Half Time Rec — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Nothing like visiting a neighborhood bar on the eve of another Vikings playoff loss. I didn’t know what to except as I rolled in solo. You could easily pass by it and not even notice the place as the outside is pretty low brow. Inside the place was well lit including some patrons in their Viking costumes. All eyes fell on the new guy with questions rolling around in their heads. I bellied up to collect my senses and get a feel for the atmosphere. It can be sketchy sometimes walking into a neighborhood bar by yourself but here everyone just kept to themselves for the most part. A friendly bartender took my order, Rumpees shot and bottle of Miller Light($11.50), and delivered with a smile. She said their was Bocce Ball in the basement which sounded intriguing. HTR has it all….numerous televisions, pool tables, other bar games, pull tabs and food. The clientele was a mixture of working class folks of all different ages and colors. The HTR had a nice vibe but I could see it getting a bit out of hand from time to time and maybe that’s why they close at 11pm. I actually lost track of time and the next thing ya know it was closing time. I’ll be back as I need to check out the basement Bocce Ball...

I will preface this to state that I NEVER give a bad review but I am just really put off by the interaction I just had. Called to see if they had the ACC network to bring a group this evening to watch a game. The woman who answered was curt, and said she had "no idea what that is." I repeated myself and said it is a channel that they show football on which I thought was a little odd since this is a sports bar with multiple TVs, thus this would be an easy answer. She then proceeded to say that she still didn't know what that was and she didn't have time to check or even ask someone because they were so busy-mind you, it is 3PM on a regular thursday-nothing of note. She sounded annoyed and exasperated the whole 20 second call. She could have even asked if I would call back or waited on hold for a while. That would have been absolutely fine! I have worked in hospitality my whole career including multiple sports bars and this is just not the way you handle a call like this. I am really bummed because we just moved to this area and were excited to have a go-to sports bar for the football season but my only interaction with this place so far has left me feeling meh about ever going...

1 star only because it can't get any lower. The day started out ok, met a friend to watch the Masters tournament, everything was great...then a shift change. The blonde girl that took over literally sat on her cellphone for 15 minutes ignoring us. Played the jukebox and she made sure the volume was turned down, as she said it interrupts her work if is too loud. Hello you have a jukebox and you take my jukebox money, yet we can't hear it because you have yo talk on your cell phone? It actually gets worse, but this is the first time I have ever been compelled to write a negative review, but this girl just hated her job apparently. Here is a tip for the owners of this place...when you are paying someone to tend your bar, take away their smartphones. I have never been treated so badly at a bar/restaurant. You should be ashamed of yourselves to allow this to happen.. I have and I ordered a cup of soup. After waiting 20 minutes it was served to me cold and tasted filthy. I pushed it back to the other side if the bar. Eventually when the bartender put her phone away, she picked up the cup without even asking...