Ale & Ivy — Restaurant in Texas

I'm leaving a 2 star rating simply because I had a very poor experience Tuesday night. I came up to a lady who apparently works there but was off shift. I had no idea she worked there. I approached respectfully. Then a lady rudely speaks to me that the person doesn't want to talk to me. I looked at this lady (white skinned, black hair) respectfully told her that the woman needs to say it herself as she's an adult and should be able to speak for herself. The person under the influence of alcohol(manager) interrupted me with no she doesn't have too. Later after digging I find out this person who was very disrespectful and rude over something tiny making something out of nothing. Is a Manager at this location, although off shift drinking. Later because I didn't know this person was a manager prior. Although concerned for the woman who had her choices of whom to talk to chosen for her regardless if she's a server or bartender. And the person being a Manager having me removed over something so petty seems like a major power abuse. Which I expressed openly that she was misunderstanding me.

I previously offered to buy her a drink. Bartender went to ask if she would like a drink. I was told no, because she didn't feel good by the bartender. So I approached her respectfully and respected her decision, she said ty for the offer. As I later came back on my way out of the establishment to tell her to have a good night and be safe. And when I tried to do that the Drunk off the clock Manager interrupted me twice. However this Manager told the bouncers or door guys that this woman doesn't speak very good English. Yet if that was really true. Then she wouldn't have been able to communicate to me in very good English nor would she have been able to quickly express herself in English to the bartender as I read the bartender's lips he told her "there is a guy at the end of the bar wanting to buy you a drink, Would you like a drink? I read her lips as well "No, as I am not feeling good." Which body language and facial reactions of the Manager as I was watching from the door was clearly read as manipulating the facts/lying. As the facts of that woman showed she does speak very good English.

As a manager the person should understand if you're drinking off shift you really aren't in a position to remove someone from a location for simply being concerned about another person. Instead I was judged by this Manager. A manager shouldn't be allowed to operate a business while under the influence of alcohol especially when off the clock, as off the clock drinking you have no authority to perform manager duties as you are just like me a fellow customer at that point. Especially at a location you work at because it serves alcohol, can prevent the other person from talking which this manager off shift was doing. As well as make poor judgement calls. If you're interrupting someone when the customer is being polite to someone else that means you're drunk!!! which for a Manager to act in this way can impact a business's reputation.

P.S. I was recommended by a Busser to apply for a Busser/dishwasher position as I have 6 years experience. But sadly after this experience with one of your drunk managers, although already given an application to fill out. I have zero interest to apply for work at this establishment. I refuse to work for an establishment that allows a manager off duty to perform functions while under the...

I had a terrible experience a few weeks ago and I tried to let it go since the owner intervened and was very nice and apologized, that time my husband was going in for a 2nd night in a row and the server from the night prior came up to him with a nasty attitude asking why didn’t we tipped her the night before, which we in fact DID TIPPED her to what afterwards she apologized and tried to brush it off. Today was very random we wanted some drinks and decided to stop, the place was packed since there was a ufc fight showing, no place to sit so we stand in front of the big tv on the back next to the DJ. A server approached us and asked if we wanted to open a tab, I said I’m not sure I can do that since I had no table, she asked if we were with the large party sitting on the couches we said no, she insisted she could open a bar tab and that the space was free for us to stand and watch the fight, we ordered a few drinks, everything was good. When we asked for the check she said “by the way there’s a large party charge included, my husband said I am not part of a big party I told you this from the beginning, this young girl answered very aggressively with “so yall not trying to tip me”? We said yes we are, but we are not part of a party and a tip should be for us to add, she said well I don’t know what you want me to do, I can’t take it off at that time I took over the conversation since I felt the energy she was giving my husband was not necessary and we were asking valid questions. I am not sure if the norm here is that people don’t pay tabs or don’t tip the ladies working but this way of treating customers to tip won’t help the business grow, I can imagine how frustrating can be for a server to give a great service to receive nothing or very little but as unfair as it might feel the customer has the right to gratify according to the service that have received. I have been many times here and even having really bad service have I ever tipped less than 20% but let’s not get confused here, if a customer believes his service was worth any less or more than that he’s entitled to give his/her money how best sees it fit. Anyone can have a bad /odd day but at this point being the second time that I get treated this way where servers have an expectation and an entitlement of what they need to get a gratuity this just might be the norm, I held myself from doing a review the first time that a bad incident happened and haven’t complained about the many times that we don’t see a server for 20 minutes but I believe is fair and necessary for others to have realistic expectations when they come to This place. Great place, great environment, drinks and food BUT when it comes to service be aware there’s a expectation to receive x amount of tips and if you don’t meet the bar or ask questions they will be rude and very aggressive specially to a man, and this last one I don’t really understand why, but it’s proven once a woman intervenes service girls get a little relax and the tone is less aggressive than when a man is talking to them at the...

Two giant compliments were the service and the food. Our servers were excellent and attentive. There are plenty of beer options, both draft and bottle, and a variety of house cocktails. They were still in their soft opening phase when we visited, but seemed to have largely worked the kinks out and the overall visit was pleasant. The food we ordered was all excellent. The sort of complicated, messy sorts of things you get on a food truck. We had lobster corn dogs, for example, and while there was nothing wrong with them, we were all left a little flat. Some combination of the lobster salad and the dipping sauce just didn't work, but do give them a try because I see how they might "click" with a different palate or drink pairing. My daughter and I both chose wings for our entree. These were giant chicken wings, well prepared and sauced. I had standard buffalo, which are exactly what you'd expect, and they were quite delicious. My daughter chose Korean BBQ, and after trading a wing with her, the flavor just didn't really hit home with either of us. Again, nothing WRONG with them, just not the best "Asian inspired" sauces we've ever had. Your mileage may vary, but I will stick to the more traditional wing flavors when visiting again. We also ordered the baked potato loaded fries and it was easily everyone's favorite thing on the table. My wife had a beautiful burger, which she said was fantastic, along with some very tasty sweet potato fries. One, final thing about the food...it's also kind of food truck prices. The food feels a bit overpriced, despite very generous portions and elevated presentations. At the end of the day, you're paying for the dining experience, and this is hardly fast food, but do not expect to eat here on the cheap. And maybe that's the point. The focus does seem to be on being a bar and the associated alcohol sales. That brings me to the primary reason for only a 4 star rating. The music is way too loud for any sort of dining experience. While it's fine for a strictly bar setting, it makes it very difficult to communicate with your server. Given the unique and complex nature of the menu, this makes any sort of questions or special orders an exercise in frustration. You can't hear the server explain and the server can't hear you say "I don't want...", so it becomes a strange pantomime of pointing and gestures to place an order. We found it most helpful to keep a menu and point at things. Understandably, this is no big deal when approaching the bar and ordering another round, but if your wife doesn't want raw onions on her burger, but does want fried onion rings, it can get very silly. To summarize, strong recommend for an eclectic meal and to get drunk, but avoid if you're on a date or trying to speak to anyone outside of...