Pigs Eye Pub — Restaurant in Hartford

situated above a soul food place kinda near the Wolf Pack arena, the Pig's Eye has all the trappings expected of good watering hole: smoking patio (though having a salient lack of butt receptacles, pool tables and a good selection of taps and bottles to satisfy the discerning hockey aficionado or run of the mill drunkard. i prefer beer so i started with the Pigs Eye Lager, which is not brewed onsite but boasted of excellent flavor, despite my sense that the tap might benefit from a thorough cleaning.

The clientele is a bag as mixed as the city which claims its incorporation: concert goers, and sports fans as well as the normal motley crew of bar goers ranging from corporate lawyer to neighborhood denizen.

On a Saturday around 7 the locale was lightly attended and featured an 80s music feed of pop, new wave and rock. you could do worse.

The bartender was cool , and judging by his asking for my ID, which hasn't happened in years for me, deals with at least a modicum of young patrons trying to pass off fake identification.

my first impression is favorable, besmirched only by trivial peccadillos.

7.5/10...

I'm giving this place one star solely because it has potential, but the staff's behavior is atrocious. On September 13th, I visited Pig's Eye and witnessed something truly disturbing. I get to pigs eye and make my way upstairs I proceed my way to the bar. While waiting at the bar, I overheard the bartender making incredibly cruel and disrespectful comments to other customers about a customer who was clearly handicapped. She was mocking his disability, specifically the fact that he had no arms, and saying to the other customers at the bar how he wasn't buying his own drinks and should leave if he was broke. To add insult to injury, she then complained about him not tipping her, even going so far as to say that's 'why he got no arms.' This level of callousness and blatant disrespect is beyond unacceptable. The owner has a good spot and I feel like it could be better than any of the other bars in the area if Pig's Eye wants to succeed, it needs to address this toxic behavior immediately. Until then, I cannot recommend this establishment. With employees like that, who needs enemies?...

Pigs eye reflects an experience so poor, it deserves zero stars. The bartenders behavior I believe AJ or LJ was shockingly unprofessional. Not only did she solicit a tip a practice I've never encountered but when I didn't offer one immediately, she resorted to publicly shaming me in front of other customers that were sitting at the bar. This level of rudeness and disrespect is completely unacceptable in the service industry. I strongly advise management to address this bartender's behavior to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Ruined what was supposed to be a great night with my spouse...