BarWare — Restaurant in Memphis

Ok - I can see all the 5 star reviews and people have said good things so maybe this was a tough day for them but this was my experience tonight:

Note: this was during downtown dinging week. Maybe that effected our visit. There was a limited menu of only two options for appizers (soup and salad) and two entrees. The special included an apple thing with ice cream for $21 (ish). $5 drink specials. We sat at the bar.

Pros: the food tasted good, the atmosphere was nice, we were greeted promptly. The drinks were good and were served quickly. These are the only reason I'm giving it a 2 star⭐ instead of a 1 star ⭐.

Cons: SLOW. the entire bar waited 2+ hours for food and we're gaslit into believing this was normal. At this point, everyone's talking to others and asking if they had food because NO ONE was eating or gotten food. Most people said they'd had appetizers but never got their entrees. GASLIT. People started asking and the bartender (nice enough guy) was just trying so hard to act like everything was normal. Like, at least just be honest and say "hey, we have to make more food" or something. It's only two options, short ribs and past... But whatever. They obviously ran out of food and we're stalling but refused to say that or just say hey we're working on it.. nothing. Just literally acted like we were being impatient. The couple next to us missed the grizzleys game because they couldn't get a straight answer. They'd said they'd ave just paid for the bill without the food and left rather than miss the game but they just kept saying it was coming right out. They were there for over 2.5 hours. CHAOS. Once food did come out, they couldn't remember who sat first, who got what, etc. they served some parts of parties and then ran out or served part of other parties. it was pure chaos. For example, we were seated at the bar - there were 3 couple, a single, and a group of 4. He served three of the four and then tried to serve just me and not my husband. The guy who didn't get his food is literally trying to catch his attention to tell him it's supposed to be his as he's setting it in front of me. I literally had to tell him it should go to the other guy. He served the single guy before us and we were there almost an hour before. FORGOTTEN. As people are getting food, I finally asked if we could get our starters (soul and salad) and he was like Oh "they" didn't serve you? What no... You're literally the only server for the bar, who is "they". So 10 more minutes and we get the starters. We had to ask for silverware.. SMALL PORTION AND LIMITED MENU. 20 minutes later we did get the entree and it was good. Small portion but understandable for the special being only $20. the people next to us went to Gus's chicken after they left. We went to McDonald's. AUTOMATIC GRATUITY. after all of that... They added a 20% tip to a bill for 2 people. This was the worst service I've ever had in Memphis... And you're going to put automatic 20%. I would still have tipped but this was just the cherry on top. Literally the bar errupted in conversation at this point over this. THIS HAPPENED THE DAY BEFORE ALSO. someone came in and sat next to me. He said he wasn't getting food, only drinks because he was there the night before and they RAN OUT OF FOOD... What?! Like how - you have two items and you werent even packed. You have like 15 tables total...

Okay - I know this is long. I don't expect many to read this but if you are the owner of this place, this is meant for you. Maybe you don't know this is happening. Maybe this is a rough week or you are short staffed. You have a good reputation but this is a big hit. People were walking out. Everyone at the bar said they'll not come back, which is a bummer - the food was good. A little customer service training to the staff (who was honestly lovely, even the bartended - he tried so hard and the drinks were def good) would go a long way. And maybe comp a $5 drink or something to help keep people happy. Adding the gratuity was insult to injury. Sadly, we...

I came with some friends for downtown dining week since they had a prefixed menu for a good price. The waiter had told us to sit at the bar because she had to bus some tables and insisted we sit at the bar instead of wait on a table. The bartender was nice. I don’t drink alcohol, so I didn’t get a drink. Got there around 6 and ordered close to 6:10. We got our appetizers around 6:37, but we noticed that our entrees were not coming out after 30 minutes. a group of older white people walked in a bit later after my group, was sat at a table, and they were served promptly with their appetizers, entrees, and dessert before we got our entrees.

At this point, everyone at the bar hadn’t received their entrees or their apps. For many, they were sitting there for over an hour without being served their first course. We asked the bartender and waiters about the status of our food and they said the food was coming. I felt like I was in hell’s kitchen when teams aren’t sending out dishes at the pace they need to be at. Finally, at 7:57, my group received our entrees. I was not impressed. My pasta and my friends’ miso braised ribs were lukewarm and tasted like they were sitting over a hot plate for a while.

Dessert came shortly after that. I didn’t even take a picture of it because of how disappointed I was. It was good, but cannot salvage the damage that was done.

Then came the check. Automatic 20% gratuity and credit card fee applied on top. With the service of my meal and my first experience here, I do not believe it was justified. I understand if there was a short staff issue or mismanagement, but that is no excuse if tables are getting their full menu before people at the bar get their first course. I will not come back, and as a poc myself, I warn...

The place is small & was very crowded. They appeared to be short staffed. To which I was willing to give them a pass on the service till I noticed our waitress was intentionally overlooking us because we were the only people of color for abt an hour. We were told by a male waiter that the patio was full but as soon as someone got up we could transition to the patio. Well, our waitress tells us oh that table is spoken for, the table was empty for abt 20 to 30 min. Then comes in 2 white couples who stood @ the door for abt 2 seconds waiting for someone to come sit them they found an empty table on the inside to which they just sat down at on their own the guys went to the bar to order drinks 1 of the females saw the patio table empty & they went right out there & sat at the table dirty & all no one said anything to them abt the so call table that was spoken for on the patio. We ordered 2 drinks they were good & an appetizer that we never received! We saw our waitress take & bring orders to tables that came in after us so we literally had to flag her down for the check we waited 15 to 20 minutes on our check she was catering to all the other tables & never brought the ck so I went to the bar & requested my ck to pay also stood at the bar for abt 7 minutes to even request the ck it was awful I will not...