Punch Bowl Social — Restaurant in Indianapolis

We had a reservation for 8 for my 30th birthday bash on Saturday 8/27 for 9:15p (which only 7 were able to make it). Before we got sat down at our table, a couple of waitresses could be seen bothered and upset about our large group, and were refusing to take us. Eventually though we were seated as this was already a planned dinner and not just a random group showing up from nowhere. However, our waitress (can’t remember her name, but was short with brunette hair and had on a colts shirt that night) was clearly upset and annoyed to have us in her section.

When she came to our table she didn’t even bother to introduce herself initially, she just snatched our empty mason jars from the table and filled them with tap water from the sink behind our table (without any ice). In addition, when one of us asked for a straw, went to the opposite side of the table from where the person who asked for it was and threw the two straws at us.

Eventually, after taking our order and bringing it out to our table, she came back to tell us that she got cut (sent home) and would be replaced with another waitress. It took them a minute to introduce our new waitress, Abby; then she also disappeared and didn’t come back until we were done with our food and ready for our checks. We paid but went to make a reservation for the karaoke room at around 11p for 12:30a and left.

At 11:50p we came back and asked the guy who helped us reserve a karaoke room, if it would be okay to move our reservation up sooner, if there was space. At first he seemed hesitant but put us in a room anyways. In my opinion, if there were issues and couldn’t accommodate us because we had initially reserved it for 12:30a, he should’ve spoken up and said that he couldn’t do that, or that he there was no availability until our scheduled time, instead he took us to our karaoke room, and informed us that our waiter/waitress would be with us shortly.

During the entire hour that we booked for the karaoke room, no one showed up. We asked TWICE if anyone would be tending to us and was met with annoyance and eye rolls. At the end of our hour, only THEN were we told that they were backed up and they couldn’t tend to us, and that we would have to go to the bar ourselves to get our drinks.. this was something that should’ve been communicated with us PRIOR to the end of our session, not at 2 mins to spare. For this inconvenience, we were offered an additional 30mins for free, but at that point our group had had enough of the poor service and the disrespect, so we ended up paying for our time used and leaving.

This was for my 30th birthday and by no means, in the entirety of our visit to punch bowl social, was our group disrespectful to any of the staff members. Not even when we were treated poorly. Our group was raised to be well behaved and have respect for others. But yet we were met with rudeness from all that interacted with us. Highly disappointed and made for an upsetting birthday experience. Especially one that I had been looking forward to for some time.

EDIT: When our food was handed out, one of our group members didn’t receive her meal. She was told that there was something wrong with her salmon but didn’t know what it was, that all she’d been told was that there was something wrong with it. Within a couple of minutes she came back and was told “never mind, we’ll still como your meal” but when she had a bite of our group member said it tasted off and it had a stronger smell of...

We came here stoked about the great reviews... This is legitimately the absolute worst service and management I've ever witnessed at a restaurant. My party of four came in, sat down (in a restaurant that was over half empty), and were informed that the wait for the food would be a bit longer than normal. My whole group having worked in food service before, we totally understood and verbalized this. We ordered our food straightaway -- 2 hours later, we're sitting there, table blank. At this point, we've watched waitresses stand by and chitchat, kitchen members stand by and chitchat, and the manager chug down multiple cans of Liquid Death like a frat kid and laugh it up with the front staff while the four or so remaining tables stayed empty and hungry.

Finally, a member of my party went over and mentioned our lack of any food to the manager. He told us he'd clear our bill and provide us our food in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later, we're still sitting there and the manager and waitress are gone again. When we DO find our waitress, she checks with the kitchen again and tells us our meals have been cancelled.

Cancelled. When we were told we'd be given our food 15 minutes ago, after ordering nearly 3 hours ago at this point.

At this discovery, all of our patience went out the window. We told her we definitely didn't cancel our orders -- then the kitchen staff said they're prioritizing our orders -- and 20 minutes later we're still. Sitting.

At this point, I went up there and asked for our food. I didn't see our names on any of the receipts anywhere. The cook(? I think?) asked me what table I was sitting at. I told him. He said "We're trying to serve a whole restaurant, we'll get to it." I told him I understand, but we've been here for 3 hours and we were told our food would be served now 30 minutes ago by the manager. He goes "Oh, we're packing those meals to go."

I said, "To go? We never said that."

"Well, that's what we were told."

Okay, fine, works for us. We didn't want to be there longer than we had to either.

At this point (9:15pm), I told him my brother was getting lightheaded, we were feeling sick, and that 3 hours is more than enough time to at least get one or two meals out to one of 4 or 5 tables that were seated out of 20+ in the restaurant at that time.

The kicker? When we finally received our to-go meals, turns out our waitress had put in several aspects of our orders wrong to begin with. We understand she was likely overwhelmed and she doesn't run the kitchen, but my word, that could've been remediated had we been served even at least 2 hours prior. She did offer us a free round of shots, though; which we politely declined due to, well, being so hungry we were lightheaded and our stomachs were completely empty and had nothing to soak those lovely shots up.

I've been on Google for almost a decade and have never left a bad review as I try to understand every situation when it happens, but my word...I wish I could leave 0 stars for service. This restaurant shouldn't even be considered whenever anyone visits Indianapolis, unless they have a whole half a day set aside. Honestly the worst food service my party and I have ever experienced in our lives. Save yourself the trouble (and time...so much time). Hopefully the restaurant pursues better management, at the very...

The Punch Bowl Social's New Year's Eve event was disappointing and did not live up to expectations. The event was advertised on Everbite for $40 in advance (plus a service fee) or $60 at the door. According to the event description, attendees would receive a Jell-O shot upon entry, a champagne toast at midnight, and be able to search for hidden prizes around the bar. My friend and I purchased tickets for a double date and were eager to attend.

Upon arrival, we received the Jell-O shot, which was lackluster and resembled a simple Jello cup with little to no alcohol. We spent some time exploring and looking for the advertised "hidden prizes," but were unable to find any. After sitting at a table for over an hour with no service or attention from the staff, we went to the bar to place our order. It took approximately 20 minutes for the bartender to take our order, and another 15–20 minutes to receive our drinks.

We tried to make the most of the evening, hoping to enjoy the champagne toast. However, when we attempted to order a second round of drinks at the bar, we stood there for over 30 minutes without any acknowledgment from the staff. I even approached the service area in an attempt to get assistance, but was ignored until a staff member approached and told me I could not stand there. When I asked if I could receive service, the staff member instructed me to return to the bar and walked away.

I complied and stood at the bar for another 30 minutes before finally being addressed. While I was able to close my tab, the bartender ignored my friend, who had been waiting patiently next to me. He ended up waiting another 15 minutes before we decided to leave before midnight and return to one of our homes.

The overall experience was not worth the money spent and was marred by poor service and unprofessional staff. I would not recommend this event to anyone and suggest finding an alternative venue for...