The Harding Tavern — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

I used to love coming here. The habanero wings were my favorite, but I had a bad experience that left a bad taste in my mouth. This happened back in April, but it's bothered me since. Maybe putting it out there will commense a resolution.

Pre-text: I don't drink alcohol, neither my husband nor I do. For better health, we don't drink alcohol.

On this last occasion, my husband, my sister, her boyfriend, and I all decided to go to The Harding Tavern for dinner. The waitress that took our orders was a fellow young Latina (my sister and I are, too). We ordered food and then ordered our drinks. I said, "May I please have a NON-ALCOHOLIC Bloody Mary?" with an emphasis so loudly on "non-alcoholic" that my sister giggled and made a comment about it. She, on the other hand, ordered a regular Bloody Mary. The waitress then took our orders, walked away, and we waited briefly. When she came back, she put the Bloody Mary's in front of my sister and I and walked away without saying a word. I was a little confused as to why she didn't explain which had alcohol and which didn't. I was nervous, so I asked if my sister could taste mine. She said she couldn't tell if it had alcohol or not. Her boyfriend and even my husband tried it, and all had different guesses as to whether mine or my sister's had alcohol or not. I finally took a small sip and had a bad feeling. When the waitress came back, I asked her which one had alcohol; she matter of fact said that mine was the one with alcohol. I gasped and pushed the drink away from me. "Oh sh*t, I can't drink alcohol." She witnessed that and quickly walked away without a word. I became emotional and quietly teared up as I have been very proud about my year-long sobriety and felt that it was completely tainted in that moment.

When the waitress came back with our wings, she noticed me crying but didn't say anything and walked away once again, which seemed to be consistent in this story. I was hoping she'd apologize, but she didn't say anything. It was incredibly disappointing. My sister took the drink that I had, the one with alcohol, and I put the one with allegedly no alcohol at the end of the table. I didn't want to drink it just in case she messed up the orders altogether. Throughout the dinner, I silently wept as my family consoled me. The waitress completely avoided checking in on our table until the very end.

I was so upset that she didn't say anything about the drink. I never get upset with industry folk as all four of us were industry people, but this was so upsetting that I just sat there quietly and calmly as she cleaned our table with my drink sitting at the very end.

When it was time to get our check, I told my husband that I wanted my drink comped as I didn't drink it, and it would be one step toward making up for the incident. When my husband went up to her and kindly asked to remove the drink, the waitress became defensive. Based on what my husband said when he came back, the waitress kept repeating, "But she drank it, right? She drank it?" He insisted that I didn't drink it. That it was sitting at the edge of the table. At that point, a man, most likely a manager, came up to them, and in Spanish, the waitress explained something to him. My husband only understood a little Spanish but couldn't grasp what they were saying. Ultimately, the manager allowed her to comp the drink, which I was appreciative of, but an apology and a replacement drink initially would've meant a lot more.

Days following, I called the bar on two different occasions, hoping to speak to a manager. I spoke to a nice bartender and explained that I didn't want the waitress to get in trouble, I just wanted management to be aware of what happened and how serious giving alcohol to a person that doesn't drink alcohol could be. For all anyone knows, I could have an allergy or have some serious medical problems. Fortunately, I don't, but it's super unethical to give a sober person alcohol intentionally or not, especially if there isn't an apology that follows.

All this being said....

I got the Asian salad which was good minus the chicken that I didn’t eat cause it was dry. Looked pretty, but something I actually should have taken home to give my pup instead of wasting it. Hindsight is 20/20. The bartenders are only friendly to people they know....otherwise the synthetic dry disingenuous “I’m here cause I have to be demeanor” is overwhelmingly noticeable. But I still tipped because they make good drinks, and they weren’t overtly rude in their approach, more so covert stank attitude. so I valued their one major skill set (drinks).... I’ve lived in Chicago for three years so trust me when I say I know the difference between a more introverted person who is nice versus what I’m describing here. The first time I visited the guy seemed, bothered. He gave me a bad gut feeling. From other reviews, this follows the trend that bartenders here aren’t great when it comes to service or personability , but the table servers are.

There was one guy working who actually WAS GENUINELY nice/warm the first time I ever visited, but he was not my server and was mostly serving tables, occasionally popping up behind the bar to help pass out orders. Weird. Next time I will not sit at the bar, cause I’ve sat at the bar TWICE and both times the bartender was mediocre compared to what many other venues offer.... And that’s being generous...again, ONLY cause their drink skills are bomb is this review getting 4 stars. And the nice man who picked up my coat. Such...

The Harding has come to be one of my favorite stand-by restaurants - it's usually not busy, the food is great, and the drink selection is solid. The wings are a favorite, as are the THT fries. However there are a few bits of beef I have - one, you have to ask for ranch & blue cheese dressing for the wings AND you have to pay like a dollar each for them. Considering that kinda stuff has been free at pretty much every restaurant ever since the invention of buffalo wings, it's pretty disappointing. Very miserly, it doesn't fit with the relaxed vibes. Two, the bar service can be awful - get a table. The servers are super nice and attentive (they always seem to come around just when you need them, like magic), but every time I sit at the bar, I get ignored. Last time I went, I had to wait an hour before the bartender asked me if I wanted to order food, which is kinda crazy, because I asked for a food menu when I got there and was clearly looking it over. Instead he seemed focused on the cash-cow drinkers at the end of the bar - chatting them up, making jokes, getting them cocktails. I shouldn't have to wave money around to get two minutes of attention at the bar. Anyway, to recap, would recommend, get the wings and THT fries, just don't...