URBAN ROOFTOP — Restaurant in Round Rock

What a weird experience we had yesterday. We’ve come here a few times now and the first experience was great. Sarah was very attentive and knowledgeable with the drink menu. She suggested a pink tequila drink that she said she created herself and it wasn’t on the menu. It was tasty!

Our second experience was pretty bad. The server we had this time was new and seemed to be new to serving in general. Didn’t write our order down and predictably got it wrong. Service was slow and she seemed new to serving in general. We had ordered prosciutto with our salad and it never came. We let her know and she just said “so do you want it?” Then it came on a side plate in a big heap. It was chewy and unappetizing and I’m not sure what the point of a salad is if the ingredients aren’t incorporated. Then the flatbread we ordered had bell peppers on it instead of the jalapeños it said it included on the menu. We provided this feedback and she said “oh they just put whatever is available in the kitchen on there.” What? Then we asked for jalapeños and she brought us some. Weird. The drinks were also noticeably worse on this occasion, all unbalanced.

Last night, we arrived with four of our family members who were in town for my wife’s PhD graduation from UT. We sat at the long table over on the left side of the rooftop, tucked in the corner and away from the stage. This was a good spot, except it wreaks of dog urine over here. I don’t know if a guest’s dog peed here or if they use fertilizer on the plants behind the table, but it stunk all night. To be fair to our server, I did not communicate this. Our server was very friendly and accommodating when we arrived. Drinks were good but took a long time. We were at the restaurant for a good 4 hours or so and while I can understand it being a challenge to find a rhythm with service for that long of a stay, I have to say the service broke down miserably after an hour or so. We were pretty heavily neglected for long periods of time with empty waters and drinks. I saw her walk by the table several times and glance over at us with the empty glasses and old dishes with no food on then, but I could tell she was busy and she made the mistake of not clearing things efficiently or addressing empty drinks the first time she saw them. But perhaps the strangest part of our evening was when we told her that the other server (Sarah?) had told us she was the bar manager and that she created the pink tequila drink for us last time. Our server last night referred to the other server as “fishnets” and said she isn’t the bar manager and she didn’t make that drink up herself. Then she said “and I’m happy to call her out, too.” I think all of our eyebrows rose. It really came out of left field and while our server was friendly with us, she broke the professional barrier in a completely unnecessary and flat-out strange way. A young mistake, I suppose. The service we received from the other girl during our first experience was a LOT better and it kind of felt like this server was maybe a bit of a hater/jealous of her. And we really don’t care about your toxic work environment. We’re just there to spend money and be served overpriced food and drinks on a rooftop with live music.

As for the food…well, the food is pretty amateurish and takes forever to arrive. The bruschetta was just a round white plate with a bunch of heirloom tomatoes cut in half and some toasted bread with some sort of cheese melted on it. It was weird and not good. The hummus was not very good either and the veggies it came with, again, had a very amateurish presentation. We ordered a steak flatbread and intentionally timed it. Took over an hour. Our server mistakenly corrected me and said the ticket was at 40 minutes. So she must have entered it late (she didn’t have a handheld POS when we ordered it). The flatbread was bland and had way too much cheese on it. Again, very amateurish. Our server comped the flatbread and hummus without us asking her to. They seem to be in desperate need of a legitimate chef. The food is slow...

The one star is only because it's required. Let me be the first to review. Eagerly awaited the opening of this since I frequent my neighborhood locations and invited 6 of my friends to come with. One friend arrived before me at 5, when they opened and I arrived 15 mins after her. She had already asked for someone to come and serve her but no one had come. When I arrived, she shared with me that although she was the first to arrive, another table of 5 who came after her were quickly served. I look to see another table enjoying drinks. So I walk inside and ask for water or someone to come take our order and I'm told that I can go to a water station out back and if I wanted a drink, I could order it from the bar and take it to my table. Confused, why I have to get my own drinks because there's only a total of 7 people there, so its not busy. Baffled, I return to my friend when a person shows up and I try to change the energy by asking about food. We were told they have a few things but if we want to eat we can go downstairs "they have plenty of seating for you" and eat at the other location. My friend and I look at each other, confused, because at this point, we've been sitting now for about 20 mins and no service and we are being told we can go somewhere else if we want to eat. They do have food, but a limited selection. That's fine, but can we get drinks? The person replied, "Yes, but you should just go over there" (meaning to main restaurant). So now I'm really asking myself, questions about if they don't want us to be there since no one has attempted to bring us so much as a glass of water. Meanwhile, table of 5 has now been served a 2nd round of drinks. So we leave, call our friends and tell them not to meet us at The Rooftop since it was pretty clear that we were not wanted at this location. When we go back down the elevator to exit, we run across on of the other employees who had originally told us we could "go over there" and he says, "you leaving?" We replied yes and he said, "Okay" and walked back inside the building. Well let's just say that while I'd like to say it is a very beautiful place, depending on your group, you may or may not be served. We didn't let the experience ruin our evening and went to the main restaurant, Urban Eat & Drink, where we spent well over $300 and had a blast. As for The Rooftop, I will never spend my money where I'm not wanted, but I will make sure that people are aware of my experience. One would think that in the day and age of social media and awareness that businesses would think twice about how they interact with customers . but I will not be waved away without speaking up. Can't tell you if they have good drinks or not. I can't tell you if they even have cold water. The picture is when we decided to leave but determined not to let it ruin our evening and still with a smile...

I'm going to start off positive. The food is good, the live music and the atmosphere are great! Bathrooms were clean. We really enjoyed the friendliness of the staff. The reason for a 3 star rating was the constant up selling. It became exhausting. Our server was borderline obsessive with the up sale on everything. I ordered a pinot noir, she told me the Cab sauv is much better ($4 upsale). Bread a butter would be better with a little extra ($3 more each- only came with 7 tiny slices. Was this the extra?) Meanwhile I was trying to enjoy our guests to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday and couldn't constantly manage the suggested micro charges at every interaction. My husband ordered an old fashion on tap, she said "it's sweet, you won't like that. Let me get you the Woodford old fashion" UPCHARGE. Not once did we order without a conversation trying to sell us more. I understand upcharges (I was a server) but this was invasive. Her need for sales interfered with our conversation. We we could never simply order and continue with our evening. She had to discuss every request and didn't take no for an answer without a negotiation. I'm tired just thinking about it. When closing out our tab, she stood next to me waiting for it. I had wanted to read over it and decide if I wanted to give additional tip (large party gratuity included) . It was very awkward and frankly uncomfortable. If she would have focused on being genuine about her service, she would have taken home more than the automatic 20% gratuity. I'd go back but I'd make sure we have a...