Flanagan's Ale House — Restaurant in Louisville

A friend and I stopped in Sunday about 5pm to get a bite to eat. We walked through the bar to sit out back. When we walked by we saw a server talking with 2 gentlemen sitting out there. We waited 10 minutes and then my friend went in to see if there was service outside. He was given 1 menu and told someone would be right out. We waited another 5 minutes and was about to leave when the same young lady appeared with 2 beers for the other table. She then stopped by our table to take our drink order. 1 ice tea, 1 glass of water. She stood and asked my friend 3 times if we wanted an appetizer, we declined 3 times. We told her we knew what we wanted to eat and she said ok. I ordered the beercheese Philly no mushrooms and sweet potato fries. My friend ordered the beer cheese Philly and asked that it be spicy and onion rings. After we ordered it was another 5 minutes before we got 2 teas. We asked the server for the water at which time she started really pushing the draft beer. My friend said no another 3 times and then finally agreed to a draft if he could get his water. I don't know how long it took to get the beer and the water because I was busy trying to find out where all the ants where coming from. They were actually climbing up on the table. I wanted to leave for sure at that point but my friend talked me into staying for our food. Another server brought our food since our server was busy taking to the other table. I took one bite and knew I had the wrong sandwich. We just exchanged sandwiches and my friend asked for some sauce our server had told him they had. Once our food arrived the flies became unreal. I understand that when you eat out side you have to expect flies, but I couldn't believe the amount that swarmed us. We had to keep everything covered with napkins. I started looking around to see what might have been the source of the flies and that is we saw the 2 nasty trasy cans setting not far from us. I will say the sandwiches were excellent but I don't want to battle flies for my food. After we finished eating we had to find our server to pay so we could leave. I wanted to talk to a manager but needed to regroup before I opened my mouth. One suggestion if you are going to have plants outside why not have plants that help repel flies and such. I can't say I will ever eat there again because there are to many other places in the area.

Joy...

The only reason this gets a 1 star is because it’s the lowest possible option. Myself and my girlfriend went here for a afternoon meal. We sat on the patio area. Many servers walked past us without acknowledgement. We waited nearly 10 minutes for a menu. When we told the server we wanted water to start and would order alcoholic drinks in a few she (mixed female) rolled her eyes and walked away. After the waters came we ordered drinks. 5 minutes later she came back and said she forget what we ordered so we had to tell her again. She then said “oh yeah we’re out of both of those.” We had to look again to order. We were there nearly 20-25 minutes before we got our drinks. We ordered our food and it was fine. The waitress never asked how the food was. When I told her I wanted the bill and not my drinks you could tell she was frustrated. She brought my bill. It sat on the table for nearly 15-20 minutes before she came and got it. We almost got up and left. I instead waited as I did pretty much my whole visit. I paid my bill and left. The next day I noticed that the waitress added a extra $6 tip for herself. I immediately called the location and asked to speak to the manager. I was told they weren’t available. They took my name and number. About 3 hours later I received a call from the location looking for Caroline. My name is obviously not Caroline. The same number called me right back and explained Caroline was another person looking to make a complaint. The manager told me since I didn’t keep my receipt there was nothing she could do. I complained even more and she said “I’ll look into it.” 2 days later and I still have not received a response. This is the absolute worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The from servers to the manager they could care less. I’m sure this isn’t the 1st time the server has added...

Good food, good beer. It's really what most people look for out of a gastro-pub. While Flanagan's is a Louisville staple, it seems as though there has been a pretty big change of staff (and maybe management), and the business has a lot of the reliability that made this place my go-to watering hole. Service is by no means bad all the time; it has just been hit or miss. I went years without having a single negative experience here, but recently I have had a string of bad luck. Waiting over 40 minutes for a beer at a bar is unacceptable no matter how you slice it, especially if you are sitting at the bar and have had to remind the bartender multiple times. When a bartender says "Oh, sorry, I forgot," once, I wouldn't think twice. After the second and third time though, I just don't see a good excuse for that, especially since this happened on more than one occasion.

Edit: Flanagans, I regret to say, just keeps on its nose dive. After a particularly infamous Trivia Night, Flanagans just isn’t even on my radar despite my love for their Thursday pint nights. It’s just an old bar typically sporting the usual bar flies and regulars. With the sour reputation it has built itself and regularly changing owners, I really just feel like Flanagans is in the midst of their death rattles. It would be nice to see this place change for the better, but I’m not so sure we are going...