The Baldwin Bar — Restaurant in Woburn

My partner and I and his sibling went to Baldwin Bar tonight and dined on their second level, Baldwin and Sons Trading Co., for my partners birthday, which I notated in our reservation, that was at 9:30 PM. Unfortunately, the experience was significantly marred by the service we received. After a short wait, we were told immediately by our server we had a minute to place our food orders and then around 25 minutes later we were last called for the bar as well which left us no time to review the menu thoroughly. If we had been made aware that we would be this significantly rushed we would have chosen to come on a different night so we could have a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Our server forgot to ring in one of the food items we ordered, the sesame chicken, the server's resolution was a complimentary mocktail, which felt underwhelming. To add to the discomfort, my partner's brother forgot his ID, and the server remarked, "we'll be watching you”, in regard to us not sharing our drinks. It was understandable that he could not be served without presenting an ID, but the remark made by the server made us feel very uncomfortable throughout the rest of the dinner. The server was extremely short with us the entire dinner which made the three of us feel super awkward and added to the uncomfortable environment that was already created.

We all work in the service industry. I am a bartender at a bar in Downtown Crossing and my partner is a lead bartender at a bar in Somerville, both late night restaurants. My partners sibling is also a server at another restaurant in Watertown so we all have an understanding of what it means to be in the service industry. It’s hard work and people can be difficult. I left a 20% tip, recognizing the challenges faced in the industry and out of respect for the restaurant because we know there is a lot that goes into every night of service. I am very disappointed that we did not have a good experience especially because my partner was super excited to check this place out for his birthday and enjoy their cocktail menu. We know now, that even if offered it will not be enjoyable experience to reserve a table after 8:30 PM. Hopefully this issue will be resolved for future guests...

A party of six friends and myself had made reservations to celebrate a friend's birthday on Saturday night. Our reservation was for 8:15 PM, and we arrived promptly at that time. Upon checking in, we were immediately informed that, due to the weather, the restaurant was trying to let their kitchen staff go early and requested that we order sooner rather than later. Which we understood, especially since some of our group had traveled from Rhode Island to attend the dinner.

Within minutes of being seated, I noticed a partially chewed bone right beside my chair, which was quite unsettling. I kicked it in the hope that someone from the staff would notice and remove it, but it remained on the floor and nearly caused a tripping hazard for several members of our party. Shortly after being seated, our server approached us again, emphasizing the early kitchen closure and pressuring us to place our food order immediately.

The food arrived faster than expected, even before our drinks, and some of it was lukewarm. We had to request sauces for a couple of dishes as they were not provided. While we were still eating, the staff started clearing our table and packaging up the remaining food to go. Despite our request for another round of drinks, it took a while for them to be delivered. To our surprise, we were handed the check before being offered anything else.

I had called earlier in the week to convey that we were celebrating a special birthday and had hoped for a small dessert or a special drink to order to end the night, as we had seen another table nearby receive for a birthday celebration. However, instead of a celebratory experience, we felt rushed and pressured to order and eat quickly. After spending over $430, this was not the celebratory and enjoyable evening our group had anticipated. It's disheartening to share this experience, especially considering it was a special celebration at a new venue that many in our group were trying for the first time. Some members even traveled from as far as Rhode Island for this dinner. I believe it's important to share this feedback as I question whether this is the best way to treat customers who invest significant amounts for...

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. I work in the service industry for 20 years and I hate complaining but this was a horrible experience. The ac was broken and they brought an our party of 6 to the top floor and we were all sooo hot! It told 35 min for us to get our first round of drinks that were warm. I kept try to order my food and the waiter telling me to wait. One of my friends ordered a drink that was a quarter full for $18, it was ice and a flower and lots a Basil leaves just shoved on the top to mask that there was nothing in the cup. Food was not horrible but 1hr into being there they a finally took our order for food. That Took another 30 min. Once we got our food 15 min later the waiter came over and said we only had 15 min left and we had to leave. One of my friends said she was too hott to even eat her food, it was very uncomfortably hott. Then we tried to pay and that was the worst part! They included gratuity, which is fine but then taxed us for the gratuity as well on the bill. Once we figured that out, they took our two cards and the rest cash and 15 minutes later they come over to our table and say you guys do have to leave we need this table. We continue to tell them we don’t have our cards back yet. So we decided to go down and see what was going on the person at the front could not figure out how to put certain amounts on our 2 cards and then told us that we still owe them $75. We had to sit down as a group and assist the people that work there to figure out how to pay the bill because they couldn’t figure it out. We took one card out to make it less confusing for them so there was one card and cash and they still couldn’t figure it out. The card that we took out, they charged three different times so that person’s card was overdrafted and their response to that was oh it will go in back in on Monday I guess. If it doesn’t just call and let me know. And left that person with no money for the rest of the weekend. This was a horrible experience, I will never go back and Will never recommend that anyone go to...