Last night the misses and I went out to visit Folsom’s newest gastropub, The Beer Garden and Grill at 6608 Folsom-Auburn Rd. Folsom, CA 95630 (no website yet). They opened a week ago and have so far received some fairly good reviews from locals. Folsom could use another pub being that our two favorites (Manderes and Samuel Horne’s) tend to get fairly packed on weekends and can sometimes be hard to get into, so new alternatives are good to have as options in case a Plan B is needed when going out on the weekends.
Unfortunately we found ourselves very disappointed by the Beer Garden and Grill, I’ll call this Strike One.
The menu and list of beers, wines and concoctions looked good, and I bet any of the items would have been good…. if only we could have been able to order something.
We ended up leaving after being unable to get any service at both the bar and at a table that we later got.
I know they’re still new and I like to give the benefit of the doubt and try to be patient and it looked like they had plenty of waitresses… but apparently none of them know how to give good service (yet). Good looks are nice, but intelligence and knowing how to take care of customers is a lot more important to help achieve success with any restaurant.
Unfortunately after a period of time, bad service becomes a serious pet peeve of mine. I have no patience at all for poor service…or in this case, no service at all.
I always give at least 15 minutes before giving up (I even set a timer for it). I’m not asking for much, I just want to order something… I mean come on, at least stop and acknowledge our presence and let us know you’ll be back to take our order later! This is why I don’t got to the Sports Garage anymore either, the service is bad there too. Went with 6 friends a month ago, we were 1 of only 2 tables and we always had to go find the one waiter/bartender/cook guy to get refills, order food and get our bill.
When I spend money going out, I want it to be money well spent on having a good time enjoying good food, drink and service – I don’t want it to be a hassle in any way.
We ended up leaving the Beer Garden Grill without getting anything and it will be a while before we go back to give them another try, it seems they still have a lot of work to do with their wait staff.
We then drove over to Samuel Horne’s in old town Folsom (on Sutter Street) and had a great time! Even though you have to go to the bar to order, we can always count on good food, a good choice of beers and a nice friendly staff that will take our food and beverage order right away. Same with Manderes, it may cost a little more there, but the food, beer AND service is top notch and well worth it and that’s why Manderes remains my favorite place in town – because they know how to do everything right.
Having both good food AND good service is the only way any restaurant is going to survive, and that’s why Manderes and Sam Horne’s are still doing great and why I will continue to go support those places.
Maybe the owner of the Beer Garden should send his waitresses over to Manderes to see how good service works and how it makes a restaurant successful.
The Beer Garden and Grill does have potential and it’s in a nice location with lots of outdoor patio space which will be great to hang out at during the summer, I just hope they can get their wait staff up to speed because poor service will always keep me away.
Dave's Travels 
I went to the Beer Garden friday night and LOVED IT. I actually tried a beer I have never tried before and I ordered a turkey burger. Both were great! Huge patio area with a nice little view and a pool table in the front. My friends and I had a blast and we will definitely go back! I had GREAT service by a hot girl…can’t go wrong!
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I’ve heard the food is good from several folks, and I hope to actually get to order something when I go back to give them another try someday.
Very glad to hear your report – thanks for the feedback. I hope this place does well, we need more good gastropubs in Folsom.
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The spousal unit and I went in quite hungry but I’m not waiting more than 30 minutes for a burger! Finally just paid for the beers and left. The ditzy waitress and bar girl said something like, “Well, fresh food takes time!” to which I replied, “In the length of time I’ve been waiting, you could have rounded up the cow, ground it up, and fried it.” I mean really folks, how long does it take to drop an order of fries and make a tri-tip sandwich? The second comment about only having one cook didn’t appease me at all either. How difficult would it have been to tell me that when we first sat down? Also, the entire evening didn’t start too well when we sat down at 6:55 and no one came over for 10 minutes, then when we asked if we were too late for the happy hour priced garlic fries and the waitress blankly looked at us as if we were speaking Swahili.
Damn! And I was thinking that patio out back would be a great place for a couple “family plus friends” events next month. Oh well, back to Streets of London!
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Bummer to hear they still have not improved the service there. Such a shame because it’s a really great location and with the way the owner setup the place, it has serious potential. He’s just got to get his staff to get their act together. One cook (if he was any good) should have been easily able to handle all the orders. The problems with the waitresses are inexcusable and that problem has been going on for far too long. The waitresses really need to be trained better on how to properly take care of customers and provide PROMPT service. It’s disappointing when going out to have a good time and having to deal with crappy slow service. To me that is extremely aggravating and like you I too would have left the place after waiting that long. There’s a lot of other restaurants in town that want your business and are capable of providing great service, giving you a good time out and making it worth the money you’re spending at their place.
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the beer garden is not a gastropub
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So ownership just changed AGAIN and my advice is THAT IT WAS TERRIBLE that’s all i have to say , food was cold, took over 20 min for a burger and fries, besides our waiter which was the only thing good I was mortified. Will not being going back. Maybe when things are better but i highly doubt it. My whole experience with THE BEER GARDEN was awful and when I told the owner/manager all he wanted to do was feed my husband alcohol like that was going to fix the problem, completely tacky! I do not recommend unless they change and get some really good reviews!
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