The Dirty Drummer — Restaurant in Phoenix

Updated After Their Response First, they didn’t acknowledge that I didn’t just complain about the one thing, but that’s all they commented on. Not even an apology for that. I stopped and apologized to the girl at the door. I recognized my behavior was unbecoming and felt it was the right thing to do. But you guys didn’t do that. Also, see photo to show why I might be confused upon arrival. Also the review dropped a star after their guilt trip of a response.

Back To Original Review

I want to start by stating that I have been to Dirty Drummer several times and enjoyed it, but this time was terrible for multiple reasons. First, I bought two tables for the show, spending $50 on them. I did so because I was bringing several people. Every time in the past that I purchased a table they took my info at the door and let us in, showed us to our table(s) and we had a great time. This time, they were asking for $10 per person cover charge on top the tables I already purchased. I want to add a caveat here - I paid for these tables the day they were available for the show I was looking forward to. When I did, there was nothing about additional cost…that I recall. If I am wrong on that, it’s on me. But why would I go back to the website where I purchase them after they’ve been purchased…and the emails had a QR code that said “YOUR TICKET TO THE SHOW”. That sounds like I have paid for everything already, doesn’t it? It did to me. But they did not want to let us in without an additional cost of $10 a head, totaling up to another $50. For those counting at home, that’s $50 for the two tables and $50 for the privilege of walking to the tables. That wasn’t gonna happen. To their credit, after much complaining and demanding a refund, they let us in without having to be gouged. We sat down and tried to enjoy the show. I ordered the Impossible burger from the menu, the same thing I have had numerous times. This time, it came burnt, dry and crumbling out of the bun. In fact, imagine that someone scraped all the burnt muck off a barbecue grill and made it into a burger and you get the idea of what it tasted like. I wasn’t about to complain more after the event manager giving me the stink eye for complaining about them trying to railroad us earlier. So I suffered through it, burping up that nasty burnt flavor all night. Then I got elbowed in the back of the head three times while sitting at my table by the staff as they passed. I know it wasn’t on purpose, but if I was already in a sour mood from the other incidents, it just added icing to the cake. Now for something every single person should complain about in this the age of the germaphobe - the urinal and the sink were out of order in the men’s room. Not the most sanitary way to run a bar that was filled to capacity. I know there was a second restroom, but when you have the place filled to capacity and you have a line at the only men’s room with a working sink that takes 10 minutes to get through while the women’s restroom never had a line…that is a problem. In fact, I don’t know if a health inspector would look too favorably at all on a lack of handwashing stations for customers and staff. Granted, who knows if they have their own restroom back in the kitchen. But dead sinks encourage unsanitary staff behavior. This was the worst experience I have ever had there. I have gone there numerous times and never experienced anything of the sort like this before. I hope it was just a bad night for them. But this better not be the norm or Dirty Drummer may lose their last standing location. I hope not. Please turn it around and make this right so no one else has the type of experience I had tonight. It really made my enjoyment of the awesome live music feel sub-par. And that’s a shame. And as a side note - when you have people eating so close to the stage and you start pumping that fog machine, even when it doesn’t fit the style of music, breathing it in while I’m eating makes that smell mixed with the food take on a taste is not intended for your food. Just...

I had one of the worst dining experiences I've had in a long time tonight at this place. I got there before my boyfriend and was waiting for him for a while, we had a mix-up about where we were meeting for dinner so it took a little while for him to get there. I didn't feel guilty waiting and taking up a table, it wasn't busy there were plenty of empty tables. While I waited the server brought me some waters and my tea. I tried 3 times to get her attention so I could order an appetizer while I waited. She saw me eventually, thankfully the app came out fairly quickly. After my boyfriend arrived we sat there for probably about 15 minutes waiting for her to come by and ask him if he wanted a drink. She walked right past our table at least 3 times, she knew the person I was waiting for had arrived, there's no way she didn't see him. Eventually she stopped by with arms full of drinks for other tables, apologized for how busy she was and asked if he wanted a drink. I understand being busy, I really do. But ask a fellow server for help, or tell your manager you need some help. Something, don't just leave your table hanging like that. I saw other bartenders standing around chatting, its not like she was helpless. Boyfriend asked if we could order finally instead of just drinks. He did order a drink with his food, and it took another 20 minutes for her to bring his one drink. By then my tea was empty, and it never got refilled once. She asked if he wanted a cold mug for his drink (it came in a glass bottle) he said yes, and she never brought it. Food took forever to come out, tasted good at least. We were constantly waiting on her to come around to us and had to flag her down several times. It was a joke....

My husband and I visited this self-proclaimed "Phoenix staple" recently for a burger and a beer. While they practiced social distance dining to a tee, I wish they'd practice preparing food that tastes good, and anything resembling customer service, instead.

We ordered a cheese crisp for our starter, and it really was yummy. Both of us ordered the 1/3 lb Cheese Drummer burger. This is described as "prepared the way you like", and "flavored with wine"; sounds great, right? I ordered my burger well done, and my husband's medium well. Although they weren't exceptionally busy, it took 20-30 minutes to get our burgers to the table after receiving our appetizer, and that didn't come quickly, either. First thing I commented on was how small the bun was, meaning the burger was just as small. I likened it to the size of a McDonald's regular hamburger. Okay, I reminded myself, size doesn't matter, the taste will be the winner. Because of the wine, remember? I couldn't have been more wrong. Both of ours were burned, and not a little. A fair comparison would be to a hockey puck, and this is not an exaggeration. I'd like to say that we complained to our server, but we did not. We didn't complain because our server NEVER came to the table again, except to drop our check off. In short, I can check this off my list of "Phoenix staples" and share this bad food and service dining experience with You. I'll never spend a dime of my money in there...