Lakewood Landing: A Dive Bar We'll Never Land at Again
Readers of these pages know that we are a sucker for a good dive bar experience. We love Ships Lounge, we're at Cock & Bull more than we care to admit, we always enjoy going to Adair's Saloon, we've gone to City Tavern for years, and we worship at the altar that is Louie's. So, when we moved to the neighborhood, we were naturally excited to frequent Lakewood Landing and make it a regular hangout. We'd heard great things from neighbors, and saw generally good reviews for food, drinks and service.
What made us try the Landing first was the fact they were open late nights. One night, when both of us were super hungry, the restaurant we used to go to for cheese fries was closed. Knowing the Landing was close, we stopped in and had great cheese fries and a good burger. The beer was cold enough. The ambiance was fine. It was everything you could ever want in a dive bar. That is, until it wasn't.
Fast forward a few months after the previously mentioned experience and it was a completely different story. Once again, we set out in search of those late night cheese fries and a cold beer and ended up at Lakewood Landing. We sat down and waited for a waiter to come by. And we sat... and sat... and sat. Thirty minutes went by with servers and bartenders passing us over and over again, but no one bothering to even look our way. Unable to bear our thirst or hunger any longer, we aggressively waved down a waiter to see if we could put in our order. Evidently we weren't even worthy of an individual table side response, because he yelled across the room that "the kitchen is closed!" Now, the kitchen was open when we got there--food was streaming out of the kitchen no-problem. There was no "last call" for food either. Of course, there wasn't even an attempt to greet us or take our order when we walked in the door and sat down at a booth. So, when we heard "the kitchen is closed," we thought we'd at least try to put in an order for a quick beer prior to going elsewhere for late-night food.
Once again, we were shrugged off by the server running by our table, and condescendingly told that we could go order at the bar. Keep in mind, this was during regular business hours, and when the restaurant was fully staffed. Lakewood Landing is the only bar we've been to where the tables weren't serviced during regular hours, even if the kitchen was closed, when there was plenty of staff milling about. Ultimately, we left without ordering beer or food. What choice did we really have? Maybe the servers in question just had a bad day and we were dressed a bit too nicely to really fit in. Or maybe they were just jerks and bad at their jobs. But, either way, that was no reason to treat any patrons with that level of disregard or disrespect. Truth is, we may have also had a bad day, which is why we needed some late-night cheese fries! Either way, the nasty situation--where we walked out hungry and thirsty and insulted--led to one decision on our part. We'll never be landing at Lakewood Landing again!
