Fats Fairfax — Restaurant in Fairfax

Was a long time well known regular with a good reputation, plus my favorite spot until... they banned me, I'll let you judge:

I made a joke to a lady I was talking to that she was "boring" to cut through some pre-karaoke nerves she was experiencing while discussing hobbies.

Needless to say, she did not have a sense of humor. Without voicing her position to me like an adult that she took exemption to the joke. She took her "complaint" to the staff. This somehow managed to get the staff to restrict my freedom of movement at the business, even though they have known me for quite some time. I don't have a reputation or disposition requiring that level of active enforcement against me.

For the rest of the night I wasn't allowed to be anywhere she was, basically I had to be outside of her eyesight. I also was not authorized to talk to this person or any of my drinking buddies since they were near her.

I don't know about you dear reader, but being treated like a 3rd class citizen while being ostracized at your favorite bar is not cool. Particularly when the person that initiated it is treated like royalty.

Eventually I got fed up with how stupid it all was and decided to call her out on it. Luckily it was karaoke night, and I chose "cold as Ice - Foreigner". I dedicated the classic to "the person I'm not supposed to talk to". I didn't use names, but I did point at her. Some may consider this too far, but letting someone treat me like trash is not something I do.

Of course this action gained her attention and the staff's. While I wasn't banned immediately, I was informed of the ban by a friend a week later. They have my phone number, they could have just called and told me. They used to invite me to their closed door holiday parties, that's how well received I was there.

I also discovered their perspective of the matter was much different. I'm not surprised since they never bothered to ask about my perspective on the matter. I even stopped by the business before updating my review to give them the chance to discuss the matter.

I changed my review to reflect the sudden change I experienced at the business, as well to express my confused disgust with how they restricted my freedom of movement and speech.

As a veteran I cannot support a business that commits to such actions. If they had discussed this with me I might of been able to understand their perspective, however they willfully...

It can be very frustrating trying to get food here because there are completely inconsistent about when the kitchen shuts down. One week I got here at just after 10:00 and they told me they stop serving at 10:00, so the next week I got there before 9:30 and they told me that they had stopped at 9:00. Both of these visits were on Saturday nights, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Either the first staff member had it wrong or it just changes from night to night, but either way that shouldn't happen, it should be consistent. The bouncer outside said that it depends on when the cook stops wanting to serve food.

For a place that advertises a unique New Orleans menu it seems like a really bad business decision to not make it so your customers can predict when they can actually get your New Orleans food. It also might be good to know that reviews for this place on other sites are worse than their reviews here. Costumers need predictability. On a similar note related to unpredictability, after my first visit I went to the bathroom before coming right back to the bar to pay my check. When I got back they informed me that they had already closed my tab. I had a fine experience the first time and was going to tip well anyway, but that just rubbed me the wrong way. It was not close to closing time or anything like that. I guess they really wanted to guarantee that 20% (25%?) automatic tip...

At least the atmosphere was cool. Could be a little cleaner, but that's easy to overlook with all of the fun decorations they have and...

Open mic was a shit experience. I understand a bar being a local dive but there's a difference between this and a place being filthy and unsanitary... at least the decor was cool. Despite advertising a full cajun menu, the only items that were available were wings and fries; why bother having a menu posted at all as of that point?

At some point in the night, 2 staff members gave a band shit because apparently their singer was underage. They went as far as to declare "this isn't some kiddy bar" even though earlier at the event there were at least a few performers who were minors and there was at least one kid in the bar with a parent. Allegedly, this band had gone as far as to call ahead of time where someone had confirmed they were okay to perform so long as the singer didn't go up to the bar and ask for alcohol. They could have easily checked the books, see who was staffing that night, and sent a text to confirm but couldn't be bothered even with the venue being half empty. I could understand the lack of problem solving in this situation if the bar was packed but it wasn't... These goofs are condescending hypocrites who lack any sense of professionalism and are bordering on incompetent!

Is it so hard to mark minors with a sharpie or scan IDs? It's a college bar, I'm willing to bet fakes get through there all the time. Apparently, they don't have the budget to spend 2 dollars at a CVS for a marker nonetheless clean up the filth on the floors and tables of their bar.

I'd give a 0...