Sammy J's Grill and Bar West Kelowna — Restaurant in British Columbia

Worst restaurant in Kelowna. Must be the new management. My friends and i have spent many thousands of dollars over the years there. Thats over. Service is embarrassing, overpriced and marginal food. Stay away.

Let me expand on the details of what occurred. I am not one who usually comments on google and i have never made a negative comments about any establishment on google, but with the treatment of myself and my family, i could not let this go without commenting. My family of 5 walked in approximately 5:30 pm on Sunday Dec 18 evening to have dinner before seeing a show. We were greeted politely at the door… same as always (we are regular customers) and sat in the lounge. I ordered us a bottle of wine and a martini for myself with a twist of lemon. Our server brought the kids drinks, wine without wine glasses and dropped my martini off at the table with a wedge of lemon. I mentioned that I just wanted a twist of lemon not a wedge. She said ok… and brought back a slice of lemon. I just said with a smile on my face that I was surprised that the bartender didn’t know what a twist of lemon was. She then told me that she didn’t know what I was talking about and that I didn’t need to be rude to her. If I continued to be rude , then she would have to ask me to leave. My wife looked at me shocked at how she spoke to me. The kids were shocked as well. We were very confused as to what the issue was and shocked at her response. I was trying to explain to her with a smile on my face how to put a twist of lemon in a martini. I asked if they had any lemons in the kitchen, could she just get a bit of the rind of one and throw it in there. She left the table and never came back. We had a new server. We were all very confused. We ordered our food, still in shock as to what had just occurred. Two other women come up to our table and asked us to leave the restaurant! We said, “pardon me?” They accused me of taking a photo of the person and told me we had made her cry and that the information they received was from a “credible” source. I suppose that now makes us rude and liars. Brutal. My wife and kids kids immediately corrected the accusations. They said we were now being rude to them. It was absolutely humiliating to be asked to leave and unwarranted. We left and were all extremely embarrassed and in absolute shock this was actually happening. Shame on you Sammy J’s. We will never set foot in there again and will be sharing this story openly to anyone who will listen. There are lots of wonderful restaurants in kelowna and west kelowna to explore. This is definitely not one of them. We will not...

I have been here before in the past and it was good spot. However, a few Fridays ago it was very uncomfortable and at times a bit cringey. We were seated on a high top table right by the sliding door to the patio. My date was sitting with his back towards the doors. I kid you not, anytime he would pick up his drink or move in the slightest, the doors would swing open. It was somewhat comical. There were better tables available that were not sat during our time that could have been utilized for us with a different seating plan. It was also not a crazy Friday night by any stretch. Our server was very kind, however extremely inexperienced and most likely new to the industry. Waters were never refilled. Drinks came without straws and garnishes. Glasses sat empty as we waited 15-20 minutes for our server to come by, then another 15 or so for drinks to arrive with the drinks. The meal itself was ok - but empty plates sat for a long time taking up the limited space on the high top tables. Our server might have been off dealing with something but their section seemed relatively small. The other servers also weren’t in a state of panic nor the rest of the restaurant. When they came back, they were frazzled and asked us to repeat everything we ordered because the bill was somehow lost from the system. Being from the industry, I know this isn’t possible and something else might have happened. (Bill was given to wrong table etc). We repeated our entire order and then ordered one more drink. The drinks never came as the server was overwhelmed and misunderstood. It became too painful so we flagged them down and got the bill. It was happy hour and we wanted to stay but we just couldn’t take it any longer. We could also start to hear the tables around us comment negatively about the service. Our server was very apologetic and was still disoriented. It was an uncomfortable situation for both sides. However, this server has massive potential. I hope this company will focus on training and invest the time for this server to be confident and successful in the industry. It is morally wrong and poor form from a business to have an employee endure chaos as a way of learning...

We were somewhat impressed the first several times we went to Sammy J's, The food was really good, and the service was pretty good, but the overall atmosphere was just ok. So we thought next time, let's just order take out, eat at home, and let those who enjoy the atmosphere have the spot.

The first time we ordered take out, the order was wrong, and the food was not great at all. We contacted the restaurant, gave our feedback, and was told it was appreciated and a credit would be waiting for us for our next order. That's totally fair.

The next time we ordered take out, we mentioned our last "less than desirable experience" and that there was a credit to be used towards the order...and when our food arrived, it was absolutely terrible, almost like someone was upset with the feedback and was giving us another terrible experience intentionally. I immediately contacted the restaurant, they asked us to return the food for replacement, to which I answered it was rather inconvenient that night, as it was a very busy night with kids activities which was why we ordered out in the fist place and was told sorry then there's nothing that can be done. I was shocked.

Fast forward a few months, we thought everyone has an "off night" once in a while let's try again. Not once, or twice, but three times in a matter over a period of one month, we tried to support this business by ordering takeout and we were told each time they could not place any take out orders as they were too busy to have someone pick up food...and eat it elsewhere. 3x in a row.

Don't get me wrong, super glad they are busy, but if you're too busy to accommodate the people you need to put the least amount of effort in to pleasing, there is a serious problem. Just my two cents. We won't be supporting them ever again. Unfortunately, Sammy J's has lost some...