Bootleggers Old Town Tavern & Grill

Had a 5pm reservation tonight and didn’t get out of there until 7pm. That should give you an idea of how bad the service is. I live in Auburn and I would hate to think that any visitors to town would eat here and leave with a bad impression. Our waitress hardly ever checked on us. We needed some things and she wasn’t anywhere around. I complained that the pork in my mixed grill was over cooked and dry she pretty much ignored that. We ordered a dessert that took about ½ hour to get. When I stopped another waitress to ask her to ask my waitress where the dessert was she finally went to the kitchen to get it. When she brought it she said the brownie took 10 minutes to cook. I don’t believe they were in there making brownies during dinner service. It was barely warm. Only thing I ate that I would say was good. Everything else was over cooked and covered in sauce that looked and tasted like it came out of a can. Anyone who comes to town I would recommend that you go to our good resturants. Try Monkey Cat, The Ale House or The Club Car. If you have the big bucks try Carpe Vino it’s wonderful! I gave Bootleggers one star for the cozy setting. I will never go back unless they make some big changes.

Four of us had a quite pleasant evening, as usual at Bootleggers. It was Saturday night and the place was packed, but we had a reservation and were immediately seated by pleasant hostess. My wife observed that the hostess might dress a little better than sweatshirt and jeans when all the waiters are nattily dressed in black.
Calamari appetizer was hot and succulent, with 2 flavorful dipping sauces. Extensive beer selection, but waitress a bit too rushed to give thoughtful answers to questions of one of our party. Otherwise service was good.
Bread was quite good. We devoured it and were promptly offered more.
Caesar salads and clam chowder both excellent. French onion soup a slight disappointment. Onions were not well caramelized and broth was anemic. We have been to Bootleggers many times and usually the French onion soup ranges from good to excellent.
Entrees were a little slow to come, which we noticed only because one of us had to leave for another engagement. The chicken pot pie was rich and subtlety flavored with tarragon. The mixed grill, which included a small portion of Bootleggers popular Korean skirt steak was delectable.
Overall, a lovely experience. Fix the French onion soup and offer a little more help with beer selection, and Bootleggers gets all 5 stars.

Great food, great service. The bar area was a little cold, but not a deal breaker. I would definitely go back.

The New Years Eve ‘special’ menu was very misleading. Hi, I’m Joe Feyder, and this is my Unilocal report. The Ahi was to be «topped with pesto and served on a bed of garlic caper pasta». Well, it came crusted with what looked like bird seed and accompanied with minute rice and diced carrots. We’ve been coming here for years for New Years dinner, this one was very disappointing.

Worst service I’ve had in a long time. No water refills, LONG wait time for server to come take our order, LONG wait time once desert order was placed. Nearly 2 hrs for dinner service. I asked the bartender to speak to a manger to discuss our poor service and the Manager was too busy to help. The bartender has a bit of arogance about the situation.
The bartender was quick to grab a business card for the owner and inform me to call.
Ty Rowe… The owner
I was at table 8 12/​16/​2015. We had a 6 pm reservation. Our server was Dominic. If you actually care about your business and read these reviews feel free to email me.
Andrew

Too noisy and crowded and even though we had reservations it took 40 minutes to get our food. Which was only OK.

Stopped by and randomly looking for a spot that was open today for lunch. The place we initially went in had a 20-​minute wait. We put our name on wait list & walked around outside to kill a few minutes. Very hungry, we found this restaurant a few doors over by accident. No wait time so we ended up eating here. Restaurant has a more causal bar area and the other side is for table – more formal and for families
Antoine, our waiter, was very attentive and helpful.
We ordered a couple appetizers and each of us ordered a lunch special. Recommend if you are in the area.

Ambiance was great. Food not. Everything was luke warm then over cooked. I don’t know if it was a Sunday night we’d eaten there before and then came back and won’t be back again. Even the mac and cheese was crappy

This place is amazing! Great location right in old Auburn. My boyfriend and I decided to come here on a whim last weekend during a short trip and I can say that I was 100% impressed! We had the oyster shooters, peel & eat shrimp, he had the Ruben and I had the Mac & cheese. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the view/​live cover band. The music was nice and lively but not too rowdy – set just the right mood. Food was great I’m still dreaming of going back but we live all the way out in southern California. I must say for a mountain town, they had the best oysters I’ve ever had… Better than what we get out here in Long Beach. The service was a little slow so maybe make sure you have time to enjoy yourself.
Minus one star really only because the hostess was snooty and condescending when I had to ask her if I was in the right spot to put our name in. Wasn’t that busy but she basically put her finger out, told me to wait and said she would talk to me when she was ready? Riiiight. Then it seems she may have forgotten to tell our server that she seated us because no one came by for a while. So maybe just move the check in stand to somewhere a little more obvious so I don’t have to interrupt Ms. Important next time! Overall we had a great time thank you for the fun night out!

Delicious food right in Old a town Auburn! Beer was great and dinner was fabulous. Very good service. We will definitely come back!

I wish i lived closer! I loved the décor and atmosphere of the is place. I enjoyed this place so much we made a stop on our way to Reno and back! We sat at the bar where Greg served us, Awesome guy! Such a good personality and great service both times i came in wanting to sit at bar so he could be our server. The first time we had some beers and the wings my boyfriend loved them since they were super crispy and served with delicious ranch. The second trip we ordered the wings, potato skins, dirty fries and a ceaser salad the portions were perfect they give you ton of fries i took them on the road to snack on because they tasted even better once they were sitting in all the toppings… Yumm!
Any time im passing through this place will be a must!

This a is a nice place. Good food, fun atmosphere. I took a star because the server had a bit if an attitude. I don’t need that when I’m in a tourist destination.
The fried olives were an adventure. You have to sat least try them. Really enjoyed Karens burger with portabello mushroom. The chicken wings are spicy

I had dinner here with my parents and my boyfriend tonight. We enjoyed being together, and luckily we’re go-​with-​the-​flow kinds of people, otherwise we would have made it a terrible night for our server.
First, we walked in and kind of stood there for a minute before anyone came over to us. It was weird, I honestly thought to myself «could a place with such fancy appearances be self-​seating?» Not a warm welcome, but whatever, not the end of the world.
Upon seating we were given bread and butter. Cold bread, and cold butter. Thanks?
Then, we ordered. My mom ordered a starter caesar salad, but that came with her entrée, which was some sort of chicken skewers with «peanut dressing» which was pretty much just cold peanut butter. I ordered a side salad with my Reuben, my boyfriend ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad, my dad ordered the fish tacos. Dad won. He loved his tacos. My mom’s entrée was, in her words «plain, and weird,» and her Caesar was, in her words, «underwhelming.» When I asked my boyfriend how his salad was (which he hardly took two bites of) he said it was so-​so, and that he would never eat here again. Here’s the best part, we were outside and there is NO LIGHTING. Literally, we were sitting in the dark. So, my sandwich was a little less than ordinary. Had it not been for my boyfriend’s rabbit-​like eyes, I would have dug into my salad without seeing that there were not one, not two, but three crinkled up food tickets sitting right there on top of my salad.
What. The hell.
Service was just okay. The only good thing about it was that our drinks came out quickly. Otherwise, our server seemed like he was just there for the money and has no investment in the customers experience.
I’m a server in a high strung restaurant so I generally have a lot of empathy for servers when mistakes are made. But after all of this, on top of the general conduct from all of the serve-​staff, I have none.
We will not be going back and I won’t recommend it to anyone.

Decided to eat at Bootleggers after walking around and asking a local if I should eat at the Mexican food place or Bootleggers. Local suggested Bootleggers. Arrived at 845pm on June, 26– Saturday (they are open until 10pm)
When we walked in the bartender greeted us, we let him know that we would like to eat outside, he replied «oh I don’t know if any tables are open, let me get a hostess» we would not have asked if we didn’t see an empty table. It would’ve been nice if he told us to take a seat and that he would send a hostess our way– he didn’t have a full bar nor a ½ or ¼ full bar.
We then had to wait 5 minutes for our table to be «set up.» Also, this seemed like a normal thing for them to say to guests– «oh, let me set up the table»
Our waitress, Sara, was a 4 out of 10– after we were seated, she asked if we wanted anything else to drink, I ordered a coke. She then stated she would be back with those– I had to stop her to ask for a cup of soup as she didn’t offer any appetizers.
The soup was warm, not hot at all.
This was our first time to this restaurant and we were hesitant on what to order when it came to that time, Sara did NOT make any effort to suggest anything or ask if we had been there before. It was clear that we were hesitant.
Ordered food shortly after 9pm and received it at 930pm– definitely way too long of a wait.
My girlfriend’s bread on her burger had a stale, old taste to it– when we brought this to our waitresses attention she said «I know it was grilled» when we assured her it was a stale taste and not a grill taste she did not offer any type of discount/​free dessert/​or to get a manager. (we were not looking for any freebie, but the waitress didn’t try to turn the situation around for us) I let her know that mine was great and my girlfriend stated everything else was good in to which she said «oh I’m glad.» This ticked us off and we felt like we were bothering at that point. Almost a feeling like we were being punished for coming in during their last hour of business. (Hey, not my problem it took 30 minutes for pasta and a burger)
We both only at 15% of our meals and when Sara came to ask if we wanted her to box up our food, we stated no and gave a very disappointed look to her. Again, she did nothing to try to turn the situation around and AGAIN– it was a «let me hurry up and get you out of here because we close in 10 minutes» feeling.
We tipped 20% and filled out the comment card that came with our check presenter– I also took a photo of the bill and comment card and will be calling the owner to ensure he received it as it was NOT a GOOD comment card.
Place is worth skipping
With tip and the bill, we spent a total of $ 55.00 and it was not worth it. I would have rather went to Ruth Chris in the Galleria or Frosty Freeze down the street from this place.
Definitely not what I would expect from Auburn.

Just had lunch with my girlfriend Jen at Bootleggers in AuburnCa. They just vindicated why I’ve only been there 5 times in the past 21 years since they’ve opened. Waitress was either having a bad day or with her time of the month. My steak sandwich was plain as shit. Thankfully Jen’s fish tacos were amazing she really likes this place…
It will be another cold day in hell before I go to this piece of shit place again. No disrespect to the Rowe family but god damn you can do better.
And they’ve always been so overpriced.

We try to stop here every time we return from the Bay area /​Sacramento. The wait staff is SO nice and accommodating. We always dine on the patio with our dog… they always bring a dog biscuit and water.

This was our second choice when it came to dining choices in downtown Auburn. The first place had a thirty minute wait, so being optimistic, we came here. The restaurant is beautiful with dark wood and white tablecloths and place settings. Surprised there wasn’t a wait.
First off, we were seated immediately and greeted immediately by our server. Hubs ordered the cheeseburger with a potato salad. Server notified us that the fryer broke a couple of days ago, so fried foods were eliminated from the small menu. I ordered sausage plate, house salad and clam chowder. Hubby and I both agreed that the food was, «three stars.»
The reason why I knocked off a star was because there was a person who worked for either the management/​bookkeeping/​clerical department, who was coughing horrendously in their office while we were eating. We can testify because we were seated close to their office and they had the door open and all we could hear was the hacking. It was more of a bad cold/​flu cough, and made us uncomfortable. I mean, really? Come on? You know how you can tell the difference between a muffled cough and one that isn’t? Well, this wasn’t muffled. Almost thought for a nano-​second that we were on a hidden camera show, but no one was laughing.
Sorry, but with mediocre food and a hacker, I’ll go elsewhere. Please cover your cough especially during flu/​cold season.

Very disappointing.
Previous reviews praised the French Onion Soup, so we tried it. NOT French onion; tasted like a thin vegetable broth with onions thrown in (not carmelized). Meat was flavorless, overlooked. Mash potatoes were bland. None of the dishes our group of four ordered were up to par.
The only reason I gave 2 stars was for good service, and the pianist. Front of the house was fine, back of the house was a total fail.

This place is disappointing. My husband and I wanted to catch an early dinner and checked online for their hours of operation and they posted that there is no break time between lunch and dinner, well apparently there is… and we must have arrived right at that time.
We wandered around the dining area as employees busily came in and out. Finally a street clothed woman asked us if we needed anything, and we told her that we were interested in coming for dinner. She grabbed us a menu and took us to a table, we laughed and asked her if she worked there; she laughed also and said yes and that she was just stopping in on her day off to pick something up and saw us waiting. She brought us waters and told us that she would find someone to serve us shortly.
My husband and I weren’t in any hurry and enjoyed sitting and looking outside. Trying to come to Bootleggers on a weekend and during evening dinner hours is difficult; there is always a wait, so this was a nice surprise. We overheard the servers talking amongst themselves about how overworked their lunch shift was and that they didn’t get a break… that makes you feel awkward, like we are contributing to their rest time? Break time? A flustered looking waiter came to take our orders… he seemed a little put off that the dinner specials weren’t known at that moment and that we were early for dinner… but we were not informed that we couldn’t order dinner either. We ordered an appetizer and he told us they ran out… we selected another item from the appetizer menu, he said they ran out of that one also… but they had everything else. He suggested the calamari, and we decided on that. We also ordered drinks at that time, I ordered a beer, it was brought to our table in a can and the can and glass were left for me to pour. No biggie, but this place isn’t cheap, ya know?
I order the Korean beef and my husband has their trio. Nothing totally memorable to write home about, nothing horrible, and nothing fantastic. I do remember there being at least 3 flies buzzing around… maybe this is attributed to us coming right after lunch and the doors being open? Dunno… All in all, mediocre dinner, beautiful and fantastic décor, mediocre service, and a pretty expensive meal, I left feeling kind of ripped off. Maybe it was an off visit… not sure I want to retry this experience at my expense.

This place is quaint, romantic, and invokes the small town feel of Auburn. It is located conveniently near the freeway.
First trip to Bootleggers was about two years ago. Service was prompt and efficient for a weekday. Seated upon arrival. Food ordered including a multi-​course meal of salad, the daily deal, and dessert. We ordered wine. Beverages were kept charged. Food came as ordered. Prepared delicious and flavorful. A five star rating then for the food and service.
Second trip to Bootleggers was earlier in this year. We checked in with the hostess who provided that wait time would be 45 minutes which we would be okay with. We proceed to walk down the street to gather a wait time for another restaurant in the area. Also provided a wait time of 45 minutes.
We returned to Bootlegger (about 5 minutes after we got on the waitlist) and proceed to wait at the bar. We order a drink. The 45 minutes had elapsed and we proceed to ask the hostess who informs us it would be another 20 minutes. At the point we proceed to close out our drinks at the bar and returned to the other restaurant in the area which just called our name.
Second trip to Bootleggers was definitely a miss. We have not gone back for food since the first trip. This last trip set an impression that does not invoke confidence in those that have other plans or out of town diners.