It used to be called Big City but from my memory, it doesn't seem to have changed at all other than the name. Â Bored and decided to come here on a Sunday night. Â Pretty empty. Â Played pool and it's charged by the hour. Â The thing we liked most is the "jukebox" you can use. Â 50 cents.
Review Source:if there was a zero star this is what i would give this place! i should have known not to proceed when i was carded twice! sorry guys but im totally old enough to drink. 3 of us ordered nachos & 3 entrees. the nachos came out, 2 mins later 2 meals came out. the server kaz was nowhere to be found. i asked a busboy to grab my fajitas. to my surprise, kaz never put in my dinner!! we'll take your beer off the bill. kaz said he would put my chicken fajitas in & rush it...um no thanks, not risking undercooking chicken because you are incompetent to do your job as a waiter!!! i had to pick off my friend's dinner plate! talk about a terrible first impression! (train your servers how to serve!!!!)
for the $16 or $17 bucks you'd waste at patrons you could cross the street & eat at Carlos or Wiseguys!!!! i work hard for my money & will not stand for mediocre food or service! and i hope management reads this & responds!
Why did Big City leave?!
Do not go in here, unless you are prepared to be ignored and treated like crap!
I went in with 2 friends on Sunday night before Marathon Monday, there were only 3 other people at the bar, and nobody in the restaurant. Should have taken this as a sign and walked out.
Sat at the bar for 5 minutes. a guy came over and asked what we wanted to drink, we said can we have a menu to look at the drinks. He came over with 1 menu for the 3 of us to share. They had a pretty extensive margarita list, so when the bartender came back I asked him which margarita was the best, his reply, "Eh, I don't know." Ok thanks guy. So my boyfriend and I ordered the most expensive margarita on the menu. The entourage margarita which costs $11.99. It came back in the smallest glass imaginable. I took a sip and spit it out. It was all sour mix, no tequila whatsoever. I wanted to order another drink and switch it out, but no one ever came back over.
When the bartender came back over after like 20 minutes, he said, "so you guys want to close out?" We were like sure, I guess so. I handed him back my drink and said, "I'm sorry but this is not good, it tastes terrible, I work in a bar and this isn't how margaritas are supposed to taste." He reply's with, verbatim, "Thanks, I'm glad I wasted my time making it for you." Takes the drink away and gives me the bill with my card already swiped, although we wanted to pay in cash, and without the original receipt. I asked for the original receipt, and my drink was still on the check.
I called the manager over and while i was telling him what happened, the bartender came over and said, "stop freaking out about it." First off I wasn't freaking out, and second, do not talk to customers like that. I told the manager that I would have ordered another drink, but he never came back over. I told him we wanted to pay in cash, but he swiped my card without even asking. I didn't even mention that my boyfriend did not drink his either, so it wasn't just me who didn't like it. The manager Alex Sanchez, did not even say anything to the bartender about the way he was speaking to me. Just basically pretended it was not a big deal. The manager did not even apologize. He only took the 1 margarita off our bill. When my boyfriend asked for his card he looked nervous, we asked if the bartender was new and his reply was, "oh he isn't a bartender".
Needless to say we will never be returning to this place. We will take the extra 10 minute trek to Sunset Cantina where the service is better, drinks are made properly, and food is amazing.
I have been meaning to write a review for awhile now. Beer selection is decent but when I want to stay on a closer budget it is hard with $16 PBR pitchers. The food is decent too but also overpriced. $13 for 3 tacos.
I give it a 5 because of the bartender Mariah. She is the hottest bartender around and actually cool to talk to. I make a point to stop in just to get a drink from her when I am around. Â They got Allston on lock for best looking staff without a close second.
Soon enough people are going to realize this place is the spot in Allston and I just hope they don't switch up and act like all the other places once they get busier....
The Sunset group should take their cue from the Deep Ellum people when they design places. Like all the restaurants/bars by them, it feels blah inside, it's boring, and there's nothing distinctive here aside from their seemingly proud proclamation that their $4 margaritas contain 51% agave. A majority agave!
Review Source:I would give 5 stars if I never paid $9 dollars for 4 jalapeño poppers..... Seriously $9 really, I have never and will never order any other food from this place again due to this ridiculous app price. Other than that pool tables are cool and they have alright beer and drink specials, but I STRONGLY suggest if your hungry and don't mind spending way too much money just start at sunset.....
Review Source:Sunset grill was full on a Friday evening which was the only reason why we made our way here.
It's really spacious for a bar, 2 floors. Top floor= half bar and dining, half pool tables. Loud atmosphere, sets the right mood if all you want to do is have a relaxing time talking with friends.
Tried their buffalo wings, Mexican dessert pizza, and mango margarita. Neither of the 3 are to rave about, but I'll give credit to the dessert pizza as it's not something you see everyday. Given the combo of cinnamon, bananas, peanut butter and all sorts of sweets embedded on that pizza, it was overly sweet (no duh). You never really want a second piece after the sugar load of the first so it's best to share the lot.
Mango margarita...there is no hint of mango. Nada. All I remember is the strong taste of tequila and the salt rocks not complementing well with the margarita. Ended up trying to gulp the margarita down not for the enjoyment but more so to douse the taste of the salt and feeling a little sick after.
Service was HORRIBLE! Had to seek out someone twice just to get seated. I'm a server with three years experience and I could not comprehend the experience I was given. After being seated we waited upwards of 20 minutes for someone to greet us, only for that person to forget about us and have to find a manager to assign a new server. We spent about three hours here and only received two drinks and an appetizer. God knows what would have happened if we wanted to order entrees as well. Took over 45 mins for food and waitstaff seemed clueless about menu. Beer list is fantastic and atmosphere is great. Such a shame that service limited our experience that much. Wish SUNSET GRILL didn't send us up there in the first place.
Review Source:Formerly Big City, Patrons seems to be going for a bit more of a lounge feel. Â They removed most of the pool tables and significantly added more bar. Â Another new addition is a large fireplace area surrounded by love seats. There are still around 5 pool tables and 2 foosball table remnants left from Patrons Big City Days. Â Grab a beeper and hope you get a table before the end of the night.
I've been told Patrons is not TexMex or Mexican food, but it's Mexican inspired... Not sure what that means. Add cilantro to everything :P ? Â I am a fan of the new menu. Â I recommend the Stuffed Peppers with sweet Plantains. Â It looks pretty and tastes just as delicious.
If you are looking for a tasty beer I recommend the "Dirty Ho". Â It's a mix of Hoegaarden and Framboise beer. Â You'll get a nice moderately refreshing wheat beer mixed with a full flavored raspberry beer.
I don't usually come onto yelp but I just had to share my experience with this place.
I just moved out of Allston a few months ago and my gf had gotten a groupon for this joint not realizing that it was just Big City with a new menu and "decor". I thought it was just a new Mexican place and I love Mexican food.
It's impossible to F@#& up Mexican food too, or so I thought.
Aside from the noisy atmosphere (they left the pool tables from Big City) our experience started with our server poaching our table from the girl who got there first.
Then Drinks: Margueritas. How can you go wrong with a Marguerita? These guys figured out a way. For some reason, both our drinks tasted soapy and there was this bizarre blue salt on the rims that I'm not entirely sure wasn't for melting ice on sidewalks. Â Yuck.
Then the food: The queso fundido appetizer was the best thing we had and even that was disappointing to a fan of fundido. It was served with chips instead of soft tortillas and the chorizo, instead of being blended with the cheese was just kind of dumped on top with whatever else it was served with. C-.
I had the Chiles Rellenos which should be  pretty easy but the pepper was soggy, the filling was basically just chicken slop with some vague spice to it. My gf had shrimp po boy, which was ok but bland. Crappy breaded shrimp that was more chewy than it should've been.
Then the bill came: $70 for 2 drinks, 2 dinners and 1 app. $70 for shitty mexican food. Plus tip.
After a disappointing meal and really crappy drinks we were super happy to get out of there determined never to return.
Then the next day happened. Explosive diarrhea ALL DAY LONG. Ruined my Saturday. It's three days later and my guts are still sore from the experience. Â
If I can help prevent one person from having a similar experience, I will have done  my job here.
It took some time for my friends and I to get over the fact that Big City is no more but we are learning to love Patrons in its place. Â We frequent this bar pretty regularly and actually prefer heading upstairs instead of going to Sunset. The environment at Patrons is very nice and a good place to go if you are meeting up with a group of friends. Â We love the staff there! They are always very friendly and happy to make suggestions on things to try. The Manager Alex recommended the churros last time I was in and they were great! I'd say they are comparable to churros I've had in Mexico. Â I'm also a big fan of all the things on the menu with Mole sauce!
Review Source:I went here with a group of 6. Â Everyone ordered food. Â I did not receive my food, and the waiter didn't seem to care. Â Then, when we got the bill, they tried to charge me for the food I did not get. Â When I told the waiter, he said "oh you never got your food"? Â You've got to be kidding me. Â The group I was with said the last time they were here, it took 2 1/2 hours to get their food.
I won't be coming here again.
Add us to the list of people who have come into Sunset with a large party and been re-directed upstairs.
They've done a great job re-decorating, as other people have said- fireplaces are great, TVs are huge, nice round cozy booths, etc.
I actually thought our waitress, though not overly friendly, was pretty patient considering our party number ebbed and flowed (which delayed us being ready to order and led to us putting in like 3 separate drink orders). Only issue with service was two people got their food WAY after everyone else, which the waitress apologized profusely for.
I got the chicken tacos and thought they were good.
I wouldn't necessarily come back, but likewise I hold no resentment toward Sunset for directing us up here (we would have waited at least an hour down there).
A bartender here almost gave my ID away to someone else. It was just by coincidence that I was at the bar and saw my license, and narrowly avoided having it being taken away by someone else. When I told the bartender about it I was told "so what, it's new years, things happen". Don't go here.
Review Source:post game hang over
warm and cozy fire for you
leather seats and love
Let's see here... what can I remember about this place post-ND game... Well, I remember it had a KILLER fireplace with all kinds of yucky couples snuggling up around it... Also, above the fireplace there was an ENORMOUS tv. Â As others have mentioned, the ambiance is VERY nice and cozy... but also kind of bar loud. Â It wasn't particularly busy the night I went, so I didn't feel like it would be too too tough to fight for a good spot with the bf. Â
Beer selection is good. Â Tons of tequila. Â Prices are average Boston prices. Â And they had a decent chili nachos.
Lets see... what is there to say about this bar. Well to be blunt its pretty basic. But what it does have going for it is nice scenery and furniture, and its pretty big. Dont get me wrong, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it being basic, it still accomplishes what I look for in a bar, which is to obtain a drink and relax. All with nice service is always a plus.
So what you can find here is good service, very nice atmosphere, and a large selection of drinks. An A-ok bar.
It does however get very packed weekend nights, which is expected of popular bars.
Pshh do yourself a favor and avoid this place. We ended up here when we were told there was an hour wait downstairs at sunset. We decided to go upstairs and wait here but we were hungry so we decided to stay. Big mistake. The service was terrible, it took over 45 minutes to get our food, and when we finally got our food all.the.orders.were.wrong. So that added even more time to our wait before we could eat. The only reason I gave the extra star was because they have all the sunset beers so that selection is good at least. Next time I'm told there is a wait at sunset I'll suck it up instead of coming to this crappy place
Review Source:I had a good experience here. There's a lot of dumps in Allston but this isn't one of them. Good beer selection, good food. Didn't have problems with service. Our bartender was Justin and he knows his beers. I'll be coming back again for game nights. There really aren't any bad seats in the house because they have good TV coverage (one of my pet peeves about sports bars is when they have "blind-spot" seats where you can't see a TV).
Oh, and the waitresses are hot.
Toward the end of the night Chris the manager stopped by and said hello and made us feel like regulars even though me and my buddy had never been there before. He can rest-assured we'll be back.
Just left Patron's while being in there for a total of 20 minutes waiting at the bar for service. 2 bartenders walked by without offering drinks. More surprising and embarrassing for this place was that 2 managers walked by and neither acknowledged that no drinks were served nor did they get the bartenders that they are managing to come over to offer drinks. Hope the owners realize they have to get their act together with this place cause its not doing well. They do well with Sunset hopefully this is not the dumb stepsister restaurant that is unable to keep up.
Review Source:I have eaten here a couple of times with friends and bf and the food is really good. I love the new revised menu and the mexican monkey drink is heavenly. The only reason they received 3 stars rather than 5 is the service. The waiting period for everything is ridiculous. The place isn't even that busy and yet we would wait at least half an hour for everything, even something as simple as a fork or some water. Patron's, if you guys read this, please understand that people do not have 3 hours to eat a simple dinner. We waited forever to get our orders taken, our food, our drinks and even to get our checks! This kind of service is unacceptable!
Review Source:I came here again on Halloween for a cheap, quick bite and drink before going out. I got the quesadilla again and was very satisfied. It certainly wasn't the best one I've had but its improved since the first time. The cooks must be getting used to the menu because this time it had guacamole and salsa and the vegetables looked less "out of a bag" (I didn't eat them though, the goal isn't to be healthy when eating a quesadilla)
The boyfriend got a steak burrito. Not anything to brag about but it was filling.
Service was better, the bartender didn't ignore us like past experiences.
There are many better options in Allston for food and drink but Patron's does make a good starting off point since its close to everything else and its decently priced and (should be) relatively quick. It's also pretty much always empty so it is good for larger groups!
Oh, it's bad. Â Really bad.
I went there for the first (and likely only) time last night. Â The dining room is gorgeous, that's where the nice ends. Â We waited 1.5 hours for our food, which was overpriced, and delivered lukewarm. Â We got a salad (1.5 hours?) and chicken enchiladas which were not baked, and arrived with a sprinkle of unmelted cheese. Â The roja one was just gross, the verde was actually good. Â But not waiting 2 hours good. Â The meat inside tasted like low grade chicken, no white meat, and the flavor didn't match the tomato paste red sauce. Â Did I say no cheese? Â What kind of enchilada is this? Â Did I say that entrees are almost $20 at this place? Â Is this some kind of joke?
Since we waited for more than an hour we were brought chips and salsa (after we asked for them, did not come automatically) with literally a 1 oz serviing of salsa. Â It was unremarkable and not homemade. Â Our $8 margaritas were watered down and from low grade mix.
The one star is for the staff, who were apologetic and nice, but lets be realistic, inattentive. Â I mean, how else do you wait for 1.5 hours for food when you are literally the ONLY PEOPLE IN THE DINING ROOM? Â While we were waiting around we met other people who were being ignored by the staff as they tried to order drinks, and another couple who just left after a half hour when nobody served them. Â It wasn't that the staff were rude, they just seemed oblivious.
When trying to leave, the place's credit card machine went down and couldn't run our cards. Â It was now 11pm. Â We had shown up at 8:30pm for dinner. Â We waited for 15 minutes. Â Finally I told the manager that it was insulting I was being asked to pay for the meal since it was so crappy and he comped us. Â He says he's sending us a gift certif, but no, I'm never going back. Â It's just awful.
If I could give a ZERO star, I would have -- for this place. This is how it went down...
13 of us made plans to celebrate a friend's birthday at Sunset on Saturday at 7pm. They were extremely busy I guess and the wait was about 45 minutes long. The host suggested we give their sister restaurant a try and offered to take us upstairs to take a look before we decide. A few of us went up. I've been there before when it was Big City. A lot of renovations has gone into the place, updating it a bit and giving it a nice look and feel. I was impressed with the esthetics of the place.
The person assured us everything should be fine and we made be able to get things rolling sooner. Half of the group was here and were were only waiting a few more and they arrived within minutes.
We all sat and began to order starting around 7:30pm -- just drinks first. They came reasonably, after all, it was only water.
This is where everything went downhill. Finally everyone was there. We put our orders in at different times, to stagger what was coming out. That didn't work out very well. The drinks came within 10 to 20 minutes. We asked for water and that took 20 minutes. when it finally came, he didn't bring us glasses. Are we to drink it out of the pitcher??? OK, fine. I went to ask for the glasses. Mind you, this has not been 40 minutes.
In between, one pizza came out along with pork sliders, nothing else. Five minutes before the pizza came out, we ordered everything else. the 2 orders or wings, the guacamole and chips, another pizza, 2 burgers entrees, a fajita, a carnitas dish and a fish/shrimp dish. We figured, this will take another 20 to 30 minutes max so we'd have a little to snack on. another 20 minutes passed by and nothing. We asked the waiter and he went to check. another 10 minutes later, the wings came out, followed by guacamole, and another 5 and there was the pizza.
At this time we're now finished with those and waiting for the entrees. A burger came out, and fajitas although the fajitas was ordered after the 2 burgers and a carnitas entree.
Now the burgers are gone and so was the fajita, along with 2 yards and 3 pitchers of sangria as well as some pints of beers later, and still, Â no food. 6 entrees were still missing. We asked the waiter again on the status and he came over and apologized profusely. Where was the manager?
Finally, it was 9:30pm and still no food. We grew tired and aggravated and just want to wrap up and go somewhere else.
I went to the manager and explained out situation to him. Explained to him how lacking service was. How our food didn't come out at all and those that did took nearly an hour. Drinks were refilled and no glasses were provided when the water did come.
He apologized and asked what we'd like done. I asked him to remove all the dishes that never came out because we didn't want them anymore and we didn't want to sit and wait another 30 minutes to an hour. He removed them and had to check back with me 4 times to ensure the bill was correct.
If my conscious had let me, I wouldn't have tipped at all, but we left the guy a $20 tip anyways because while he was at fault for not keeping on top of his table, the kitchen was very much at fault for not making the food on time.
This place is spacious and has a lot of beer on tap and have so much potential. It's either they're too new and don't have enough waiters, or they didn't anticipate and didn't have enough kitchen staff or both. Either way, its a new business and it's a weekend. Management should definitely have hired more help, even if it meant people hanging around if it's a slow night, then to not have enough and everything is slow and have angry/upset customers.
It will be awhile before I come back here again -- unless i didn't care how long it take them to bring out food and such.
Absolutely would never return again. We came here because the wait at Sunset was too long and the host there assured us it was the same menu. Our group of 8 got a table immediately which was probably the first bad sign because no restaurants in this area are empty on a Friday night. We had no issue ordering appetizers and they came out at a reasonable speed. Each round of drinks took 20+ minutes to get from the bar to our table though. Lucky for the bar, the kitchen was evenslower and made 20 minutes for a drink look like nothing. The menu is entirely mexican and although Patron is a sister restaurant to Sunset has none of the signature items we expected. One person in our group ordered a burrito and when they attempted to bring out our food at least an hour after we ordered he had to decline because they brought him some sort of pork sandwich instead. He canceled his order completely because we just didn't have another hour to wait for the correct food. Another group at our table ordered a pizza that was also cancelled because after an hour and a half it still hadnt arrived. At this point a hostess came over to clear our table of every beer and drink glass since we sat down. At least someone made an effort but I doubt that it was part of her job description. After trying to get the check from our waiter , we were informed that management was not going to take the mystery burrito that the kitchen never actually made off our bill but that he could order a different item since he had to pay for it anyway. Um... What? Needless to say we spoke directly to a manager and he attempted to save an already lost cause of a meal. He comped the food items we ordered but never received, an appetizer, and brought out a free dessert for our group of 8 to share. Overall, our waiter was MIA most of the time, kitchen and bar were extremely slow, management was lacking, food was nothing like Sunset, and the beer list was great.
Review Source:Last night I went out thinking I was going to Big City. After entering the establishment I noticed that the place had undergone major renovations. There was an additional bar and fireplaces, both of which I thought made the place better. After ordering a drink, I realized that the name on the menu had changed and was now Patron's Mexican Kitchen and Watering Hole instead of Big City! The host explained that they had changed over a few months ago and the new menu features all Mexican food but Sunset downstairs has retained their menu. I'll visit again to try some food but the drinks are good regardless.
Review Source: