Midtown Gastrobar — Restaurant in Sacramento

Edit: I had to update my review because this last time I came in, the experience was completely different.

When I came in, none of the bartenders smiled, greeted me, or acknowledged me, even though they saw me walk in and sit at the bar. They weren't busy, just chatting with one another. After several minutes of sitting there, a woman, Laura, finally approached me. She didn't give any food or drink recommendations, or offer a menu, so I had to ask.

When I asked about the wifi, she gave me the wrong password the first time. Of course, I had to wait a couple of minutes to get her attention before asking again, and then she gave me the correct password.

From the cocktail menu, I ordered the Lemon Drop, but it had salt on the rim (which ruined it for me). Every place I've ordered a Lemon Drop, they first ask if I want salt on the rim. I wanted to order food, but I was ignored and walked by several times. She had no problem giving other customers attention and chatting with them.

Several minutes go by, and I finally get to order the BBQ Cheeseburger. I asked for no cheese and BBQ sauce, but when it arrived, Laura gave me BBQ sauce anyway. She didn't offer any condiments, so I had to wait a couple more minutes to get her attention just to ask for some ketchup and ranch.

Once I finished my meal, I had to sit there for a whole 10 minutes before she noticed I was done. I was friendly the whole time, but I definitely lost my patience once I was done eating and waiting forever for the check.

A lot of time wasted with poor service. The drink was good, minus the salt. The burger was decent. The fries, while good, didn't have seasoning on it like the last time I visited. The pricing was reasonable, though.

1st review from 1+ year ago: 5 Stars Good food. Good beer. Fun and friendly workers. I really liked the place! The picture with the burger and fries with ketchup, and the picture with the beer and water are from...

Let’s start with what’s going right here. The food was excellent and the beer was delicious and super cold. Also, the servers are attentive and efficient. That’s where the compliments end. First, they have a HUGE bar but the design makes it difficult to serve the front of the house. I watched our beers sit poured just a couple feet from me sit because someone had to make the long journey around the back of the bar to get to us. Here’s my real complaint. I picked this place because we were meeting the band who was playing in the venue next door. I called a day in advance to confirm the place had AC as it would be 110°. We arrived and there was no difference from outside. Now, it’s a huge location with a downstairs and rooftop. So, they said the AC just wasn’t strong enough to contend with the heat. But it was truly uncomfortable for everyone. And 100+ temps are not abnormal for Sac. Seems like they just don’t have AC powerful enough. Or it’s too expensive to run.

They other huge problem we had is they just forgot one of our orders. Our table of 8 people were served at different times and one poor guy didn’t get his food till the rest of the band left. He had 5 mins to eat and get on stage. It was all in all a...

Second Visit: We went after watching a movie down the street. The place was dead quiet with maybe three tables. I lingered at the counter while three groups of women entered, were seated, and given water before I could place an order at the counter - about 10-15 minutes after my group arrived. Regardless, I was hopeful about having one of the great burgers people reviewed here. Sure, they were creative options, but overcooked and didn't taste all that great. It could've been the team that day, but since the experience was extensive, I'll probably only come back if there are few other options.

Previous: We went for a 49ers NFL Playoff game day. It was chaotic, but all seemed to run smoothly. A number of big screens TVs including one downstairs that was out of the chaos, though you couldn't hear it very well. The cheap wings were pretty solid - 6 for $8 / 12 for $12. Other folks' food looked great, too. The best part was the gentleman working the downstairs counter that was extremely welcoming and accommodating - even digging through the back stock to find me some bottles...