The Low Beat

Great rock gigs. super beers, and the brunch is to die for. It’s a local, family-​run place, so don’t expect Chilis-​level expedience in the service department. The Low Beat’s charm is its rough edges. Go for the rock shows and keep on top of the schedule on the website – there’s always a quirky band booking that puts The Egg and Upstate Music Hall to shame. An essential place.

I’m sorry to have to give the lowest rating possible, but I have my reasons. Normally I would never give a one star review, but this was not a good experience.
I had heard so many good things about the Rock n’ Roll Brunch at The Low Beat. One Sunday a month, they offer a special brunch menu first come, first served. My roommate and I had been trying to get to one since October, but various circumstances had prevented us from getting a chance until this past Sunday. To say we were excited was an understatement. The menu looked phenomenal and we were finally getting a chance to see for ourselves what all the hype was about.
We arrived right at 10:30 as the doors opened. We were the last two people in the door and because of that, we were the first name placed on the wait list by the girl who greeted us. About two minutes later, however, a gentleman who I assume is the owner or manager came up to us and told us there was a 2-​top open and sat us. The entire restaurant had just been sat, and we were the last two to sit, so I expected a small wait before we could order.
Our drink order was taken and after our drinks made it to the table, we placed our food order. A little bit later is when things started going downhill.
I know this is a «Rock n’ Roll Brunch» but the person they had in charged of entertainment wasn’t playing to the right room in my opinion. I know this is a bar where bands play, but with brunch in a tight space with the tables practically on top of each other and children eating, maybe having one guy play abstract noise rock on his electric guitar by himself isn’t the best choice of entertainment. I understand this is not how everyone feels, but it was enough to disturb my and my roommate’s dining experiences.
We had been waiting a very long time for food. I was almost finished with my cocktail which was kind of strong (at least for me on a Sunday morning) and I was really hoping to get some food in me to balance the alcohol. My roommate had to step outside for a few minutes as the guitar performance was starting to give him a headache. We were growing impatient by this point. The one hour mark had just been passed since we ordered. I understand they had an entire restaurant to feed, but it was only ~30 patrons and it was a menu of 5 things so it seemed to me that it shouldn’t take so long. When we asked our waitress, she told us the kitchen was backed up and she had just checked on it.
At this point I refused to take my eyes off of the window where they put out the food. I watched as three other tables got their orders and we did not. What finally set me off however was seeing the third table get their food. We had noticed the people at that table standing by the door waiting to be seated for about 20 minutes after we had ordered, and they got their food before we did. One of them even had the same thing my roommate ordered. At this point it had become obvious that our waitress had forgotten to put our order in and then lied to us saying the kitchen was backed up.
We got the attention of the manager to tell him how long we had been waiting and that we wanted to leave and he told us not to pay for our cocktail and our coffee. However, as he was approaching us I heard our waitress tell him «I just checked on them, it’s backed up.» This is what really upset me. My roommate and I have about 16 years of food service experience between the two of us. I know when a kitchen is backed up. If it was really the fault of the kitchen’s pace, they would have gotten us our food before the people who sat down 20 minutes after us. We would have been before them in the order that the food goes out. So what happened was our waitress lied to us.
All I ask for is some honesty. If she had told us twenty minutes before that point that she had forgotten to put our order in, we probably would have left then but we would understand that mistakes happen. It would have been annoying, but I don’t think I would have been so upset. Instead, she figured we wouldn’t know any better and told us it was coming while we sat listening to guitar music we didn’t want to hear. I would have rather left earlier and been told the truth. By the time we left, we were both in foul moods, and both extremely hungry.
I doubt know if The Low Beat will listen to my criticism. They’ve been doing this Brunch for 2 years now. I wish them the best, but I will not be back. The sad thing is I was extremely excited about this. The food looked amazing coming out of the kitchen and I’ve heard good things from friends prior to going. But I can’t sit and eat while abstract noise rock is being played at performance volume in the corner, and I can’t deal with a waitress who won’t be honest with me, especially not in a tight space where I literally had to stand up three times so the other waitress could serve food to the table behind me.
I’m sure they don’t care. Their Rock n’ Roll Brunch will still fill up month by month I’m sure. You

A dive bar that has great shows and cool people– every city needs one!

COLD coffee. Rude staff. I’m pretty forgiving of a lot of things at a dive bar lunch on a holiday but this was just bad. Please put your coffee pot on a warmer, not a random table. Also if half of your menu features avacado please advise your customers you don’t have any before taking their orders. Food was pretty good though.