Lumberyard Bar — Restaurant in White Center

Editing my review following the owner's reply: Nathan, you really didn't have to give a wise ass reply.

The 3 single-shot drinks were in reference to the ones I personally had. But yes I ordered 2 other doubles for a friend (which I mentioned to you at the very beginning of our conversation yesterday before you even looked at my bill).

You also determined that there was in fact an extra drink on my bill hat wasn't supposed to be on there which one of your dumb bartenders added without my knowledge.

When we spoke yesterday, you had a completely different explanation to there being two separate chargers. You initially said that "whenever there are two charges, the second one is always for the tip". And when I exclaimed "a $115 tip? That's 90%" you immediately dropped that explanation and never brought it up again. I tried to help you save face by keeping that bit of the conversation to myself, but looks like now you casually have a completely different explanation to this second charge. Which one is it, Nathan? Because it can't be both!

If the first charge appearing on my cc statement is supposed to be this vague "hold" (which has never appeared my cc ever before from any other bar in Seattle), and the second one is the actual charge, then why is the first one (the $127 CAD / $85 USD) actually is the one that matches the bill, but the second charge ($115 / $79) which doesn't match the bill is the one that hit my cc the next day? Again, neither one of your own explanations matches reality. Make it make sense, because it doesn't.

At this point, 4 different friends (that you personally know in Seattle) aside from me have shared that they've had this exact same problem. This includes a friend who showed me double charges on his account TWICE going as far as back January and February this year (which were never reversed as you claim would happen) and the second charge is always 60%+ the first charge.

Now I'm more inclined to believe that you intentionally charge customers an inflated tip in a second separate charge on their cards when you close their tab for them. This is both backed up by your own initial response about the second charge being the tip, and the evidence in the cc statements clearly showing that those second charges aren't some temporary holds.

You could have saved face and responded to my review saying that the matter got resolved privately, but you had to give a snarky little reply. So here, I'm handing your ass back to you 🫴🏻

Original review: Visited there on a Sunday afternoon, ordered 3 single shot drinks, and then 4 days later I found a $127 charge on my credit card on that day, and then another $115 charge on the following day (never been anywhere near the area on a Monday ever). So not only am I charged an inflated charge, but I'm charged two separate inflated charges on two different days. It has already been 4 days since my visit, so any mix-up or pre-authorization charge should have been cleared by now. If this wasn't some weird honest mistake, then it could be an intentional systemic issue. So people should check their credit card statements after...

May 30 is Mint Julep day, so I went looking for a Mint Julep, and took this as an excuse to try out The Lumberyard, which I had not had the occasion to visit, and unfortunately had never been in their old location across the street.

The exterior is unspecific other than the significant presence of Pride flags. Inside ambiance was reasonably nice for a bear bar, leaning more toward "traditional" than industrial (for a bear bar). Has a nice little skylight with some greenery around it, presumably to go with the tree motif.

There was a small television over the door to the other, more occupied, main room, which show ads for events. The ones I noticed were karaoke, but spelled queeraoke, and some kind of fetish night.

Mostly they seemed to play 80's and 90's music, which is proper Gen X music, though they also played some unrecognizable and presumably more recent stuff.

I also wanted dinner, so I ordered the Big Lumberyard Burger with a side of wavy fries. I was sadly informed they did not have Mint Juleps. This is not an elaborate drink, so I'm supposing they just didn't keep mint on hand. I was referred by the barman to an array of drink menus that were clustered immediately in front of the serving station. He seemed impatient that I had to actually read them and didn't immediately know what to order when they turned out not to have the drink I wanted. I assured him this was my first time in his establishment.

I had to stand aside while he served the next person in the line that hadn't been there when I arrived, moments earlier. I rushedly looked over a card with some thematic drinks specific to the bar and realized maybe these were non-alcoholic drinks, so I looked on the other side, at a different set of thematic drinks, and chose a Daddy's Drink, based on its purported contents.

The $8 drink supposedly had Bourbon, iced tea, and some kind of peach flavoring. I watched the bartender handle bottles labeled as such, but I frankly have had flavored waters with more punch, and I'm not convinced there was actually any alcohol in it.

The $16 burger plate was freshly made and the wavy slices of fried potato were initially extremely hot, which is good. Their burgers are 1/3 pound, but this is formed into a flattened disc that extends about an inch outside the bun, so I would probably have made a different choice of shape, but it tasted adequately burgery. It was better than bland, but apart from the comical patty, there was nothing outstanding about the experience of the burger. In retrospect, I should have gotten the Cowboy, which has more flavor components, but also seems a little kitchen-sinky. Maybe I will try that some day.

Overall, I got out of there paying $33 and change, including 18% tip and presumably some tax. I've definitely had better meals for less money, even in these...

As soon as you walk in you feel the electric atmosphere. It is by far one of the most welcoming and comfortable establishments I have been in. The owners Nathan and Michael have brought their A game and it shows in the service, drinks, food and ambiance. The food is delicious and most if not all of the meats are smoked on site. I have had the Cuban sandwich, slaw, mashed potatoes with bacon and all the fixings for a baked potato in a bowl, and today I was introduced to their pork belly Mac n cheese. Yes that’s right pork belly Mac n cheese! It comes with either mild or spicy bbq sauce and it is so good that I’m going right back to order another bowl. Oh and they have homemade beef jerky for a buck!! I love this place and the people in it. Thank you very much for blessing our little community with your fine establishment guys. Anyone wanting a great evening out must check them out. And make sure you check out the artwork downstairs. Classically mastered works of art from wall...