Tipsy Cow - Woodinville — Restaurant in Woodinville

About 2 years ago, I was a frequent customer at this restaurant. I knew all the bartenders and some of the wait staff and got along well with everyone (or so I thought). One day I walked into have a meal and when I tried to order alcohol, Dustin, the bartender who I knew pretty well said that he could not serve me because apparently there was an incident the last time I was in that he had been told about by another bartender. I had no idea what he was talking about and he would not give me details so I finally spoke to the manager, Amber (who is very nice) and told her he was refusing to serve me based on hearsay and would not be forthcoming about what I was being accused of having done. The manager spoke to Dustin to get the story, and then told me that supposedly I had moved some items on the counter without another bartender's permission and had started drinking out of glasses that weren't mine. That latter behavior did not sound even remotely like something I would ever do - even Amber admitted that based on her interactions with me. I remembered moving a couple items over to the left of me to make room for my food and drink, but it shouldn't have been directly in front of a customer in the first place. And the bartender had said nothing about it and we had continued chit-chatting in a friendly way. The bartender at the time had not addressed these matters with me. Furthermore, I couldn't have been drunk because I remembered exactly what I had to drink which was 3 Perfect Pears with a huge burger and fries...not an unheard of amount of alcohol for me when I came to this establishment. Furthermore, I had never been a problematic customer in the past, so to be denied service based on gossip seemed really strange to me, especially when the supposed incident had not even been addressed when it happened. I had never been given any sort of warning. (And Amber had been in the restaurant on the day when the supposed incident had occurred as well. So even if the bartender didn't feel comfortable addressing an issue with me, she could have talked to the manager.) It made zero sense.

The manager ended up overriding Dustin's decision, apologized to me, and said that I could order anything I wanted. But when I went to order, Dustin again tried to block me from being able to order alcohol. So I had to talk to the general manager AGAIN to make sure that they were finally on the same page. It was super embarrassing because I felt judged over an incident that I had no recollection of having happened (probably didn't happen), and I had never been refused service anywhere before (and I go to a lot of restaurants).

It left a really bad taste in my mouth and avoided going there. When I went today, I thought enough time had passed that maybe I could put those old resentments aside. So imagine my surprise when I walk in and the bartender - correction bar MANAGER now - is Dustin, and he again refuses to serve me because he can't remember how things were resolved. I reminded him that the manager had told him it was okay to serve me. His response was, "It was okay THAT day, but I'm going to have to recheck in with her to make sure it's still okay." (So he lied - he did remember.)

I swear that guy has massive control issues and no common sense. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Why would she say it was okay for me to be served last time and then it suddenly not to be okay this time? I think their decision to make him manager is extremely questionable given his lack of judgment and poor customer service in this particular situation. I ended up walking out without ordering anything and said I would be in touch with the general manager. But I decided to write this review instead because I know everyone will see it. Maybe that will have a little more weight than just speaking to the general manager...since he clearly does not value her perspective on the matter and keeps challenging her judgment. At this point, Dustin's behavior feels like harassment and I won't be returning to Tipsy Cow again unless I...

Many years ago, while driving through Redmond, I spotted a new restaurant with a clever name. “Who’s hungry?” I asked my girlfriend and her two boys. They did not share my enthusiasm for clever word play, but they didn’t mind grabbing a burger. I went through the ordeal of parking In Redmond and soon we were slurping milkshakes and scarfing down delicious burgers. Over the next few months I stopped in often and eventually tried every item on the menu. That girlfriend and I broke up and I spent more time at my home in Kirkland. Tipsy Cow became a fond memory, until I read that they were opening a branch in Woodinville. Yay! It took a long time for them to open, but I was there when they did with my own kids, eager to show them a treat. My son went for the Rockstar, my daughter the Seatown and I got the Zeus. It was good, but not quite as good as Redmond. We went back a few times, but it never became a favorite. The other day, my dad came down and offered to take us all to dinner. My son suggested Tipsy Cow. Good idea, I was in the mood for a burger (Ok, to be honest, I am always in the mood for a burger). Woodinville traffic is a mess. My son drove, so I didn’t have to get frustrated with all the clueless drivers. He made it through without any incidents. The parking lot had plenty of spots, so after the bmw that didn’t use any turn signals got out of the way, that part was easy. Most of the tables were full of families, but they had one for us without any waiting. Dad had never been, so he took some time to get through the long menu. The rest of us were old hands and knew exactly what we wanted, including all the upgrades. Our waiter seemed to struggle a bit with the ordering gizmo, but he was nice and gave good service. You might think that slapping a bit of meat on the grill and stacking it on a bun with other ingredients would be foolproof. At the Redmond Tipsy Cow, they must have some secret to how they slap the meat and where they source the ingredients they stack. The Woodinville burgers are good, but they are not spectacular. The people around us enjoyed every bite. My family enjoyed there’s. I like mine, but I know there is better out there and that takes something away from the meal. Dad paid the bill, so I couldn’t complain about the high prices this time. I did wonder how the families around us managed it. All in all, this is a good place for a burger. There are other places to put in the rotation, but we will be...

Wife and I wanted to try something new and had heard good things about this place, so we hit it on a Friday night in December.

I’m going to focus on my experience, my wife quite enjoyed her burger and fries so I’ll add that as it’s relevant and worth noting that everyone has different tastes.

First off, the atmosphere is overwhelming. It’s a small, cavernous space with music and loud conversations and nothing to deaden the sound, prepare for that if dining indoors. The seating is tight and you may well be seated next to strangers, as in rubbing elbows distance. For the price of the food, I found this off putting.

The staff is great. Very pleasant and attentive at first. Our waiter, however, went MIA once we ordered and left the food runner to take care of our subsequent needs.

The food; I wasn’t a fan. A lot of this is personal preference so I encourage you to try for yourself. That said, I paid $22 for a burger (the Rockstar) that never stopped dripping the entire time I was eating it. I ordered it without the egg, tomato, and tipsy sauce. I told the waiter I can’t do spicy food hence no tipsy sauce, more on this later. Not only did the burger drip non stop, it wasn’t anything special. The bacon had some flavorless tempura coating on it, and come to find out it was peppered, which made it inedible for me. The onions were so caramelized as to be black and pretty bland. The fries were boring, even with the minimal spices on them they didn’t compare to someplace like Red Robin.

Overall I found the place to be wildly overpriced, the food to be very underwhelming, and the staff okay but not great. Smiles only go so far.

We...