Grumpy's Bar

spotty service, neighbourhood atmosphere. I have patronised Grumpy's for well over four years, mostly because of the interesting people who frequent the place. The staff, however, is dismal. None of my friends will go there with me any more, because of the crappy attitude and downright hostility the staff arbitrarily hands out. The people who work there are free to exercise their petty bigotries and abuse the customers without repercussion. This makes the bar an "acquired taste".

Two examples:

A friend ordered a Guinness. This really irritated the waitress, because he was somehow supposed to know that the tap for the Guinness wasn't working properly. She was rude and pissy with our entire group the rest of the night, though my friend quite reasonably just picked another beer and we tipped very well.

I ordered a drink with juice in it, which forced the bartender to go downstairs and get more of that particular juice. The bartender literally snarled at me when he eventually handed me my drink, and he ignored me for the rest of the night. I had to order through the waitress, though I sat at the bar.

The worst part is that you can be totally "okay" with one person that works there, and utterly despised by another, for absolutely unknown reasons. I have seen total jerks get treated like royalty, and polite people get treated like garbage. There is no secret criteria here - it's sheer whim.

The beer selection is fantastic, and the regulars are really nice and quite friendly, with a definite leaning toward the artistic crowd. The music is very good, with a wide variety and a decent sound system. Free wi-fi. No off-street parking, but good parking for bicycles.…