Whisky West — Restaurant in Seattle

My girlfriend and I really wanted to like Whisky West when they first opened their doors about two years ago across from our house. Initially it seemed like a place I would really enjoy as I have an affinity for both whiskey and beer. Unfortunately though, after an unpleasant encounter with both their manager and owner, and after giving this bar numerous chances to work out their many kinks, we’ve decided it’s time to stop supporting them and bring these issues to their customers’ attention.

Staff: Not everyone here provides bad service but just about all of our friends and family members have had an issue at some point with the different servers who have waited on us. Things a simple as unreasonable wait times for food/drinks all the way to extremely poor hygiene (terrible BO). Once my girlfriend found a dead wasp in her salad which was incredibly hard to miss. When notified, the waitress showed almost no concern, made little effort to apologize and only comped us half the price of the salad to compensate. Several other poor experiences paired with a noticeably high turnover rate for their staff is never a good sign. Overall, I don’t want to begrudge the employees too much but I think the overall hiring system and standards need to be reconsidered.

Cleanliness: Whisky West has never been big on cleaning. Table tops are often sticky and not completely wiped down regardless of how slow they are at the given time. The biggest complaint as a neighbor is how they handle the dumpsters in the parking lot. The bins’ lids are constantly left open which attracts crows who pull everything out and leaves it exposed for wind to do the same. It’s not uncommon to see random trash thrown around the edge of their parking lot and into the street which my girlfriend and I (mostly her) have picked up ourselves on multiple occasions. Cigarette butts from their employees are also carelessly tossed around and surround the building.

Over-serving: I get that this is a whiskey bar but on more than one occasion, we’ve seen patrons leaving the bar unable to stand on their own two feet and have to be carried out by a friend or staff. It’s not possible to monitor everyone in a bar but this happens enough that I have to question when they consider “enough is enough” for people who are clearly already gone. Part of the issue too is seeing how much the owners imbibe in their own bar stock which leads me to believe they have more interest in drinking cheaply than making it work as a business.

Food: Last but not least, their quality of food has never been great and is usually a bit expensive for the portions they give you. This may have changed since we last ordered entrees but our experience within the last year has always been average. Long wait times and the wasp in the salad are the only memorable food-related complaints. Overall you have much better food choices for in the area as far as...

I have had 2 experiences with Whiskey West. Both of which, were unfortunately unpleasant. The first time I had called and placed a to-go order at Zeeks pizza (right next door to Whiskey West). Being unfamiliar with the area (I was house sitting for a friend) I had accidentally walked into Whiskey West instead of Zeeks. When I walked in a girl greeted me and asked what I needed, I said I was there to pick up a to-go order that I called in. She was EXTREMELY rude and snarky when replying with "are you sure you are even in the right place? People are constantly walking into our business thinking this is Zeeks, and it's not" I was so baffled by her response, I didn't even know what to say. I just walked out and went next door to Zeeks (the staff there is very pleasant! Would highly recommend) and went about my evening.

A few days later a friend and I were pretty hungry and decided to go over to Whiskey West to grab some food, their menu looked pretty appetizing online so I thought I would give it a shot. Maybe this is my fault for assuming I could get better service the second time around, however, I was again let down. When we arrived it took forever for a server to come over and greet us at our table since it is seat yourself. She told us we weren't allowed to be in the location if we weren't 21. (we are, my friend and I are 26 and 24) and we showed her our ID's and she then took our order. The food took FOREVER to come out, and was so disappointing. the zucchini fries weren't cooked all the way through and still tasted like batter, while other parts were burnt to a crisp. The burger that we split was okay, aside from how long it took to come out. I might add that it was not busy at all, in fact it was what one might consider to be "dead" so I am not sure why it was taking so long for us to get our food.

The staff here are unbelievably rude and their hygiene is so poor. As a previous waitress/server I am usually pretty forgiving when it comes to people just having a rough day, but after having 2 interactions with this establishment, I have come to realize that this is just the staff's personality, and they seem to have zero interest in their customers. Nobody wants to be served food by someone who looks like they haven't bathed in days and smells horrible. If I wanted that experience, I would just serve myself frozen re-heated food after going to the gym. But I refuse to pay for service like that in a well known establishment.

Save yourself the time and money and don't bother going here. The parking is horrendous, the staff is awful, and the food might as well be leftover...

This establishment is not the most neighborly on the block especially when it comes to courteous communication and handling their trash area appropriately (trash is always outside of their fenced dumpster area and carries into the street and hillside outside our house and yes I am that neighbor who kindly picks up their trash without making it a big deal...until now).

I have been a patron neighbor of Whiskey West since they opened their doors 2 years ago, giving them multiple chances to redeem themselves from poor service, staff hygiene, overpriced bar food, and cleanliness. After a recent altercation with the management and owner over a simple miscommunication about a parking issue, I had to finally say no more.

The staff is super friendly at first, but then it goes down hill from there - I have waited upwards of 30 to 40 minutes for my cocktail to come to the table and they are never apologetic - some staff members have terrible BO and bad breath which is unpleasant and makes you wonder who is handling the food in the back. I have had a wasp on top of my salad - which was very obviously and the waitress neglected to address it before bringing it to the table...she then continued to be very unapologetic and comped me only half the salad price. The food is mediocre and extremely overpriced - overly greasy fish and chips, bland french onion soup...the list goes on.

Whiskey West is full of bad vibes - and I would NOT recommend this place to anyone looking to pay money for a...