O'Donnell's Pub — Restaurant in Southern Pines

Subject: Formal Complaint – Assault and Mishandling by Bartender and Staff

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to express my deep disappointment and concern regarding a serious incident that occurred at your establishment a few weeks ago, involving one of your bartenders, Chelsea.

I have been a loyal patron of this bar since 2017, frequenting it more often since 2020. I’ve always had positive interactions with your staff — including Chelsea — often greeting her warmly and tipping her generously. So I was shocked and completely blindsided by what took place during my most recent visit.

On the night in question, I arrived with a friend and, as usual, greeted Chelsea respectfully. Without warning or provocation, she became aggressive. She appeared extremely intoxicated, got in my face multiple times, shoved me, and repeatedly demanded that I “hit her.” My friend and I were confused and kept asking her what the issue was, but she continued to berate me. Eventually, staff members Gerald and Jay removed her from the bar, though I don’t know what conversation occurred between them.

I went to the restroom, trying to gather myself, and upon coming out, I was approached by Gerald and Alex, who told me I had to leave because “the bartender doesn’t want you here.” When I asked why, no one could provide a clear explanation. Eventually, they claimed Chelsea said I had “kissed a bartender on the nose” the night before — something that never happened. I barely spoke to anyone that previous night and spent most of my time outside helping a sick friend. Security footage would confirm that.

I agreed to leave to avoid further conflict, but as I was walking out, Chelsea charged at me again, shoved me, screamed in my face, and tried to provoke a fight for a second time. Shockingly, your bouncers allowed her to do this again. Only after repeated aggression did they finally restrain her.

Even more concerning is that I was the one banned from the bar, despite never laying a hand on anyone — yet my friend, who physically intervened to push Chelsea away after she grabbed my arm, was not banned. This selective enforcement is baffling and feels incredibly unfair. The fact that Chelsea was allowed to continue being there that night despite being visibly drunk and violent is unacceptable and a liability to your establishment.

Out of frustration and a sense of injustice, I contacted the police and initially stated I would press charges. I also made multiple attempts to speak with Pat, the owner, but your staff refused to tell me when he would be available or if he’d get back to me.

This entire situation has not only left me feeling disrespected and unsafe — it has damaged the trust and loyalty I once had in your business. I come from a family of military professionals, including the Ranger Regiment and Special Forces, and have recommended your bar to countless people over the years. I can no longer do that in good conscience unless this is addressed.

I am formally requesting: • A direct response from ownership or management regarding this incident. • Clarification on why I was banned when I was the one assaulted. • Reconsideration of my ban and accountability for Chelsea’s behavior.

If I do not receive a response, I will continue to share my experience publicly through every review...

I’m going to preface by saying I typically love coming here and I never have any issues except for with the woman with blonde hair who has a tendency to be rude.

Last night, we had another issue with her. My sister (who has the same last name) asked to close her tab and the bartender never clarified which one she closed. She had closed mine and handed my sister my card. So we are trying to flag her down and be like “you gave her the wrong card” and she turns and aggressively says “I was just over there! That was the last name you gave me” and waves to dismiss us. Which it honestly felt like she was trying to escalate the situation. On top of this, it was me, my sister, and one of our friends clearly standing together and she took care of one of us and walked away and then was planning on doing a whole other round before having to come back over (I would assume twice?)

So at this point, she’s already talking to other patrons about our “behavior” and sending pointed looks our way, also coming back over to talk down to us. None of us ever said anything back to her other than “we have the same last name, you gave her the wrong card.” Which we all feel like is a valid concern, imagine your last name was Smith and she didn’t ask which one… now you’re just carrying someone else’s card which you could pocket and then ask for yours.

Anyways, I throw my receipt on the bar (which she then tried to claim I threw at her even though she was at the other end of the bar?) and go to a different section hoping to be helped by any of the other amazing bartenders. When I was away, she apparently kept seeking comfort from other patrons, throwing pointed looks, and after finally helping my sister get the RIGHT card, she turns to the lady next to them and says “they’re probably going to tip $0. She’s not dressed to be around here anyways”

I would love to know what that means. My sister was wearing a cute dress that was in no way scandalous and if we’re talking about the money aspect of it since it seemed she was calling us trashy, it was free people. BUT THAT SHOULD NOT MATTER. We were just trying to close our tabs after enjoying our time as patrons of the bar.

Both of us worked in customer service from 15-21; we never ask for managers, we never leave reviews, we never send food back, we tip well. We both still tipped well because we knew they tip share and enjoyed the majority of our time there.

This was unprofessional and after reading some of the other bad reviews, it seems 90% of them are about the same person. I doubt this review will do anything to her after seeing that this has been an ongoing issue and nothing has happened and I’m sure part of that is because they’ll assume I was just drunk after I think all of us had like 5 beers or less over 4-5 hours.

Unfortunately she’s going to lose them tips and customers if she keeps up with the crazy attitude for important issues (literally handing someone someone else’s card). I hope they at least talk to her about good customer service so maybe this won’t...

Karaoke night last night was not the best experience for me at all. I’m a local, I go here often so I was surprised at how rude the bartenders were to me. I wanted to request a song at/around 11:30pm. The DJ told me they stop karaoke at midnight so I wouldn’t be able to put a song in. Cool, I sat back down and got a drink. It is now 12:30am and karaoke is still going on. I walk up to the DJ and asked how I’m seeing ppl still singing and literally walking straight off stage and requesting songs still????? I was greeted with an attitude and told it’s because this group of ppl paid her $100 to continue. So I asked if I paid, could I sing one song??? Again, attitude from the DJ. So I sat back down at the bar with my husband and basically said forget it. A few mins later, this group that paid the DJ are now yelling at me and the bartender decided to join in on the “explaining” of how they paid the DJ to play longer. All I wanted to get through to them was that I UNDERSTAND YOU PAID THE DJ, BUT THEN ANNOUNCE THAT PUBLIC KARAOKE IS NOW CLOSED, or something….it’s not my fault to think karaoke is still going on if ppl r still singing and nothing was announced that only this group of ppl can sing since they paid. Communication, ppl!!! 🙄 At closing time, I was speaking with one of the workers about my complaint & he agreed with me how they came about it the wrong way & that the DJ wasn’t paid an extra $100 bcuz they pay her to go until about 1am. So it seems to me she had a favorite group of ppl and was giving them priority to sing...