Thirsty Barrel Taphouse & Grille — Restaurant in Grass Valley

I love the food at Thirsty Barrel. They always have specials and occasionally change out their menu, but my favorites are the loaded brussel sprouts and the tacos a la carte. This place is dog friendly. Unfortunately, this place doesn't allow reservations and is constantly busy. I've been given multiple wait times that are wildly inaccurate and waited over an hour when I would have gone to another place if I had known. They also have a 20% gratuity for parties of 6 or more - which means you might get bad service because they don't need to cater to you to get tips. Had a really bad experience my last time and I'm really sad because I used to really like this place. Their service used to be not bad but lately it's horrendous and I feel cheated for having to pay gratuity of that much on my last trip because it was definitely not deserved. I may not be going here anymore and I certainly won't be bringing my friends from out of town anymore because it was honestly embarrassing. I told the staff it was my worst experience there so far and wasn't offered anything to make it right or even an apology for the bad service. They certainly lost a loyal customer and all the referrals I've given people to come here over the past couple years will now be...

Went here with my family and friends, 7 or 8 of us total. Two teenagers. The rest adults. The place was moderately busy, slow really, compared to South Pine. My girlfriends kids were asked to leave the main room while we were waiting to order. They were sitting quietly along the wall inside. They were not at the bar, nor was there an over 21 sign clearly visible in the room. We waited nearly 45 minutes for our order to even be taken as we were told we could not order unless we sat down yet they made no move to accomodate us. Our group ended up having to split up and eat seperately and half of us weren't allowed to order at the same time as the rest . Me as the designated driver, I ordered a "slice" soda, 7up knockoff, and it was flat. She didn't charge me for a refill which was cool cuz $2.50 for a flat fountain soda is a rip off. I'm not impressed. The staff seemed irritated that we were even there in a group and I felt like we were viewed more as an inconvenience than anything. The food was good and so were the fries. They allow dogs on the patio which is cool. Not much else was cool though. My girlfriend might drag me back cuz beer but I won't be back because I...

I really want to like this place. Every time I say I’ll never go again then talk myself into thinking it was just an off night but the food will be better this time. I’m always wrong. Nothing is god awful (except the wings) but it’s all just really basic and lacking. It would be decent if it was an Applebees or just a really cheap place to eat but it is neither. The burgers are small, they sound so great in the menu but are just average irl. The Mac and cheese is flavorless and often watery. Sometimes I wonder if they made a roux and forgot to add the cheese. The wings are sad, always soggy and festering in a puddle of their own grease. You usually get 2 actual flats and the rest is the gnarliest most tendony drumsticks. The servers are as you’d expect at a place like that, generic tap house server. They get the job done. Yes thirsty barrel is popular and there are lots of good reviews, they definitely cater to a certain demographic that likely prefers mayo salt and pepper as the holy trinity of spices and...