The Backyard Public House — Restaurant in Spokane

We used to LOVE Backyard! We came in a few months ago and had a pretty bad experience so we stopped going since they were going through a menu change and so on. We figured we’d give them time to figure it out. Today, we thought would be a great time to try it again and hopefully have improved service. We decided to go out for my friend’s birthday. We came in around 4:30pm and only one other table was sat. There were 8 of us to start, later turning to 6. The service was slow at first but we were just ordering drinks so it was okay. After our first round though, the server didn’t come back until one of us had to go to the bar and tell them we wanted to order food and more drinks. It took another 15-20 minutes for anyone to come get our food orders. Two orders were delivered right away. 15 minutes later, two more orders were delivered to the table. I waited another 20 minutes while my husband and everyone else finished their meals, a server never returned the entire time everyone ate. Eventually, one person went to the bar to close out his tab and it took 30 minutes to do so. While he waited, I also eventually went to the bar to complain that I never received my food and our entire table wanted to order more food and drinks and had been waiting at least 20 minutes. One girl apologized and said after these cocktails were made, she’d be right over. The other two girls weren’t making drinks and were just doing dishes. After another 15 minutes, still no one came to get orders. We finally had enough!! I went back to the bar and told them never mind on my food. Then, we ALL had to get up and go to the bar to close out, because again, no one came to our table. Since we were initially a party over 6, they already included a tip which may be why they never gave us any service, they already knew they’d be getting a tip. I am beyond disappointed, I am mad, and I don’t think I will ever return to Backyard (one of my all-time favorite places). I cannot believe this service, especially when they knew it was someone’s birthday. I cannot believe they thought they deserved a tip at all! I ended up leaving and getting Jack in the Box instead! Total letdown! I don’t think Backyard will ever be like it used to. Don’t waste your money or your time! Update: I was just informed that after I left, they tried to charge the birthday girl for MY drinks that I already paid for. And I purchased one of her drinks too! I was told that they were also very rude to said birthday girl! I cannot believe this! Second update: I emailed the restaurant as they requested in their response to this post. Yet again, another disappointment. They never responded. Oh well I guess. I will not be returning and I suggest you don’t waste your...

Had a super disappointing experience here yesterday. In the past, this place has put out good food. I knew we should’ve taken it as a bad sign when we saw one of the cooks come out of the kitchen with his gloves on and sit down and eat at a table in the dining room, still with his gloves on, then get up and go back to the kitchen… with the same gloves on. This person was also clearly on drugs. But knowing that the restaurant industry is what it is, we decided to go ahead and order. They are completely misrepresenting their menu. I ordered the Panko hand-breaded mahi-mahi fish and chips, and what came out was a couple sad weird large flat cod filets that came from a frozen bag. The flavor was terrible, it just tasted like fryer oil. Our server was great and had no problem removing the item from our bill, but it was super disappointing to see them just trying to pass this off as their normal menu. The other thing that we didn’t even mention, because I didn’t want to look like I was trying to complain about everything and get the entire meal comped, though I should have… There was a hair inside of the French dip sandwich. I get mistakes happen, and it’s probably been close to a year since we were last in, but based on this experience, I would absolutely not go back. Once again, the service was fine, and everyone was really sweet, but knowing they have a junkie in their kitchen and they are trying to pass off subpar quality products as higher-end menu items, I just can’t do it again. I also realized after we paid our bill, tipped extra well, and left, they charged us for three cocktails when we only ordered two. So yeah, I would say just beware to anyone going in here again, and maybe only go when they’re a little bit busier? And give them time to replace this cook. This was mid afternoon between lunch and dinner and I usually try to go out to eat at places when it’s slower like this because you get the benefit of the cooks not being rushed and what not, but not the case here...

The Backyard is coasting on whatever reputation it used to have, and it shows. We walked in at 8:51 p.m. and were told, with zero urgency or courtesy, that the kitchen was closing in nine minutes. Their posted hours say midnight, but apparently that’s just decorative. Hoping to order quickly, we sat down, but the staff made no effort to acknowledge us until we asked directly if we could still place an order. Part of our order never came out. When we followed up, we were told the order was never entered and kitchen was now closed. No concern, just a flat “nothing we can do.” We then asked about their hours, since they were already cleaning as if they were closing. The answer was equally vague. We were told “it varies” and they typically close around 10:30 or 11, but that tonight they were closing at 9:30, something they failed to share with us when we walked in. I pointed out their Google listing still says midnight, to which one of the staff, who only looked up from what she was doing to either be rude to us or shamelessly flirt with her coworker, said they “can’t change” the hours on Google because “old management never gave them the login.” That might be more believable if this Google page wasn’t actively replying to reviews. Don’t waste your time or money here. The Backyard is not what it once was, which in all honesty, was never that great. The staff act like guests are a burden, the atmosphere feels deliberately hostile, and the food is not even close to being memorable (or affordable) enough to excuse it. It takes effort to make a place feel this unwelcome. They’ve...