Ol' Bart BBQ, Bar and Grill NLR — Restaurant in North Little Rock

I had the most bizarre experience I have ever had at a restaurant (or any business) here. Sorry it's a long review, but I promise it could've been longer. Haha.

There were only two tables in the restaurant just after 6 p.m. -- my table of 8 and one table of 2. The night started out pretty quiet. Our service was slow and disjointed (server would take one person's order, leave, then come back to get another's, etc.), but not terrible.

It was apparently karaoke night at the attached brewery and once things picked up a little there, we waited at least 45 mins before seeing our server again. When we finally did see him, we asked for another round of drinks.

After a bit of a wait, he brought a pitcher of beer and said "I've got your iced teas" to the two of us who were not drinking alcohol... then we didn't see him again.

Once our glasses had been empty for at least an hour, my friend got up to find the server and he was sitting at the bar. I have worked in bars and restaurants for over a decade. If this man was running around serving folks on the bar side, I wouldn't have been upset that we got missed. But that wasn't the case.

Instead of finally bringing our drinks, he comes to the table with checks. No "sorry about the wait" or anything. At this point, we've been sitting at a casual BBQ restaurant (where we are now the only table) for almost two hours. I'm beyond frustrated and asked if we could get our teas that we requested an hour ago... and then things got WEIRD.

A woman who identified herself as the manager escalated the situation like nothing I have ever witnessed. She called me a Karen, told me I was too poor to pay for my food and just wanted a free meal (for the record -- I did not ask for any discounts or even say anything at all about the bill), she made a comment that she never has a problem with POCs (not the terminology she used) just "white women" (she herself is a white woman).

[As an aside, our table consisted of a group of friends from various ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are a group of friends from all over the U.S. who have collectively never experienced service like this ever. We meet monthly for group dinners at different establishments across Little Rock and have never had any issues or complaints anywhere else we've gone.]

At one point the manager told me I didn't need to pay my tab (one appetizer and one iced tea) and I said, "Thank you, I appreciate that," thinking the encounter was over and she was done with her tirade. But then she started again. 🤣 I can't even remember all the weird and completely inappropriate things she said.

Half of our table got up abruptly and left. The other half stayed to finish the pitcher of beer they had waited a while for. Almost 24 hours later, I'm still just in disbelief over the encounter.

Had the manager come to the table and said, "I'm so sorry for the wait and any mistakes, we got busy with karaoke and lost track of your table," the whole situation would've been resolved. Literally all I wanted was an iced tea after eating nachos with jalapenos and spicy BBQ sauce. 😅

For the manager to instead result to personal attacks and name calling while screaming at a table of folks who had fully intended on staying for karaoke and running up a tab is WILD. I will certainly never go back and cannot recommend that anyone else...

Update: I have not received a refund to my account yet! No food! No money! All lies! A complete waste of my time and money. They had incorrect information listed for closing times, and allowed an order to be placed at 9:05 p.m.. However, I saw that my confirmation email said my pick up was for the next day (😳). I immediately called and they didn’t answer. The next day comes and I didn’t get a response from them at all. I remembered I’d made the order after being asked to grab a bite with my daughter. I then headed to the restaurant, hoping they hadn’t made the order. I got there, walked in, and stood there waiting to be addressed (as the sign ask you to). Well, after SEVERAL minutes passed, I walked to the back and addressed the young lady myself. She checked on my order and brought it out to me. I let was apparent that the food had been sitting out for some time (it was now 3:00). I politely explained my situation and asked if the food could be made fresh due to the mishap. That’s when the raven-haired manager took over. She had me standing in the back for sometime just feeding me bs lines “you’re gonna have to wait a while” “we’ll let me see what I can do” “I kinda new at being a manager” “well, we’re out of ribs, so there just gonna nuke them” “I can give you a partial refund”…….. Then she leaves me standing there! I go to the front, and she leaves me standing there! So, I follow her to the back and politely ask her if she’s going to refund me my money, as I’ve driven all the way from Chenal and have wasted quite a bit of time there already! The entire process has left a disgusting taste in both my husband’s and my mouth! We will certainly spread the word. Oh, btw.. she lied about there not being any ribs left (I was able to go online and order.. but I cancelled). What a horrible manager and person! I can’t stand a...

NEVER AGAIN!! I was so excited to try this place. I had been looking forward to it for months. Disappointed isn’t even the word. This was one of the worst meals I have ever had! We never got an option to even see our receipt or a ticket. My husband ordered a pulled pork sandwich. There were pieces in it that were so old and had been reheated so much that they were basically plastic. He literally choked on it. I ordered the “hot mess” with brisket (which they charged me an extra $2 for!!) I have never seen brisket like this before. It was pulled/shredded? And very old. The mashed potatoes were tasteless and terrible, they had been microwaved so long that there was a hard thick crust all the way around the bowl. When I dug into it to show my husband, there was a long hair baked into it. I am a server so I am understanding of situations but we were the only guests there at the time. That was a waste of $60! When I asked for the ticket, the server brought a machine, pushed some buttons and told us the price. She didn’t ever even let us see it so we could check it with what we ordered. She was very sweet but not attentive and seemed very distracted. I am honestly angry that they served us food that was so clearly old. My husband is super sick now. He’s had a stomachache since we got home. We basically just $60 for food poisoning. Don’t waste...