From their Facebook: "Thank you uptown! We love you and will miss you! #mpls" Also just heard on the news that there is some note on their door. I know that they came up a lot in the "what's on tap in the twin cities" threads and recently had an incredibly priced multi-course beer dinner with Founders. Last year, just randomly walked into that place one afternoon while walking by, because I heard that they had a great tequila list. And that is exactly what they had...just a list. I ordered a Southern Tier (nothing special, just their IPA) and was going to have one or two shots of some tequila that I may not have had before. Then reviewed the tequila list and asked for one tequila..."sorry, don't have it." I reviewed the list again and asked for another..."don't have it" this time a little frustrated at me for having called him over twice for items that they ended up being out of. So this time I already had a back up to ask for and they were out of that, as well. That was when the condescension started toward me, as if I was the problem and not that I might have cause myself for being frustrated that they promote themselves for their tequila, yet I went 0 for 3 on what I asked for. This guy made it obvious that he wanted me gone, as he completely ignored me after that, to the point that I couldn't get his attention to get my tab closed (and this was during a dead happy hour, with only about 4 to 6 other people in there). I finally had to ask a waitress walking by if she could get him to close me out. Then when I got my bill for one pint of a nothing special Southern Tier, my tab was $8.50+. When I pulled my money out to pay, he came back, but I first said "I think that you forgot to ring this up under happy hour." He responded, telling me that he had and I said; "do you mean a pint of Southern Tier would have normally cost just shy of $10?" He returned wil,my change and said "maybe you aren't used to drinking in a place like Uptown." I have heard people say that this place was supposed to be good and have told that story numerous times to people, some of whom tried to assure me that wasn't normal for there. So I am guessing that this place will be missed by some, but I had this place scratched off my list after my first visit.
I used to go there a lot when they still had "crazy hour", mostly for margaritas and cheap appetizers. I always had good experiences, but I haven't been there in years.
Tom, you and I are sorta close in age, so I'll add this much: I stopped hanging out in Uptown after my first long-term relationship went south at the end of the 1990s. That's before the area got the Ackerberg /Gassen* gentrification-on-steroids treatment, but not before the focal point for 'affordable hip' switched over to Lyn / Lake. I won't bore you with my own 'sticker shock' stories in more recent years, suffice to say that the days of $1 happy hour pours of Leinenkugel Original at William's (I am a fogey) are long, long gone. *My old landlord.
Trust me, it wasn't sticker shock, as I had just moved out from the LA/OC area and spent the previous 25 years more used to the world of $20+ cocktails, than $1 beers (which I haven't seen since I lived in New Haven in the 80's). I actually think that the guy was either screwing with me or that they did previously have a rare or high ABV ST beer on tap and simply hadn't adjusted the pricing (and certainly that possibility wasn't going to be explored with this toe head). I actually do not consider Uptown to be a very expensive area at all. Uptown Tavern is just a couple of doors down and is all, if not more, the restaurant Abilene was, and their pricing isn't anything like that. Then look at the rest of the spots in Uptown; Bulldog, Muddy Waters, Republic, etc. Around the same time that this happened at Bar Abilene, I was taking photos of my tabs around Uptown and texting them to friends back in CA who were convinced that I was doctoring them because they couldn't conceive of them being so cheap. And the point wasn't really the price issue, it was that this guy had an attitude that I was the problem and not that the place was lacking such a significant amount of the tequila that they offered and then felt like giving that dig. I am in my late 40's and I don't try to hang with the hipster kids on a Friday or Saturday night. I am generally in for two beers and a bite at any given place during the late afternoon or early evening. The problem was, he thought that he had a read on me and was implying that I was in depths that I wasn't accustomed to, while the reality is that I spent most of my life in depths that he would most likely drown. But the point is, who would of cared how he sized me up or how I sized him up, if he just dealt with me in a civil manor and elected not to try to be insulting (which is exactly how it was delivered). The place is closed and there could be many reasons as to why. I am just thinking that having guys like this as bartenders probably didn't help return business if he was trying to tick off anybody who didn't fit his ideal of who should be drinking a beer in Uptown.
Yeah, the second of those two possibilities seems much more likely -- I see it happen often enough. To be honest I never had heard very much about Bar Abilene from my entrenched foodie friends, and to me it was just another in a string of (I'm a cheapskate) supposedly expensive Uptown bars. But I definitely agree with you on the needless attitude brought into the exchange you detail, here. I'd say 'good riddance!' if his was the norm. And on the other hand, detailing this as you have could very well serve as a learning example of what not to do for those front of house folks who read these forums!
This all started because they obviously didn't carry anywhere near as many tequila's as they were listing. And on occasion, I have gotten a huff or big sigh, if I have ordered two or more consecutive beers that are listed on a beer menu or a bottle list and they happen to be out. And I always try to go out of my way to be nice or joke about it, because I seem to hit those more often than anybody else I know. But I frequently see a waitperson or bartender being obviously agitated that I have asked for multiple items that they do not have, despite being listed. Everybody needs to know that the customer is not to blame for this happening. If you promote that you have a bunch of rare tequilas, don't be upset that doing so has brought in somebody looking for those rarer tequila's that you list as having (actually, my last choice wasn't even rare). Same with beers. If somebody first asks if the beer list is really up to date (which I always do now), don't be upset with the customer when they ask for a glass of Enjoy By and you find that it is out, followed by an order for Yeti, which you are also out of. It isn't the customer's fault if the buyer is behind or missed some items, or if the bar manager hasn't had the lists updated in a week or month or year, or that the owners haven't yet ditched printed beer lists for a more manageable and accurate way to track your offerings in real time (chalk boards, etc.).
Well, I probably didn't get my intent across earlier because I keep beating my own dead horse ("old cheapskate") of a joke, but I do get where you're coming from. The same has happened to me often enough in the past that I had begun to revert to ordering either an Leinenkugel's Original or an E.P.A. (if I saw the appropriate signage or tabletents.) That's less a slight to the brews that I mentioned and which I enjoy, and more a reflection of the fact that some of these places have managed to slip-up more often than they ought to... Absolutely! And that's the frustrating thing: visiting a place like this one (Abilene) which either goes out of their way to promote their spirits and Craft beer selection via either reputation ("word of mouth") or through social media promotion -- the latter being much more the case in recent years. I definitely think that you've underlined the areas in which bars located in higher rent locales --or at least those with higher prices-- need to focus if they are to remain relevant or at least on-par with their own concept. Cheers!
Yes you did. I was totally on board with what you were saying. All I was doing on expanding on that one point of "the face" that customers frequently see when they order more than one item off the menu, that happens to be out of stock. The staff needs to keep in mind that the customer is much more frustrated by this than you are, because they are the ones who were ready to consume it. So if you have to run back and forth to the bar or to the bottle cellar and keep coming back empty handed, if I can contain my own frustration, I don't think that it is asking too much to hold back on the deep sighs, eye rolls or a tone full of total aggravation. Save that for when you have the next staff meeting and ask why you are doubling your time running around like this because nothing is up to date.
Similar to that is the place where the server says "we've got everything - what do you want?" and you're lucky to get a Sam Adams. Fortunately, that happens less often these days. On topic, I totally agree that, if you're ordering off the menu and they don't have what you order, it's their fault. How much more clear could that be?
opwog - I had a similar experience at Bar Albilene. About 2 years ago I was at the bar on an afternoon by myself with only one other regular at the bar. The regular got all of the bartenders service and I had to wait about 20 minutes for my draft beer to be poured. This was during happy hour and when I got my tab (after waiting about 15 minutes after I asked for the tab after I finished my beer) I saw it was at full price. I looked up at the big happy hour prices sign in the bar and assumed the bartender thought either I couldn't read or didn't deserve the happy hour price since he didn't recognize me as a regular. I was going ask to correct my tab but the bartender had disappeared again to the back room (for who knows how long) so I just threw a $10 on the bar and left. I haven't been back either.
Yeah! "We've got everything" only applies to place like the Bodega and a few of the better places around here. I suppose some of the embarrassment / aggravation on the part of the server or bartender can be obviated when it comes to them serving a patron who is a very -regular- patron (and who may also tip well... ), and in past instances when this has happened to me I've either been comped a pour or given a nice discount on the tab -- one way or the other. Granted, this practice doesn't always fly (and in fact it mostly flies in-the-face of the establishment's perceived bottom-line) but when it does it usually pays itself back for both the customer and server/bartender: better service, better relationship between the patron and the establishment, a better tip, increased patronage and references, etc. P.S. I will resist the urge to make a jab at Samuel Adams Oktoberfest.
went there a few times because of bells/founders tap take overs. First time the food was terrible and barely tasted like what we ordered. Decided to give it another shot a couple months later because of a founder's event and the food was great. Service was better than the first time too. Assumed they had hired another manager or something. Kind of disappointed that it closed because it seemed like the one place I could go for a bells/founders event that wasn't completely packed and take me more than a couple hours to get 2 drinks.
Went there once, if you insert "beer" for "tequila" in your story, could have almost happened word for word. Never went back. Too many great places out there!
This really bums me out. On the one hand, Opwog is my favorite guy around here. On the other hand, I have a nearly irrational love for Bar Abilene.
Used to go there before movies at the Lagoon. Liked it well enough. As far as service goes, shit, in these towns? I expect the worst. I'm rarely disappointed.
I actually was going to give this place another chance with that Founders night because I had seen you out one night and you were saying I should give it another shot and that it was probably just that guy I got (which I likely was). I probably should have just posted this without my personal experience, because most likely there were more decent people who lost their jobs there than there were a couple of bad apples (I can tell by Yelp and Urban Spoon, that I wasn't alone). I just hope that the owners/managers take note for their next venture(s). Too many places suffer because they won't let bad apples go, unless they are caught stealing money, booze or pissing in the au jus.
