Sidecar — Restaurant in San Luis Obispo

BARTENDING SERVICES (not restaurant) My wife and I recently hired Sidecar to provide bartending services for our small wedding in Templeton, CA. We spoke with Danielle about our signature cocktails, wine table service and paid for her recommended luxe package and two staff to service our event. We kept our wine and champagne chilled and the rest of our alcohol cool for days prior to the wedding reception. We followed Sidecar’s recommended shopping list and ultimately purchased nearly 120 bottles of alcohol. The 32 adults present generally drink and like wine so it would be rather uncommon that at the end of an evening such as this, less than twenty bottles of alcohol had even been opened. Here are some highlights of our evening with Sidecar:

We spent $3500 on almost 120 bottles of alcohol that their bartenders actively chose not to provide to our guests.

They refused to make the signature old fashioned recipe that we agreed upon and provided all the components for. My new father-in-law even called them out on it. Given that this was his recipe, he knew that this was not our requested drink. He asked the bartenders to use the maple syrup (per the recipe) that we had provided and their response? “No sir, our simple syrup is fine.”

Their bartenders decided they were on break during dinner service, so people were not getting table service until we went up to the “CLOSED” bar (by the way, no one bothered explaining to us that our bar would be closed during dinner) and explained that people should be getting wine served to them. When they did finally start table service, they went around asking red or white. This would have been fine if we hadn’t provided a Sav Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cab Sav, and Champagne. Therefore, almost 40 bottles of wine we purchased went untouched because our guests simply didn’t know they were an option. To top it all off the Cab Sav was served HOT. We chilled that wine for TWO DAYS prior!

In simple terms, while our guests had dinner, one of your bartenders stood behind the bar with a closed sign and we found the other one socializing in the kitchen. How is it possible we had to explain to TWO bartenders that it was their job to serve the alcohol.

They put out a tip jar without our permission and given that we were advised to tip them 20% already, it certainly looked tacky given what we know we had already paid for their services.

We feel as though we had enough discussion with Danielle to understand our expectations and we were under the impression we were going to have the best bartending service in SLO. Their bartenders ability to serve our guests wine, make cocktails, and even have good attitudes was a complete embarrassment. They were by far the sore thumb of our entire event and multiple guests complained to us about their service...

On vacation from the east coast and my cousin recommended this place. Pulled up and it was very busy, but hostess pointed us to a couple of seats on the innermost side of the bar. These seats gave us a great view of the bartenders as they worked their magic. Bar is beautiful, long marble slab. Bar is set up well, every bottle had its own place, very orderly and well maintained. Bartenders were very clean and efficient with their pours, no wasted effort and no spills, makes for a great viewing experience. Two of the bartenders we spoke to, Luke and Sean, were very welcoming and made us feel right at home. The place was slammed but all the bartenders were cool as cucumbers. I had the Memaw’s cobbler, which was very light and not overly sweet, hard for a drink with bourbon and peach liqueur. I also had The E.P. which is one of the most well-balanced mezcal drinks I’ve ever had, blending green chili and cayenne tincture to smoldering coals instead of a blazing inferno that most spicy drinks end up coming out as. My wife got the Kuzco’s poison, which is one of those dangerously delicious drinks you order 3 too many of. I also appreciate the reference to The Emperor’s New Groove. Luke also makes a mean Pisco Sour. Wish we were staying for more than just a night in SLO. This place is a destination stop and makes you wish you were a...

Delicious cocktails? Can't say.

Great ambiance? I suppose from what I could see outside.

Great service? Absolutely not.

We placed our name and number on their waitlist and the brown haired hostess with the mom jeans told us it would be a 10-15 minute wait. It was a Friday night, so a wait was totally understandable. However, after many empty tables went to new groups that kept on appearing, and after the original 15 minutes turned into a half hour, we inquired inside. The hostess said she didn't have my name or my number and that they probably tried to call but we didn't pick up. I'm sorry but that's totally gaslighting! (And they did have my number because I received the text confirming I had been put on the waitlist and that they would contact me when a table was ready.) After her sad attempt to remedy the situation and find a table, she proceeds to tell us very unapologetically that we would need to wait a few more minutes. Not a single "sorry". She could barely muster the energy to pretend that she cared that she couldn't even do her job.

I tapped my heals twice, willed myself to leave the presence of such incompetence and settled with the fact that I took this as a sign that I didn't need to spend money at this establishment. Ever. I may come back through SLO (maybe)...and if I do, I will absolutely remember to...