The Half Orange

I stopped in here during Beer Week to try some Cleophus Quealy options. The service was good. I seated myself at the counter shortly after opening and the entire staff was really friendly. I was able to sample the guest beers, and did end up ordering a pint from Ale Industries. For food, they had a Nutella & Strawberry crepe on special, so I got that. It was well cooked and had plenty of flavor. If you are in the area, it's worth a stop I think.

It is a strange little place with a focused purpose: Burgers and beer. Both are great. The special sauce is also great. The service was great. Everything was great. I loved this place. I just don't like sitting on stools so I gave it a 4 instead of a 5. Also, while they serve high quality meat, I would have eaten a cow burger if I knew it was also slaughtered in a humane way. We seem to be getting good at free range and organic. I would pay more for "didn't know what hit her" slaughtering guarantees.

My problem with this place is that you are charged sales tax on the 20% gratuity! I always tip 20%, or 15% if the service is abysmal. To forcibly add that on top of the price is dubious, but tolerable. But to then have to pay sales tax on the gratuity is too far by a mile. Four of us had brunch and it cost $110, even though three of us had no drinks. To be clear, the food was DELICIOUS and the service was great. I would have happily paid a 20% tip. I did not happily pay sales tax on the tip. That is an egregious over reach.

The food here is awesome, but I had a very uncomfortable experience with a new server. I come here a lot with my primary partner and our other partners but I was made to feel I didn't belong in my own neighborhood​. I know that I am visibly trans but skipping over me while ordering and going out of the way to call me 'sir' when the actual 'sirs' at our table where not addressed this way was a total micro aggression. It makes me sad that I no longer feel comfortable eating here.