Farley Bar

Chris d. Is an incredible bar manager.  Solid knowledge and impeccable service etiquette.   Solid cocktail program and great bar snacks

Zombies!?!

Went in for a drink and snack with my wife at around 4:15 on a Wednesday. Beautiful day, beautiful view, really classic and welcoming decor inside ... It made us want to sit down and relax for a while on a nice afternoon. We were both smiling with comfortable expectation because there was only one other table occupied inside and four or five waitstaff plus a bartender ... Should get plenty of attention, right? Wrong. We waited about seven or eight minutes until I finally had to get up and ask the bartender and two servers (just 15-20 feet away, doing nothing, just standing there) "do you guys have table service?". One of the waitresses gave us menus, smiled, reassured us and then apparently forgot about us again. So we waited for another 10-12 more minutes; nothing. No visit to the table, no attention whatsoever. I swear to god we felt like there was some joke being played on us ... was it Candid Camera? No, it was more like we were in a zombie movie, with these people in red uniforms just wandering around aimlessly.  The bartender was shifting between absent-mindedly wiping off a glass, changing channels on the TV, mumbling with the waitstaff and staring off into space. Another waitress kept walking to the empty hostess stand and just staring out the window like she was watching the horizon for ships. Some other waiter showed up and huddled and chatted with two others as if they were busy ... but actually busy doing nothing that involved any customers. Oh wait, it couldn't have been a zombie movie: in a zombie movie they would have at least been interested in coming over and eating us! These clowns didn't care about a thing except, maybe, when they were getting the hell off work and outta there!

We got up and left, went back into the City and enjoyed a nice dinner for a heck of a lot less than we would have spent at the Farley Bar. I don't even think that they cared that we left ... They just kind of gave us disinterested glances and mumbled something as we headed for the door.

Two semi-bright points: 1) we got water right away from the bus boy, 2) when I called and explained our experience to the manager he called me back and apologized and offered up a couple of drinks and appetizers next time we were in. Nice gesture but someone still needs to serve them! I was happy to accept the apology but will not be visiting the Farley Bar for some time, at least not until they figure out that they need to either fire or retrain the waitstaff and bartender in the basics of service.

The really sad thing is that this place, with so much potential, has had this type of horrible service review before. I'm thinking that it's not just the waitstaff who don't care, their issues may very well start further up the chain if they've continued to tolerate such mediocrity.

I stumble upon this place after going around shooting some b-roll & timelapse footage to add to a wedding with the Golden Gate and SF skyline over the bridge. To be honest, I really just wanted to use the restroom since there wasn't any nearby and since this place look nice, I didn't want to just walk in and just use the restroom without paying for something. I saw that they had a bar so I asked to be seated at the bar to grab a drink. This place looks really nice, they had outside seating along the front and even in the 2nd level. It really look like you're in the South with the way the house look.

I sat at the bar and this bartender didn't even serve me until 5 minutes. I didn't want to raise my hand to see how long before he comes over to ask me what I wanted to drink. He looked at me a few times but didn't come over until a few minutes later. Maybe because I'm Asian and I was wearing a hat, hooded sweater. I think I was the only Asian there lol anyways I just felt there was some sort of discrimination. I saw some Caucasian wearing running outfit and they were served just fine.

The location is nice with a great view. I didn't order any food because I already ate, but the overall the feeling of being outcast there was just not a really good vibe.