Drake's: The Barn — Restaurant in West Sacramento

I could not be more disappointed by my experience here. I've heard amazing things and tonight Drake's lived up to none of them.

The Food:

What I didn't get: Gluten Free Pizza. Not that I ever expect a place to offer gf pizza, but I was told by their staff that they had gf pizza, and they offer gf burger buns and vegan cheese so I thought it was in good company. But no, they don't have gf crust unless you order ahead for a large group.

What I did get: Brussel sprouts, fries, burger (with a gf bun). Fries were undercooked but well seasoned. Every fry was soft. The burger was good enough, it was a burger, nothing exceptional about it. The sprouts were nigh inedible. I found maybe 2 sprouts in the entire bowl that were soft enough to bite through, the rest were hard as a rock, incredibly undercooked and still had all the bitter leaves and stem attached.

The Atmosphere: I heard so much about how fun it is at Drake's, all the games and play space for kids and families. Almost all the grass was dead and prickly (I know we're in a drought heavy state but they had their misters going full blast, so...), the mini golf was shut down and the croquet was nowhere to be seen.

The women's bathroom was in a terrible state, very dirty, trash overflowing, and 2 stalls marked out of order but still open for all to see.

The Service: I do not fault the actual "servers" for any of this, this is just how the owner runs their establishment, but this was the worst part for me. We placed our own order from our table (starting to be the norm but felt extra impersonal here because..keep reading.) The food runners brought our food with no napkins, no flatware, and not enough "plates". The plates we did get were wet. When I asked for what was missing we were directed to go get it ourselves. Those plates were wet too.

When I finally managed to flag down a food runner to send the sprouts back, I was told to bring the dish over to the kitchen myself, fully across the dining area. They did refund me for the dish, which is the only reason there is more than one star anywhere in this review.

Then we went back to the app to pay and they had the audacity to ask for a tip. For what? We had to do all the work ourselves except for cooking the food, and that wasn't even done right.

We will absolutely not be back, and I hope this review shows to others who think they're getting some 5 star experience. Your experience will be exactly what you make it, because they don't actually...

To those of you that enjoy a strictly outdoor experience, this is one of the best outdoor breweries I have ever been to. This takes me to a trip on the other side of the Sacramento River where I finally had the opportunity trying out "Drakes: The Barn". Conveniently located on Riverfront St. & within a 1/2 mile to Sutter Health Park (formerly Raley Field) in West Sacramento, Drakes: The Barn has been serving up thousands of customers since their opening in 2016.

I came here with one of my friends during the afternoon of Sunday 7/18/2021 at around 1:40pm. Since it was a relatively warm summer day, there wasn't a whole lot of people. As many people have previously stated, this place can be your best friend or your worst enemy depending on the weather. My recommendation is to come during the spring and fall months as well as summer evenings as Sacramento's heat can be overwhelming for many.

There is a fairly small parking lot but I saw many people arrive by bike or scooter since there is a paved trail that runs adjacent to this place. Prior to entering, you will see what resembles a large wooden structure which they call their "barn". It serves as a limited shaded area to block out the sun but the majority of outdoor tables are openly spread out. However, the exterior grounds includes several picnic tables with umbrellas and most importantly, misters that spray cool water on those uncomfortably hot summer days.

The ordering process is quick, simple, and efficient. You can order your drinks and/or food from the table (each table has its own unique QR code that you can scan with your phone) or you can walk up to the bar area. Their drink selection is quite vast with several craft beers that are on draft or by bottle. Additionally, they have a nice selection of cocktails, spirits, and hard cider. They also include a decent food selection that offers amazing comfort food including fries, wings, mac & cheese, pizza, salad, and desserts. I kept my first visit simple by ordering a pint of iced cold Hefeweizen (priced at around $8).

Service here was top notch as each and every single one of the employees genuinely enjoyed what they were doing. I definitely want to make many future visits, especially when there is live music as well as seeing the amazing lights at night with a few of the Sacramento skyline from a distance. With a great atmosphere and vibe combined with stellar service and delicious beer, I am giving "Drakes: The Barn" a perfect...

This place was a great idea but has consistently gone downhill and if I could give it zero stars today, I would certainly do so. I tried to make a reservation for today for about a week before this date became available. I had to have been the first one to make a reservation. I made it for 24 people and when we arrived today they had put tables for us in full on sun. Lots of people sitting under umbrellas, under misters, in shade yet they put a reservation of 24 people in full sun. I asked for a manager and that's when things really went downhill. Her name is Ashley and she is by far the worst business manager I've ever met and I have run companies before and currently operate my own company. She couldn't last 5 minutes working for me. Her condescending attitude including "yes, we are an outdoor venue" and the constant "'m I sorry you feel that way." She offered one umbrella, ONE umbrella for 24 people sitting at four tables. Pretty useless. We were told we could move to another area that was about 90% sun with a couple of spots of shade and we asked to have the umbrella moved there and she said it would conflict with the misters. The misters would have been at least 10 ft from the umbrella. She doesn't seem to know her venue very well. She then told me that if I had made a reservation through the banquet manager, I would have gotten better seating. I can say for certain that when I called and made the reservation, nobody ever stated that to me. They merely stated that you could make a reservation for up to 24 people without going through the banquet manager. Nobody ever said "but we will be putting you in the worst place that we have at the worst rickety tables with the worst rickety chairs in full on sun and farthest from the bar area." I won't go back. I'm pretty sure I gave this place four or five stars the first time I went. I gave it two stars the last time I went and this time I gave it one only because I'm not allowed to give it zero but it has consistently gone downhill. And Ashley was completely condescending throughout the conversation and clearly did not care if the customers were satisfied. I'm pretty sure management and ownership will not care about this review because there were plenty of people there today but they clearly don't care about...