Fainting Goat Pub — Restaurant in Livingston

I’m writing to express my disappointment with a recent experience at The Fainting Goat on Monday night. My party and I are regulars and typically enjoy our visits, though we’ve noticed the food can be hit or miss — we've only ever sent something back once. We were actually in last week and had one of the best meals there in a while and we told the bartender it was fabulous.

This time, we ordered smash burgers from the late-night menu, which clearly stated that they come with fries. However, we were served potato chips instead. When we questioned it, we were told the menu had changed and that we had been given an outdated version. We ended up ordering fries and paying extra for them, despite the fact that the original menu listed them as included. As a chef for 20+ years I understand that food can run out etc. This was not the case they are double charging for an item. If you have run out of an item the professional thing to do is inform the costumers that the item is unavailable and ask if they still want the item or if they would like to change the order. It’s that simple. I asked another waitstaff and they informed me that the kitchen had been doing this consistently for a week at least and that many people are upset not just me. This wasn’t a one off, this isn’t just a Karen. I paid for a burger and fries and then had to pay again for fries. It is quite clever really, have people think fries are coming but it’s just potato chips and they have to order a side. That turns that 13$ burger and fries in to a 18$ burger and fries with a handful of potato chips

I went back in and asked to speak with a manager to voice my concern, mainly to ensure this doesn't continue to happen to other customers. Instead of a constructive conversation, I was met with sarcasm — the manager asked if I was “the one crying about [my] smash burger.” I clarified that my issue wasn’t about the burger itself, but about being misled by the non existent “new” menu and charged extra for an item that should have been included. If you were out of fries how could we order them……..the table next to us also had to order a side of fries with the smash burger.

When I mentioned that this could be considered false advertising or even bait-and-switch — which are serious concerns — the manager told me I could come in for a refund and just never come back. He also accused us of “always having something to complain about,” which is simply untrue. But not the point, if my food is burned yes I am going to complain, as any other person would.

This experience was not only frustrating but completely unprofessional. I wanted to bring this to your attention in the hopes that it can be addressed properly. Misleading menus and/or just plain lying and rude customer service are unacceptable —I find it highly amusing that your response shows the world how unprofessional this company really is. And as a buisness owner I would never dream of having the absolute audacity to be that ignorant and dishonest to a customer. I am well aware that my review may never go far but as long as one person has seen it in a small town word spreads. I am not looking for the downfall of the Goat, I want you to do better and there is always room for improvement in every aspect of food service for everyone in...

Came in 2/1 around 615pm.

First time here and may be the last. Several issues we had, mostly with quality of our customer service and our waitress was rather unprofessional.

Angie was our server and did not address us in a friendly positive attitude upon arrival. Generally there is a "Hello" or a "Welcome, my name is such and such". But not here. And after my wife and I ordered, she in somewhat of a rude tone asked "and what does the kid want", gesturing to our 2 year old son. How about maybe trying "and would you like anything for the little one". Not "the kid".

My wife's burger came out nearly raw. And not medium rare. Raw. Would hardly say it was even warm in the center. Took about 15 minutes, with Angie walking by several times and not once asking how the food was, I finally caught her attention and asked for a NEW burger, as this one was literally in mushy pieces on the plate. She said of course, took it back, and came out to tell us they were making a new one for us. Which was not the case. They took our original burger, and I'm guessing from the look, stuck in a microwave and it came back out to us almost 10 minutes later, still in pieces, but attempted to be pushed back together. When you mess up a fully prepared part of a meal, and it's wrong, you make a BRAND NEW item. Period.

Throughout our time, which we were there about 1.5hours, not once did Angie ever ask if we would like more water, or even bothered to just take the initiative to top it off, as my water was empty for nearly an hour by the time we left. If you cannot even do the basic of keeping my water glass filled, either find a new job in which you can do the basic stuff, or at least act like you care about your patrons. If you're not going to notice an empty water glass when you walk by our table over 5 separate times, of course you won't be getting tip. Never came by to ask how our meal was, and waited about 10 minutes after our meal was clearly finished before I had to ask her for the check.

With all that said, if it was a busy night, I get it. But when we arrived, the place wasn't even half full. The food was decent, but the quality of service was dismal at best. Thought about getting dessert, but did not want to have to deal with a non-existent server for another half hour.

We came from Belgrade due to the great reviews, but one thing that's tough to get over and give it another chance is poor service, especially when you are literally in a customer...

After an 11-hour drive from the PNW, and with everywhere else closed, we found ourselves at the fainting goat. It wasn’t overly busy at the time, and we were pointed over to some seats by a host/bartender.

The blonde server with the overly cut bangs, happily acknowledged each table on either side of us while actively ignoring our table. We gave it some time before I flagged her down and asked “Can I ask for some menus?”. She grunted something and never came back but did manage to enthusiastically tend to all the surrounding tables. I’ve never encountered a server so devoted to making people feel unwelcome. I had no idea what we could have done to offend her.

I then realized all the other tables were locals, and some even seemed to take pity on us by offering their menus. It was a really sad moment for me when my 70+ diabetic father-in-law asked “I wonder why she can’t serve our table” and I had to tell him “It’s not that she can’t, it’s that she won’t.”

Eventually a very friendly server found us and took our order. Before I knew he would be serving us, I planned to order something very quick and easy for the rude server if she ever came back for us. None of us got too adventurous, I stuck with a salad and the guys had fish and chips; probably also ordering based on ease for the server. The person who ended up serving us is a Godsend to employers. Those are people who save business, and I’ll just never understand the culture behind miserable people like the blonde bangs server.

Being from the PNW, we have a lot of excellent fresh fish options, so it wasn’t like what we ordered was novel to us. We knew we couldn’t ask for much based on the experience, so we didn’t really have a chance to find out how delightful the cuisine might have been.

If you’re from out of town, hungry, and find yourself at the fainting goat with that server, leave and go to the Mint, go to the Office, or just go hungry. It’s not worth...