I want to make it clear that this was my first time visiting this bar. This happened on August 14th, about 10 days ago.
I came across this establishment in the neighborhood and decided to stop in to check out the atmosphere and support a local business. I walked in, took a seat at the bar, and waited to be served.
There was a Black female bartender working behind the bar, directly in front of me. She acknowledged and served customers to my left and to my right, but did not acknowledge me. I even raised my hand to get her attention, but she continued serving drinks. At one point, while she was making drinks directly in front of me, I raised my hand again and politely said, "When you have a moment..." to let her know that I was ready to order whenever she had a chance.
She looked up at me without saying anything or acknowledging my request, then went back to making drinks.
At that point, I quietly got up and left.
The service was extremely disappointing and, unfortunately, it made for a very bad first impression. As a Black man who was simply trying to support a local bar, I found the experience particularly discouraging. I don't want to speculate about why I was treated differently, but being repeatedly overlooked while other customers around me were being acknowledged was not an experience I was comfortable with.
Needless to say, this was my first and LAST time I will visit this bar. read more