The Bull Ring — Restaurant in Santa Fe

This was the last time we will be in to this establishment. Our larger party was the second table seated in the patio as they opened for lunch during the busiest weekend Santa Fe has going on for which they should have been prepared for being in the heart of the city. We were the last table to put in a drink order as we watched every other table put in orders and even had their food order taken. 30 minutes after seating, we finally put in our drink order. After 1 hour of waiting, as we watched every other table order, and in some case receive and finish their plates, we finally had our food order taken. This was so unprofessional and not a good start at all to our experience. As we waited for our food, a busser who was attentive to us and refilled our waters as we waited over an hour to order accidently dropped a glass and it broke at the feet of two of our guests. As she as well as us cleaned up glass letting her know it's okay, mistakes happen, the hostess in her hurry to seat other guests moved the chair and slightly pushed the lady that was spilled on with glass shattering on her. This completely upset us and we spoke up about the experience we were having. At that point the hostess instead of admitting her faults became argumentative and yelled at us. At no point did the owner or manager come to talk to us to offer apologies. Some of our party had to seek out the owner, at least we believe he was the owner, in order to speak with him. He was completely uncaring and lacked any professional service skills. Instead of apologizing to us for the horrible experience, he simply asked what we wanted in order to end the situation. We said nothing, we were hoping for an apology and for some accountability to be taken. He excused himself from the conversation and never came back further showing his lack of care or professionalism. I can't believe this man is in charge of a service establishment and am disgusted at the treatment we experienced. Only saving grace was the staff that kept our waters refilled while we waited. And in the end, the hostess did apologize as we talked and she calmed down.

Response to Owner It's astonishing that as the owner you can write on here and blatantly lie. The hostess only started crying when myself and my mother were talking to YOU and her when she realized she pushed an older woman and she said she was so sorry and didn't realize that she did so. That's when she cried and not before like you tried to say, which was also after her horrible attitude was on display right in front of you. Funny thing is that my mom and I did more to mend the high temper of the hostess than you did as you walked away from the conversation to talk to a lady that seemed to be a friend of yours. Also at no point did you offer to pay for any of the meal, you simply asked what could be done as I stated, never did I state that you offered to pay, and the fact that you take no accountability and continue to lie is horrid. You have not taken any responsibility for the fact we had to find you after all of these completely unprofessional instances in your establishment. Sir, you have no right to talk down to anyone and act as if you are amazing as an owner. Having worked in the service industry for years, you should have handled the situation much differently. But the fact you are lying only solidifies the fact that we will not be back to this one time great restaurant. Good luck on your venture here, and I hope you realize that as an owner, you never stop learning and growing. As we will never be back, hopefully you humble yourself and do better in the future when things aren't perfect, which for any business is going to happen. Things happen and what sets businesses apart is how problems are addressed and handled. This restaurant is a staple of Santa Fe, and I hope that you can learn from this, as well as other reviews I have read and looked at your response to, and handle things much better so this restaurant thrives for...

Went tonight August 5th, 2023. bartender seemed nice but turned out to be a shister. We are locals. We ordered wings and the French dip. Bartender asked if we wanted it split and we said no. It came out split and we didn’t think much of it. I gave a lot of my half sandwich and fries to my husband. Bill came and we were charged $3.00 for split plate. We’re generous - we tip on total (which includes tax) but we won’t be back after this Bartender’s tactics! We saw the charge and inquired and she said it’s listed at the bottom of the menu. Sucks when a restaurant employs tactics especially when the customer didn’t ask for it and specifically said no when asked. We reduced our tip by $3.00 but was this really worth it? We are local and now we won’t ever come back for this shister practice - she just ignored us. It’s too bad the owners hired this individual that ultimately does not represent their interest. Point blank that sucked! Have at it and we hope lots of customers heed this barterdar’s practices and this review because the Bartendar does represent the restaurant! If a restaurant needs to raise prices (which they have indeed at Bull Ring), update the menu and charge the customer - don’t use tactics like this that ultimately drive away the customer. Yep - lost a local customer over $3.00.

To be fair - we were so upset we called and spoke to an owner and he confirmed what was done to us wasn’t the spirit or intent and offered to refund the $3.00 but we’re still too upset but he deserves credit for offering this. Point blank the Bartender whose name the owner is aware of needs some serious training and understanding just exactly what she did was wrong. Hey it’s only $3.00 but it’s the principal of it. Still upset! We ordered wings, French dip, two martinis and 3 beers so we ordered a fair amount for two people. So angry still! Ruined our evening - you just think to yourself what the heck is this Bartendar thinking? We regret only reducing the tip by $3.00 and wish very much that we would have left the Bartender no tip at all.. So upset still and the owners offer still just doesn’t make it better. Who wants to deal with a Bartendar like this when there are so many great places to eat in Santa Fe. We hope the owner does a staff wide training teaching it’s staff how important it is that when a customer expresses dismay that they immediately involve a manger and don’t take matters into their own hands because clearly this Bartendar missed the mark in a huge way! To the bartendar - you know who you are - seriously bad call on your part and we hope that tip we left (only $3.00 short) comes back on your three...

My partner and I had dinner here last night for my 71st birthday. We celebrated my 70th here last year. It was a Sunday night. If I could have given more than 5 ⭐️ I would have… I did leave a review last year. We came back to Santa Fe this year (here for a week) to enjoy the town and revisit The Bull Ring.

The food was good but the overall experience was disappointing. The dining room was only about half to 2/3 full, but was still quite noisy. The table cloth had a stain on it. To be honest, I didn’t notice it until after my cocktail arrived. And it was where the cocktail was placed. I felt it and it was dry. I hadn’t noticed it before, I think I would have. We mentioned it to the assistant, she offered to change out the cloth or relocate us to the neighboring booth…we preferred to just place a white napkin over it. The waiter arrived to follow up, and Insisted that the spot was from the cocktail. Whether it was or wasn’t, his attitude, from my perspective, was not service oriented. He then asked what we wanted to do and I explain to him that we had already solved the issue with his assistant. He made no comment that one might expect but just turned and walked away. The Gentleman‘s steak arrived on a small plate, No garnish! Ordered medium rare, but came rare. Not a huge problem, I did not send it back, but quite honestly, I’m in my humble opinion, there is no excuse for that. He did not offer wine with the meal, which I usually have, but opted not to given that the experience was already substandard and I was not inclined to spend any more money given the disappointing experience up to that point. The reality for me is that this waiter was the biggest problem for us, in terms of having a satisfying experience. it may not be fair but the waiter in the previous year created and added to a wonderful environment which was quiet on a Sunday evening, offer an alternative suggestions to our orders such as if we want to do another sauce options on our Gentlemans steak. Engaged with us in a warm manner that communicated his concern for our experience thus accomplishing the goal of “excellent service” which can make or break a dining experience. Our waiter last night was NOT unpleasant, he was just lacking…the word that comes to mind to me is “haughty”. Again he was in the way, unpleasant or rude. He just wasn’t “present” to us as his guests. This just served to amplify the other problems with the overall experience.

With all of this said… We will definitely return to the Bull Ring, but on a Sunday evening, for what we would hope would be a bit more of a low-key experience in terms...