Tower Taproom — Restaurant in Montgomery

PSA: Fantastic Food, but Customer Service needs a Tune-Up

Alright, let me lay it out for you – the food at this place? Fantastic. A bit pricey, but worth every penny. Unfortunately, my encounters with the manager, identifiable by long blonde hair, significantly tainted the overall experience.

Experience #1: Work Christmas Luncheon We're a group of 7 at our work Christmas luncheon, trying to enjoy a meal together. We push two tables together, and boom, the manager goes off on us, aggressively pointing to a sign on the wall about not moving tables. Okay, our bad, we apologize, but she's still incredibly rude. And what does she do? Heads out the side door for a smoke break, conveniently making us wait ages for our food.

Experience #2: Lunch with a Friend Today, I swing by with a friend for lunch. The Christmas music is so loud; it's practically ear-piercing. When my friend asks the cashier if they can turn it down a notch, and he hits him with a solid "Nope, it's set that way.” Every song feels like it's on full blast. The manager comes out and talks to the cashier for a quick minute and then disappears, leaving us to decide to get our food to-go. When I question the cashier about the music, he's just as unhelpful; said they weren’t able to adjust the volume even if customers are uncomfortable because it's "set on that volume." And guess what? The distinct smell of a Black & Mild tells me the manager's on her break again. This seems to be a recurring pattern. (This time she was standing at the front-door entrance smoking and scrolling on her phone - so we had to walk through a cloud of smoke on our way out, because the side door was locked).

It concerns me that I wouldn't be able to invite other friends or family to eat here because of how unaccommodating this place has been.

Oh, and let's talk hygiene. Coleslaw with mayo is just chilling on the back counter, uncovered. Not cool. Additionally, when the Coke Zero dispenser ran out, the cashier's response lacked basic courtesy. I told him it was out and he replied with a nonchalant "OK," followed by complete ignorance as he ignores me at the counter, cup in hand.

Owners, please take note. The fantastic food here deserves an equally fantastic dining experience. The manager's attitude is dragging things down, and it's affecting the whole vibe.

Sincerely, Paying customer/ Local...

First time trying Tower Taproom after my husband insisted on going to try out the 50+ taps available. We were excited to visit!

Pros:

Great concept! Love the option of being able to taste so many beers, ciders, and wine.

-Food- We ordered the hot lemon pepper chicken wings and loaded fries. Wings were fried perfect and tasted good. Didn't really get the spicy flavor, but they were flavorful!

I would like to offer some constructive feedback:

Customer experience- We came in around 5:30p on a Monday. There were about 3 people standing near the register that pretty much just watched us walk up and didn't greet us. We were given our pour cards and sent on our way without further instructions. This is a self-pour taproom! While that may seem self-explanatory, ideally the employees would have

1. GREETED US
2. Engage with customers! Ask if this was our first time visiting the taproom
3. Explained the process and given an overview of the beer selection
4. Explained that we will return our pour cards when we check out. (This is not our 1st self pour experience, so we almost left with our pour cards until the employee asked for them)

Dirty glasses- Beer glasses should be clean and free of water spots. Water spots affect the beer pour.

Cost- I totally understand that self-pour experience is a big consideration, but the cost seems a little high. If the beer comes out foamy, that's wasted money on a bad pour.

I am very happy to come to Montgomery and see places like Tower Taproom popping up. Hope this feedback is helpful to the improving the experience because this place has so...

Great place to grab some food and hang out with people. So the high level review is that the atmosphere, food, & service at Tower Taproom are phenomenal, the reason for only 4 stars is regarding the beer prices and selections/lack there of (see the second paragraph). Pros: wonderful atmosphere to stop in solo or with a group of people and relax. I was shocked at the variety of food that they offer and equally pleased with the quality of said food! I ordered the “Double Secret Probation” loaded fries with fried chicken, and they were amazing! The service was excellent as well! Everyone was helpful and polite. And my food came out super fast and was good and hot!

Ok so now the cons: so the price per oz on the beers equates to about $8-$10 per glass on the moderate ABV% beers, and even higher for higher ABV% beers which is a bit high. I had 2 glasses and it ran me $20. The other thing that was disappointing to me was the lack of options. So I’ve been visiting Montgomery for the last 2 weeks, and the one thing that I have thoroughly enjoyed about every downtown bar that I’ve visited is there robust selections of locally brewed (Alabama) beers. This was not the case at Tower Taproom (at least on the day I was there). I there were more of the national brands (Golden Monkey, Michelob,etc..). I would have loved to come to a spot like this and have had mainly (or at least majority) local brews. Finally, the other local bars, that serve more local beers, do so for aboht...