Laura D.
Yelp
Was so excited to celebrate my 35th birthday here, especially based on all of the positive reviews that I had read online. Let me start by saying that I would definitely go back and give this place another try, but that the service was far below what I was expecting, so I would hope to see significant improvements on my next visit.
Starting with the positives: the space is great. So much room to wait for your lawn to open up in the bar area, in a relaxed environment. The games were also so much fun. My group of 7 had a great time playing bocce, beersbee, and lawn pong.
But then there were the negatives:
Items out of stock: Starting with our first drink order we were struck by the large number of items that were out of stock at 3pm on a Sunday. My group was very interested in the 'Mow the Lawnjito' and were told that these were not available. The music was quite loud in our corner (not a complaint for this millennial crowd, but just a fact) and so as most had not heard the original mojito request be denied, the request was made repeatedly and repeatedly rejected. At some point someone finally asked, "What are you missing for a mojito? Mint?" and were answered with "No, kiwi." At this point several people pointed out that we could have mojitos without kiwis and those orders were eventually placed. We just didn't understand why the bar concierge would not offer this option before being prompted by the group. (She seemed like she was having a very bad day, and we speculated that it is probably not ideal to work at an establishment where so many items are out of stock, and that she probably faces many disgruntled customers throughout her shift.) In addition to the mojitos, we were told there was no frose. Asking if there were any frozen drinks available, our bar concierge responded, "Well, not here. We have them outside, but not inside..." No offer of if these would be available to us, so we assumed they were not. Perhaps the most shocking was when a tired friend ordered a coffee and was told this too was out of stock. To contrast with a positive, the cheese tater tots (the only food we ordered) were excellent, and looking back I wish I had ordered several trays to share.
Closed area: Directly behind our court was an area filled with lounge chairs and a tv. There was a chain blocking off this area, which we assumed was an oversight as it seemed to be clearly connected to our court. Some of my friends removed the chain and started to enter the area and we were promptly informed at that time that there was no specific charge to use the area, but that we would be expected to spend $250/hour in food and drink for each of the 2 hours that we were booked for if this area were to be used. With only 7 people, we correctly assumed that this minimum would not be met and we offered to put the chain back on. We were told that we could keep the chain off so that we could chase rogue balls and frisbees should they land in this space, but that we couldn't sit there or place our belongings or food/drinks there if we were not planning on meeting the minimum. This was helpful, as we did have to chase some balls and we appreciate the staff making this allowance. Still, nobody else used this space for the duration of our play (and I can't imagine how they would have since it was directly adjacent to our lawn), and we observed that this was the case for other lawns as well. Would seem to make more sense in our opinion to open this space up to your paying customers. However, we recognize that this choice is at the discretion of the owners, but would have appreciated being told from the start that this space was off limits for our group before we had to be chided for entering.
Miscellaneous:
Glass - Our group was drinking, but was not drunk (nor did I observe any other obviously intoxicated groups during our afternoon timeframe). Still, sports skill levels vary, and at one point we broke a glass from a foul ball. The staff were very courteous ("This happens all the time," they said.) I imagine this is true, so I wonder why glass is used in these relatively hazardous conditions.
Changing games - We were told that we could change games at any time, and yet whenever we were ready to switch it took several minutes to locate our Lawncierge, or even an alternate. We didn't mind the actual act of waiting, but when you only have a limited timeframe to play every minute counts.
Closing out - We were trying to finish a game up to the last minute of our allotted time, and so initially ignored the checks that were dropped off 10 minutes before the end of our time. Five minutes later we were told that we had to close out now. We asked if we could finish our game and then close out our tabs, so as not to waste our remaining time. We were told this would not be possible. Why though is this the case, when there is a large bar area that we could retreat to for payment purposes once our time was up?
