Barrister's at The Esquire Hotel Gastonia — Restaurant in Gastonia

My friends and business partner live in Gastonia. We’ve gone to Barrister’s many times. The last visit was truly the last. My friend and I were verbally assaulted by the staff. We arrived around 1 pm and were there all day, outside in an area that is open to the public. We ordered throughout and told the staff we would be there all day. Around 4 pm a server asked when we were leaving and suggested we move to the other side of the large EMPTY patio because our table was in the area where a community group would be meeting soon. If the area was reserved they shouldn’t have sat us there. We found this odd because there were MANY areas they could have sat this group, so we pushed back, as this wasn’t our problem and the server shouldn’t have shared this with us. The restaurant closed, we were still outside. One of the servers is always rude and when we were paying I told her our main server had said they would be taking the brussel sprouts (an item we had ordered many times) off our ticket because they were burnt. She replied, “so, the crispy brussel sprouts were crispy”. It took me a moment to comprehend her audacity, inserting herself into a matter that had already been resolved and insulting her customer as she cleared the uneaten sprouts… I replied, “no, they were burnt.” Several bad things happened. The last straw was the dishwasher, a tall young boy, came out of the restaurant, walked towards our table, verbally assaulting us. He was comfortable doing so. No one stopped him. He came straight at us, speaking loudly and aggressively to two paying customers, two females, alone, no one else around. He asked if we were going to leave. He said, “are you spending the night, or are you leaving.” Sarcastically, of course. I started gathering my things. I am a person of color, he is a white male, my friend is presents as a white female, but is also a person of color. He was there to threaten us and history proves these scenarios don’t end well. At first, we said nothing, as we were stunned. He told us we were terrible people. He used profanity. When my friend replied to him, he insulted her and called her names. The situation was escalating and I told my friend we should leave. As we were walking out we talked to our main server. She was apologetic, as she was the only person in the restaurant that asked the dishwasher to leave us alone while he cursed at us. She made excuses for his behavior, saying the staff was tired. This had nothing to do with us. We paid our bill. They could have cleared the dishes earlier than they did. We were not inside the restaurant, but on the patio that is accessed by two public streets, and this is a hotel. Technically, it doesn’t close. We weren’t delaying the staff. They just wanted us to leave. We’ve made a few attempts to talk with management and the owners. As far as we know, nothing was done. When my friend’s husband called the hotel/ restaurant after we left, the manager was sarcastic and she basically laughed at him. No one has followed up on our complaints. We were refunded the cost of our meals, but that’s little compensation. I am 49 years old, and never in my life have I been verbally assaulted while patronizing a restaurant, no less than by a child whose job is dishwasher. This happened months ago. I’m still in shock. It was traumatizing. No one has apologized to me. I will never go there again. I wrote this review because others should know what happened to us and how it was never truly addressed. We do a lot of business in Gastonia. It’s hard to comprehend what happened and I hate that we cannot go to this restaurant again. There is no justification for...

We dined around 6:30pm for dinner on a Monday. The atmosphere of the dine room setting is very classy, sophisticated, and. Elegant. The bar looks very Metropolitan and welcoming. Very nice environment setting for large party groups, young couples, and business meetings. The. Front desk and wait staff are very hospitable, warm, and professionally efficient with serving and providing information when asking about details on the menu, although my mother stated that there seems to be a new waitress every time she dines here.

Our server was Alyssa, and she gave us a wonderful experience, and the wait times for our food from start to finish were spot on. They have a decent list of wines whether you want by the glass or by the bottle, as well as a decent list of reputable beers. Although the glasses they served our wine and beer was odd; I felt like we were drinking out of a candle vase.

This was my mother's second time dining, and she was told the head Chef was not present tonight, with that said, we were somewhat disappointed with the food we ordered.

My mother ordered the lamp chops with broiled Brussels sprouts, and I ordered the seafood pasta: scallops, crab with asparagus and egg noodles in a light cream sauce, for our main dish. I ordered the house salad and my mother ordered their 3 dip medley: chicken salad, pimento cheese, and crab with toasted potato chips.

Overall, the food tasted good, but is it worth $23.00 per plate. Our main dishes were served in a luke warm temperature instead of hot served. My mother is a gourmet cook with cooking experience and a cosmopolitan New Yorker, and for my mother to ask for the salt and pepper is a bad sign that the food was too light in seasoning. I enjoyed my seafood pasta dish, but my mother noticed the seafood part of my dish didn't have a fresh smell. My mother stated that the potato chips that came with the dip wasn't freshly toasted and cold. My salad was very good, but I felt the house dressing was too light, even for my taste. We enjoyed our meals and the experience overall but paying $88.00 dollars with tip for what we ordered, we felt was a bit too pricey, I've had better pasta tasting dishes at the Olive Garden to be honest.

I really do not enjoy giving negative reviews, but for Gastonia, I feel it's very expensive, and have dined at better places for much less. That said based on tonight's dining experience, my mother's first time dining here when the head Chef: Ryan Allen was there, my mother said the food was excellent.

Hope this gives everyone a 2 perspective point of view from a mother and son dining experience. Whether you are dining for lunch or dinner, the prices are the same, and I believe their menu is not a set menu, so be aware that their menu changes.

If you do decide to dine here, call ahead to ask if the Head Chef: Ryan Allen is working that night you plan to dine out to make your experience better, and be sure to carry a fat wallet.

Everything served must be cage free and organic, and farm raised meats, ugh. My mother stated that on her last dining experience, most of their main dishes were around $15.00, but it seems they raised their prices, and reduced their food portions.

My mother felt the echo sound in the seating area was loud, pretty much hear everyone's conversations due to the tall ceiling acoustics, which can't be helped.

In conclusion, Everyone's dining experience is different based on who you dine with and who is the Chef. You can decide yourself if its worth it. Thanks for reading and...

Barristers. I walked into the establishment at 5pm. welcomed by the hostess and seated immediately. Initially I was very Underwhelmed. Walk in to what appears to be a small floor area with seating for less than 50. They have very plain decor, yet sturdy tables. Then I sat back and looked up. The windows spanning the length of the ceiling are architectural wonders from days gone past. They tie the decor together and make the interior of the resturant. Now the Wait staff.. very prompt. I told her it was my first time, be gentle... she then explained everything was farm to table, and they even listed the providers. Driving, unfortunately I can not sample their bar wares. Chilled water was served from a stopper topped bottle. I went with unsweet tea, as usual. It was smooth and very fresh, no bitterness and no sediment. My waitress kept my glass full, even through two bottles of tea. She recieved plenty of exercise in this endeavor. I selected the pork belly as the appetizer. It had a good flavor to the slice. I would recommend pre slicing the serving before leaving the kitchen. The sauce, with the cooked radishes [or root vegetables not exactly sure of the type, slightly pickled] and sweet potato puree set the flavor off. Main course was the rib eye. Good serving size, medium rare, done perfectly with just a bit of char as if it had been cooked at high heat, such as a blackened dish. Flavor was fresh, as only can be had by an organic meat, farm raised without the trash factory farms pump through them. The sides were a homemade mashed potato dish, that did not last long at all. It had no real extra flavors, just the real potato and butter flavor of granny's mashed potatos. Did have to add a bit of salt on that one. They were topped with grilled mushrooms. I am no fungus expert, but I would say they were baby portobellos.. it was firm and delicious. I selected the brulled butterscotch pudding. Without attempting to get to graphic, I will say it was an orgasm in ones mouth. Sweet without being overly so, with that crispy coating of toasted sugar on top. the coffee was a bit lacking. It could have been a bit stronger, but this is a fat truck driver speaking of coffee. If I drank noncoffee (cream and sugar) perhaps it would have satisfied me a bit more. They provided a small picture of cream, with both brown and white sugar cubes for the coffee. Quite classy in the service, and the coffee was served the old fashioned way, with a saucer. Now, once again, I want to state, the coffee is personal preference of a hard core coffee drinker.. Overall, it was an experience comparable to the Webb custom kitchen, Ruth Kris, or any of the finer resturants...