I'm going to give Skeptical Chymist 2 stars to average out my recent 4 star visit and my 2 recent 2 star ones.\n\n\nI really want to like Skeptical. \nThey have everything I like: Their food is very good and well priced. They have excellent specials and a huge and thoughtful craft beer menu. Plus, it's just a cool, local one of a kind place.\n\nWhat's the problem? Hostility.\n\nIt's a coin toss as to how you'll be treated. I've been there probably 10 times. One time it's great, and next time you're treated like an unwelcome intruder.\n\nLast night was the latter. \n\nThe waitress clearly did not want to be there. She conveyed agitation from the first moment she approached our table. She mumbled, slouched and shuffled. \n\nWe expressed an interest in the Red Hook Beers on special. She gestured toward a poster on the wall, clearly intending that we get up, go read the poster and not trouble her by asking her to verbalize what Red Hook beers they have. \n\nShe left, we walked over to read the poster and ordered our selections. \n \"We're out of all Red Hook beers\" she then informs us. \n \nShe impatiently demands our \"plan B\" beer selection. My wife was reading the beer menu. The waitress asks me what beer I want. \nI said \" I'm waiting my turn to see the list\" \n\nShe let out a sigh of contempt and just walked away.\n\nMonday is $5 Cheeseburgers, which is a fantastic deal. My son ordered one.\nAs I ordered mine, she barked over me as I spoke:\n\n\"I'll have to charge you for the water\"\n\nWhat? \n\n\"I'm going to charge you for water\" \n\nWhy are you going to charge for a glass of water? \n\n\"Because you have to order a drink for that deal and he (gesturing toward my son) only has water.\"\n\nWhat a very charming diplomat you are, miss. \nHe'll have a Coke, thank you so much for asking.\n\nThe food was good but again the waitress just had this impatient \"I hate everyone\" attitude the whole time. \n \nLater we asked \"Can we order more beer before happy hour ends? She just says \"Yes\" and keeps walking. \n\nWe looked at the board, read the menu and carefully select which beers we wanted. \nShe shows up with 2 glasses of what we had ordered at first. \n\nI said \"What are these?\" \n\n \"Your beers\" \n\n\"We didn't order our second beers yet\"\n\n\"These are what you ordered before\"\n\n\"We didn't want those again, we wanted something different\"\n\n\"Oh\" ...and left them anyway, sighed (again) and walked away. \n\nEnd of discussion.\n\nNo \"sorry\"\nNo \"What did you want?\" \nNo anything, just \"Oh\" as in \"I will put that on my list of things about which I do not care\"\n\nInterestingly, she disappeared 3/4 of the way though the service and someone else took over.\n\nExpect good food, and a theoretically good beer selection but do not expect good service because this is not the first time the level-of-service-coin toss landed tails up..
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