Pioneer Grill & Saloon — Restaurant in Town of Tainter

12/8/2024

To the owners of the Pioneer Grill and Saloon:

There are numerous benefits to living in a smaller community. We can be connected to our neighbors, engaged in local events and genuinely help those that are hurting or in a tragic season of life. On the other hand, a side effect of being a part of a smaller city is that word travels fast-extremely fast.

During the afternoon of Wednesday, November 27th, a group of CNAs went out to enjoy some much-needed relaxation, beverages and food. They chose the Pioneer in Menomonie to engage in their time of relaxation. The group consisted of two travel CNAs from the south, and one from Nebraska. The women played some music and kept to themselves, for their well-deserved down time.

Early on, an unruly female patron decided to come up to them loudly, making disparaging comments regarding their ethnicity and race. Because this was in the afternoon, and not a typical packed bar during the night, these comments were heard by your employees. The comments made were pertaining to the type of music the CNAs had chosen to play in reference to their race. Because the behavior was not addressed by your employees, the situation then escalated. The female patron at this point decided to spit in the face of the CNA from Nebraska.

I’m not a fool and I understand racism does, sadly still exist. What is foolish is that your employees should be trained to address such behavior (instead of ignoring it), to quell it to the point of stopping it or to ask the obnoxious patron to leave the establishment because “The Pioneer does not tolerate racism.” None of this was done this past Wednesday, therefore, you have now upset new customers, and this story is making its rounds in our small community.

The travel CNAs are the ONLY reason our local care facilities can operate in Menomonie. We cannot attract local help to even remotely staff them. These women and men are thousands of miles away from their loved ones for months on end, missing holidays and important milestones with their families to take care of our loved ones. They perform back breaking labor, completing tasks for those who can no longer care for themselves.

To put it plainly, these CNAs are angels on earth.

To say I am embarrassed and ashamed of the treatment they received at the Pioneer Grill and Saloon, would be an understatement. I cannot remedy a disgusting incident that took place in the past, but I can have a hand in advocating how they need to be treated in the future. Regardless of skin color, we all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Therefore, I am asking for a full apology to all three women, and that their charges for their drinks and food be reimbursed. If these two small asks are not honored quickly, I can only logically conclude that the Pioneer feels they did nothing wrong by ignoring this hostile, repulsive situation that took place, and that the CNAs experience needs to be shared far and wide so that others do not patronize this establishment.

Afterall, we all have different skin tones in this wonderful, small community, which is part of what makes Menomonie a great place to live. And that means any of us could be the next person accosted in your business if this behavior is allowed to continue.

Please make the right decision.

UPDATE1/21/2025

NONE of the women were contacted, nor given an apology or a refund. Lying about addressing it though, does not...

Always loved this place. New bartender long hair, said he was new. We waited 15 mins for him to take our order. We finally asked if he or the cook could at least “ put our order in”. He said the cook is busy. Then he stated “ not sure if I’m gonna wait on you guys”. I said week let me know and he turned and said he decided “Not”😫 we’re older people my spouse and I. We always eat here and have thanked the cook many times. This guy was unbelievably rude! We will never go back when he is there. I don’t see him lasting long as he was pouring drinks as he stated “too much liquor “ we told him he was slow when we walked out. I’ve never experienced such bad...

Stopped in for lunch on 7/5. There were 4 other tables and about 5 people at the bar. We realized there was one lady bartending and serving food. The table next to us had ordered their food but still had not received their drinks. Crazy. They were not happy either. We were never acknowledged or anything or asked what we wanted for drinks. Definitely need more efficient staff and more of them. Really wanted to try the pork sandwiches, as we heard the food was good. After waiting 10 minutes and absolutely nothing, we walked out the door, highly...