Back Bar Private Events by Sabine — Restaurant in Seattle

I've been here before and loved it and wanted to bring my mom who is from out of town and loves a brunch spot - unfortunately, the service we received would not have us coming back. First, if you're there on the weekend, expect a long and slow line. My mom was suffering from vertigo so I offered to hold the spot in line while she sat at a nearby table. Instead of taking the next person's order, the cashier immediately got out from behind the counter and rushed to tell my mom she couldn't sit down until she'd reached the front of the line.

A bit awkward, but we kept waiting. Ten minutes and only two orders taken later, we got to the front of the line and began to place our orders. Then the cashier tells us the only seating they had available was on the back patio - with no heating, on a rainy, windy day in April. I declined, explained that my mom was dizzy and asked if there was anywhere for her to sit while waiting for a table to open. The cashier offered to bring a chair out for my mom to sit on while we wait in line. Why? Since we didn't want to sit outdoors in the rain, he couldn't take our order until someone left. As a food service worker, I understand that this cashier didn't invent this questionable policy and was probably already annoyed by other people who wanted their seats sooner than he could offer them.

After another wait, watching the cashier take orders at the pickup window and questioning the point of it all, the cashier cleared us a spot at the bar, took our order, and we started to walk to it. Only to find out that someone had already taken it because the bar is... full service. Meaning, if you're over 21, even if you're not drinking, you can sit and order food from the lovely and kind bartender wearing awesome chef's knife earrings (she earned the stars we gave), instead of waiting in line for 20+ minutes.

The food was fine.

TLDR: This bar/cafe is quintessential Seattle (as a person from here) - gorgeous interior decor and tons of hype, but ultimately overpriced and not going to consistently offer good customer service. You're better off at Portage Bay, Julia's or Blue Plate in Wallingford, or Agua Verde in the Udistrict. Or on the weekends, grab baked goods from the awesome farmers market and walk around in the...

I was recommended this place for drinks, food and ambience. With high expectation we chose this place to celebrate our friend's bday dinner. We booked a table for 10 a week ago and requested to surprise our friend with a cake to cut at the end of the dinner. Initial response was that they do cake, if needed we have to drop the cake prior to the dinner time and on the top we have to pay $2 per person for the cake cutting. That was very odd for us, but still we decided to go with this place. I have been providing confirmation for multiple times before the visit itself. With all these pre-arrangements, it was very surprising to hear from them when we reach there that they need time to set the table and asked us to wait outside. They arranged the table outside covered, and after sitting there for few minutes we were feeling cold and asked whether we can sit inside and they said they can't accommodate more than 6 inside and we were party of 8. the drink we ordered was not of our taste and even thou we all ordered the same, one of us got a different one. the appetizer choices were hopeless. The services was not good too. At the end, we decided to leave the place as we all were unhappy with the service, food and drinks. The big birthday dinner ended up disastrous. We walked out and got into Patxi's pizza place and we regained our...

UPDATED REVIEW: After posting my review, Kathryn, the manager, reached out to me wanting to clarify my concerns and make it right. She was so professional and sincere and just wanted to make sure I was treated fairly. Changing my review from 2 to 4 stars after this positive communication. Came with a friend for the first time tonight. The vibe and the patio were pretty nice. My issue was with the service which was very slow even though it wasn't crowded. We ordered our food through their online system and the servers only came by to bring us what we ordered. They didn't come to check on us otherwise. All of this was annoying but not something I would normally make an issue of except that their system automatically charges 20% gratuity on the bill! This should be made clear on the system or posted somewhere so people can expect the level of service to match the high gratuity charge. There's no option to adjust the tip as I was automatically cashed out so it tells me this is the normal charge. It's a shame the restaurant itself is pretty cool but I most likely...