Decent People Taproom — Restaurant in Suffolk

If service was better, I’d give it more stars. Walk with me through journey one recent evening….

Recently a celebratory gathering was had with a couple of co workers at the Decent People Taproom. We went and sat outside to be mindful of social distancing from other groups. A group of us sat at a smaller table and we’re greeted by a server who first asked if we were part of the larger party or on our own. We kindly said we were with the larger party. The server went on to say,” Well let me start off by saying I am not your server.” We looked bewildered as no one asked if she was our server or not. It was abrupt and uncomfortable. We went about our evening. About a few minutes passed and our waitress came out. A few of us ordered food and cocktails. Most of us received our food after a while. My fries were burnt and cold. The burger, however, was amazing. One of our friends waited for their burger longer than many others. Their cocktail that did come out did not taste as advertised and was kindly returned back to the waitress. As we waited for the last order to arrive, we heard the trivia hostess announce the trivia event and decided to relocate inside. The whole group did not relocate. We had about four go inside at first. Three joined after. We notified our waitress that we would be moving inside to play trivia. We had a great time playing. The hostess was amazing. Back to that burger out friend was still waiting on…about an hr or so later, they received the order. Fries and burger were both cold. And finally, why the low rating? Well aside from the not your server greeting to the establishment and slow service, the billing was a mess. One person told the waitress they were paying for another’s meal and beer card. Said person paid and left. The person they paid for was charged again for the meal and beer card that had already been paid. Allegedly, one of the people from our party that paid for their meal and drinks came up short so the balance equal to one cocktail was placed on another’s check which was never agreed on or mentioned to anyone in the group. The same waitress who greeted us ever so welcoming of I’m not your server, tried to explain the issue of duplicate charges and such. The bartender came out to our table to apologize, however, everything was so disorganized that we were focused on the root of the issues. Meanwhile, through all this confusion the manager stood by the taps looking at the two waitresses trying to figure everything out. The establishment made an extra 100.00 on duplicate charges.

Pros: -The concept of using a separate card attached to your credit or debit to pour your own beers or flights is pretty neat. If you don’t know what you’re doing, there is training -Outside and inside seating -Trivia night -Burgers are good. Good selection of beer.

Cons Service is slow and not welcoming Not great for large parties (even if you break off to form a smaller party) Make sure the tap is fully closed before placing your card in. If you don’t, beer will start flowing before you’re ready to pour. 32oz limit -Double charge of orders. Double check your bill! -Cocktails are hit or miss

We tried to make it a good experience but definitely did not feel welcomed. The only person who made an effort was a new waitress on her first night...

The only reason I’m not leaving a 1 star is because when this place first opened, it was phenomenal. Post covid, we’ve been a couple of times and every time has been a hot mess. The first time we brushed off, the second time - okay, again, we brush it off. Third time (happen to be here now) and I’m irritated.

I should’ve known it would be a mess when the waitress dropped off straws with no wrappers with her bare hands and put them on the table. She goes to bring us waters and drops off our glasses, turns to drop off a glass at another table and it toppled over, splicing about 20% out. She goes to drop it off at another table like it never happened. The lady at the table and I looked at each other like… “really?”.

Anyway, We have been sitting for an hour, and that’s on the low end (it’s not busy and there are maybe 10 guests in here, including my party of three) before our dinner even came out. My husbands food came out with another party’s food, weird but okay. She drops off my husbands food and the other party’s order of two sandwiches. She went back to go grab my food and my sons food… fries cold. My sandwich tasted as if it just came out of the fridge, it was that cold. One of the other tables across from us sent back their food too, presuming because it was also cold.

It’s sad because this place was amazing and truly a nice addition in the North Suffolk area. To be honest, I’m not sure if it was because our server was high (she did smell like the good ol herbal remedy), but whatever. I was a server for years and there is no I would be as inattentive as our sever has been (with three tables). I had to ask the host for a knife and condiments because the server kept forgetting it…Now, we are waiting like 10 minutes for our check… like, why?

We wanted dessert as we’re here for a birthday, but we’re not trying to waste our time even more by poor service and quality of food. Unfortunately this isn’t something I would blame the kitchen for...

First visit but definitely not the last thanks to the hostess Tara and our waitress Christina. Here's why:

Greeted upon entry by Tara who was protected by her mask but obviously wearing a bright smile as she talked. After informing her that we were new she jumped to give us a highly appreciated tour on how everything works. Her tips on how to pour our own beer from the spout and how simple it is to use their pay card system were dead on & worked perfectly. Very knowledgeable & courteous!

Now our Pisces waitress has a naturally welcoming energy about her. She was FULL of recommendations and information. Thanks to her we had: Specialty drinks ✔✔ The appetizer pretzels w/ side of beer cheese and mustard ✔✔✔👏🏾 Omfg they were fresh and good!! 🤩🤩 I had the Shrimp tacos which unfortunately got overshadowed when I took a bite of my mans Brisket Grilled Cheese! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾It will change your life in one bite! The Texas toast was buttery and the meat literally just melted away in my mouth as the bbq sauce did a tap dance on my tongue. ✔✔✔✔

Christina informed us that their meats are home cooked and smoked in the back! They use their own special rub and smoke it for 6hrs! Mmmmm!

After reminding ourselves not to get too full since we had a plethora of beers to choose from, which gets swapped out for another brand after the keg is empty.

As we timidly approached our first choice of beer, Tara happened to walk by and notice our apprehension & swooped in to save the day. She gave us this little wooden beer holder that we were able to sample 4 of her suggestions to start with. Wow. They were great choices. Our favorite one ended up being one of the regular options. Creamsicle. We even got a can to go along with our chocolate covered strawberries.

Long story short. We plan on going back tomorrow. I plan on wearing stretchy pants this time because Christina recommended the Brisket cheese fries and my soul danced.

Northern Suffolk you have a gem on...