I used to love Fred Tavern. This was our spot. A place where regulars actually mattered, where we looked forward to the parties, the events, and just knowing we'd be around good people. But ever since they lost their previous manager, it's been nothing but a downward spiral.The new management and bartenders have completely changed the atmosphere--and not for the better. Now, instead of a fun, welcoming bar, it's a place that runs off the very people who kept it alive for years. I've walked in to find a bartender from the night before still there, absolutely hammered, passed out on the couches. And when he wasn't passed out? He was up in everyone's business, breathing his nasty beer-breath all over us, trying to force himself into conversations no one invited him into.And the unprofessionalism doesn't stop there. I've had bartenders offer me cocaine in the bathroom. I've seen management be downright rude to regulars. They even kicked out one of their biggest gambling regulars over some bartender's personal drama--meanwhile, I've watched those same bartenders instigate and attack customers, then turn around and play victim just because they have the power of being on shift.But what really pisses me off? They've made people who actually cared about this bar feel completely unwelcome. There are regulars who have built things for this place in their spare time--framed pictures, made bar buddies (BY HAND), actually contributed to the atmosphere--only to now be told they can't sit at certain machines or just be made to feel like they don't belong.The old management would never have let this happen. Back then, we felt like family. We weren't just customers--we were valued. We got advice, we got respect, and we actually felt wanted when we walked through the door. Now? You walk in and it's like you just stepped into a PT's--cold, corporate, and completely dead inside.If I wanted a mess like this, I'd just go to Barley Pops.
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