Crow Bar — Restaurant in Denver

Slow Thurday night. Maybe a dozen people in the entire bar.

When the bartender approached us, I introduced myself and my friend to the bartender who told us her name was Claire.

Being in the hospitality industry for over 20-years, I asked Clare how she makes an old fashioned. Claire told me that she does not muddle fruit in her old fashioneds, but she is willing to do this.

I ordered a Buffalo Trace old fashioned, but I did request the standard muddled orange & cherry.

As she was preparing to make the drink I asked her if they have chocolate bitters in stock. Knowing the bar was not busy I felt it was time-appropriate to ask a drink-relevent question. Claire told me the 4 bitters they have in stock and they're the 4 typical bitters that most bars have, but no chocolate bitter. She agressively turned toward me and asked me which bitters I wanted. I affirmed that there was no change if she did not have chocolate bitters.

Understanding that she appeared a bit stressed, I started to explain to her why I asked about the chocolate bitters. I thought that perhaps my question had been the cause of her stress, and I wanted to clear the air. Claire interupted me, and rudely expressed that she was short staffed for she was not interested in anything I had to say.

She proceeded to make my old fashioned with 16-dashes of bitters. This just sabotaged the drink.

She attempted an apology for her behavior, but it felt and fell far short, because in her apology she complained about having to wait for the beer order from the toothless wonder next to me. This was the my friend who I had introduced her to moments earlier. Had she forgotten this or was she referencing another guest at the bar? I was disgusted with this bartenders needlessly poor behavior.

My friend paid for the round. Due to the rude behavior from the bartender, and the poorly made drink I took a moment to review and process the situation. I could smell the exorbitant amount of bitters wafting from the glass. I thought to myself how I had entered the bar happy, and within moments, Claire's poor attitude made me feel incredibly irritated. I don't want to drink angry. So, I told Claire that I had not taken a sip from the drink (but this was obvious), and due to her behavior I was no longer in the mood to enjoy a drink. I asked her to take the drink off my friend's bill.

Claire refused to take the drink off my friend's bill. Through the entire interaction she is smirking and trying to escalate the situation. She attempted to escalate the situation by pleading with my friend not to remove the drink from the bill. She tried to create conflict between me and my friend. It was embarrassing to watch.

When I expressed that I did not appreciate how she was handling the situation she tried to imply that I took a sip out of the drink. As if this should change much of anything. When I told her to make her own decisions, and I would just call to complain to the owner; she said that she would answer the phone in the morning. I don't believe she's the owner. Otherwise, she would have said that outright. I interpret this as her telling me that she would intercept the call to the owner. Then I expressed I would merely provide a negative review of the experience. This seemed to catch her attention. Her response was to attempt to taunt me. She asked me if leaving a negative review made me feel powerful. I asked her why power was so important to her. Why couldn't she just do the right thing, and treat people appropriately. She had no answer.

Claire wanted a win. She wanted to treat a customer poorly and see if she could get away with it without consequence. I'm sure she'll succeed. I'm sure she's treated many customers poorly in the past. This did not appear to be a 1-off poor display of character. Claire dug in to make sure she treated me as poorly as possible.

Not my problem, I'll never return to this place and I recommend to others to avoid this place like the plague.......

I’ve been to the Crow Bar twice for a few beers at the end of the night as it’s in my neighborhood. I think the vibe is really fun, comfy seating options and lots of hanging plants!

With a friend in town, I attempted to go last night (a Tuesday night) around 7pm. The bartender made an off comment to two of us because the third friend walked straight to the bathroom upon arrival. When I asked her if she was being serious or sarcastic, I received another rude comment.

I’m the person that people ask for directions in the street or where something is in the grocery store. I have no idea what vibe she was picking up from our crew, but after a little back and forth of ‘what is your issue with us grabbing a drink here’, we opted to leave without a drink.

I will not be returning, and I would certainly not recommend going here, unless you want to be treated rudely upon entry, or if you are looking for a fight! 🤣

There are so many other local watering holes to support in the area that boast a similar chill vibe and plants without unwarranted disrespect. I love Berkley Untapped, FlyteCo, Glo, Post Oak, and...

I have honestly never been to a place more awful than crow bar. The decor is cool, tonight's bartender was cool, but it's hit or miss with bartenders. I've been to crow bar a handful of times and it's been mediocre at best. The beers are average-high price and the atmosphere is just okay. Tonight sent it over the edge of not returning. The "owner" and some staff were also drinking at the bar, which I didn't know or mind until closing time when they started to get aggressive about me leaving. I had been respectful and quietly, but still friendly finishing my drinks and the songs I played on their juke box when the owner starting getting aggressive. The bartender tried to smooth it over explaining they had been drinking, but f that. I don't need my night ending on such a negative note because they want the bar to themselves 3 minutes earlier...