Sugar & Rye — Restaurant in Galveston

We arrived just before 8pm and it was fairly busy with pretty much all the tables inside occupied, a few tables empty but there was no space for the four of us. We were then offered to sit outside, to which we obliged, one of the servers took us to a table outside. We sat down and another sever came to our table and she brought some water which was great. We asked for a few minutes to have a look at the food and drink menu. At this point some of friends wanted to look at the wine menu as we were not given a menu from the beginning, I had to flag another sever down as she was looking after a couple sitting outside opposite us. This is where things went further downhill, our server must have left for like 15 minutes before returning, by that time some of our friends wanted to order some drinks and some appetisers and felt like we were being ignored or just completely forgotten about. Our server came back and we placed the order of shrimp cerviche and boudain balls along with our drinks, at this point we were still considering our main courses. We received our drinks and appetisers and started to enjoy them and my wife asked whether there were any gluten free bread or crackers were available to go along with the appetisers, our server told us that they did have some gluten free crackers but I'm pretty sure we were given normal crackers containing gluten to which my wife couldn't take the risk of eating. We were left for about another 20 minutes or so before the server came back to take our orders. Before we started to place the order I mentioned to our server that my wife had a gluten allergy to which the server stopped taking all our orders and stated that she would get us a gluten free menu as she wasn't sure which items were OK for gluten allergies. The server left and this time she was gone for like another 20 minutes, I tried to make contact eye contact with her with a few times but to no avail as I could see her inside walking around. I could see our server in the kitchen and I had to get out of my seat and walk to the door and look through the window to see our server there with another colleague having a full blown conversation about something, I made eye contact with her and pointed to where we were sitting and said 'we're still here' she seemed almost surprised I did that and came back outside immediately but with no gluten free menu. She started to proceed with our orders again and I then I asked which items were gluten free and then she realised that was supposed to bring a gluten free menu to us but she either forgot or you didn't have one, by this time we all just wanted to place an order to eat and had been waiting long enough meaning my wife couldn't choose anything that was gluten free. Our food didn't take too long to arrive, we ordered a risotto, gnocchi, my wife had the shrimp and grits as a safe bet and I had the southern flounder. Whilst I was waiting for my food to cool a little I was eating the cerviche the server took the dish from me which I thought was rather odd, she didn't even ask if I was still eating or let alone finished. The food was just OK and this point the entire experience was a let down. The server returned a short while after and offered us to go boxes but we all declined. She then returned with the check which was over $200 and I asked if it was possible to split it in half to which she agreed to do so. This is where it gets even more bizarre, when she returned with the split check amounts she stated the she had a dessert earlier and added it to our check and only when she was splitting the check she realised and apologised. I understand mistakes can happen but these events this evening were just odd. I honestly don't know if I'll ever go back after what happened today. It's such a shame, I had high hopes...

I recently visited this place (2nd time ever) and the food was great! Im local, BOI and I chose this place based on ambiance and their brunch menu. 10/10.

However, this was a brunch I pre-planned for my bridesmaids to enjoy a day and receive gifts from me. I called a week in advance to reserve a table of 7, I was told no at first due to their reservation restrictions of 8 or more. No worries at all (I was prepared to go early on a Sunday and wait my turn) I told the VERY kind gentleman that it was not an issue and I completely understand. He then checked their bookings and told me I could go ahead and put my reservation in, that they were not super busy and it was no problem. I was so thankful and so excited given that this was supposed to be a very exciting day!

The morning of, I second guessed my counting and called first thing in the morning to confirm I reserved a table for 7 guests and not 6. I was immediately "greeted" by the nastiest attitude by an employee. I was so taken back as it was 9am and surely their day was not already awful. I ignored and went on to explain why I was calling and kept getting the response "ok", I told them my name, "ok".... Told them how many "ok" then finally was told "you really shouldn't have had a reservation to start with because we don't do that for less than 8." I then went on to explained that I called a week ago and this gentleman helped me out given it was not busy and I was 1 guest short. She then says..."ok." (Shocker) I gave her same attitude back and hung up the phone as I was so angry. Again, it was 9am and I was almost sure I was speaking to some sort of manager, which is such a poor way to represent what's supposed to be a classy establishment.

My fiancé heard every word and suggested I choose another place because of how ugly this woman was on the phone. As I arrive I figured out who I spoke to on the phone due to observing how this woman treated the guests in front of us (poorly) and as we were headed to our table I spoke to her and let her know I did not appreciate how I was spoken to. Not a single apology was given. I let her know she was extremely rude on the phone and she responded " I was short maybe but not rude" I then replied, "no you were very rude to me and I was asking a simple question to make sure I did not mess up," she then went on to explain AGAIN why I should not have been given a table. I could've walked out right there. Not one apology, zero accountability, and zero compassion towards a customer. I have had some awful service before but she was beyond, and for someone who is supposed to lead a team of young adults (the other hostesses)?? Laughable.

Luckily we had the sweetest waitress and made the best of our time there but I will not be back given someone like her is in charge of the staff. So...

Have lived in Galveston for a while and recently heard of Sugar and Rye from my girlfriend. I thought the place looked really nice in the photos and had great reviews, so we decided go out on a date that afternoon. Was seated immediately by a very nice hostess but then it seemed there was some confusion amongst the staff on who the waiters were as we were left without a waiter for a bit. I will say that the waiter may have been new and the one we ended up getting was a very nice guy, but we were left unattended at times, even after getting the waiter, and were not visited for long periods of time to ask about meals or drinks leading to us to have to flag down the waiter for food and drink orders. Again, it may have been an experience thing and the gentleman and hostess were very nice and helpful when they were present. After we ordered our drinks, I got the feelin blue and my girlfriend got the pear and vanilla old fashion. I will say that the pear and vanilla old fashion was an absolute highlight and will be a delight to any whiskey enjoyer while the feelin blue definitely fit the name as it tasted almost soapy and was sadly not very good. After that we ordered the Sugar and Rye burger and the Cajun pasta, the burger itself was very good although it was well done instead of the asked medium rare. The fries were very soggy and were not very delicious sadly. The Cajun pasta also came out watery but the flavoring was done well. While eating our food we were able to take in the lovely outdoor seating area and enjoy the weather as another highlight of the restaurant was the presentation of indoor and outdoor seating leading to a comfortable outing no matter which one you decide to go with. Afterwards, we ordered the apple crostata for dessert which was the best part of the entire meal and I highly recommend to anyone who comes here to get this for their dessert. The pastry came out flaky, the apples were perfectly done and the ice went along nicely with it. Finally, this will bring me to my final point which is the price. For the overall experience, the prices are a bit too high for what is being served. The atmosphere is very nice but with food that was served, the prices were way too high. That drags my overall rating down and if I could give it a 2.5 stars out of 5 I would. Thank you to both the hostess and the waiter who served us, you were both very nice as well as whoever made the pear and vanilla old fashioned and...