3 Friends Bar & Grill — Restaurant in South Carolina

The place is nice and there was a good band playing on a Fri night but the service was very lacking 😑.. a bartender looked right at me from 3-4ft away and acknowledged me but didn't speak and finished with the drink she was making then she took it to a table on the floor and it took atleast 10 minutes later before we were actually waited on at the bar. (Husband had enough time to go to the bathroom and come back and sit for 5 of the10 minutes it took) while I sat There was 1 waitress and 1 bartender and they seemed to be overwhelmed even tho there were only approximately 25 people in the whole place and only 3 tables that consisted of a group of 3 people and one of 6 people and another of 2 ppl and as someone who has been in this same job position I can truthfully say that no one was drinking heavily or requiring a lot of attention and my husband and I were very much in agreement that the staff was just not up to par for what they advertise and not busy enough for it to take 10 minutes to get a drink at the bar. When we were finally greeted and asked what we would like to drink the drinks were not complicated and still took another 5-6 minutes to be set in front of us and cash was on the bar to pay but not acknowledged and we were not asked if we wanted to start a tab and that just added to wait time when we were done with our drinks and ready to leave (and like my husband when we arrived I had enough time to go to restroom while my husband tried to pay). Very disappointed in the service. I would have given 2 stars if it wasn't for the fact that they had a pinball and Ms. Pacman machine which took me back to some good times when Arcades were everywhere and I was pretty good at pinball and did enjoy playing a few games with the exception of there being something sticky on the floor and very little space between the two machines to play pinball. They also have 1 pool table but as avid players of the game we just felt like it wasn't the right atmosphere to play. Like it was just there as a option but more like a token to look at. Almost like it was just part of the decor. They have a menu of specialty drinks that I would have loved to try some of but we were so disappointed in the service we just ordered basic drinks cuz we felt like it would take even longer to get one of them due to the complexity and the 5-6 different ingredients, liquors and liqueurs involved with making all of them. Can't rate the food unfortunately which we were going to order some appetizers that looked and sounded like the ingredients were really good. (really wanted to try the Nachos) but since it took so long to get drinks we were afraid food would take even longer and we could see the service window and watched food sit there getting cold before it was finally delivered to table or bar and we definitely didn't...

The waitress tried her best, could tell she was new, yet was getting no assistance from management. We decided to give this place a chance tonight. The main course was really good, my steak was on point, the fresh potato chips, not so much, they went from soggy to patching a pot hole hard. My child's "toasted bread" was burnt to a crisp on the inside, and rather dry on the other, fries a little overcooked, and burger a little too pink. My other child's Alfredo was really good, just the garlic bread smelt and tasted like lavender...totally weird. My wife's steak and mac and cheese was good. Quick tip, give your customers steak knives to cut their steaks with not butter knives! Ordered water twice never got it; ordered a soup bowl, never received it either. Now I will give the waitress the benefit of the doubt because the music was rather loud above our table. Ordered a slice of cheesecake, her nor the manager could answer our question about it, they had to go look, 10 minutes later a piece of cake comes out in a to go box when we asked to eat it there.

Now I understand new restaurant opening, short staffed, and new staff, but to be honest, with family that has owned restaurants and worked in them, no matter how good your food is, the service is what sells, and part of that is the managers duties to properly train personnel before turning them loose. They should know the menus front and back before allowed to serve. And one last tip, your alcohol menu needs serious work, it's a pain to the eyes to read, so whatever you are doing don't, just go to basic. On the alcohol as well, serve what the customer asks for, not watered down cheap liquor when it's obviously not what you advertise you have.

Overall food was good, server was personable and tried, but needs better training this falls to...

Update June 2nd. Came back, had fried mushrooms and a sandwich. No issues, food and service was great.

I think we got there around 5:15 on a Friday... Big place, I think we were like 1 of maybe 5 tables eating. Band was getting tuned up. Seemed promising. While my server was definitely friendly, and attentive when it came time to order. When she brought the wings out and then asked me if I wanted some ranch, to which I said yes, but then waited a good 15min for her to bring it to me... Hey the cook on the wings was perfect (couldn't have been better), but the favor was off. I ordered garlic parm wings and it tasted mostly of like sour lemon, kinda strange... Had me questioning if the meat was bad or someone messed up the sauce. Didn't get sick so, gonna assume they messed up the sauce. I'm looking at the menu and I see they do prime rib Fri/Sat thinking my French dip made with prime rib would be amazing. The taste was great, unfortunately I could barely eat it. The meat was so tough and chopped like for a taco. It's like they made it last weekend and served it up to me in a sandwich. Big chunks of inedible hard gristle in there. My kids food was just ok. Kinda hard to mess up a salad. I don't know if it was just an off day or what. For me it was 2-3 star experience but I don't want to mess with their reviews too much. I will probably try again later and update my review if it's the same experience to reflect what I really thought. I think these guys can do better and there's definitely room for improvement. There was 1 thing I found very good, their thin straw cut fries,...