Went here with a group for happy hour and dinner. We ordered one of each of the sliders, tater tots, and one of the dips.
The sliders were all fairly greasy and the flavors just seemed bland and not very cohesive. The best slider was definitely the Classic, just an easy-to-master basic burger with pickles. The tater tots were fairly crispy and had a weird sort of lemon zest flavor that we couldn't quite figure out.
The dip was far from edible - it had marinated feta baked in and something about the marinade made the cheese taste rancid, like an unexpected, unwanted bleu cheese essence that left a bad taste in all of our mouths. The waiter claimed the chef tried it and said the flavor was "normal" though I'm not sure how any [honestly] normal diner would eat that. In a heavy baked dip like that, I would recommend just sticking with basic, quality feta. We were able to send back the dip and try the beets instead - good, but nothing memorable and such a TINY portion.
As far as drinks go, we ordered the lime/gin/mint cocktail from the happy hour selections - the drink was way too sweet for each of us. Another in our group ordered a scotch cocktail that was super strong. Unfortunately, no redeeming qualities from the bar to help offset the disappointing food.
Nothing worthy of a return visit here, which is really quite a shame given its prime real estate and potential
I dunno. I saw some of the reviews and wanted to like it, but service was unbelievably slow. And I made the mistake of sitting out on the patio where the doorman pretty much chain-smoked for the entire hour I sat there. And then the doorman was joined by some girl and they chatted and chain-smoked; and then some other dude came and, you know, they all chain-smoked some more. By the time I left I reeked of their cigs and was on the verge of throwing up. Felt sorry for this family with small kids sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant next-door. They were directly in the line of smoke. Doorman didn't give a damn. Looked like he was daring someone to say something.
Review Source:Ugh... this place has such potential. Happy Hour 7 days a week and the drinks aren't bad and it's by the third street promenade. Their sliders are actually really great too! The problem is the service. I mean when we go it's for happy hour and it's not that crowded and we can bring our dog so we sit on their little patio and I don't know if they just forget about us but to order anything is like pulling teeth.... Or the server would forget about it or we had to go find them to pay or it would take too long to order another drink.... I mean I don't know I'm usually patient, since I work at a restaurant myself but we've been in at least 3 times and it's usually like this.... Worst of all, with a big group we had to take someone's credit card to put on file and it's the most annoying thing when we split it up at the end and they forget to give that credit card on file back.... So a friend of mine had to come back later just to pick it up. Annoying. Â You have the patience of a saint, then I recommend this place lol
Review Source:Stumbled upon this place during a walk to Santa Monica and we were happy we did. Â The happy hour sliders are delish! Â I got the western and the original and both were very good. Â We also shared the olives and melted cheese, both yummy. Â They have some cocktails on happy hour too and the gin one went down a little too easily. Â I would come back again for both the food and the drinks.
Review Source:I had a very positive experience this weekend at the Craftsman. I went in with a group of 5 at about 2pm on a Saturday and ended up staying for a few hours thanks to the friendly staff, good food, and great drinks. My group especially enjoyed the Western and Classic sliders--the meat tasted extremely fresh and the combination of toppings on each was fantastic!
The beer selection was enjoyable, but the cocktails were where it was really at. The bartender, John, seemed to know what he was doing, and came up with a couple of things that weren't on the menu to please one of my friends. The happy hour drinks were also especially good--notably, the Southerner or something like that. DELICIOUS.
The waitress was friendly and helpful, checking in on us often and giving good suggestions on menu choices, and the environment was very comfortable.
My friends and I will definitely be frequenting this place more often--I wish all of the places in Santa Monica were this good!
Had such a great time here last night! Came for a drink before we headed out bar hopping and ended  spending most of the night here. The drinks were delish and the music was bumpin...the DJ even busted out an electric guitar and a saxophone! The spicy margarita is especially good, and so were the tater tots.
Review Source:Perfect combination of craft beer, delicious cocktails and elevated bar food. The Craftsman is a spot i will frequent moving forward.
St. Bernardus... ON TAP. Try the side car, bee's knees, or brown derby to start the evening. You won't be disappointed! And if you head to the bar before 8pm you will get happy hour prices to top it off. We had some sliders and a side of pickles. The sliders were served with homemade ketchup and mustard and the pickles were an array of cucumber, peppers and carrots. The menu has something for everyone.
The space has cozy couches, board games and a photo booth. Top the food, drink and games with a photobooth and this place is my own little slice of heaven.
If there were any issues with service before- they have been ironed out. Our bartender was attentive, made a heck of drink and was entertaining to top it off. What is not to like?
HORRIBLE SERVICE. I was a fan of the yard so my husband and I decided to try out the Craftsman. We sat down and waited 30 minutes and not one server came up to us and asked us for our order. Â There were about 3 bartenders/servers and maybe 8 people total in the entire place. We were so fed up with the service we walked out.
I thought maybe it was a bad night  so we came back. Same thing, 30 minutes of no service when finally a server came over, literally gave us a cup of water and said "I'll be back to take your order". We immediately said "No we need you to take our order now". Another 30 minutes later and our food arrives and it was very good food.,
Its truly a shame because they have good food but they really need to work on the service. Its horrible.
Super adorable bar with indoor and outdoor seating. Â Got the Onion Rings and Mushrooms from the small dish list, and a drink called "Bee's Knee's" or something similar, and it was a very awesome drink. Â The bartender was super nice and very on top of everything. Â Very sweet girl and skilled bartender. Â Saw her doing some fancy work.
Review Source:Horrible service! It took 30 minutes to get our food after we ordered and the burgers were 3 inches in diameter. Server came to take out order, realized he didn't have a pen, then took 10 minutes for him to come back. We were there for 2 hours and only were able to get 2 drinks for each of us. They should have just kept the yard!
Review Source:I didn't enjoy the Craftsman on a Saturday night. The Dark n Stormy was not very good, although I've read it is very good. I also didn't know what was going on with the deejays. They weren't playing very good tunes, but were playing their unplugged instruments along with their spinning. I felt like I was in their art project. I think that's why the bar, which had been pretty full, cleared out around midnight.
Review Source:The Craftsman Bar and Kitchen is a really great place to visit. It's close to Santa Monica pier and 3rd street promenade.
As far as I know, the Bar part of the Craftsman is great. We went out on Saturday night and our night ended here. There was a good amount of people there, wide range of drinks and the prices was OK.
There is a nice area in the middle of the place with the couches and tables, as well there is an outdoor terrace where to chill and talk. Overall we had a great night out.
The crowd was great and friendly as well as the staff, so I will definitely come here again and try out the Kitchen Part for some of their famous foods!
Just for a great night out - 3.9 stars
The newly branded "Yard" - Same owners, same awesome crowd. I honestly can't really remember what the inside of the Yard looked like. Yes, most of the times we ended up there I had already had one or two, well probably more, drinks.
We saw it closed after NYE - didn't give much thought about it until I saw my friend from high school posting that her two uncles were partners in the Yard and they were doing a massive revamp of the look, the kitchen and the cocktail list.
After hearing that, we were greatly anticipating their soft launch. We've been back 8 times now and can't complain. We've since met John, Peter, Mike and the other partners and they're really great people. John and Peter are here the most often - you'll typically see John behind the bar making awesome drinks. Peter has been setting up the DJ booth and they recently added a "telephone booth" - some of you might be too young to remember what these were - but they're converting it into a "photo booth".
There are several comfortable couches in the middle room. A recently installed upright piano, with DJ booth on top. Shuffleboard, vintage arcade games like PacMan and a giant Jenga set on the patio. Flat screen TVs above the bar that always have the Lakers or Dodgers games on - very important.
Their HH prices are unbeatable. Wagyu beef sliders, my personal fave is the blue cheese and mushroom slisder, all for only $5. Craftsmans IPA (Firestone branded Union Jack) is my libation of choice. Good selection of wines as well.
Make sure you try the pickled vegetables. Oh and don't miss out on the homemade ketchup and mustard! Get the tater tots and eat it with the ketchup/mustard. You won't be disappointed.
Their grand opening is set for the end of this month - but stop by now for a cool lounge and chill vibe. Tule is the cool Hawaiian doorman on the busy nights, make sure you tell him I sent you!
The Craftsman Bar and Kitchen is so new... they haven't even had their official grand opening yet. Lucky for them, I like to spend my evenings trawling the streets of Santa Monica in search of happy hour specials. So, we found each other despite the odds.
I tried two of the sliders. The waitress assured me that even though each order brings you only one slider, they're "gourmet" sliders and bigger than "regular" sliders. While it's true that they're quite fancy (and tall, I guess, comparatively), they're still very tiny. I could have easily eaten a couple more. But maybe that's a personal problem. Anyway, we tried the Western slider and the classic slider. The Western burger was topped with an onion ring and some spicy sauce, and it was not very good at all. The spicy toppings didn't really do the trick. The classic, however, was the clear winner. It was pretty great. Both beef patties were very good and the buns were the perfect consistency.
We also ordered some tater tots and some onion rings. Both were coated with some sort of herbal seasoning reminiscent of Cool Ranch Doritos. The onion rings were lightly battered and soft -- good if you don't like your appetizers to be dripping with grease (which, of course, I do). The tater tots were plentiful. They really served up a huge, heaping pile of the suckers -- also coated in the mystery seasoning and very salty. They were really crispy and great, but we did feel the need to chug our beers slightly more quickly than usual because of the excessive amounts of salt.
Still, I had a great time at the Craftsman, and I would totally go back to see how the place evolves as it becomes more established.
Also: we had a lot of fun playing a few rounds on the old-school arcade game they set up. Man, I've gotten pretty rusty at Pac Man.
Where to begin? Everything about the Craftsman is fantastic! Â They have the BEST CRUNCHIEST MOST DELICIOUS TATER TOTS IVE EVER HAD. The sliders are also unbelievably tasty. I am absolutely obsessed with this place. Â Their moscow mule they make in the authentic copper mug is probably the most refreshing cocktail i've ever tasted. Besides this everyone on the staff is so friendly & fun & you can always expect premium service here. Bring your friends & check it out!! They have great lounge areas to sit, fun bar games to play & most importantly AMAZING drinks, food & Service!!!
Review Source:So glad that the Junior Chamber of Santa Monica was able to hold their monthly mixer here last night. We were taken care of beyond expectations by an extremely friendly staff, phenomenal cocktails and appetizers. The place looks great since they redid it. There's a good mix between the casual lounge atmosphere, sports viewing and shuffleboarding. To be slightly more specific; tater-tots, mushroom and blue cheese slider and the Brown Derby. Thanks again for having us and looking forward to the next visit.
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