The Avery — Restaurant in Providence

I always looked forward to going to this cocktail bar, and on Friday 6/8 I made it a point to drop in. It's very clean, and the decor is fantastic, where it lacks is customer service. There was a small line as it was busy at 9:30-10:00, and as i waited i observed a particular interaction between a bartender and a patron in front of me. A women was trying to purchase a birthday drink for her friend standing by her side, and she was asked for her ID, which is understandable, and she provided it without any attitude. I cant say the same for the bartender, who was very curt in her mannerisms and her language, to the point where several others waiting took notice. It was clear she was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult, as she didn't bother to card her friend, who looked to be the same age as she was. Her tone, attitude and body language turned everyone off waiting in line. For anyone going here, beware of the brunette bartender with the narwhal tattoo, as she clearly does not want to be there. (tattoos have nothing to do with it, as i have many, but i had zero desire to ascertain her name and no other way to describe her). It was truly disappointing to have such a high expectation of this place only to be turned off so quickly by one of the employees. I don't often write reviews, but after reflecting on what i saw, it wasn't right, and I should have addressed it as I saw it....

Went there with a group of four friends for my birthday and celebrating the end of the semester. It was our first time there and we were excited because it had good reviews. Environment was nice, drinks were great. Honestly, we were excited to have found a new spot. However, it had turned very quickly. We had been there for maybe 30 minutes when one of the male bartenders with white hair and a flannel approached us and said “so I see two of you are drinking and three of you are not, so you can’t use these barstools, please stand instead.” Meanwhile, no one was waiting to use the barstools because the bar didn’t even have enough people to occupy the entire bar and we had been there not even enough time to finish our drinks. It would have been a different story if the bar was packed and extra seats were needed. Maybe not even 30 people total in the entire bar on a Friday night. Will NOT be going back. EVER. Needless to say, we left the bar upset that our friends who weren’t drinking weren’t allowed to use their UNOCCUPIED seats. We planned on staying here for the night but we happily took our...

My wife and I lived in Providence in the Federal Hill / West End area for about two years 2020-2021. We quickly became regulars at the Avery. If you haven't been here yet then you are definitely missing out! We frequently talk about the things we miss about Providence and the Avery is always at the top of the list, even two years later. We miss hanging out by the fountain on a nice night with our dog Cinna, or inside by the bar on a snowy day, talking with our neighbors, and meeting people from all over over a St Avery Cosmo or a Garden Mule.

The ambiance is relaxed and chill, the cocktails are always phenomenal, they have a surprisingly good small rotating craft beer selection (frequently had some popular midwestern beers from back home), and most importantly the service is top tier! Shout out and huge thanks to Stu, Neda, and Katie for making us feel at home during our time...