Punch Bowl Social — Restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga

Absolutely the worst restaurant experience I’ve had in a long time. No hostess upon entry. Waited 3-4 minutes to talk to anyone. Never been there before. The hostess suggests we sit in the bar area so we do. She never came back with menus. She walked past us 4-5 times. The waitress was super busy because they were telling everyone to sit in the bar area. The restaurant was empty. The bar was slammed. It took a good 10 minutes to get menus. Waters were promised but never came. The waitress was friendly and knowledgeable of the menu but was clearly VERY overwhelmed. We ordered drinks, an appetizer and a meal. Our drinks didn’t get to our table until just before the hummus appetizer (10-15 minutes). Our meal came out immediately after the appetizer was delivered. Bad timing. The food was good, but the service was all around horrible. No one helped her. No one cared how busy she was. The busser and server did their job. I saw a party of 5 come in past the hostess stand and someone else had to talk to them. A table next to ours apparently complained (they had multiple drinks and seemed fine the whole time). It appeared that they got comped. The Mgr pulled our waitress aside. She was crying for like 10 minutes. We were waiting to order another drink but we gave up on the place. The Mgr is too busy yelling at people. No one is taking care of the customers. The Mgr pulls another Mgr aside right by our table to talk to him about it, then grabs another employee to discuss it. WAY TOO LATE!!! No attention to the affected patrons, never stopped by to apologize...the waitress finally gained her composure and stopped by our table. I asked for the bill. She returned promptly. I gave her my CC before she could leave. Another server returned with the receipts. The Hostesses were standing at the front when we left. Not one word to us. Bad hostesses, bad service, bad support for the team, bad management, just ridiculous. I will not be back even though they seemed to have an intriguing menu of food and drinks. They have a long way to go to right the ship.

UPDATE The manager contacted me and took full responsibility for the bad experience. No excuses. She asked me to come back out and give them another chance. I took her up on it. No one was aware that they should be giving us any special treatment. No Manager came by to try to butter us up or anything. I have to be honest, it was a VERY different experience. Everything was better. Good service, multiple people helping cover the table, etc. I can honestly say that our first experience was an anomaly and I appreciate the Manager taking responsibility and not making excuses. They did take care of us for the bill for the return trip as well to make up for the bad experience and show us that they appreciate their customers. Very good job making up for our bad experience. By the way the 5 cheese Mac N Cheese (on special) was REALLY good and the chocolate cake was excellent as well. I wanted to to be sure to provide an update so people don't avoid the place because of a bad...

I think for a place that's set on being fun it takes a while to bring people out of their shells. I didn't hear staff suggesting board games or joking too much with customers so bringing the fun vibe is something they could work on. This place has a lot going for it however I'm superstitious that corner is jinxed as Toby Keith's didn't last and I thought there was a bar or restaurant that closed prior as well but I could be wrong. I came here a little before 10pm on Halloween and while some of the staff and patrons had costumes it seemed more like a place where people want to de-stress after work more than anything else or bring a date too. So to me it has more of a lively lounge feel rather than a lively party bar. My impression is it's good for groups but not so much for singles, so they should market it more that way. Although I don't know anyone who wants to pay close to LA prices for drinks in the IE, you're better off taking the trip to LA if that's the case. Also it makes no sense to me that they have an open ledge/counter on one side of the building which would be perfect for people to stand outside and drink but Idk if it's cuz of city or mall ordinance there is not and it appears to be some window for passersby's and creepers to stare into or for people inside to feel fresh air and set their drinks on. It was a bit chilly tonight so it actually brought in a draft which I'm sure for most ladies was uncomfortable who didn't bring a jacket.

I'll still come back because the old fashioned I had was stiff enough and leave another or edit this review. Also this was not my first time here. I came here before but went hard on the pregame so I was already buzzed coming in but still felt the vibe was more stale than social. Also the pork belly slider/cubano/sandwich I had was not that great either. The bread was dry and the pork...

Tonight was my second & last Punch Bowl Social experience. I find myself each time absolutely baffled at the rudeness, slowness of service & absolutely underwhelming food each & every time I return. My first experience I went to PB San Diego & was treated horribly & received a $50 gift card from the manager as compensation. Tonight I decided to use said gift card at this location. Me & my friends order totaled out to $40 & my waiter, (who was high, came to our table one time, didn't refill our drinks & was talking to other waiters the whole time) told us the gift card only had $50 written on it, & that the money wasn't put in the system on the card yet. It did however have the managers signature of the SD location. I explained to him that the manager had given me the card, & asked if they could call the other location. Instead of being polite the entire staff of this restaurant proceeded to treat me & my friend rudely & act like we were trying to scam them for a free meal. They took the gift card from me & did not bring it back to me. My friend asked where the remaining money on the card was, the $10 which my waiter absolutely did not deserve as a tip. The waiter rudely said that their manager had took it up & I would need to go argue with him to get my money back? When me & my friend glanced over at the manager & other wait staff, they were all literally glaring at us in a small highschool circle chattering. First of all, we're both in the military, we weren't trying to pull a fast one on yall for some mediocre overpriced food. Secondly, I'm in disbelief they robbed me of $10 & treated me with disrespect. This was supposed to be a vacation weekend from laboring on a ship all week so y'all can live freely, & u guys we're rude. Will never be...