R Bar & Patio — Restaurant in Lawrence

I am not the type of person that posts reviews very often good or bad but after reading some of the comments about recent events I feel I need to speak out. I was at RBar on the patio bar where the events started. Three young men came up to the bar and asked to speak to the owner. She owner was the bartender at the time and asked them how he could help them. The guys explained their friend had a service dog and they wanted to let the dog come in. The owner was very kind and apologetic and told them sorry I don't mind if your friend comes in but since I am serving food I can't let any dogs in. The guys then asked about the poster next to the bar that had the Canines and Cocktails for Mondays ad up. The owner then advised yes we welcome dogs on Monday and have a dedicated day to them this is why I have my kitchen closed on Mondays so that I can allow this. The three guys then told him oh ok we totally understand, no big deal. They then order drinks and shots. A little bit of time goes by and then the police arrive, the owner is then asked again to go outside to talk to them and the cops after hearing the explanation agreed with him and they went on their way. I attend this bar frequently and it outraged me to read the comments of the friends of the 3 guys. The accusations of "we were all kicked out" was a complete lie I don't understand that if these guys felt their friend with a disability was being treated unfairly why would you leave him outside while you buy drinks and shots?! This hits home for me because my mom is in a wheelchair, she has been to RBar a few times and loves it. The staff there is very friendly, move quickly when the bar is slammed and have great customer service. There are many times you can be out on the patio and the bartender will come out and grab drinks orders so you don't have to go inside. I have seen many people with disabilities there. I agree in this country we have many places that are not kind to people with disability. I have gone to countless restaurants where my mom is treated like a problem rather than a customer however Rbar is not one of those places. I would like to add a majority of these bad reviews were in response to a guy who wasn't even present tell his Facebook friends to post discouraging reviews in order to publicly shame this bar. I thought when you write a review it's based on your personal experience but unfortunately the bad reviews for this establishment are not from personal experience. I just wanted everybody to hear the facts and not the high school he said/she said drama that is being posted about...

I was at the R Bar & Patio on Saturday night and the post defending the bar owner's actions that night is inaccurate. I was the designated driver for several people associated with this event and was 100% sober so perhaps recall more facts than other people - especially those who were completely unassociated with the events that transpired. Since this post is long, I will start by saying that we are just seeking justice and an apology for our disabled friend who did not instruct us to post anything - we simply care about defending his, and all disabled persons, rights.

The man and his service dog physically went into the bar and were initially told it was okay for them to stay. Then a few minutes later the owner told them they had to leave because dogs weren't allowed, so several of us stood outside with the dog, waiting for this to get resolved so we could all be together. Indeed some people stayed inside to drink, but many of us stayed outside in solidarity with the visually impaired man (the reviewer defending the bar wouldn't know that because he was inside). A couple of the man's friends spoke to the owner and explained that the dog could stay because the Americans with Disabilities Act allows it and that equality for disabled people trumps health codes. The owner still refused to allow the dog inside so we contacted law enforcement and a police officer arrived and explained to the owner that there is a federal law allowing service dogs in public spaces. The owner - who never came outside - told the officer that he couldn't allow it because the health department said he has to shut down the kitchen if animals are inside. The officer did not side with anyone, rather he came outside and told the man he couldn't force the owner to allow the service dog inside because this was merely a civil dispute and there was no physical violence involved.

Please don't believe accusations by the owner that we were ganging up on anyone or that we weren't forthcoming with information about the dog being a service animal. This was an instance of discrimination and the owner needs to come into compliance with federal law if he expects to keep operating or have law-abiding, non-discriminatory patrons...

My friend and I went in for a Saturday night party with a bunch of Law School Students. Naturally we were immediately thrown out because the Owner of R Bar was on an ego trip, and felt it was within his rights to "refuse service" to the blind. Big mistake. I suppose he's never read any cases having to do with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He flatly violated the law and threw us out because "service dogs violate health code." Hath not the blind a seat at the R Bar? Apparently not. In liberal Lawrence Kansas, you'd think people would know better. What did he expect? Did he want my blind friend to walk around without his eyes all...