The Sugar House — Restaurant in Detroit

I had an amazing day today. I moved my son into his first apartment on Wayne State's campus. After we get done moving him in, we went to El Barzon for dinner. We had an amazing dinner. After dinner, I decided it would be nice to grab a drink and show my son an amazing bar in Corktown, The Sugar House. I do not drink but everyone else in my party does, but I thought they might offer a decent mocktail.

Unfortunately, that is when our amazing night went south. We walked into the Sugar House, without a reservation, hoping to get a seat or to not have to wait too long. We are immediately greeted by the hostess who decides to treat us like we are inferior because we do not have reservations. I did not make a big deal out of it, but I was polite and got on the waitlist. The hostess said there would be a 45 minute to an hour wait for a table and they would text us when it was ready. We decided to go to LJs to have a drink and wait for our text.

After grabbing drinks, a couple walked in and sat next to us at the bar. We started chatting and having an enjoyable time. Within 5 minutes, they mention that they were waiting for a seat at the Sugar House. They also mentioned the hostess was extremely rude. We commiserated over how rude the hostess was for a bit and then had another drink. Eventually, they receive a text that their table is ready. At this point, it had been an hour and half, so I decided we should walk over to see how much longer the wait was going to be. Once again, we are greeted by the rude hostess, who initially grills us about being on the waiting list, which we were for over 1.5 hrs. After the hostess gets done grilling us, magically a table opened outside at which we could sit. It was a very strange situation and off putting for everyone. It was also unnecessary.

Overall, the experience was miserable. I wanted to show my son how amazing Detroit was but ended up showing him how rude and pretentious people are. I know people would not rate a bar one star due to customer service, but in my experience, poor customer service is a systemic issue. It is typically caused by poor company culture, lack of training, and/or overworked under-paid staff. There are so many amazing cocktail bars in Detroit, I would recommend going to another one with better customer service and a better atmosphere. I know I will...

As I attempted to send a private message via instagram and received no response, I figured I’d take this a bit more public.

I am writing to share my recent experience at your establishment, which I hope will be taken constructively. My partner and I visited on the evening of Saturday, November 2, 2024. My partner was showing symptoms of a UTI and needed to use the restroom in private for comfort. During this time, I held the main bathroom door closed to provide privacy.

One of your servers (female, tall, with short, dark hair) attempted to enter the restroom. When I kept the door closed, she seemed to assume there was an issue and later accused my partner of being sick, even suggesting she had been vomiting. This interaction felt unnecessarily intrusive and was quite uncomfortable. The server’s approach appeared rude and aggressive, which significantly impacted our experience.

While the manager was understanding and did kindly adjust our bill (as the server removed half full drinks from our table due to the accused vomiting), I wanted to address the server’s behavior. Her demeanor felt passive-aggressive from the moment we were seated. Having worked in the service industry for 14 years, I understand the challenges of the job and always approach customers with empathy. In this case, it felt as though there was an assumption or judgment made about us, which was disappointing, as we have previously enjoyed visiting your establishment.

I hope this feedback can be taken in the spirit intended and help improve future interactions for your guests. Thank you for your time...

As a regular bar goer, I often go solo many times in order to meet and mingle with new people. Ya know- the thing people are supposed to do at bars. Well on my way to the bathroom one night, there was a table of people laughing about something loudly (I honestly can’t remember what it was about, this was a while back) and I resonated and chimed in playfully, to which they all receptively began chatting with me about it. Since the table was low, and I’m quite tall, I crouched down so we could all hear each other without shouting. In the middle of chatting it up with this table, a male staff member (he was either a bartender or bar back) told me I wasn’t allowed to bother tables and basically told me to sit back down at the bar. I was in complete shock. We were all in the middle of bantering and laughing about whatever it was, and this employee decided to single me out, and treat me in such an unprofessional manner. After sitting at the bar for a bit longer, after the shock subsided, I soon closed out my tab and left the establishment, and never went back. And to paint a picture, I had a total of two sugary cocktails, and was in no way drunk or belligerent. It was just super unnecessary and gross behavior. It’s unfortunate, because I had good interactions with other staff members there- but that experience completely soured any positive feelings I had towards the place. Never returned after...