Joshua Tree Saloon — Restaurant in Joshua Tree

Warning: Male staff disregard female safety. My family of 8 visited the Saloon for my dad's 60th birthday, excited by good reviews. Two of my sisters, who are vegan, brought their own meals since the Saloon lacks vegan options. We had a few drinks and enjoyed some music before being seated for dinner. The waitress, who was very nice, politely informed my sisters that outside food wasn’t allowed, but they could eat in the patio area. The remaining 6 of us stayed inside in the dining/bar area. As a business owner I understand the food policy in the dining area. We had no issues with them eating on the Patio.

About 20-30 minutes later, my sisters called us, hysterical and crying. They informed us that a male employee had come out to the patio, told them they had to leave the premises due to having outside food, and escorted them into the parking lot. My sisters, in their early 20s, were understandably uncomfortable and didn’t feel safe standing up to him. The rest of us were inside, unaware of what was happening.

When we found out, we spoke to our waitress and then a manager. The waitress, who was vegetarian, apologized, saying it was wrong for any male staff to escort young females into the parking lot. However, the manager defended the employee, citing the no outside food policy. I understand this policy, but the issue is the way it was handled. The male employee should have notified us, knowing my sisters were part of our party inside. What if something had happened to my sisters in the parking lot? This could have ended very badly, especially considering we were at a bar with many intoxicated people. Imagine if my sisters we're attacked or worse in the parking lot.

Additionally, why didn't the employee simply ask them to put the food away or hold onto it until they left? Why kick two young females out for a small issue after the waitress said they could eat on the patio? It’s concerning that my sisters were forced outside instead of finding a safer solution. Despite our group spending over $400 on drinks and dinner, this is how the Saloon treats their large parties. I'll never be returning, and I urge others to think twice before visiting

Just to re-cap party of 8. Kicks out 2 young females in our group unbeknownst to us at the time. Male employee didn't even bother to walk into the dinning area to tell the remaining 6 of us that he forced my younger sisters out in the parking lot. Younger sisters call us crying. This is by far the worst experience I've had at...

Okay so we got here and parked in the front, but the front is not really the front, right. So we walked to where the entrance should be and a random stranger told us the entrance is further back and pointed a direction we followed which was really confusing. There were no clearly marked signs so it was like umm a movie I guess. A labyrinth movie. So we get to the "entrance" which is outdoor seating and its freezing out and no servers anywhere to be seen. I ask a random stranger who was looking at a menu like hey whats up have you been here before, can we eat inside, like? He said he was going to take the food to his car. An employee showed up well after 5-7 minutes later and we were relieved after shivering our buns off and hungry that there was indoor seating all the way back by where we parked, but like, inside..we all walked inside; me, my toddler, the pleasant strangers. It was extremely crowded. Unpleasantly crowded. We got sat at some tiny awkward tables in the middle of the restaurant. I had no where to set my purse so had to eat over my purse with my nice purse in my lap..we ordered the sampler platter which was a bunch of fried foods for $17. The server left my drink sitting at the bar for quite some time and I just watched it sit there after our food was already delivered. The service was lacking and the food was basic. Overpriced. Then the server who came back from her break when she handed us the bill it went up by $6.85 after I gave her my card and i had to tell her we didn't order a burger patty with our appetizer sampler. There was a lot of lack of attention to our needs and service and it just had that rushed overcrowded feeling of pay and get out. Not my style but to each his own. I wouldn't go back. I go out to eat for good food, good service and a nice atmosphere and this ticked zero of those boxes. There's way better places close by that will pay attention to you and serve good food and put...

Decided to have dinner here tonight. We were seated right away and our waitress, Alicia came right over to ask if we were ready to order. I ordered a drink and said we still needed a few minutes to look at the menu. Alicia then said something I didn't hear so I asked her to repeat herself. That's when the attitude started and it went downhill from there. When I was able to hear her after she repeated she needed a credit card to open a tab. I was a little confused and told her we would be eating dinner and not just having drinks and we were paying in cash. She then said it didn't matter and she could not serve us without having an open tab on a credit card and that included if we were only ordering food. Still confused I asked if they were cashless and only accepted cards? If looks could kill I would be dead because this lady was glaring at me like she wanted to murder me. I took out a $100 dollar bill and asked her to open the tab on that and she said no, credit card only with the rudest most condescending tone you can imagine. By this time I was over it and decided to leave. I got up and told her she was rude and she said she was just trying to explain the rules. I told her she was just a rude a$$hole and needed a lesson in customer service. Her ugly attitude matched her deplorable customer service skills. On our way out another employee let us know that this waitress is known for having a horrible attitude and has done the same thing to other customers and staff. If they are cashless restaurant that's fine, I have no problem with that. My beef is with ridiculous attitude and inability to communicate without being jerk. Why management would allow this to happen to anyone one time let alone as a regular occurrence is a little mind-boggling. Definitely will not be back and will tell everyone I know about...