Thirsty Lion — Restaurant in Dallas

I usually love this place and come here often but this place went all wrong from when I went here a couple weeks ago… I went in there yesterday and asked to sit in Megan’s section , I got sat in a Random new servers section, I asked if Megan worked here and she said i have no idea, I’m new but I heard multiple people quit including a manager. I only asked about Megan and this server decided to treat my dinner like gossip hour, by the time I let her finish talking I finally got my beer and it was wrong, then my appetizer was wrong, I asked for sliders and got the happy hour ones, I asked for new one and she said let me get my general manager, I never saw her, even asked if she was coming by and she said she normally doesn’t talk to tables but she discounted the check.

I finally got a the bbq burger and it was good but the ketchup was missing, I ate whole Burger before i got ketchup I even asked many times for it not trying to be a bother… So I wanted to expressed my desires to talk to general manager but once again all i got was a burger taken off check.

I saw a nice Hispanic man help run food and be more visible , apparently that’s the sous chef, WHY is a chef running more food than a general manage? I have worked in the restaurant business in the past and I know this by being in the service industry in the past that this is NOT OKAY. Also, I don’t think servers should be telling me that there was so much turnover not only being told be hearing it while sitting there.

In my opinion if your gonna lose that many people then id be out there talking to the guest that are wanting to talk to you instead of hiding.

This place literally felt like no one was running this place and made the atmosphere feel extremely uncomfortable , I was scared to find out why but till they have some stability, even the bartenders are new each shift then I won’t...

UPDATE As planned, we returned to the Thirsty Lion in Preston Hollow to try different entrees. Much improved from our first visit! To start, we had the Artichoke Spinach Dip, this was very good; I recommend ordering the full portion instead of the Happy Hour portion (the latter is pretty small for 2 people). For mains, I had the Jalapeno Pepper Jack Burger with bacon added; the burger was perfectly cooked and flavors of jalapeno and pepper back were well balanced. My wife had the Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich; also quite good and not too spicy; it is a large sandwich so my wife couldn't finish it - I tried a bite and the chicken was well prepared, the buttermilk batter was crispy and full of flavor. For desert we had the Deep Dish Chocolate Porter Brownie, this was outstanding, definitely a favorite desert. I'm leaving the review at 4 stars only because the service was slow. It was not too busy during our visit and we were seated promptly - but the drinks took a long time to come out... to the point that I felt like we should order drinks ahead of finishing our first one because it was taking so long. But again, it is a good place and we will return to try more items from their menu.

---Original review--- Nice gastropub. Really impressed with the service. Food was a little bland. I had the fish and chips. The fry batter was oily and missing some crunch, but the fish was well cooked and flaky. My wife had the Southwestern chicken salad, it was a disappointing choice. No flavor, the dressing was sitting at the bottom of the dish. Perhaps a little more careful preparation would make a difference. For desert we had the apple crumble, this was quite good, maybe the best dish of the day. I also had the Texas beer flight, it was a nice tasting of Texas beers. We will return and try some of the other entrees. Maybe we'll find a dish that is their...

The first I had ever heard of this place was when I received the 10 dollar coupon in the mail. A friend is in town from Germany. We used to go to Trinity Hall by the Angelika, but it closed down, so that option wasn't available. It will eventually be replaced by The Londoner, but it hasn't opened yet. That's where my friend wanted to go. I suggested The Thirsty Lion as an alternative, because the name itself sounds like an English pub (and I had the coupon). I always hate it when somebody suggests a place because they have a coupon, but when the check arrives, you discover they have no intention of sharing it with you. My friend from Germany obviously didn't have one, so I asked our waitress if she could do separate checks, but deduct $5 from each one so my friend wouldn't feel screwed over. If that was too much trouble, however, I would just hand my friend $5. The Thirsty Lion pleasantly surprised us by taking $10 off each of our tabs. That was a real class act, in my opinion, a kind gesture that will have us coming back.

The food menu is considerably more varied than typical pub fare. I suppose that's the "gastro" part of gastropub. They also have a good draft beer selection that includes lagers all the way down to stouts with a variety in between.

I will say that I agree with some of the other comments that the music was rather loud & that the bass was too much.

Nonetheless, over all, The Thirsty Lion is off to a good start & is a welcome addition to the...