Old man complains about 17-minute wait at Manuel’s Tavern, brouhaha unfolds

‘I had fallen into that class of people that Manuel’s tavern no longer recognizes. White men over the age of 60.’

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Manuel’s Tavern has caught some flak in recent days after failing to take care of at least one elder patron.

In a lengthy Facebook post yesterday, owner Brian Maloof issued an apology following complaints about staff’s substandard service during a shift over the weekend. The drama unfolded on Sunday after Michael Mears sat down at Manuel’s - a bar he says he has frequented since the mid-70’s - and attempted to order a meal. What followed, as he described in a Facebook post, is a harrowing experience of what he considers ageism at its worst:

I went by Manuel’s Tavern to place a take order. I have been going to Manuels since the mid 1970’s. I sat at the bar and waited for service. Two women were behind the bar, one white and one black (only for identification purposes) Neither one seem to acknowledge my presence even though there were several empty sets at the bar. The white waitress was in a deep conversation with a woman patron and the other waitress seemed somewhat bored. After sitting there for over 5 minutes I decided to time the service. After ten minutes of not even being acknowledge, the white waitress turned to the customer with whom she had been chatting (apparently that customer was a waitress at another bar and they were telling each other stories about how much they hated waiting on tables. After fifteen minutes, I still had not been acknowledged as a patron (or even human being for that matter.)
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Sadly, however, i concluded that Manuel’s Tavern, a bastion of liberalism and host of so many tolerant groups, I had fallen into that class of people that Manuel’s tavern no longer recognizes. White men over the age of 60. Sad, I don’t think I will ever go back, and that is sad for me, but I am sure that the current management and certainly the two bar tenders could care less.

Read Maloof’s response and the rest of the story over at Omnivore.