In the past, I definitely was not a member of the BoomerJacks Grill & Bar fan club. The Montgomery Plaza location was often the site of some of my worst customer service experiences. It seemed as if getting a timely refill on your beer or warm food was about as likely as the Cleveland Browns winning the Super Bowl –– or a game. When I spied its sign on a new location just a couple of miles from my house in Southwest Fort Worth, my hopes were not high.
The corner spot of Bryant Irvin Road and I-20 was a former outpost of the Black-eyed Pea restaurant chain, which I avoided completely because of the name. The Pea inevitably closed, and the building sat empty for a long time, like some sad sentinel standing watch over the Academy Sports + Outdoors parking lot.
I wasn’t very motivated to check out the newly opened bar, given my use of the BoomerJacks name as the punchline to, “Where do I not want to go tonight?” But my significant other went there with a couple of coworkers last week and reported back that he really enjoyed the overall vibe. When it came to planning a recent Friday night happy hour with my friends, we figured the worst that could happen was that we’d show up, have a single drink, laugh at the terrible service, and leave.
The first thing the owners of the new BoomerJacks did right was realize there aren’t many bars in Southwest Fort Worth, and there are even fewer decent patios. When I pulled into the parking lot, I was shocked by how different this building’s space looks. The outdoor dining area is massive, and I would lay odds it doubles the place’s overall seating capacity. There are two bars that serve the patio, which means the staff can effectively deliver drinks to the alfresco drinkers quickly –– something that never happened in the cramped, congested Montgomery Plaza location.
The sprawling Fido-friendly deck is set up for three-season use, with fire pits surrounded by comfy chairs and radiant heating units covering 50 percent of the space. It was in the high 40s on a Friday evening. The chill didn’t faze my Midwestern blood, but my friends availed themselves of the $3 Fireball shots for warmth. For sports fans, there are 75-inch flat screen TVs mounted all along the perimeter of deck, and there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
Despite the dropping temps, there were large groups of folks milling about outside. I recognized some of the over-40 set of Southwest High School grads who somehow still pal around with one another. Our table of six straggled in over the course of a couple hours, ordered food at different times, and had to switch tables once, which could have been disastrous. Luckily, our server, Kendall, had a great sense of humor and made sure our hands were never empty –– no small feat with our group.
At the end of the evening, Kendall discreetly informed me my card had been declined even though she ran it twice. I accidentally had been trying to pay my very reasonable food and drink bill with an Amazon Store Card, which looks identical to my regular credit card. That was a humorous and fitting ending to the night, as we were the patrons who threw everything at the BoomerJacks staff and tested their mettle. I’m going to miss using their name as a joke about bad service, however, and I’m on the hunt for a new punching bag.
BoomerJacks Grill & Bar
6001 SW Loop 820, FW. 682-250-2121.
Greatly disappointed today! I have been to this Boomer’s, at Bryant Irvin and I-20 on several occasions and in the beginning it was awesome , but have seen a Hugh decline in food quality and service lately, It’s a shame! The only person that I saw today that actually had a smile was the bartender and she didn’t even wait on us, but saw her from outside. Our server never once smiled, acted as if she was put out that we were there to disrupt her day. We mentioned that someone needed to notify the Manager that someone had parked right in front of the doors and that we were sure that must be some sort of a safety violation and was told, oh that happens all the time and no one really cares (and no visit from a manager to explain or say a word), I’m sure no one does except the people that might be in a wheelchair or the person that might be not saved by the EMT because they were choking, but couldn’t get close to the door because some idiot was parked there and it would take to much effort from the management to make sure it didn’t happen, but Oh wait, that would take effort and apparently that is no longer part of the responsibility of the management or part of the service that we should expect from anyone that we deal with. After all, what happened to customer service and satisfaction, why does everyone just deal with it and say, OH well, I guess that’s the way it is… I’m so sorry, but I grew up in the 70’s , and if you didn’t do your job, well you know what happened… and to top everything off, and this is what send me over the edge, a young couple came in with a small child and wanted to set at a table , yes it had rained earlier, but servers were standing around BS’ing and I guess that’s how corporate business works now , but none of the tables or chairs were dried off, so this young man asked about the table and a young lady from inside showed up and tossed him a towel so he, yes the customer, could dry off the table and chairs, while he attended to his young child so that his wife could go inside and use the restroom! As we got up to leave and had witnessed all this, even after our pitiful experience, I asked him, as his server decided to show up to the table, if he thought he’d get a tip after cleaning and drying off the table , he said, damn, I sure should… the server was not amused, but I laughed and mentioned that it would be a long time before I came back! What makes these places think that they can treat their customers the way they do and we would come back, and why do people that get treated that way go back, Why settle people, Stand up!!! Crap like what we saw today and no one saying anything is why it keeps happening I guess, and I know I’m guilty myself, but it’s time to stand up and tell it like it is!!! Hope you have a great experience when you go.