Tommy Knuckles Tavern + Lounge

This place is just… weird. Having moved into the neighborhood last summer, I was excited to have another neighborhood bar that wasn’t Duffy’s.
First interaction with this place was great… My husband and I sat out on the patio, they brought a cup of bacon (yes, a cup of bacon) that all had different flavors. It was unique and surprising, and free (although now it’s listed as an appetizer for $ 7)! We shared a shroom flat bread that was so great we started trying to make our own at home. The waiter was great, very attentive running from inside to out, and was great at recommending beers.
The second time… I came with some friends on a Saturday night for dinner/​drinks. We tried to order the mac and cheese bites, which they said they were out of, so we tried to order the pretzel sticks, which they also said they were out of… ok so we didn’t get any appetizers. Then we tried to order dinner, of which three of the guys wanted the Marsellus Wallace burger, of which they said they were out of some necessary ingredients (beef, fried egg, waffle, candy bacon… what they didn’t have we don’t know). So the guys ended up order other burgers, of which they weren’t impressed with. I just got a cobb salad, which was fine but definitely didn’t have as much food on it in addition to the lettuce as I would have hoped.
Third time (three strikes you’re out)…again came with some friends on a Saturday night, joked about how they didn’t have anything in the kitchen the last time we were there. We were able to order the nachos, no problem, thankfully. My brother tried to order a Jack and coke and they told him they didn’t have any Jack… um, this is a bar, right? At least this ti

Oh Tommy Knuckles, this review is so hard to write.
The first time I went here for lunch with my good friend and girlfriend, it was amazing. ⁵⁄₅. Service was quick, the drinks were cold, and the sandwiches were amazing. The Don Knotts-​wich (their lobster roll) is really a fantastic lobster roll, and this is coming from a New England transplant. Both my friend and lady loved their respective sandwiches as well (I forget which ones they were. Maybe the Samoan and the one with lamb and goat cheese on it). And the atmosphere is amazing on that patio. Really, its only second to the Galway Arms in terms of size and open-​ness.
But alas, I didn’t write my review after my first experience. I have been back three times since, and I have never seen a more bipolar restaurant.
The second time back was a 3.5÷5 experience. Generally like our first, but the service was MUCH slower. I chalked it up to maybe having a bad/​understaffed day and didn’t think twice.
When the lady and I went for brunch, it was awful. AWFUL. Took forever to get our drinks ordered, and then forever again for them to come, and then a third round of infinity until we could order our food. And when I ordered the eggs benedict, and the waiter asked me how I wanted my eggs cooked, I knew I was in for a bad time (Protip: Eggs benedict is always poached. ALWAYS.). My girlfriend ordered some other egg thing, I forget what. And after our fourth wait time that felt slightly less endless than the previous three, our orders came. The english muffins the benedict was one were cold (yes, cold), and soggy, and appeared to not have been toasted at all, or if they were, they were toasted yesterday and stuck in a fridge overnight. Same with the lady’s hashbrowns. Really, everything was cold, soggy, and generally unappetizing. ¹⁄₅. But I still had 2 generally good experiences to one shit one, so we resolved to just not get the brunch there ever. Theres only a million other brunch places around (2 Sparrows and the Edge both less than 4 blocks away, for both your nice and casual fancies, the Bagel a bit farther, etc).
Finally we went back with a group of 8 of us to get some drinks on the patio, and once again, it took forever to get served. and most of us got canned or bottled beer. But there was a small group next to us that got served super quick.
Tommy Knuckles, you have a ton of potential, but you have got to get your staff worked out. Service is slow, and if the kitchen can miss as hard as it did for our brunch, you gotta clean house and find some new cooks. I want to love you, and I fondly remember my first time, but I’m scared I’m gonna turn into one of those girls who hangs on to a bad boy trying to change him.
TL;DR: Can be amazing, can be horrendous. Entirely dependent on the staff. Fix it, and I will throw money at you.