we just had an experience at market...and are puzzled. we walked in at 6:00 with no reso. no problem, you can sit at the bar. since we wanted a night of cocktails and small plates, this was perfect.
the two gents tending the bar were clearly very busy, but we got our first drink order on fair time.
i'm spoiled due to ox angela, i'll be the first to say. you can even call me a cocktail snob, due to the service and quality of drinks we have received while sitting at the bar at ox angela. so i have to make comparisons....
the cocktails i was served (2 before i switched to beer) all tasted weak/watered down. obviously they aren't watering down the booze, it's just the machine ice cubes market uses. damn. i sound like a hipster douche. but it matters!!!! i want my whiskey sour to taste like booze, not like the stuff i used to make my parents drink when i was in high school.....you know what i mean.
the food arrives, and life is great. definitely the best tartar i have ever had. market does a bison tartar, which is incredible. the oysters were perfect, as was the duck tart....small complaint, maybe put the word tart on the menu though, as my wife couldn't eat any of it, due to gluten issues. oh no, i had to eat it all....
our empty plates were removed...just in time.
the barkeep was mixing a drink in front of us, and something happened to the shaker, shattering glass all over our laps and bar top. he apologized profusely, and got rid of the large pieces of glass...then remade the drinks he was making...then disappeared out back... finally, after about 10 minutes, my wife asked the other bartender to clean up the shattered glass, which he did.
am i crazy? our drinks should have been taken away immediately, replaced with fresh ones, and the bar top should have been cleaned up!!! it's ridiculous that we had to ask for the shattered glass to be cleaned up.
so i don't know what to think. the food was amazing. the bar service was awful. i will be back, but not to enjoy anything but beer or wine, and we will definitely be sitting at a table next time.