Proof & Cooper BBQ and American — Restaurant in Johnson City

Had lunch there today. Was standing at front check in a good 5-8 minutes with no one even acknowledging us. At least two servers looked right at us and made no attempt to even offer a "we'll be right with you". In that time two more couples came in behind us. Still no acknowledgements. I finally went into the restaurant to find someone and a nice young lady was getting ready to seat us when a woman who eventually became our server Bonnie M (based on our final check slip) stopped her and said there was a list. Bonnie M looked at list then seated another family that had been waiting. Then Bonnie returned to the front and wrote down our name stating would be a little while to seat us and then left. At that time the other couples who came in behind us turned around and left out the front door. With that we sat down at bench in front area and observed several people seated in front area near entrance. Looking towards back area only saw two couples seated. About 3-4 minutes passed before a gentleman greeted us and asked us to follow him towards back seating area where appeared Bonnie M was only server. At least two other parties were seated around us before Bonnie M came over to take a drink and food order. She did ask how we were and I said fine and asked her how about you she said fine. Bonnie M took our drink order lemonade and Arnold Palmer. Food order was grilled chicken sandwich and double barreled burger. We then saw Bonnie M take and return with drinks and food for other tables that were seated after us before we even received the drinks in clear plastic cups with no explanation and appearance that all others had tall red regular cups. Others ate and left by the time our warm not hot food finally arrived. Bonnie M didn't check on us for refills or even to offer a "sorry your food is coming" or something to indicate what was delaying us receiving our orders. Once food arrived at table Bonnie M took Arnold Palmer plastic cup and stated she would top me off and stated "oh and we finally have a washed cup to give you ". She returned with a regular red cup of the drink but still left a clear plastic cup for my spouse with no refills. Food was not enjoyable and Bonnie M never once asked or checked if everything was ok. Once we finished all of a sudden Bonnie M was quick to offer us the check and waiting to receive payment. She returned quickly and then said a quick thank you and left. While I can understand short staffing due to pandemic and giving a local small business some grace and patience this was completely unpleasant. I was tempted to ask for a manager to discuss but honestly just wanted to get out of there. All in all would have hoped that customer service was a priority but at no point did we feel like we were wanted or served. Can only hope management or owners can take these reviews seriously and assure other customers are treated better....

UPDATE: Consider me impressed with management. Kaylee made every effort to soothe things. I appreciate her willingness to communicate, ask questions, and her understanding. In the end she offered an apology, promise to speak with staff, and refund. While she stands firmly on her belief that this was not an instance of discrimination; she still attempted to understand my point of view and my feelings. That kind of consideration goes a long way. We were promptly greeted and seated by very responsible children. I thought this was a good sign but things took a turn after. We ordered drinks and it took a while to receive them.. Ok...no biggie. We were able to order food and that was the extent of the positive experience. It took them way to long to serve us. Clearly my African American family was not welcomed here. After watching 3 tables who came in AFTER us be served and finish most of their food we received BBQ nachos. We continued to wait for two burgers, wings, and a BLT. We noticed another table being served that came in about 30 mins after us and the other tables were requesting to go containers. We become annoyed and had to wave down the waitress to ask for the check since she never checked on us; at which point one of the cooks made rude remarks and begin staring us down. The only reason they cared that we were leaving was because " they were just plating the food". So we told them to pack it up. There was no attempt to resolve anything, they wanted us out of there and we wanted to be out of there.This is not an establishment that I would revisit. Food was not worth it; wings were sitting in grease, burgers were ok, no complaints on the BLT, fries were good, and the BBQ nachos...

Our experience was far from great. The server we had never told us her name so I really can’t leave it here. But it started with her being extremely short with us, we ordered some water and my husband ordered a beer. We started off with deviled eggs, which were par. I asked for silverware and plates, never got them so we sat our eggs on napkins. Next we ordered, my husband got chicken fried steak, I ordered the Santa Fe chicken wrap and our son got the Wednesday special spaghetti and meatballs. It easily took 35 minutes for our food to come out, after telling us 15 minutes prior our food would be right out. My husband mentioned to the server that he still hadn’t gotten his beer, her response was “oh I’m still waiting on it”. But yet we sat next to the bar and saw plenty of drinks going out. Anyways our food came, chicken fried steak was cold, spaghetti and meatballs were plain noodles with sauced meatballs. I got some wrap with fried chicken, pickles and lettuce. I asked her is this the Santa Fe wrap and she replied, “yes ma’am, I can get your more bean relish to add to it”. She flat out lied to my face! I looked at the menu to make sure I wasn’t tripping out. The Santa Fe wrap was grilled chicken, avocado, corn, black beans, cheese, tortilla chips and Chipotle ranch. NONE of those were in the wrap at all! Worst experience we’ve ever had and we have both been in the...