Taps On The River — Restaurant in Petaluma

Before I start my review, I'd like to state that I expect the owner of this "restaurant" to attack me with false claims. That's how customer service works at Taps. (UPDATE: THE OWNER DID IN FACT VERBALLY ATTACK ME)

---Update/reply: As expected, the owner of this crappy restaurant replied with accusations and no apology. To him I say, Eric, I am not Travis (you can note my active history on both Yelp and Google). I am a former customer of yours and am now appalled with the business you run. Reviews of your establishment show that I am not alone in my lack of satisfaction with the service from you and your employees.

"Please just go away", huh, weird, that's what we wanted to do when we had to literally waste over an hour of our lives to pay the tab.

Is zero stars an option? No? Well I guess I'll give this craptastic restaurant one star just so I can tell my fellow Yelpers what a joke this establishment is.

Oh, you want beer? Okay, well they're probably out of the one you want.

Food? Mediocre at best. Actually, their hot wings are hot. I guess they did earn the one star you see listed above.

Service? So far beyond bad. We arrived at 6:45 on a Saturday as a party of 8, with reservations. We'd finished eating our crappy food and drinking our overpriced beers by 8. We were unable to leave this unpleasant establishment until 9:30 because they made it an incredible challenge to pay them. Not exaggerating here, it literally took over an hour to pay our bill. I had to walk outside on several occasions to avoid making a scene.

When we explained to the waitress, in very logical fashion, what she could do to help us, she repetitively explained, "I'm trying to help you, tell me what I can do to help you." Well, you can make it easy for me to pay you. In response, "I'm trying to help you, tell me what I can do to help you." She was a broken and annoying record.

We asked to speak to her manager, which turned out to be a mistake. That fool doesn't understand the first thing about food SERVICE. Direct message to him here (I hope you're reading this, you doufus), Do: listen to your customers, ensure that their experience is enjoyable, reprimand your staff when they're rude to the folks paying your salary, and use breath mints; Don't: make it a challenge for your customers to pay your establishment, let your staff treat your customers like garbage.

Lastly, and I'll admit this is a parting shot, but I gotta get it in, the hostess. She was aggressive, rude, and condescending. Perhaps this is her first job and the empowerment which comes with being a hostess at a zero star establishment went to her head, but that's not justification to talk to actual adults with the entitled attitude that must've been cool in high school. I could go on about this, but suffice it to say that even though they're only paying her minimum wage, she'll still be able to afford to buy a better personality.

ZERO STARS, WOULD NOT RECOMMEND, EAT/DRINK OUT OF THE GUTTER BEFORE TRYING TO GIVE THIS ESTABLISHMENT MONEY...I SAY TRYING, BECAUSE THEY'LL MAKE IT NEXT...

Taps has a great atmosphere on the river. Food is overpriced but pretty decent. WAiter we had was average to slightly below average. The happy hour beer selections are poor and very limited.

What was the real turnoff was receiving a surprise extra charge on the bill for "Fair Wage Mandate". I tipped a full 20% for mediocre service and feel completely duped. I went home and learned that wait staff in California are paid minimum wage of $16.50. They expect a full 20% or more tip on alcohol, which historically isn't tipped the same as food orders. And then to sneak in a "fair wage charge"? Tips were always intended to bring waiters low hourly wages up to a reasonable level because establishments weren't paying their employees enough. And now with digital screens suggesting a tip of 25% or more is ridiculous. The wait staff have become entitled and service has gone down. Critics are going to tell me to just stay home. And more than likely I will eat out less as a result. I will likely return to TAPS eventually for the atmosphere but next time will order at the bar to avoid the uncomfortable interactions with wait staff.... And will factor the fair wage charge...

There's plenty of parking at the golden eagle shopping center where Taps is located. Today when we arrived we were greeted by the hostess and we checked out the menu before we decided if we were going to be seated or not. Everyone was wearing their mask including the hostess. We decided the menu looked great and that we would like to be seated. I feel as if the tables were spaced apart appropriately . I didn't feel too close to anyone . It was all outdoor seating and the view of the Petaluma River and the businesses nearby that lay along the river was a pleasant atmosphere and a great backdrop. My friend had the barbecue burger and a side salad. I had a steak Caesar salad which I ate the whole thing. it was amazing. I also had a mango Mimosa which settled in nicely and was Blended very well. My friend and I stayed inside and chat for a while while other tables came and gone. The servers were very patient they didn't rush us and when we were done we were able to stick around and take a few pictures of the background in the backdrop. I have gone to Taps a lot of times, I'm glad they are still open and able to serve...