Simmer Down — Restaurant in Wilmington

My cousin was visiting from out of town. We decided to meet up here for a few drinks and a light bite. When we arrived our server and coworkers weren’t busy and were just standing around and had to wait 10 minutes before he even decided to greet us. My cousin and I ordered drinks. The server asked for our IDs, he checked mine first. When he checked her immediately started making faces and laughing and told her “there’s no way this is real, it expires in 2064”. She explained that in Arizona our IDs don’t expire for a very long time, but it’s a real ID. I asked if they had a scanner, but they said they didn’t. He then took it over to his coworkers and began showing her ID to not only his coworkers, not even the manager, but also CUSTOMERS at the bar. They were laughing and trying to bend and break it. She went over to ask for my ID and the bartender told me to “step away from the bar” and tried to start a scene. The manager came over after and was very dismissive and told her he couldn’t accept my ID because of the “expiration date can’t be real” and told us to leave. Not only was the entire issue avoidable by looking up and seeing AZ licenses have a long expiration date, but showing her PERSONAL INFORMATION is unacceptable, not even to mention the laughing and looking over at our table. I hope this reaches the owner of establishment because all parties have no business working in the service industry. Will continue to share this horrible experience on...

I’m writing to formally express my deep frustration and disappointment regarding the way my daughter was treated during a recent visit to your establishment. She was asked to present her ID, which she did without hesitation. However, your staff immediately and wrongly accused her of using a fake ID—an accusation they then discussed and laughed about with other customers. This public humiliation was completely uncalled for and unacceptable.

To make matters worse, the employee involved—who had a ponytail—initially attempted to keep her ID, only returning it after implying she was “lucky” to get it back. No one should be spoken to or treated that way, especially when they have done nothing wrong.

I attempted to follow up with management, but my call was never returned. It’s extremely concerning that your staff, including management, seem unfamiliar with the laws and regulations regarding valid forms of identification from other states. If your team is not trained on how to recognize out-of-state IDs, they should not be in a position to make such serious accusations.

Next time, I suggest you hire educated, respectful employees—not individuals who behave in an ignorant and unprofessional manner. This experience was deeply upsetting, and we are seriously considering...

This place has a lot of potential and on some nights may be excellent. The decor and the physical space are great. The cocktail list is fairly good, mostly hits with a few misses that may be partly due to execution/individual variation of the bartender.

Unfortunately, despite the loungey decor and speakeasy vibe it had pounding music like a club. No one was dancing, and there isn't much space to dance, but it was also hard to converse given how loud the music was. The music selection wasn't bad, just literally so loud that we were forced to leave. Turning it down even slightly would have been a huge improvement in the experience.

Initially we did have table service, but our server disappeared at some point. We saw other patrons enter and leave after half an hour because no one came to their table, there was a crowd around the bar which made ordering difficult, and the music made it impossible to have a conversation with your companion.

The bartenders themselves seemed good and responsive, particularly in the second half of the evening.

Great potential in Wilmington. It felt like maybe it was initially well designed but the day to day service and execution just...