Give Me Good Service, or Give Me Death

We had been meaning to check out Liberty for a while now. After all, the sushi restaurant-cum-bar has been open for about a month already, and as it combines two of our favorite things (raw fish and girly drinks), we knew we'd end up there sooner or later. Seattlest stopped by last night, and it turns out that the bar has totally decent sushi and tasty, consistently well-mixed cocktails. Too bad then that you have to endure a long wait for both.

Upon our arrival, we seated ourselves and looked around for a menu. We were puzzled that none of the employees seemed to have noticed us, though we would eventually come to learn that the waiter we saw at the other tables was, in fact, the bar's owner. After a few minutes with no service, our companion finally visited the bar to request menus. The selection looked good---lots of interesting drinks for relatively cheap ($6-8) and sushi rolls named after businesses in the neighborhood---so we were able to pick out some of each before long. However, we were immediately told that they were out of ingredients for two drinks and one sushi roll, the latter of which we had unsuccessfully tried to order.

We ended up ordering a Metropolitan (a Manhattan with cognac) and a Blackberry Beauty (a concoction of gin and blackberry liqueur), as well as tuna poki, hamachi nigiri, a spicy scallop roll, and an Alaska roll (but only because the smoked salmon roll was not available). And then we began to wait. Our drinks showed up promptly, and they were both quite delicious, with well-balanced flavors. Our sushi was another story.

After a bit, the party next to us inquired as to whether we had also ordered food. It turned out that these poor, hapless souls had placed an order an hour ago and had still not received it. They had mentioned this to one of the employees, who assured them their food would arrive soon, blaming the wait on the restaurant being "out of rice." This did not make the couple very happy, and they wondered aloud, "If you are an establishment that serves sushi, how can you ever run out of rice?" Another Liberty worker tried to explain the delay in a different way: "The stars and the planets are misaligned." Yeah, but maybe there's also something wrong under your roof.

After they got their food (now gratis, due to the long wait), we got ours as well. The tuna poki was good, but the portion was small for the price, and rather onion-heavy. The sushi was adequate, nothing special, but a nice change of pace in terms of bar food. More than enough wasabi to go around, which is often a concern for Seattlest. The spicy scallop roll was the better of the two, though the asparagus in the salmon roll was nicely tender.

We ordered another round of drinks, but it took much longer for them to arrive compared to the first round. Again, there were the requisite apologies from the staff, this time from a waitress who said there was no excuse for the delay, just that there had been some miscommunication. When our drinks finally arrived, fifteen minutes after the fact, we were glad to discover that they were every bit as expertly mixed as the first round and still quite smooth.

So what's the matter with Liberty? We had heard rumors that they were short one person for the night, but that doesn't explain everything. The bar was busy, but not that busy. If the staff can't handle a Thursday where nearly every table is filled, how could they possibly handle a standing-room-only Friday night? Honestly, we were very surprised to learn that the owner was on-site, as we don't expect sub-par performance from employees when their taskmaster is present. The blame must ultimately fall on the boss, who perhaps is being a little too lenient with his underlings. In our brief interactions with him, he seemed like a nice fella, but perhaps too nice. Look, your establishment has been open for a month already, so we can't let shit like this slide.

We'll be back to Liberty, but only because the drinks were so well made. However, if we get comparable service a second time around, we shall not return. Liberty, consider yourself On Notice.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Audrey in Food on May 12, 2006 2:45 PM

Comments [rss]

LIbertybar

Well, as owner of Liberty, I have to say that for the first six months or so - when most of these reviews were written - things were as described.

When Liberty was first imagined, I had been living on the 'Hill since '91, and in this neighborhood since '93, so I was very happy to find this location.

And, knowing this area, I thought that sushi would be the perfect addition to the neighborhood. We have Thai, but no sushi. We have vegan Chinese, but no sushi. And, since many of us love sushi? A great fit.

But, like many new bars, sometimes it takes a while to make all of the puzzle pieces fit, and our first six months or so was a good example of this relevant truism.

So, yes - the sushi at the beginning take a while, and sometimes still does, to tell you the truth. It gets rather busy here, and with room for just one sushi chef, this clever idea of sushi sometimes is problematic. We do our best to get the orders out in a timely manner, but...

Anyway, it's '08 now, into our second year of operation and we now are on our fourth menu change, with more vegetarian options, more tasty and unique rolls, one of Seattle's most expansive liquor lists (you bourbon lovers will be in bourbon heaven) and since we use fresh juice for each drink, some of the best cocktails in town.

Stop on by. Sorry y'all about the mess in the first six months.

Andrew

Rick KLU

Well, Liberty has some issues for sure... Sushi was invented as a quick snack for gamblers back in old school Japan... Instead, at Liberty you will gamble your time on what should be simple food. I have never seen an order go out faster than 1/2 hour. So bide your time folks or forget it and go to a "real" sushi place that has different kinds of seafood rather than just a few selections varied by the "fluff" that is recombined for "different" items. All that aside, the owner is rather arrogant and I would be surprised if he ever apologized for any inattentive service... It IS likely however that he will blame you for it!!! I would encourage anyone to go somewhere else...

Randy

Sorry to hear about the poor restaurant customer service. We offer restaurants a system that allows their customers to discreetly signal the waitstaff for assistance. It helps resolve some of the issues you described.

Hopefully the owner does a google search and finds this review. If you go to Liberty again, and something similar happens, please feel free to write our url on the check :).

AA

I went to Liberty on Saturday evening and had the same problem. Restaurant was fairly busy, but not packed. Drink orders came out quick enough, but we probably waited a good 45 minutes for a few rolls, a couple nigiri, and a sashimi plate. Could not believe it. I won't be going back for a while. I'll let them work the kinks out first.

Michael

The timing here is awesome: I just met a friend there for after-work drinks, and she wanted sushi, and I thought maybe I'd try again, so I ordered the Rainbow Grocery rolls. Ease into it. The bartender took our order. Then the waitress started her shift and asked us if we wanted anything.

We told her we'd ordered. She came by in a few minutes with water she said somebody had told her we wanted. A half-hour passed. She came by again, and asked if we were still waiting for our order. We said yes. She went off to light some candles.

Another half-hour passed. My friend had dinner plans, so we got up to go. The bartender asked if we'd enjoyed everything. "We enjoyed what arrived," I said. "We didn't get our sushi."

"Oh, well, just the drinks then," he said, looking at the bill. I paid. We left. We were standing outside working out dinner plans, when the bartender comes out and says, "Hey, I apologize, your order went to the wrong table. Would you like a free order? It'll just take a minute."

But, you know, who has that kind of time?

Michael

I had a traumatic experience with a bad anemone that I haven't been able to shake. It contaminated the whole sushi experience for me.

Audrey

Yeah, the table next to us said that if having enough rice is problematic, perhaps they should just stick to something easy like sandwiches...although then they'd probably be out of bread.
More importantly: "don't like sushi"? I don't understand.

Michael

Ha, that's the second time I've heard from someone about them being "out of rice." It boggles the mind. However, as I don't like sushi and they are offering $3 well gin & tonics during Happy Hour, I have emerged relatively unscathed -- it only hurts when I laugh (and my kidneys shut down).