Flying Saucer Draught Emporium — Restaurant in Garland

Third time visiting. Last time I signed up for the beer club, cool idea and as a homebrewer I love supporting a business that caters to beer lovers. Had questionable service last time so decided to give it another chance before reviewing, this time with my wife as were celebrating an anniversary.

We sat down outside to enjoy the wonderful lake view. It really is nice, especially at sunset. I explained this was only my 2nd visit after having signed up with the paid beer membership. Unfortunately a lot of beers on the menu were unavailable, which was a bit of a bummer, but found one still on tap. When she brought my first beer, being brand new to the program, I asked about daily events or specials. "We have trivia on Tuesdays." That's all she said. I asked if they ever did pint nights or had any other daily specials. "Oh yes thats right we have a pint night." Interested, I asked about the previous glass giveaway and if still available to possibly purchase. She brought one out, said she thinks it's 5 bucks, and I said yes. Then asked what the sign that said Fire Sale meant, and was told beers are only 4 bucks on Mondays. Being Monday I was happy to hear this, but also surprised I wasn't told this before when I had asked about daily specials/events, would have been useful to know before ordering my first beer.

Ordered chips and queso, finished the chips but had lots of queso and salsa left, and she offered to bring more chips. Once we polished off all the chips and remaining queso and salsa, we ordered a different appetizer. A few minutes later she brought us even more chips and left to get a second beer. Thought the bonus chips was kinda odd but hey who doesn't like chips, okay. She returned with the second beer and I asked if we could get a little more salsa to help with the fresh batch of chips. Sure she said but they have to charge for it. First time I've been charged for salsa anywhere, especially after receiving more chips without asking right after ordering a different appetizer. Strange.

A bit later we received our second appetizer. Fried zucchini slices, very nice, highly recommend. Came with a bit of runny ranch. Ran out after getting thru half the app. Feared another charge if we asked for more so didn't bother.

Got the check and saw the pint glass was $7, not $5. Ok, sure. The evening was wrapping up and after letting it play through, it's a shame with everything else having come together so nicely, the view, the food and the beer quality, it really came down to the service. And I really wanted to give a great rating, but it just seemed our waitress was not happy to be there. And sadly this mirrored our previous visit. My wife and I are not difficult patrons either. Often we're the ones reaching out to make the server feel better as opposed to the other way around, just how we are.

The Flying Saucer has tons of potential, but as newcomers, and after stating such, we just didn't feel welcomed. I had to ask and lead with a bunch of questions, many answers of which would have been really helpful to have known from the start.

Opposed to other beer clubs I've joined (Old Chicago, as well as a few other breweries), this one you actually pay to join. I guess I expect a bit of exclusivity, especially as newcomers, when you pay to join. It wasn't a busy night or anything.. weather was nice, not sure why the vibe was the way it was. Iunno I really want to get behind the Saucer, but so far it just hasn't come together for us when it comes to service.

I do want to patronize the business (take my money!) and I don't think it's asking too much to get a little bit of life out of it. Not sure when I'll be returning to this location even though I'm currently living around the corner. Maybe I'll check out the Fort Worth location in the future and see if things work out better.

Food/beer quality: 4.5* /5 Communication/service: 0.5* /5 Paid member experience: 1.5* /5

Overall a low 2*...

The lakeside patio offers a pleasant environment for relaxation and gorgeous views. The ambiance leans towards a bar setting yet it welcomes children until 9 pm, which may not suit everyone's preference. During a Saturday night visit, I saw toddlers running around the entire floor and using bar tables to hang upside down from. That is a head injury just waiting to happen and no supervision from their parents. This detracted from the overall experience, as I had hoped to enjoy a serene evening by the lake. While I understand that families may want to dine out together, a bar atmosphere on a Saturday night might not be the best place for young children.

While the service can be very inconsistent depending on the server, the food and drinks were great during our very first visit. I must say my other experiences have been less than satisfactory. While they offer a full bar and cocktail menu alongside their beer selection, the execution is lacking and very inconsistent. On my second visit, I ordered a cocktail and was served the wrong drink. Even after requesting a correction, the second attempt was still lacking one of the main ingredients. Disappointingly, this trend persisted on our third visit, with different bartenders consistently getting my order wrong.

During our third (and final visit), the service was painfully slow, and uncomfortable. Despite waiting over 20 minutes for our waitress to appear, the most unsettling part was when she finally did arrive—she sat down in the booth with me, her body uncomfortably close to mine. This invasion of personal space left me feeling extremely uneasy. I must commend the manager who promptly intervened without us having to ask. She handled the situation with professionalism and care, which was greatly appreciated.

Despite the positive interaction with the manager, the recurring issues with drink orders and uncomfortable service experiences have left me hesitant to return. It's a shame because I believe this place has lots of potential if improvements in service and consistency were addressed.

For those seeking a more adult-oriented atmosphere, you may want to consider other options. It's a shame to see such a beautiful venue not fully reaching its potential due to...

You would think that on a quiet Friday night—with plenty of staff and only a few tables occupied—the waitstaff would take the opportunity to go above and beyond for the guests who did show up. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

My lady and I sat on the back patio hoping to enjoy a simple beer flight. Despite there only being three other tables outside, we were completely ignored for 15 minutes. No greeting, no water, no acknowledgement. I eventually went inside to the bar to try to place our order and let the bartender know we were waiting on the patio. Instead of helping, I was told I needed to wait for the waitress to come to us.

I returned outside and waited another 10 minutes—still nothing. When the waitress finally came out, she checked in with the other tables and once again completely bypassed ours without a word or even eye contact.

This isn’t just a one-off. I’ve been here before for happy hours with clients, and the service has consistently ranged from mediocre to poor. After this most recent experience, I won’t be returning to this location, and I’m now questioning whether I’ll visit any Flying Saucer location in the future.

It’s a shame. The concept is great, the beer selection is solid, but the service culture—from waitstaff to management—clearly needs to be completely reset. On a Friday night with a near-empty patio with a lake view, there’s probably a reason for that—and it's not the beer. It’s the service.

Owners and investors should look at the revenue of the location, consider the great real estate they're sitting on, look at the profitability, and if it's not in line with the profits they hope to make, they should first suspect management, then waitstaff. Is it time to...