Saint Paul Brewing — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Just had a weird experience at Saint Paul Brewing tonight. Haven’t been there for a while, but we had a fine time on the busy patio and enjoyed a good pizza and okay beers. Not sure why the beers have barely changed since they were Flat Earth, but oh well. Anyway, everything was fine and on the way out we saw a well stocked merch area with a great(?) deal on a particular shirt. My gf wanted a $15 shirt so we went to the bar to pay. There was only 1 guy behind the counter and he seemed to be dealing with an unhappy customer as she seemed to be arguing with him on our end of the bar.

After waiting for much too long, we asked another worker who was bussing tables how we can pay and only then did the two separate. Okay, finally we’ll get out of here. I wish. He rang us up and it came to $16.48. $15 + tax…on a t-shirt. In Minnesota where there is no tax on clothing. I had to say something. Unfortunately, the young worker didn’t have a clue and he said it just comes up with tax, so there’s tax. I said there’s no tax on clothing in MN. He went to find his manager. Turns out, the lady who was arguing with him (and ignoring us) was his manager! Wow, great customer service. But then it went from bad to worse.

I told her this item mistakenly had tax added to it. $1.48 extra isn’t a big deal, but I also wanted them to know that they couldn’t charge tax in this state on clothing. She literally argued with me about this. And apparently she was the expert as she recently moved here from Texas a few months ago and then she even googled MN tax and it said that MN charges retail tax. Duh. I said yes, MN has retail tax, but no clothing is taxed and that’s been the way longer than I’ve been alive (I’ve been around awhile). Turns out the exact year this became state law was in 1967. But it’s taxed in Texas, so hey, she must know!

And this lady is training others. Who trains her? I’m guessing somebody simply neglected to press the “no tax” button for that particular article of clothing. But arguing with a customer about tax code over $1.48 is horrible customer service. I wanted to help this company so that they fix the issue and stop illegally taxing customers, but I doubt anything will come of it. I especially didn’t like it that she claimed that I was the first person ever to complain about the tax on clothing, so they may very well be doing...

Sadly, I think this place is going downhill. First, there is a sign that says wait in line until the bartender calls you up to order. I saw 4 people behind the bar, and only one was bartenders. The others were doing other busy-work while customers waited. That's poor service.

Second, there is a sign at the bar which tells you the 18% service fee is not a gratuity, and that you should tell the bartender what kind of tip you want to give. The service was awful; certainly not worthy of an 18% service fee, let alone a gratuity.

Third, you can't order food at the bar when you try. You get directed to go to a table and download/pay from a QR code. So, no wait-staff service to justify an 18% service fee or a gratuity on top of that. The staff member who was busing used dishes from tables looked like she hated being there. How is this management team treating their staff? Asking me to tip when I had to do the work of downloading a menu and place my order without the ability to ask questions of, or interact with a knowledgeable server is like a self-checkout machine at a grocery store that then asks for a tip.

Fourth, the usually wonderful back patio had a QR code on only one table, which was already occupied. This was on one of the nicest days in an unusually warm February, and there was no functional ability to enjoy the back patio, because you couldnt order from there, which was a primary reason for our visit.

The fact that the management chose to put a sign on the bar differentiating between the 18% service fee and gratuities tells me that: a) the staff gets none of the 18%; b) the management's obstinate refusal to get rid of a bogus charge for substandard service telegraphs the disdain with which they view their customers and staff.

Sadly, I can't recommend this place anymore. I am curious about whether Black Stack has adopted the same disdainful look-down-your-nose-at-customers attitude.

Happily, there are numerous other brew pubs around with better prices, significantly better service, and a much more positive view of...

I came here for the first (and last) time one night on a date, mainly to see what all the fuss was about since it's been in the news so much lately (I guess any press is good press?).

Between us, we had 3 drinks (the black tea ale, peach sour, and Czech pilsner), 2 pizzas (Minnesotan and the pep/hot honey number), and an app (roasted fingerling potatoes), which came out to $86.39 (no shade, that's actually pretty par for the course these days).

The black tea ale was actually quite good! Definitely the highlight of the evening. The peach sour, however, was abysmal. It tasted like if you dissolved gas station peach ring candies and smarties in a can of Red Bull. I would recommend this perhaps for a 7-year old's first drink. The Czech pilsner was unremarkable, verging on bad. Utepils and Waldmann (when they have it) do it better.

The Minnesotan pizza somehow turns a variety of great ingredients (bacon, ranch, chicken, Thai basil, garlic) into something that tastes like a tire. The chicken on the pizza resembled one as well in texture. The pepperoni pizza was fine, but that's one of those things that's near impossible to mess up. Same with the fingerlings.

The atmosphere is what I've heard people rave about this establishment the most, so this part was honestly the most disappointing. The historic Hamm's building is absolutely gorgeous, but this establishment occupies it like a syphilitic hermit crab. There is just no zhuzh; no je ne sais quoi here. The spiritual energy on display here is like the band, Train, a beer pedal cart, a goldendoodle, or the city of Tel Aviv. You can find any number of QR-code menu "brings people together and inspires guests" (actual quote from the website lmao) places like this in such cultural hubs as Dallas, TX or Jacksonville, FL. The flagship product being called "Shamm's" is hilariously on-point.

P.S. The owner's crybullying is completely justified. There's not nearly enough parking! The City should demolish the nearby police station, or even clear cut Swede Hollow Park so this place can have...