Black Stag Brewery & Pub — Restaurant in Lawrence

It was a Friday at 5:00 so we decided to do dinner and a show. In the past the Black Stag has had a really good Happy Hour, so we decided to go there. We were waited on immediately by a server named, Chris. I ordered an India Pale Lager and the Happy Hour Nachos. The Menu said that all pints were $3. We then decided to also order the Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi Cabanera. We had the Cajun Shrimp Pasta a couple of weeks earlier and it was fabulous. The beer was excellent and the Nachos came out in about 5 minutes. The nachos were obviously made with grocery store materials. The jalapenos were more of a relish and the cheese was canned liquid cheese. When our Nachos were eaten, they removed our dirty plates, I had no silverware. When taking away our plates the server asked if I wanted another beer. I asked if the India Pale Lager is on Happy Hour. He said no. I asked which ones were on Happy Hour and he said that Happy Hour had ended. I looked at my iPhone and it said 5:48. I said, its still short of 6:00 and he said, it was 6:00 on “bar time so Happy Hour ended.” Our Scampi came out about 15 minutes later and our server had warned us that the Gluten Free pasta takes a bit longer. It was totally delicious except it needed a little salt for our taste. Our server asked if we had everything we needed and asked, “you got silverware? Good.” Then disappeared. So I grabbed silverware from another table. It was a scarcely attended restaurant, so this was not hard to do. After a few bites, we decided to get some salt hoping that our server would come by to check on us. After 5 minutes, I decided to walk the restaurant to find some salt, but there was no server or bartender to be found. So I found some salt and pepper at a table near the patio. It wasn’t until we had completely finished our meal that our server returned from never never land to ask if we needed anything. We said no and he handed us our bill in lightening quick fashion. I wonder whether our server secretly is a shareholder in the Free State Brewery across the street and he is trying to chase people over there. Well, he succeeded with us. So the bottom line is this. The Happy Hour is a ruse. There really isn’t one. The pints are regular price and the Happy Hour food is Meh. But the Gluten Free pasta is really good. So if you are a Gluten Free eater, come for the pasta, but don’t expect...

We went to the bar to see the bartender for seating. Were told it was ok to sit on the patio and a server would be right with us. After waiting at least 20 minutes, I went back into the restaurant and asked for glasses so we could have some water while we waited for someone to come take our order. The bartender got glasses but instead of giving them to me, set them on the back counter and proceeded to argue with another employee while I was standing there. Finally, she gave me the glasses, I took them to our table, and accessed the wait staff's pitchers. The employee the bartender argued with came out onto the patio and smoked a cigarette right next to another table and beside the entrance to the restaurant. Completely disgusting. After another 15-20 minutes we went back in to see the bartender as we still hadn't had anyone come by our table at all.

There were other wait staff coming and going around us, but they completely ignored us and tended to their own tables. I understand that we weren't their table, but if you see someone waiting for a long time, and you care at all, you at least come over and say you're sorry it's taking so long and then let management know there's a situation.

FINALLY.... a waiter came to the table. He was apologetic, kind, and a good server. The food was nothing special, but it was fine.

I understand, in these times, restaurants are understaffed and the servers are overworked. I understand. BUT... that also doesn't justify a complete lack of care or professionalism. It doesn't justify having to go into the restaurant twice to ask for service. It doesn't justify a 40 minute wait before we even ordered.

What a disaster but at least we can give some kudos to the poor guy that did wait on our table. He was good, had a lot to do, and was trying his best to take care of his tables. A two star review because the waiter was clearly trying and the...

Maybe it was the time we arrived for dinner, the staff on the shift or, a combination of a lot of things that don't normally accompany an experience here, but this was my first time here and I was pretty underwhelmed.

Our waiter wasn't rude, just morose and inattentive. When we ordered the pretzel appetizer he asked (without much context) if we wanted the single pretzel or plate, we naively said plate thinking a single pretzel appetizer must be meant for one person only. We later learned the plate is different. It does have a pretzel on it at least. Not a clear fault of the restaurants, but a detail that could improve their underwhelming experience.

We ordered two beverages. I cannot recall the cocktail my children's other parent ordered, but it didn't come as described on the menu (at least missing lemon garnish but tasted like it might have been missing the ginger beer too) and I got the Oktoberfest beer. The beer was the one redeemer in the night.

Food was either too bland or too assaulted in their accompanying sauces like Brussel sprouts. The waiter forgot to put in my daughter's kids menu pizza she ordered. When it came out it had cheddar cheese on it. Is that normal? If so, that is gross and should truly be removed or reimagined.

We spent a little over 100 bucks, my daughter didn't touch the pizza, we opted not to take home the leftovers, and the waiter brought a card machine to the table to pay the tab. Is that normal? If so, please consider removing or reimaging. That is extremely unpleasant and feels like a pressure tactic to receive higher tips. We purposely undertipped, partially because of the inattentiveness, but mainly because of that.

Overall, I would save your time and money and go to a different brewery...