A Bar Above CB - Crested Butte, Colorado

Cris Bera

Went here for the Friday night live music and ended up with a mixed experience of enjoyable food and good entertainment undone by unforgettably bad service.

One of the bartenders, Jonathan, felt my tip on our bill didn’t meet his expectations. Rather than address me directly, he yelled out across the bar in a mocking voice how much he “appreciated me”.

Here are facts to put this middle school level behavior in perspective:

1. He didn’t even take my order! Not for drinks or food and did nothing to assist us in any way.

2. This is a place where you have to go to the bar to order. There is no table service. You even have to get your own water at a station by the door. Want forks & knives? Go get them yourself next to the water. Nothing unusual, just it’s a do-it-yourself kind of place.

3. The two drinks ($10 beer & $8 glass of boxed wine - no hate, just looking for a basic drink) we ordered from the other bartender, who was pleasant and who also rang up the food, totaled $18, so a $5 tip felt reasonable. It hardly seems that 27% gratuity to pop a top on a can & 10-seconds of squeezing a button should be considered miserly.

4. The food, which totaled $85, was actually brought out to the table by yet another pleasant barback, which was again *not* Jonathan.

After the verbal shout down across the bar, I walked back to my table, enjoyed the food and music and wondered if I had really heard what I thought he had yelled out - that my tip wasn’t enough for the service?

Before I left, I stopped by the bar to make sure I didn’t miss something in translation.

Nope. He felt entitled to more and wasn’t willing to address me directly. Instead, announcing his displeasure to the bar and attempting to embarrass me publicly was his big boy approach.

Does just showing up to work, without actually doing any work, suffice for customer service these days? Is the manager of this bar so desperate for help that indignant bartenders trying to belittle customers is the norm?

As long as Jonathan works at this bar, I will recommend to everyone to stay away. I encourage you to *not* just go to another bartender as they split tips and the ones that actually do the work deserve better than him as a fellow employee.

If there is an owner to this place that cares, reply to this review and I’ll happily call you and fill in any details you are interested in knowing.

But if you’ve wondered why the rest of your staff is uneasy about Jonathan’s demeanor toward customers, listen to them and cut the bad apples loose before they run off the good ones.

Michael Abbott

Stopped in for lunch.
Place was not busy and the staff was friendly. Inside was dimly lit, so eyes had a bit to adjust.

Menu was quaint, but they had good options. Cool ideas for recipes.
The food came out wonderfully. Lots of flavor packed into each sandwich. Hit the spot after a day on the slopes.

The drink options were vast, but I chose a beer with the sandwich.

Not terrible for mountain food on price.

Anthony Klazura

We stopped in for a quick bite. I had the Kimchi and Pork melt. Amazing! The atmosphere was awesome. They had live music last night. Very cool vibes. The service staff were also very friendly. Definitely a place to stop in.

stuart bailey

wow. What a wonderful place so convenient and delicious. I had a Ruben and my wife had the beet salad.
I had an odd 13 brewing IPA and she had a delicious cocktail. So fun live music beautiful place beautiful people thank you for opening this cool place.

Vincent Coleman

Delicious food, cozy atmosphere and friendly service. The Oaxaca old fashioned Cocktail was delicious, as were the salad and pizza. The servers were helpful, and knowledgeable. We would love to return.

Mackenzie Ellingson

Overall nice experience - great live music on a Friday night. Limited menu food options but full bar. I can only speak for the pizza because it’s all I ordered, but it was unfortunately only half cooked? The bottom and top was warm but the inside was strangely cool, colder than room temp. They also make their pepperoni pizza standard with crust, sauce, cheese, pepperoni - but they then add an extra layer of sauce, which was overwhelming for myself and my date so we scraped it off. Ate 3/8 pieces and left the rest. The beers were pleasant. I would come again but not order the pizza!

Suzi Adams

The atmosphere was chill! They made me feel like family. The live music was perfect. The bartender wasn’t afraid to take my likes and make a customized drink for me. And the food and service was amazing!

Nic Climer

Great food, amazing craft cocktails, ice cold
Beers. Really great service. Thanks for a lunch we needed!