Michael’s Pub & Patio — Restaurant in New Bern

I don't even know where to start. I have never had such a bad experience at a restaurant. I used to be a waitress, so I tend to be very forgiving, but wow. We got there around 5:15 on Sunday night. We were just looking for a casual place to get a quick dinner and drinks and based on Google, this place seemed perfect. We walked in, there were maybe 4 people at the bar, but the staff was all just milling around not acknowledging anyone. Eventually a girl asked if we wanted to sit at the bar, outside, or upstairs. Having never been there, we chose upstairs (thinking it would be more quiet than the bar and air conditioned). She told us to just go upstairs and pick a table, and she would send someone to us. We passed the patio on the way up, and there were a couple tables with people, and when we got upstairs, maybe a third of the tables were occupied. We picked a table and waited. And waited. And waited (about 25 minutes total before we were brought menus and actually got a waitress). Maybe 5-6 staff members came through several times, though only 2 seemed to be actively taking tables upstairs, and we could not catch anyone's attention. TWICE I caught someone's eye and when they asked if we had been helped, we told them no, and TWICE nothing was done about it. While we were sitting there, a girl with a long, dark ponytail and tats came stomping in and sat at the table beside us to roll silverware. She spent the entire time cussing loudly on her phone about having to work late and vaping in the restaurant. There was a toddler at the next table over. It was shockingly inappropriate. She slammed everything down while cussing and throwing what I can only describe as a tantrum. If I were her boss, she'd be gone on the spot. She was slamming things around and acting so aggressively, we wanted to leave because she was making everyone in the room jump constantly and feel uncomfortable. When she finished, she stomped off and proceeded to stomp in and out of the room, slamming doors for a while before (thank God) disappearing. We had already decided that if she was going to be our waitress, we were out. I wouldn't trust her not to spit in my food. She was so incredibly aggressive and rude. Also, again, this was during the 25 minutes we were waiting to be acknowledged. Nothing.

Finally, we got a waitress. She was lovely. I got the vibe that she was one of the few people actually working (I had seen her taking care of tables and mentioned to my friend that I hoped she would be our server because the other waitress upstairs was straight up MIA most of the time, which seemed to piss off her tables) and she was very nice. All in all, she was great. No complaints.

There seemed to be way more staff than was needed given that the restaurant was not very busy, even as 6 pm rolled around. Most of them seemed to be doing sidework instead of waiting on tables. So maybe that's the problem. It took a long time to get our food, and the chicken in the fettuccine pasta seemed like some kind of cheap, pre-cooked strips. The fettuccine was very good, as was the broccoli, but stay away from the chicken, it was nasty. I picked it all out. My friend got fried shrimp and they were very good. Both plates were plentiful.

We definitely wouldn't return. Our waitress was good, once we actually got a waitress, and the food was decent. But the rest of the staff just seemed checked out and the waitress throwing a violent temper tantrum in a room full of paying customers... yikes. I waited tables for several years. Long shifts and BS come with the job. It's not an excuse to behave that way in front of customers. Everyone was making nervous eye contact around the room because it was so...

💫 Updated rating 💫

I had a recent experience with Michaels and I felt the need to adjust my original rating. I’ve left the original one to show just how much they have improved! Chris behind the bar was great! He absolutely made this experience amazing and I couldn’t leave a 1 star review. The great thing about time is things change. When they change for the better it should absolutely be recognized. The food was delicious and the wine was poured to perfection. I had the opportunity to speak with Jenn and she was very professional and is the second reason for the adjustment. It’s now 2025 and if you haven’t tried them recently you MUST!

Original posting: Today was by far the absolute worst experience we have ever had here! On a regular basis we come here and have a wonderful experience but today not the case. The staff let us know about all their personal problems, this is not what I was anticipating. I have family in town and told her this place was amazing…I was mortified! We ordered our food and it was never out in. We then got our order put in 30 mins later. About 5 minutes later the food came out. Which seemed odd. I now know why, the nachos were soggy and cold, the pastrami sandwich was awful!! The bread was soggy, the meat wasn’t cooked, the fries were cold. I understand every place has a bad day. The man behind the counter asked how everything was before I could finish letting him know, he walked away. I wish previously I would have given them a 5 star review so that you would truly know that this 1 star review is...

Visiting family here in New Bern and they frequent Michael’s often. We decided to go for a light lunch, was not busy, sat outside and told bartender we were outside like the sign requested. Two waitresses on the deck where we were seated and as we waited 5 to 10 mins, neither one came over to us. Then the one older waitress with a ponytail seemed like she was very frustrated and yelled out loud across the patio, stating that she didn’t know why the other waitress didn’t serve us and then turned around and went back inside. Instead of her serving us she just left and then came back out and started helping another table who came in 10 mins after us. We said that we were there first and all we need is some menus to start. She never said let me get those for you, instead she said another waitress will be out to assist us and just continued assisting the newly arrived patrons. Well no one ever came as we waited five more minutes, so we got up and left. That waitress should not be in customer service work. She doesn’t know the meaning of working as a team if your coworker is not around and you see customers sitting and waiting for service. She never greeted us not once and we thought it was inappropriate for her to yell in frustration across the deck instead of coming over to us. It’s a shame because our family who goes here often, were even shocked and said service was never like that. I know we won’t be going back to this...