Appalachian Brewing Company Gateway
Reviews
We had high expectations, based upon our experiences at their other Gettysburg location. This location is simply inferior. The service was inattentive and our server did not know the menu. My fries were stone cold. She had to go back for the mayo I had ordered. Visit the movies at Gateway, but don't eat there.
I'd like to tell you that I had a great meal, but I can't. Why? Well, I arrived at around 7:50pm on a Friday night. They were busy, but not overly busy. There was a party of 3 people ahead of us. We were told the wait would be 25-30 minutes. That's reasonable. The hostess took our name, we moved to the side and waited. Not too long later, the party in front of us was seated. You know the feeling..."We're next." or so we thought. We stood there waiting and waiting and waiting some more. There were at least 4 tables that were open and cleaned. Finally, we see the hostess gathering menus. We were ready to be seated, ...only to be completely ignored when she seated 2 other parties of 3 and 4, each who came in AFTER us. There were 4 in my party. I looked at the other members of my party and could not believe what had just happened. The hostess came back to the stand, walked away again (walking right past us both times) without ever looking at or acknowledging that we were standing there. That was it! We turned around and walked out. Never even got to look at the menu. CUSTOMER SERVICE stinks! Oh, one other thing, one of the male servers had long straggly hair with a long, unkempt beard. I don't mind if someone has a beard or long hair, but I certainly don't want that person serving my food or drinks. The man needed to have his hair pulled back and his beard covered. Truthfully, just the thought of him serving me food freaked me out. I'm sure he was a very nice person, but I don't want your beard hair in my food. Simply disgusting.
Perhaps my experience as a restaurant manager may make me biased and overly critical, but here are my thoughts. First I will say ambiance,food, and price points are all awesome. Dare I even say amazing. Went on a Saturday night it wasn't overwhelmingly busy at 9pm. We were sat quickly, great so far. My problems stem from the service. My server was knowledgeable and friendly , but we waited on refills for at least 4 minutes which while sitting at a table watching the server chat with the other employees rolling silverware by the door seemed like an eternity. Post meal the server dropped the check off and we waited ten minutes for her to process the payment. No concern if we enjoyed our meals or experience. Just dropped the slip off and walked away. After we left we decided to come back for drinks after a little while and sat at the bar. The servers who seemed to be still on shift were sitting at the bar drinking beers and chatting. Took five minutes to find a bartender to take our order. My drink was made correctly but my guests was made incorrectly. Waited another 5 minutes to even see the bartender to get a refill and correct the incorrect drink. All while listening to the employees discuss how much money they made in tips and how they all were going out drinking tonight. They also asked for free drinks and discounts on mixed drinks because they only get "50% off on beer." No manager was present. Very inattentive staff. Would have been a 5 star review, but the staff destroyed what would have been an amazing time.
Member of ABC Mug Club for many years third year at this location. Always good service, good food and Great Beer.
Great food and enjoyed sampling the craft beers. Can't wait to try the sodas on the next visit.