The Bootlegger Bar

Great cocktails and great food.

Awesome. Just need more red meat and less chicken on their shared plate

Enjoyed our meal and drinks a lot. We'll be back.

This was my third and probably last visit here. We went Friday, Sept 11. The food and drinks are excellent, but the service was so deplorable as to actually be shocking. We’ve had consistently bad service here in the past, and from what I hear from others who have come, this is to be expected. To preface: our group of five friends (all of whom work together in a restaurant and have extensive knowledge of kitchens and customer service) were seated near the hostess stand and yet somehow ignored all night. It took twenty minutes for someone to greet our party and take our orders. I tried multiple times to catch someone’s eye, and finally approached the host stand, where both young hostesses were engrossed in their phones. One of them rolled her eyes and came over to take our order, then repeated it back to us. And then we waited for over an hour for anything to come to the table. Look — I know certain barbecue dishes take ages, but we all ordered sandwiches and sides, which shouldn’t take an hour. Furthermore, after the 45 minute mark we kept trying to catch someone’s eye and then wave people down to ask about the delay, but we were roundly ignored. I know from years of experience what it looks like when servers are avoiding your eye. I finally went up the the hostess stand, where once again the girls were both on their phones. I tentatively asked when our food would come, and the girl cut me off by saying that all dishes took at least thirty minutes. I explained that we’d been waiting an hour, and then she disappeared and never returned to report back. Ten minutes passed, and we asked someone else, who finally returned with our food. The inept server who put our food down actually didn’t know which dish was which, and couldn’t confirm what each one was! To make matters worse, they had screwed up our order even after the waitress repeated it to us, so we had to wait even longer for the correct order. When we went up to pay, the manager (I’m assuming — 40 something man) snapped “I’ll handle this” and then brusquely handled our payment without apologising for the mistakes/delay and not even thanking us for coming in. It was also expensive — did I mention that? Save your money and go somewhere where they actually act like they want you to eat there.

What a hidden delight! On a quiet Monday night, we were looking for somewhere to eat, with great value, tasty food. And this place delivered in spades. Generous portions, fresh and flavoursome - some of the best American style food I’ve ever had - including in the USA. And the drinks looked even better - what a shame we were on the waters. The service was attentive, friendly, helpful and unobtrusive - pretty perfect in other words. We had the sausages, mac and cheese and fried chicken - really delicious.

Hi, The staff and service were amazing. Went there Sunday lunch and Monday dinner, with the wife and kids and they want to go again. Thank you.

We where here last night. We ordered the meat platter for 2. Waited 1.5 hours for it to come out in the mean time spending a fortune on drinks until it came out. It was t that warm, brisket was fatty, stretchy couldn’t cut it properly even with a steak knife. Seemed as if it was cooled a few days ago. Definitely not tender and soft like it should be. Every piece of meat tasted the same wether it was chicken or sausage due to the overpowering sauce they’d cook it all in. Incredibly disappointing especially for the money we spent. Only good thing was the staff and service. Wouldn’t recommend

Great cosy pub during your stay or even as a stop off on your way somewhere else. They served us straight away and made sure we were comfortable. The food was tasty and fresh - the pulled pork would be my recommendation! The only thing I would say is that the servings are huge, so I’d suggest sharing between two people if you don’t have a huge appetite. Would suggest pairing the a bev such as the Hills cider.

Couldn’t recommend highly enough. Food was delicious, the staff member attending to us was efficient and incredibly friendly. I’d give more than 5 stars if I could. Ps don’t miss the brisket.

Discovered this place on a recent visit to Katoomba. Had a great lunch and some very good craft beer here with my wife and was so impressed that we booked dinner the following night. Great food, beer and service from people that clearly love what they do.