GayOpinion

How do you write a review?

How do you write a review of a place that is honest criticism? Let's see. The Bar at 316: Good place, intimate, good music, has the ability to have a fun crowd. Decent drinks that are a little pricey. The observation: a "Good Crowd" can overwhelm the inexperienced bartender. There is no service station at the upstairs bar. With that ever-so-busy crowd upstairs, the bartender's inexperience shows. He can pour a good drink, but that's only after you can get his attention. Remember, there's no actual designated station to order a drink, so you have to try to get the bartender's attention. I'm the customer, I shouldn't have to work to get my drink. WAIT to get my drink? Yes, but not *work* to get my drink. There becomes the problem. The inexperience is young, and maybe even pretty depending on your likes, and shows as he *never* scans the crowd for newly arrived customers. I stand 6'2", much taller than those I was standing "behind" at the bar in trying to get his attention. After waiting and watching him double-back over the customers already served that were sitting at the bar more than 4 times (approximately 10 minutes), he never looked up past that line of people sitting/standing right at the bar. I watched as 3 others that came in, then turned around and left. (summarized) I beg the owner 2 things: 1. the majority of your customers are standing on busy nights, anyway. Put in a dedicated station for service. So many other bar in the world have one, and it's proven to work well for hundreds of years. I promise it won't hurt your business, and may even keep a customer from walking out. [BTW, that also means that I may even come back because I actually got service] 2. Please train your bartenders to scan the crowd. After 10 minutes and to never be recognized by the one that is supposed to be serving me? I didn't say get my drink in 10 minutes, I said GET RECOGNIZED in 10 minutes. Was the bar that busy? No, the bar wasn't *that* busy, especially considering you were also behind the bar paying special attention to the 3 boys (1 of which is another -current or former- bartender of yours). Remember, these are observations of watching how the customer is treated... or how the customer is not treated, in this case.