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Sam Ryan's going downhill
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is so delicious



Joined: 28 Apr 2009

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:43 pm    Post subject: Sam Ryan's going downhill Reply with quote

Anyone else feel this way?

I've been going there a few times a week since it opened. It works for me. Big space, not too dark or smokey, sports on request, cheap beers, solid-good bar food. Even a pretty good show of chicks on weekend nights.

A month or two ago they raised the beer prices. Alright. They were the cheapest in Itaewon. I expected that.

Then they raised the rib prices on rib night from 5,000W - 7,000W for ten ribs. Probably still a good deal, but... what happened to 6,000W?

I think at that time they also raised some of the food prices. Now they've raised the rest of the food prices. The pork steak I always liked has gone, I believe, from 14,000W - 18,000W. Steak went from 18,000W - 23,000W. I'm no businessman... in fact, they're probably justified, because I'm comfortable there and being that there isn't really another bar in Itaewon that shows pretty much any American sport on demand, I'll probably keep going. Maybe other (equally unprincipled) customers feel the same. But still, why not increase stuff by a thousand WON or two?

Besides that, they have become nazis about bringing in outside food. My friend brought in a couple of candies from Japan and, over several beers and two dinners (on a dead night), she didn't even get the wrapper off of one of them before the waiter approached us and said we couldn't eat them. Seriously... can't eat one chocolate after spending a hundred that night and thousands over the past few years?? Seems kind of lame.

Now they won't even plug your phone in for you behind the bar. I guess maybe there was some sort of related incident, but this stuff seems to be adding up.

Lastly, fewer and fewer chicas seem to be attending. Not sure why that is, and I don't mean to blame the management for that, but it just furthers the overall demise of my favorite bar.

Anyone have any thoughts, or feel like ranting? The people there are very nice, and I'm not saying it's any of the staff's fault. Just feel like a rant, I guess.
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Otherside



Joined: 06 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haven't been to the Itaewon branch. I visited the Suwon branch a few months ago and it the food was really sub-par. Arguably the worst pub/sportsbar food I've had in Korea, the service was terrible. Haven't been back.
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edwardcatflap



Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem is not with the staff or the management, the problem is that you need to learn Korean. if you could explain to the staff in fluent Korean (with all the correct forms of address) why you need to eat chocolate, plug your phone in, pay less for pork steak and see a few more horny looking chicks around the place, all your gripes would magically disappear. Laughing
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is so delicious



Joined: 28 Apr 2009

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I feel kind of bad posting this. Like I said, I've been going there for years, and the people there are very nice. I'm not actively trying to dissuade anyone from going. So I should say to the first poster that I find the service at the Itaewon branch to be excellent, and maybe I don't have the highest service, but for what it is, I really dig the food as well.
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Died By Bear



Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

edwardcatflap wrote:
The problem is not with the staff or the management, the problem is that you need to learn Korean. if you could explain to the staff in fluent Korean (with all the correct forms of address) why you need to eat chocolate, plug your phone in, pay less for pork steak and see a few more horny looking chicks around the place, all your gripes would magically disappear. Laughing



troll.

OP, your real problem is that you're not dressed correctly. Wear a suit next time you go down there and tell the English speaking guy behind the bar that you work for the UK embassy. If you wave your $800 umbrella in his face, and use a nasally British accent...he will definitely give you what you need.
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

edwardcatflap wrote:
The problem is not with the staff or the management, the problem is that you need to learn Korean. if you could explain to the staff in fluent Korean (with all the correct forms of address) why you need to eat chocolate, plug your phone in, pay less for pork steak and see a few more horny looking chicks around the place, all your gripes would magically disappear. Laughing


Yeah, speaking Korean should go over well with the foreign owners of Sam Ryan's.
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fezmond



Joined: 27 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the main woman there (maybe wife of the owner/guy downstairs in three alley) has always been a nazi about outside things. a few of us used to go there a few times a week (mon/tues for the football plus weekends) but she was just too much. just walking in with a half empty bottle of water was enough to get her complaining. i'm not sure if they charge for water though.
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fosterman



Joined: 16 Nov 2011

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fezmond wrote:
the main woman there (maybe wife of the owner/guy downstairs in three alley) has always been a nazi about outside things. a few of us used to go there a few times a week (mon/tues for the football plus weekends) but she was just too much. just walking in with a half empty bottle of water was enough to get her complaining. i'm not sure if they charge for water though.


3 alley are no different! you come in with a starbucks coffee and they tell you do get out!! wow nice service, there is like one mouth full left and I was going to order a beer, well guess what, I will get out, and not come back..

sam Ryans no different, never liked that place..
and leave me the F*** alone already when my glass is almost empty.. when I want a beer don't worry I will call you.. I don't need you asking me every 2 minutes if I want another..!! ARGGHHH!!

those owners really have no idea about hospitality. I've eaten there once and that was the last time. food was garbage!
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Gorf



Joined: 25 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's always been awful. G.I.s that are always eyeing you and looking for a fight, bros, people that are just too damn loud and annoying, ugly trashy white girls, and the owner treats the Koreans their like trash, which is notorious.
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fezmond



Joined: 27 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fosterman wrote:
fezmond wrote:
the main woman there (maybe wife of the owner/guy downstairs in three alley) has always been a nazi about outside things. a few of us used to go there a few times a week (mon/tues for the football plus weekends) but she was just too much. just walking in with a half empty bottle of water was enough to get her complaining. i'm not sure if they charge for water though.


3 alley are no different! you come in with a starbucks coffee and they tell you do get out!! wow nice service, there is like one mouth full left and I was going to order a beer, well guess what, I will get out, and not come back..

sam Ryans no different, never liked that place..
and leave me the F*** alone already when my glass is almost empty.. when I want a beer don't worry I will call you.. I don't need you asking me every 2 minutes if I want another..!! ARGGHHH!!

those owners really have no idea about hospitality. I've eaten there once and that was the last time. food was garbage!


haven't been in 3 alley for years, it's just too much of a 'regulars only' type of bar.

speaking of sam ryan's - whenever you're at a table and looking for a beer, the staff are always busy. as you said above, it's really effing annoying to be near the end of a pint and be bombarded with questions about another
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fezmond wrote:
haven't been in 3 alley for years, it's just too much of a 'regulars only' type of bar.


Say what you want otherwise about the place but this is unequivocally true. I know a guy who has become a regular, and when I head there occasionally with him, he always bumps into people he knows, gets solid service, everything's golden. And he's not a big drinker, usually just has a couple of pints. Another way to fit in is to throw on a suit and go for the "venerable" look but I don't think too many people actively try to rock that style heh

Personally I've never had any real problems at the place but I also won't deny that its reputation precedes it.

Sam Ryan's, I don't go that often because it just never caught on with me. I generally only go when all the usual suspects are packed. Again, no bad experiences, but the place seems to carry a reputation.

I was always more of a pre-remodeling Hollywood's type myself. Generally was never crowded and had that "dark and smoky" laid-back vibe going for it.
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edwardcatflap



Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I was always more of a pre-remodeling Hollywood's type myself. Generally was never crowded and had that "dark and smoky" laid-back vibe going for it.


Me too. It's just like any other bar now.
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Stan Rogers



Joined: 20 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't understand all the fuss. If you don't like it, don't go there.
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OBwannabe



Joined: 16 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I seriously hope SamRyan's isn't going downhill. It was my favourite bar while living in Seoul. Despite the racist/rage-prone and alcoholic owner.

It's got a great setup with the outdoor tables, dart boards on one end and lots of seating. Great for watching sports and drinking cheap draft.

I did notice a bid of a downslide in the quality of the food around the end of my tenure there. They seemed to be trying to cut costs by serving smaller portions. But before that the food was absolutely terrific, minus one or two items. Ribs, Steak, burgers...all top notch. Seems things may have changed a little.
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KimchiNinja



Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam

PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah that place.

Isn't the place downstairs better? Easy going, people at the bar are faily social. I ordered the pork chop, wasn't expecting much from a bar, but it was actually great!

Poked my head in upstairs but it just seems like a bad sports bar (all sports bars are bad), like I warped to some crappy place in the USA.
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