Deals vs. Service

When it comes to happy hour, or any visit to a bar or restaurant, what is more important? Great value for the product or great service? Last night I went to Lounge on 20's happy hour with a couple of friends.

First the good news, the place was pretty empty - though it was 5:30 on a Wednesday. Their happy hour special consists of $3 - $6 appetizers (price is progressive depending on the time of the order) and $5 martinis, wine, champagne and their cocktail of the day and $4 selected beers. Last night's cocktail was a yummy tequila concoction with pomegranate and lime complements. It was strong enough where you could taste the alcohol, but it wasn't overwhelming, blending perfectly with the tartness of the fruit flavors. It was definitely worth the $5. The cheese plate, with two minuscule slices of cheese and a dollop or two of what I thought was canned cranberry sauce, wasn't so pleasing. However, the $5 fried macaroni and cheese appetizer was yummy! The cheese and noodle-filled balls were served with a creamy cheese sauce and the portion was enough for more than one person to enjoy. We ordered two servings and basically had a full serving to take home in a doggy bag!

Now the bad news, the service was awful. Our server appeared at the table without any knowledge of what the beer or cocktail of the day was. She said they hadn't printed the new menus yet so she couldn't give us one, yet she didn't have any information memorized in order to share it. I never got the water I ordered until another server came over and asked if I wanted one (remember this lady for later). When our server came back with the beer info, it ended up being the wrong info. When our check came (which we had to ask the second server to get for us), we had been overcharged for three of the appetizers. I explained this to our server, who cheerily agreed to fix it, only to come back with a revised check that only corrected one of the three pricing errors. Oh, and server #2 was the only person to refill our water at any time during the evening.

I spent about $16 for a share of three appetizers, a cocktail and a beer. Not too shabby. But I couldn't get past how inadequate the service was - especially at a place that aims to be on the classier side (they don't allow flip flops, for example). I spent six years as a server and bartender so I get that it's not as easy as some people may think, but because of that experience I think I expect more. What about you?

Have you had good experiences at Lounge on 20? Is it your feeling that "you get what you pay for" and at happy hour service isn't as important? Have you ever refused to return somewhere after having bad service? Let's hear about it!