StormBreaker Brewing St. Johns — Restaurant in Portland

I love this location, the beer, and the food selection but my god, the staff here is awful. They're all wonderfully nice if they ever actually make it to your table but for some reason they're all clustered around the touchscreen ordering menu chatting with each other. This may be due in part to the fact that out of the four times that I've been here, our drink or food orders have "disappeared after entry" twice and it took them more than 20 minutes to notice before placing them back in the system. Yesterday we arrived at 5PM, were acknowledged by a hostess/waitress and were told to take a seat anywhere that was available. After we were seated we had to ask for menus, then we had to ask for a happy hour menu that wasn't provided. After ordering our beers we waited ten minutes and when nothing came we had to flag down another waitress to ask for water. Nearly 10 minutes after that, a third waitress arrived with our beers that had "disappeared from their order system." Between bartenders and servers there appeared to be 6 people on staff so I'm not quite sure why it took 20 minutes to get beer from a BREWERY. Somehow, that was not the most awkward part of the afternoon. Our food arrived promptly and just as we're about to dig in, my wife notices it's missing the egg that was clearly described on the menu. The waitress promptly appears and we're just about to tell her when she apologizes and says that the salad is also missing chicken and the cook had mistakenly told her it was ready to serve. I really love that StormBreaker came to St Johns. I want to reiterate that there are many successful elements they have going for them: beer, location, decor, and the food is great. However, I've been here four times since June and up until last night I've dismissed all the lapses in service (lack of menus\ water\ silverware, dropped orders, inattentive waitstaff, and some times just not being acknowledged at all) as growing pains and maintained the hope that they were going to get it together and hit their stride but I've seen zero...

Note: this happened to us April/May of 2021. I've had several good experiences before this, but I think what happened to me deserves a 1-star review. My wife and I ordered the nachos with chicken, as well as a couple beers. The queso did have a funny taste to it, but it didn't taste funny enough to send back, just a little off. Otherwise, the dish was edible. We started to feel really tired about an hour after. Then around midnight, my wife threw up, then the diarrhea started. Not long after, it happened to me. Intense vomiting, and at the same time, diarrhea (a both-ends bug as I call it), to the point of me passing out by the toilet for what seemed like 5 minutes. That's how intense it was. It was the worst food poisoning I ever experienced. We were very worried since our baby who was barely 1 year old was asleep through the whole thing and thank goodness we didn't give her any of those horrid nachos. We called the nurse, but we were told to just wait until it passes and drink lots of fluids (and if it intensified we should call an ambulance). We didn't know how long this would last or if our baby was going to be affected in any way, so it was a terrible experience.

The next morning I spoke to a manager on the phone (a woman whose name I can't remember), and she expressed her sympathy. Basically deflecting any blame, almost having a what-do-you-want-me-to-do-about-it attitude, I merely said that I'm letting you know in case you poison anyone else. You should investigate this in case anyone else gets sick. This is standard restaurant protocol. She said she'd give us a round on the house next time we came in, which is not what someone wants to hear after they've been poisoned. Food-borne illnesses can kill people and I feel this person did not understand the weight of the situation and therefore shouldn't be in the position she's in. I think it's ironic that the owner is responding to some 1-star reviews with "stay safe out there" when after an experience like this, I'll never feel safe eating from...

If you're going here for the delicious looking nachos you see in the other reviews, don't go. Unfortunately they no longer exist. We have been coming here since they opened, and through covid with take-out orders to help keep $$ coming through the doors. And it is pretty sad the route this restaurant is taking. Their food has gone way downhill the past 6 or so months. Their nachos are completely different, from the meat to the cheese, white sauce, chips, pico... everything. I'm pretty sure their nacho cheese is now from a can. Their wings use to be smoked and come with 4 FULL wings, now just 3 flats and 3 drumsticks that taste like they were just tossed in sauce at the end. (But more expensive.) And no more delicious pickles. My kid wouldn't eat the mac-and-cheese and she will eat anything, it was flavorless and had the consistency of thick glue. We have come here 3x within the last few months hoping it was an off day, but no. I think they are spending more energy on their beer & drinks. And unfortunately, have forgotten about the food. I HOPE they can make some changes and bounce back. The beer is pretty good, we do like the beer. But as a family, we have to go where the kids will enjoy their meals too, and this place no longer...