Flowing Tide Pub 5

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE Flowing Tide fan! However, when it comes to choosing a location, I will never be visiting this one again. The location is really cool and the bar area offers pool tables, plenty of space for mingling, and there is a separate family dining area.
At my visit here, there were about 5 – 10 people at the bar on a Friday night and there were 2 groups seated in the dining room (mine and one other). We sat at a table since only a few of us were 21+. Those of us that were old enough got drinks, and the others got appetizers. We were a pretty big party (8 people) so we were definitely bringing in a good amount of business. Our waitress, unfortunately, was one of the worst I have ever seen.
She came to our table, took our first round of drink orders. We got those drinks in a reasonable amount of time. After about 30 minutes, Happy Hour started so we all ordered more drinks and appetizers. During the middle of us ordering, the waitress said «I’m going to just come back» — she was clearly irritated that it took a few of us a while to decide. (Rude language). When she came back about 10 minutes later, we finished ordering and waited about another 30 minutes before seeing her again. She came back, looked at us, and asked us, «Oh yeah, what did you order?» At this point, we were tired of the poor service and waiting forever for drinks so we asked her to cancel any drinks that haven’t been poured and bring us our checks. She returned about 15 minutes later with the check.
A lot of waiting and a serious lack of customer service made the experience at this location pretty bad.

Sometimes after work me and my co-​workers get together, we had a successful occasion that happens 1 time a year in our line of work, so passing that is a reason to celebrate! We chose a place close to our location for after work drinks and food.
I have been here 2x time, but I have a feeling for place so I will relay my experience. 1^st and foremost I hate the smoking side, the VENTILATION is TERRIBLE, I don’t ever think there is any ventilation, I think the only ventilation that counts is when they people open the doors and all the nasty smoke has a 2 second reprieve.
I have always chosen to sit on the non-​smoking side, and the times my coworkers wanted to sit on the smoking side, I would leave. I can’t be in there, it’s an assault on my eyes, and sinuses and smells terrible. Last night I noticed that at first it felt like a non-​smoking room, but it connects to the other side only by 1 door, and again there’s no ventilation in the other room, so as soon as air has a chance to escape it instantly moves over. I am sure there is a displacement equation about density of air, etc, but regardless of the science, it’s overwhelming and gross.
As we were gathering, it wasn’t too bad, but as the night went on, I was having severe reactions, and I couldn’t stay in the non-​smoking any longer, due to all the air that kept blasting in. So enough of that. Onto the beer and food!
I got a Sierra Nevada last night really tall 28 oz. It was completely flat, no bubbles, not fresh, no head, etc. My guess is keg are not properly stored or managed, so that’s why the beer comes out that way. I will remember to order bottles for freshness in the future. It did the trick though, and gave me a social lubrication needed.
Last time I got the french dip, and this time I got the chicken parm sandwich. When I ordered the french dip, I asked the server if it was a large sandwich and filling, and she readily agreed. I had a Dragonic Appetite that particular occasion, I love french dip, so I readily agreed. It came out and it was about ¹⁄₃ inch of meat and a very small sandwich overall. The dip had little to no flavor, it was the packaged kind, but they probably use 1 package for two servings vs. 1 for 1 serving, so it was just off. Overall the sandwich was below par, and I would never order again. The fries were okay.
Before I ordered the chicken parm last night, I asked the waitress about the steak taco’s, it 3 for $ 10.99, so I wanted to make sure they were big, she said they weren’t, so I asked about the chicken parm, and she agreed it was a good size, so I ordered, she offered sides, I asked what do you recommend, as I often do, and she said sweet potato fries (SPF), so I agreed.
I got the sandwich, and I have to say the SPF were IN THE HOUSE, I had half a plate of them and they were 100% great and I would 100% order them again, perfectly cooked, great flavor, really well done. The chicken parm though was a little pathetic looking, it had about ¼ inch chicken, and was supposed to come with marinara, provolone and parm, but it was a very small serving of such, and the marinara was closer to a ketchup on it. It was an okay sandwich in flavor, but it was 180 degrees off what I was expecting. The bread was very oiled too and cooked on the grill.
I was expecting large chicken breast, marinara looking like lava, beautiful cheese melting over it all, and a perfectly toasted large sour dough toast covering the divine-​ness. A sandwich so grand that I would need a fork and steak knife to eat. Instead so it was a small very greasy ¼ inch chicken sandwich. The SPF made up for the serving size, but I would never order that sandwich again.
Service was okay, but I really can’t get over the portion sizes for prices and the terrible smoke. Also we ordered appetizers plates last time and this time, everything comes a freezer and no wow factor on any of those items, just salt and below average flavor on everything. I think Happy Hour is the time to hit this place, that way it’s easier to justify the prices for what you get.
Here’s a link to the menu, so you can read what you are expecting vs. what you actually get regarding the two sandwiches aforementioned…

We all work in the service industry so we usually get off late and travel in groups. That being said, on the nights Will is on the bar, it’s a no brainer where the 5 – 10 of us are going to end up. Great personality, keeps the atmosphere fun and remembered all of us and what we drank after our 1^st trip. Impressive.

Wonderful service, food and atmosphere. This Tide is divided into two areas: smoking and non-​smoking. A great place to take the kids before a game (arcade included) or hang out with your friends and play pool.

We came here last week and we were really impressed with the customer service! We got three appitezers mozerella sticks, potstickers, and boneless wings. All tasted great! We also got a mushroom swiss burger, a mexican burger, and a blt. My only complaint was that the bread on my blt was over toasted which made it a little difficult to eat. Other than that everything was great! Our waiteress was very attentive and got us refills for our drinks before we even had to ask. We will be back!

Just went to play pool and drink beer. Didn’t try the food. Won’t go back because of all the smoking but will try your other non smoking location sometime.

I like this place, although I preferred it as Sparkys simply because of the hot wings and pizza. I really wish they would offer a different menu than the Tide located a mile up the road. Service was slow today but it was Sunday and lots of football action so I’ll be patient. It’s a good local bar to drink and gamble (bar is smoking FYI).

Was there several months ago.
Opened a tab with the bartender, gave him my card and had a few drinks while playing pool with a friend.
A few hours later I go to close the tab and the bartender says he does not have my physically have my card or have it on file for a tab.
Instead of arguing I quietly pay the $ 23 bill in cash and leave…
I contacted my bank which said there was a$ 101 hold placed on the card. I had to deal with the hassle of filing a fraud claim and lost card with my bank.
Go back the next day and speak to the manager who cannot find my card or produce a signed receipt for the $ 101 transaction that posted to my account.

We love this place. We come here every Sunday for breakfast!!! Friendly service and great food!!!

This is a cool spot to watch the games, they’ll put on whatever you want if it’s sports related.
I like this place since it’s close to northwest RENO and that is smooth.
I’d come back here again for sure.
The bartender was concentrated on other things though.
4 stars for sure!

This is the only flowing tide I will go to! Love Will and Tessa they will treat you right!

I was here quite late at night /​early in the morning depending on how you look at it (arrived around 2AM). My friends and I both had a round of shots when we arrived and then I switched to water. My friends kept drinking for a few more hours. Around 3:30AM or so I ordered some food. Chicken strips and fries. I’ve had food at Tide locations before so I thought this would be a safe bet. Perhaps that early in the morning it wasn’t a great choice. The chicken strips were dry and the fries seemed overly greasy.
The service was on point however. When a few rowdy patrons caused a ruckus, the bartender was quick to address the situation.
Even in the early hours of the morning the bar was clean and the bathrooms well kept. I have to go with three stars because for those of us seeking food after a night of drinking, this wasn’t a great choice of locations.

I am really split on whether or not I would prefer this location over the Flowing Tide just up the street. Or whether it should be 3 – 4 stars. The food was very good and service was excellent, as we have come to expect visiting the Tide.
The building is split into two sections with a swinging door to divide them. There is the smoking section which houses the bar and all the televisions. On the other side you have the non-​smoking section, which is far more family oriented. As somebody who is a non-​smoker but enjoys having a beer and watching basketball, this is very unappealing.
You are forced to choose: do you want to eat, have a beer, and watch basketball all the while inhaling disgusting cigarette smoke. Or do you want to sit in the family area, eat quickly and leave to enjoy the other options somewhere else? I chose to protect my lungs. It felt like I was a child who was being sat at the kids table on thanksgiving.
I think that they would profit more from not catering to the quickly shrinking number of smokers and more to the larger percentage of people who enjoy eating without the need to smoke. While the non-​smoking section is nice, it just lacks some of the main draws to the business. I chose to be generous with my stars because I do love the food and service.

Ok so here’s the trick with this place. There is only 1. When you walk up to the building there are 2 doors with quite a bit of space between them. The door on your right is for smokers and those who want to belly up to the bar, gamble, shoot pool etc. The door on your left is for non-​smokers, families who want to sit down, arcade for the kiddos, and for those who’d like to order to-​go. Being a non-​smoker I made the tragic mistake of 1^st opening the door on my right and was assaulted by the smell of cig. smoke and immediately stepped right back out. So my review of that side is lacking since I spent approx. .03 seconds in there. However on the left side I was able to breathe so I walked in. I was immediately welcomed by a very sweet waitress. Since it was my first time there and I was alone I asked to do a to-​go order. She directed me to a table & gave me a menu. She was back within moments with a tall glass of ice water! I ordered a cheeseburger, med. rare-​hold the onion– with fries. Boring I know but I have to start with the basics to decide if I like the food there. Not knowing how long I’d have to wait I pulled out my Ian Flemming novel to pass the time but not before I noticed all the happy families with kids, couples enjoying their meals and what looked like a few after work people sipping adult drinks and happily chatting. A few kids were playing over in the small arcade. From my advantage there were two large screen TV’s on the walls that had the basketball game on however the sound was muted. Fun rock ‘n roll from the 80’s was playing in the speakers from above at an appropriate volume. I sipped my water & delved into my book to see what James Bond was going to do next. What seemed like only maybe 10 min. later another waitress came over with my check. She asked me if I’d like some ranch dressing for my fries and I know you never turn down ranch dressing when it’s offered! I paid, got my hot food and left. Once home I am very pleased to announce what I discovered was a perfectly seasoned and cooked cheeseburger of ample size. Lots of lightly seasoned fries with a small container of tasty ranch dressing. What I didn’t discover until I was done with those was a delicious pickle spear under the wax paper that was laid down to protect my burger & fries from it’s juices! Since the parking lot was packed full and the smoking side appeared very busy I know I am NOT the 1^st person to find this place but I am very proud to give this FT #5 location it’s first 5 star review after asking Unilocal to list them! I WILL BE BACK! YUM!