Bad Bones BBQ — Restaurant in Town of Arbor Vitae

Bad Bones was booked to cater my wedding and completely left me hanging only 6 weeks before the wedding to scramble and find someone to feed 200 people on short notice. I booked them a full year in advance and confirmed 6 months and 3 months prior to make sure we were good to go. When I called 2 months before to give them my final head count, Bobbi, who seems to be in charge, acted as though she'd never talked to me before and had no idea what I was talking about. She started by saying I could never afford the brisket, which I found pretty offensive, and then proceeded to tell me there was no way they could cater my wedding because she didn't even have anyone who could deliver, set up and serve it (something which was promised to me a full year prior). She cut me off on two different calls I made and promised to call me back, which she never did. I called a third, and frantic time, trying to figure out what I was going to do with such short notice, and again, she acted as though she'd never talked to me before, called me by the wrong name, and made me feel like it was my fault that she couldn't cater because I had too many people to feed and was asking too much (again, I informed her a year prior that we could potentially have up to 300 people and she said that was no problem.) She again threw out a comment about how I couldn't afford brisket, even though she never gave me an estimate of its price that I had asked for. I finally told her that I had tried to find other options and was basically screwed at this point because she had led me to believe she could handle it and now was changing her mind. The last word I had was me pleading to help me out and cater for us as promised. She said, once again, that she'd call me back, and once again, I never heard from her again. I ended up having to find someone to drive up from Wausau to help us out, and they were wonderful, thankfully. Talking with other locals, I heard Bad Bones had done this to at least 2 other brides, what a nightmare. I wish I had a read a review like this before counting on them, horrible business etiquette, not to mention, just plain...

• I filed a formal complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The state attempted to mediate, but Bad Bones BBQ refused to respond.

I’ve Never Been Treated So Rudely by a Business in My Life

I placed a $300 takeout order on Father’s Day and was treated like a nuisance from the moment I walked in the door. I tried calling multiple times to ask about the 10% online promotion, but no one ever answered the phone. So I went in person to ask for help with the online promotion and was met with immediate hostility. The cashier barked at me that she had “nothing to do with the online system” as if I was a problem for even asking. Then she snapped at me and said, “I’ll go get the owner,” like I was an inconvenience. The owner came out and was equally rude, saying, “Well that’s interesting—20 other people had no problem using it,” as if I was somehow incompetent or lying.

They grudgingly honored the discount—but then refused to include BBQ sauce with my order, even though I saw other customers getting it included with their online orders. When I calmly pointed that out, the cashier got louder and more aggressive, claiming “bulk orders don’t include sauce” (nowhere is that stated). So I then tried to purchase some bottles of sauce and she refused to apply the discount; and told me to “just forget about the sauce and to leave her store.” When I stood my ground and said I wouldn’t leave without buying some BBQ sauce, she completely lost it—swore at me, and said she hopes she never sees me again.

I was calm, respectful, and trying to make a large purchase. The way both the owner and cashier treated me was completely unacceptable, unprofessional, and frankly, humiliating for a business.

I have never in my life been treated this badly by a restaurant. I will never return, and I will make sure others know what kind of service to expect at...

We ordered out food from Bad Bones, but our plans changed (the place we were going to ate became unavailable) and we thought that we'd just stay and eat our food there. We weren't trying to 'beat the system" or "skip the line," but it just happened that way. Thought it would be okay to eat in the restaurant where we bought food especially since it wasn't even busy or full, but we were literally yelled at by the man behind the counter that we had to leave since we had ordered carry out. There were 2 open tables of 6 and only 3 people in line behind us--plenty of room for everyone to sit down and enjoy their food. We would have ordered over $50 worth of drinks and given them more business, but the owner made sure we wouldn't be sticking around.

If you have to kick us out, you could at least have a conversation with us rather than yell at us like dogs and embarrass yourself in front of the whole restaurant. He didn't even care what we had to say AND continued to yell at us when we had already left. We weren't going to put up a fight and sit in that toxic atmosphere anyways. I don't know why this person thinks that he can think his customers so rudely; not a good way to keep your business going in the Northwoods. We have a huge group that always used to patronize Bad Bones, but we definitely won't be anymore. This new owner has a lot of negative reviews commenting on how crass he is towards his customers. . . you think that he would learn some manners and change his style a bit. Why do you have to act like that? And it's not just me that was offended or being oversensitive. Our entire party was. You need to treat people with more kindness and respect. . . especially paying customers!

Plus, the pizza was very mediocre. And bring back the old potato salad! The new stuff is not...