Tailgaters Snookered - Best Sports Bar, Game bar & Grill — Restaurant in Frisco

[This is the original review 5-star review. Please see below for a 2023 update after new ownership.]

This is my favorite place to play in North Dallas.

If you're a casual player you'll find a non-intimidating, well-lit and smoke-free environment with a friendly staff.

If you're a serious player, you'll find plenty of 8-foot and 9-foot tables in great condition with lots of room around the tables (enough for our 5-man teams to play on league night.) I hear the place is run by a player, so there's hope they will be well maintained.

The food is very good with more mature offerings than your typical bar menu. There are even a few craft beers available. This higher end menu comes at a price; be prepared to spend 10-20% more for the food than you might expect at a typical pool hall.

TABLES

[This section is for the serious player.]

There are 8-foot and 9-foot tables. If you're looking to play snooker or three-rail billiards, you'll need to find another spot.

The 9-footers are Gold Crowns and play great (as good as you would expect.)

The 8-footers we played on are Imperial brand tables. They play well enough, but be aware that these tables do not have the best construction. If you bump the table in the wrong direction (lengthwise) you can expect a bit of table top movement (with the possibility of shifting balls.)

** 2023 UPDATE:

When Tailgaters took over Snookered, they made a number of changes. Months ago, the tables were all moved as part of a remodel / interior rearrangement and were never leveled properly (many of the tables "roll off" as much as a half-diamond to a full diamond.) The tables are also crammed tighter together in their new space making for tricky logistics for team league play.

During the warmer months, they had difficulty maintaining a reasonable temperature (many players sweating from the heat.) Perhaps as a mitigation measure, they would open the large garage-door style windows which surround the pool tables. This introduces a lot of humidity (any advanced player will know what this means.)

It really feels like the new owners do now value pool players or the leagues.

The staff has also had a complete turnover with the new owners. As much as I miss the previous staff, the new staff is just as good as the previous. They are the only saving grace of...

UPDATE: have been multiple times since my last review. Food is inconsistent and average at best. It seems like a high turnover rate for the cooks. Which isn't bad if they aren't good, but find some good cooks (we all know it is tough to find workers right now). There was one cook that was really good. Never had an issue when he was working. But I heard he is not there anymore. Pool and leagues are still a problem. Bar service. Depends on what night you go. The worst night is Wednesday. I won't put names on here but the male bartender who has been there some time now and the female that works the league are terrible. No other way to put it. They will stand behind the bar and talk to each other while people are standing at the bar trying to order. Be ready to go to the bar for everything. They will bring your food to you but very little else. There is no sense of urgency with these two. Yes when a place is busy and workers are running around you know it will take time to be served. But when they are always standing and talking to each other and not work the room, there is no excuse. They are so bad there is no way I will come on their work days anymore.

After new ownership problems still exist. Prior to new ownership this place was a 1 star because the service, food, layout. Now it is 2 stars because the food is still terrible (though the menu now fits more the atmosphere) but the cooks may have not changed. The new layout of all 7 foot tables is disappointing. Tailgaters is turning this into more a sports bar (which is not a surprise) with a focus on league players. So much so that open pool is non-existent and not a goal of theirs. Service is a little better but only a little. Hard to say if the poor service is because of the current difficulty getting workers like everywhere else. So time will tell on the service. It is no surprise that the old owners are out, more surprised they didn't lose the business during the last few years. Tailgaters will not turn this into a great place to play pool. Not sure how long this place will survive in its current...

Unfortunately horrendously unpleasant customer service.

Been here twice, a good amount of time apart to see if it was just a first time thing or if it was the staff. Definitely the staff.

Bar staff gentleman was walking around us at the tables, taking drink and food orders from other customers. So I asked him if my friend and I could order a drink from him and his snide, abrasive, irritable comment back was along the lines of "You could, but I can't tell you when you'll get them." Mind you we had also been served by another bar staff member moments before, tables were taken and I waited to see how the staff served the other people around me and which seemed timely. Not enough to make that comment.

Maybe that's the treatment some "regulars" to the establishment receive , which I can understand. But, wouldn't you want to treat new customers with equal service? To then have them come back again, refer others to go and visit and in turn have them and others become "regulars"? Unless I'm misunderstanding the ways to have returning guests in a restaurant/bar/pool hall/ service industry business?

If this is the standard there, as you can read from other comments that reflect the way they treat paying patrons there. Then it was my last time to go. I will tell my friends to actively avoid this kind of treatment when in the area and not go there.

Pool tables are nice, which is the only reason I gave it another chance, but it was for sure my last. Being treated like that in a business you want to enjoy outweighs any pool table...