The Brass Tap — Restaurant in Rockwall

I called on Tuesday (9-22) to reserve for a party of 20 people for my birthday and the guy I spoke with took my name and said that was okay. They said we will be able to have “two of the high top tables that can sit 10 each by the bar”

We arrive day of, didn’t get both tables like they initially told us... which is okay, I get it- they are a new bar & were probably more busy then they expected... We were still able to eventually claim enough tables and chairs to accommodate our entire party.

A few minutes after being there, an older gentleman that was very nice but obviously drunk approached my friends and I and offered to buy us a round of shots...which was great, AGAIN, he was really nice, just very intoxicated.. he was a fun guy that continued to walk around the bar throughout the afternoon and mingle with various tables and other customers..(I’ll get back to this point in a minute)

The rest of my party arrived and we continued to order drinks and food which was all SUB PAR. There was ONE TIME during the Cowboy game that a server came up to us and asked us to stay in our seats, & we did after that. Then, during the game one of my husbands friends got excited during a touchdown and briefly stood on the booth with his foot on the table... which was not appropriate AT ALL, but it happened ONE TIME while the whole bar was celebrating and excited, & it was a one time occurrence that lasted seconds ...shortly after this, the bartender Jordan decided to abruptly cut us off & when I asked him why he said it’s because our party is “too drunk and standing on the tables and won’t sit down”... (now back to that gentleman) the whole time we were there he clearly had WAY more to drink than any of us & continued WALKING around the bar buying random people drinks, & he never cut him off or made him have a seat....hmm...🤔

So we go to close out our tabs and a waitress approaches us asking to take our order because the manager said we weren’t cut off... so we order, and then she comes back and says sorry the manager said yes but the bartender said no... at this point I’m so annoyed, so we all close out our tabs..& at the very end before we walked out, one of my best friends asked the waitress if there’s any un paid tabs and she said NO. So we all decide to go next door to Sideways.

Shortly after being there the bartender from Brass Tap AND A COP show up to our table saying we had unpaid tabs at their bar and we needed to pay immediately or there would be arrest made. Are you joking?! Long story short, they said we “owed hundreds of dollars” when it actually was $80... and again, this was after we asked them before we left! Although everyone paid we still took care of whatever this “mysterious tab” was.

It was so embarrassing... but it was also disheartening because I’ve lived in Rockwall my whole life and I’ve never experienced this type of treatment or service at a restaurant or bar. I don’t want to play the “race card”, but unfortunately I am sickened to think that my husband, who happens to be a black man, and at least half of our party there was as well, had something to do with the disrespect we received. This is sickening to me. Brass Tap was VERY unorganized and poorly managed... DO...

I really hate giving bad reviews, like REALLY hate it, especially when I think people are doing the best they can but I can't in good faith say our experience was ok. I'll just say that this place has a lot of potential and I hope they were having an off day.

We don't live in Rockwall and loved the location of this place. It provided a lot for our girls to do after we ate. I also love any restaurant which welcomes dogs! We didn't have ours with us, but she would have loved it. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside. There wasn't a hostess so we were told to sit wherever. The outside had some games so our girls and their friends were able to play Jenga while we waited for food - which was good because it took awhile for our food to arrive.

When we first got there the outside was crowded with a few large groups. There was only one server so he was doing the best he could. After being there for about 30 mins another server took over for him and took our drink order. It took awhile for us to get waters, we had to ask a couple of times. My husband and I both ordered bartender creations for drinks which was on a separate menu and something I highly recommend. The food was good overall, but one the people in our party said their fries were cold and after 15 mins and multiple asks we never received them. She did receive a $10 gift card to use towards her meal. She also asked our server for silverware and instead of bringing it for everyone, he only brought it for her so we had to ask someone else to get silverware for the table. We also asked him for something and ended up having to go to the bar to get it. As we were checking out I could hear the table next to us asking someone who was walking by if they could be helped because they had been there for 30 mins and no one had come to their table. The server was nice and helped immediately, but it was obvious they were struggling to adequately...

This is not the great please the display to be. Last night we had the worst experience at this place. We were told that it was self seating.. so we sat ourself... 20 mins later a server brought us some water and menus.. we should of left then but we ordered our food. My friends food came out 20 mins before mine...i got my fries but my wings came out 20 mins after his did. I asked for a togo box and lids for ranch soon as he brought our food. We got no refills and never saw our server again. We sat there for 25 mins waiting for him to come back and bring the ticket but he never did so we decided we were gonna get up and leave. We walked in the restaurant because we was sitting outside, right past him where we was dancing with a group of people living his great life while his tables on the patio were sitting there waiting for him...We walked out of the resturant, right pass the front door dude and almost to the car when the server come running after us.. He said "Yall didnt pay for tab" i said "you never came back, we never got refills, i waited 20 mins for my wings, we walked right past you while you were dancing and out the door..." he then decided to tell me how stupid i was for walking out and no matter how bad the service was i shouldnt walk out. I told him that we had to leave and were tired of waiting, he didnt care to come back and make right with us, so i didnt care to stop him and beg him for the ticket we waited 20 mins for. I would not recommend this place to anyone if you want great service because this was far from great service. Server was too worried about the girls dancing than the people that he needed to be worried about.... i would give this place negative...