Galena Taphouse — Restaurant in Galena

My family was GREATLY disappointed by this restaurant and their service. Came here as a recommendation from another business in Galena. The layout of the restaurant seemed small, quaint, and a good stop for a wine or beer option... ended up being a nightmare.

The menu is messy, confusing, not accommodating of dietary restrictions, and has too many options that are not in the same food family. It seems like it would be hard to keep up with making 12 completely different dishes all night every night. Pick a lane. Wine and beer list is subpar. Cleanliness of the establishment is subpar. The ambience is not welcoming to groups over 4 people and customer service was an absolute miss.

It was a little after 9PM, there were 2 servers and 1 person in the kitchen, 2 customers at the bar and a to-go order that came in when we arrived. We arrived as a party of six and sat at two small high top tables (one square and one round pushed together) neither of which that seemed a size capable of handling a water and alcoholic beverage, an appetizer to share, and a meal for each person. The chairs were small and uncomfortable for a size Medium person with a medium pregnant belly. I can't imagine being a bigger person and wanting to sit for a meal here.

The establishment smelled of grease, it was noticeable on the walls and ceilings near the kitchen, which is fully visible to the restaurant and was extremely disorganized. The women's restroom was NOT well kept - there was toilet paper on the floor, pee on the seat on the seat and was obvious that the door, wall, and light switches were not regularly cleaned. It reminded me of a DIVE BAR. Rule of thumb: They say that a restaurant's bathroom is an example of how clean they keep their establishment.

5 of the 6 of us were served waters and when asked for another water, the waitress brought back a pitcher instead, so two of us had to share a cup. When served beer/wine, they brought the drinks and we were never checked on again. We ordered an appetizer and fries to be brought out before the meal, and entree orders were not edited other than a burger (asking for burger plain). At 10:50 PM we still had not received a second drink, a water refill, or a single food item that we ordered. We were the only people in the restaurant other than a couple at the bar.

After a long wait with no service, and uncertainty from passing staff that our food would be done anytime soon, our party ended up leaving. My FIL stayed to pay for the drinks we had been served and to talk with the manager. The Manager was difficult, not understanding or accommodating and was combative/defensive and upset. I can understand being upset that a table of 6 would walk out the door after ordering, but how can you expect people to stay or even return to your business if you run it so poorly? I don't like leaving negative reviews, but I would be remiss if I didn't warn others about this establishment. Choose anywhere else in Galena. Stay away from the Grape Escape, they have...

Rude vibes from the very start entering this bar on a Thursday night…should have followed my husband’s initial intuition and walked right out. We had a larger party of about 25 people and were absolutely content to simply stand, order drinks and socialize with each other. The owner acted like we were an inconvenience from the beginning - despite every single member of our party ordering multiple drinks.

There was one point where she made a point to insinuate that she needed the barstools / chairs for others unless we were going to order more drinks which was super confusing to us because we had all been ordering drinks during the entire time we’d been there. She definitely got her way though - that was enough to show us our business was not wanted. I wish she just would have nicely asked us to make space for two other patrons who needed a table whom she sat promptly during our departure. We would have most definitely moved to accommodate and would have gladly stood around to finish our drinks and order others - but we were never given that opportunity. There seemed to be plenty of room for all but she did not make it seem that way.

At one point, there were some empty glasses that people had finished and she grew annoyed and said “who’s going to clean these up?!” Ummmm - flabbergasted - are you really expecting us to bus our own tables as customers?!!! Mind blowing.

Amongst all of our party (no one drunk, no one disrespectful, no one disorderly), we were all incredibly confused on what we did wrong to upset this person so much. We all came to the conclusion that she and her staff simply must have just been overwhelmed at the volume of people - even though this bar seem equipped to handle a group of this size. Regardless - the way we were treated was completely inappropriate and unacceptable. People should never be made to feel guilty for supporting a business and we certainly spread the word around our network to support another local business instead. When we spoke to another bar around the corner they mentioned that they’d heard similar feedback about the owner.

She also yelled “I also own The Grape Escape!” Upon us leaving. Fantastic intel - another business I’ll yell from the rooftops to not support.

I have no tolerance for owners with this kind of attitude. You’re in the hospitality business - act like it. ...

Update: So, here was the response from another business in town who I asked the same general question: Are most businesses open on Sundays or Mondays at the end of September when we are planning our trip? Some website info is not updated or 100% acurate. I call ahead so I'm not disappointed after driving 100 miles and I didn't feel like making multiple phone calls - which she actually let me explain without interrupting me. Her super friendly tone and helpful non-hostile response was that fall is a popular time for Galena and while a shop here and there might be closed on Sunday, for the most part bars, restaurants and most shops will be open to take advantage of fall tourists and I'm probably safe. Thank you for calling and I hope you come visit us! So, there you go. Textbook perfect customer service on the phone from a business in a major tourist town. Tone of voice/ helpful attitude is everything when speaking to customers. She did not act like I asked a stupid question, quite the opposite. I was speaking of your attitude/tone on the phone, not you personally. If I asked a "wrong" question that upset you, I am so very sorry/not sorry! I rarely leave reviews, good or bad, so it takes something unusual for me to write one. It makes a difference when choosing where to spend my dollars. I'm not alone with this opinion. I'm not spending any more time on this, so good luck with your business and have a nice day.

Haven't even been here yet but will NOT come here because of $hitty attitude woman that answered the phone. Learn some customer service skills...it's a tourist town. Was just asking a general info question and if you don't know, just say you don't know. And no, the internet does NOT tell you everything. Wow...