direction. We FINALLY get acknowledged and it's "I'll be with you in a few minutes", while he took the regulars drink order and app order. He then puts in their food and drinks then comes to us, didn't apologize or recognize we had been there for almost 20 minutes at this point. (place was still slow and several tables came in after us, ordered, ate and left before we even got our food). We placed our drink order and waited another 15 minute for a fountain soda, pomegranate lemonade and a draft beer, again only a few seats at the bar are occupied and they had more open tables than seated tables. When we get our drinks he walks away before taking our food order. He finally comes back to take our food order (after the regulars have gotten refills on their drinks and the app had been delivered and eaten). I ordered the burger and ask for it to be cooked MEDWELL/WELL as I don't like pink in my ground beef, he asked if I wanted fries with my burger (not would I like to ADD fries to my burger, but if I WANTED fries WITH THE BURGER) I said yes, and come to find out, it wasn't a choice of salad OR fries, but the fries were an additional cost. He knew that already and proceeded to "pad the bill" on us, so shame on me for not questioning it, but at this point I'm hungry and doing everything we can to expediate our meal. All in all, the food was decent, but we'd been on the road for hours at this point and just wanted to sit down and enjoy dinner. I would have asked for my burger to be cooked more if he ever came back to check on us, but he didn't. He did come back when we were all done eating to ask us if we wanted more drinks, but he spent most of his time chit chatting with the regulars and forgot we were there...RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Would we go back here? maybe, maybe not. I guess we know why they were slow on a Thursday night. We still tipped him well at $30.00, but if we were to go back and get Dragon as a server, I'd leave or request a new table outside of...

Let me start by saying, my family and I have been coming to North Conway for 30+ years. We frequent the outlets and restaurant scene on every occasion that we are here, including Barley and Salt. We typically come for some drinks post shopping as we typically find the food sub par.

Today, my husband and I sat down with our 2.5 year old son at open (11:30am). We verbalized to the hostess that our parents were shopping nearby and will be meeting us. Despite the restaurant being empty, she told us they were unable to "save spots." I kindly told her we were not expecting spots saved but would like a table they could easily join soon after. We were placed at a 4 person table with a 2 person empty table right next to us.

Our server Tyler was very personable and we told him my parents would be coming as well. He began to move the empty 2 person table next to ours and was quickly dressed down (absolutely lambasted) by the hostess/manager in front of all 6 patrons. Again- the restaurant was empty and instead of taking her staff out back to respectfully tell the waiter how they operate, she proceeded to disrespectfully say "Tyler. What are you doing? We do NOT save spots. Never move a table without checking with us first." Any genuine human being could see the look of defeat on Tyler's face after he was essentially verbally assaulted by who I assume is his boss. Despicable.

They also wouldn't move the two person table 2 minutes later when my parents showed up but instead placed a chair at the end of our table until my mom complained of space. We were given dirty looks by every staff member (except Tyler) thereafter.

Sadly, I forgot to mention we were seated right next to the hostess stand. If I had a nickel for how many times they complained about mothers bringing in their strollers, I could probably buy the place out and fire all the petty players in this place. They do know this is a family town, yes?

Speaking of family-for the usual chill, ski townie vibe North Conway has (that has kept us coming back all of these years,) this place just aint it. Staff 1000% needs a vibe check or for them to relocate to somewhere where their posh attitudes fit better. This place is a far cry from some Michelin star restaurant so stop acting...

My wife and I had lunch recently at Barley and Salt restaurant in North Conway, New Hampshire. We had first visited the restaurant when it opened several years ago. The first thing you notice you enter the restaurant is the uncomfortably high level of noise, the music is cranked up so loud it is immediately apparent. My impression is that in doing so, management is catering to a younger demographic. When we were there, both rock and soft rock were being played loudly. We debated long and hard whether to stay or not, given the noise. We chose to stay. Our greeting at the door was polite but not inviting. We noticed walking from the parking lot that the restaurant had an outside terrace, but we were interested in, given the beautiful weather in North Conway. We were informed at the desk that the terrace was reserved only for drinks and not for eating, for some reason that wasn’t shared with us. Our waitress, Victoria, was friendly and accommodating. We first ordered a non-alcoholic beer which was served promptly. We were not however offered water to start with nor were there any salt or pepper shakers on our table. After waiting, I had to get up and retrieve them from the waitresses’ service station. My wife ordered the Cobb Salad and I ordered the Burrata Caprese. She wanted to replace the blue cheese in her Cobb Salad with some other cheese, which surprisingly appeared to be a problem with the restaurant. As a compromise and to end the discussion she opted for the blue cheese on the side. Suffice it to say, we finished our lunch and didn’t linger with our departure. It’s sad to see a restaurant we had enjoyed be a disappointment. My impression is that the restaurant appears to be “tired”, the staff (with the exception of our waitress) weren’t very welcoming and the sound level in the restaurant is really unacceptable. The unfortunate issue for Barley and Salt is that there are many, many other restaurants available in...