Beans & Barley — Restaurant in Milwaukee

The 4.5 star average seems generous.

Last week I went in with my partner on a weekday around 11am. Wasn't busy at all but we sat at the bar. No one even acknowledged us for about 5 minutes. Keep I mind I chose this place bc I like their Bloody Marys and I was feeling brunchy. We both ordered a bloody and it took another 15 minutes. Ok maybe they were in the process of making the mix but that wasn't communicated so it's my only guess why it would have taken so long.

Finally got the drinks and ordered food. Food took another 20-25 minutes (hummus, chips and salsa, and a burrito). No one asked if we liked our food, if we needed anything, another drink..... nothing.

The food was good this time I'll give them that. Last time I was there I had almost the same experience except with fajitas. They got the order completely wrong, asked me if I "wanted them to fix it" and I said they can just bring me out what was left out off of the plate and they still got it wrong...AGAIN! You could tell the refried beans were scraped from the crusty bottom of the hot well. It was like trying to consume concrete mix. Just a mess. They offered to discount it by half so I said ok. Got the bill, no discount. Not to mention they've messed up my order every time I've gotten take out and then they argue with me about it. Just fix it, it happens every single time! I stopped ordering takeout a long time ago.

Ok back to the present. This time I got the bill and I'm almost glad no one asked if we wanted another bloody (I would have said yes) bc ONE bloody is $12! The garnish was a pickle spear, one regular olive, and the most pathetic excuse for a pepperoncini I've ever seen.

I'm under the impression people only go here bc of the location and the relatively diverse menu making it good for groups or picky eaters.

Sorry Beans, I've tried too many times to have a good experience but I always leave with buyers remorse.

The positives: the interior is cute, the artwork changes periodically, and there's one server who is just a delight. We'll call her Q. If she would have been our server I'm sure my experience would have been...

I went in to B&B around 12 noon on Sunday, May 15th. I got an iced coffee & pastry at the counter that is right next to the deli case in the "grocery store" part of the building. I took my iced coffee & pastry to a table in the area with tables. I was enjoying them, when a girl with a bus tub came up & asked me if i had "talked to the host" I said i hadn't. She said "i'm gonna have to ask you to leave". I said i had a coffee from here (i.e. from B&B). She said the area with tables is only for paying customers or customers eating at the restaurant (I don't quite remember which). So, I left.

I felt really uncomfortable & embarrassed being "asked to leave" when i hadn't done anything wrong. I learned after the fact that that area is only for if you're eating at the restaurant part of the building. I didn't see any sign saying that when I wandered in. I didn't see any "host". The girl who "asked me to leave" didn't offer me a menu, or say that I could sit there if I buy something. She told me to leave the whole building.

I've worked in foodservice for half my life. I would never flat-out ask a customer "to leave" unless they were being disruptive & I'd already asked them to chill. I would offer a menu or some other accommodation if the place I worked at had failed so badly at indicating that a certain area was only functioning as a restaurant & wasn't a part of the rest of the building. You literally cannot run a successful business if you tell customers / potential customers to leave when they aren't doing anything wrong.

I don't want to return to Beans & Barley unless you acknowledge this was a problem & make it worth my while to come...

Jim was extremely rude and condescending and should not be a manager! First time when I went on 2/5/2024 and ordered 2 chicken caesar salads and some other items from the deli. After the long wait we get our order and when we got home there was no chicken on our salads which we paid for, so I called told the manager and she said “this has been happening often which our kitchen staff”. So she said she going to refund the orders and offer salads for free when we come back. On 3/3/2024 I decided to give them another try on a chicken caesar salad and this time I got chicken but no dressing for my salad. I called the manager Josh and said this is the 2nd time my order was messed up and I want my money back. He said he was going to refund my order and then he proceeded to offer a gift card. I said I didn’t want the gift card b/c clearly you guys can get it right and I’m not come back and he insisted to send the gift card. On 3/8/2024 I called back asking about the refund for the first order back on 2/5 and the refund for 3/3 and I spoke to a person named Jim. Jim spoke to me in a very condescending manner and off putting, he was talking in a way that he was doing me favors and saying he comp me $80+ dollars back + the gift card. Actually they only refunded parts of the order on 2/5 and void the transaction on 3/3 and I took the gift card back today. So you didn’t give $80 back and OF COURSE after the service I received I want the money back for what I paid for. I DO NOT recommend spending your money with a business that treat their customer so poorly speaking in such a...