Pennyroyal — Restaurant in Seattle

So.. On Sunday my friend and I had tickets to the Trisha Paytas show at the Moore theater at 7:30. When we arrived about 45 minutes before the show, we decided to go across the street to Pennyroyal for a single drink. We walked in and a blonde tall waitress turned to us and told us to sit wherever. We grabbed a seat at the end of the bar and waited. As my friend was chatting with me i noticed the waitress at a round table next to the bar handoff. She was speaking much louder than the patrons she was talking to and i thought i heard her be slightly catty, but brushed it off. The service industry is like that sometimes. A while more goes by and the bartender has not even glanced in our direction. We move seats to be closer to where he is in hopes of getting s drink slightly faster. This is where i think we messed up- The bartender notices and after about 5 minutes comes up to us to ask our order. Since i saw the espresso grinder and machine i asked for an espresso martini, i was told they do not have the espresso to make that... as I'm staring at the beans, grinder and machine. That's fine, i grab the menu to look for my next best option. As soon as i pick up the menu to look, he tries to confirm that i dont want a drink. I try to explain i just need a minute and he is not amused. The waitress walks up to the bar handoff (right next to where we are seated) and starts complaining about the customers being difficult. A patron (younger woman) approaches the waitress and asks for an ETA on their shots because they are going to the concert next door and it had been 20 mins since she ordered them (what she said, idk if it had) and they were ready to leave to go to the concert. The waitress put on the most scary smile ive ever seen and through gritted teeth says " take a seat i will be right with you". Patron tries to be like oh no i just need the shots and the check, waitress doubles down with her gritted teeth. Then, the round table that the waitress had been arguing with leaves. THIS is where it got crazy, the waitress basically lunges to look at the check and then super loudly exclaims "THEY STIFFED ME" and the bartender yells to her "what? They didn't Pay?" and she says "they didn't tip!!" then she tells the bartender, loud enough so us and a few other tables by the front could hear, that as soon as the room clears at 7 she's closing down early and that she doesn't care. She's standing directly behind my friend and tells the bartender shes going to quit and its because "all these kids" (were in a bar so everyone is over 21 to be factually correct) cant afford to tip. She actually said if these kids cant afford to tip they shouldn't go out. She then spends a few moments silently stewing to herself and complaining under her breath before apologizing to the only other people sitting at the bar. I find it relevant to add that the couple at the bar were visibly older than the rest of the patrons.

I understand not being tipped for good service feels like a slap in the face and can absolutely be maddening and dehumanizing- but when you bark at customers and openly insult them, you do not get a tip. Genuinely hope that she did quit, it sounds like the service industry is maybe not the best match. Some people cannot handle it and it seems like we witnessed her...

To start off, yes this was a negative and bizarre experience and is mostly based around one specific employee. But I think blame first needs to be put on management and scheduling for having only two employees working on a Sunday night when there is a sold out show going on at the Moore across the street. Having only one bartender and one host is unfair to both the customers and the two employees, and caused an unnecessary and avoidable stressful experience on both sides. But also... y'all SERIOUSLY need to fire your host that was working the night of Sunday, March 2nd. About 7pm. I have never in my life encountered ruder staff at a restaurant and it seems like you've had other bad reviews concerning rude staff that I am sure are pointed at this specific employee. I've worked as a waitress myself and I know how stressful and unfair it can be. But I would yell and scream about it to myself in the walk-in fridge, not in the middle of the goddamn bar in front of all the customers. The hostess was loudly bad-mouthing the customers within earshot of EVERYONE. When a girl came up to her and said, super nicely and respectfully, "Hey, I'm just checking on the status of the shots I ordered 20 minutes ago-- just wondering because the show is starting soon and we want to get inside" the hostess snapped at her and told her to go sit back down. My jaw was literally on the floor, if I had said that to a customer at my old serving job, I would've been written up on the spot. Once that table left, she loudly announced to the bartender that they didn't tip. She made a comment while standing right next to us about how none of these kids are tipping, and they shouldn't go out if they can't afford to tip. She also made a comment about wanting to quit. I hope she does because obviously she can't contain her rage in these high-stress situations. These situations shouldn't happen to staff at all, but if she held it together and wasn't outwardly raging and snapping at the customers she definitely wouldn't have lost out on tips. I still tipped because the bartender didn't do anything wrong and I felt bad for him for having to make drink after drink nonstop. I would chalk this up to a bad night for the hostess, but based on the other negative reviews I think this is...

I really wanted to give this place 4 stars, but there were just a couple of things that kind of irked me. First off, it is actually really nice looking. It's very quiet, so if you're looking for a place to hide in a dark bar and enjoy the quiet music, check it out. It's just A-OK in my book.

We visited here while we were staying in the hotel. During our first visit, we stopped by on the way back from the Izakaya next door. We had a few cocktails at the Izakaya and wanted to grab one more before heading to the room for the night. I ordered a vodka martini which came in a super small baby sized glass, hardly worth the $11 he charged for the top shelf vodka he used (without asking my preference). My girlfriend couldn't make up her mind and he suggested "pink bubbly" which turned out to be a Brut pink "champagne". She didn't like it much, but I knew she wasn't into champagne. My gripe is that one glass of pink champagne cost $20. $36 for two drinks and tip later, I found myself wondering what just happened while I sat down in my room.

The second time, my girlfriend went up to the room after a long day, but I needed to wind down some so I stopped in here. It was a different bartender this time, but I got a similar greeting of a water and a menu. He seemed busy chatting with one of the other patrons at the bar. I ordered a martini, this time, he asked what I wanted and I said "cheap". I had three martinis for $30. This bartender was a little more talkative once he acknowledged me.

All in all, it's really just a hotel lobby bar that is priced like a hotel lobby bar. There are plenty of options in the area with more affordable cocktails for sure. We are members of the hotels rewards program, so we did get a $10 credit to spend at the bar, that would be the only reason I'd...