Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Burlington

I will start by saying that our server, Katie, who served us Thurs April 25th at 10:30 is the only reason why this review will be positive in anyway, she truly saved the experience.

To start, our group of 8 attempted to call the Earls on Maple Ave around 10:15 p.m. to see if they could accommodate us, knowing that Earl's closed at Midnight. We received no response after two calls, but a quick check on Google to see hours of operation confirmed they were indeed still open. UberEats was also allowing us to order online, so we went to the location.

Half of our group arrived and were welcomed icily by the hostess. We informed her that we tried to call ahead, but no one answered. We told her we were looking for a table of 8. Immediately, she told us she would have to speak with her manager to confirm if we could be accommodated.

To briefly describe our group to give perspective, we are a group of musical enthuthiasts who enjoy singing in a local group. We were dressed casually, and all fell within the ages of 25–40. While we can be loud, we are certainly not disruptive. We were clearly not a walk in bikergang.

We found this shocking as it was still an hour and a half before closing, and there were still multiple other patrons in various stages of their experience throughout the whole restaurant. It was certainly not a "dead" evening.

The hostess came back with the manager's verdict, which was that our group was unable to be accommodated. Slightly taken aback, we questioned further as to why. The restaurant was still open for an hour and a half, why couldn't we be served?

She responded by saying that "the kitchen staff had mostly been cut and that we wouldn't be able to order food." Most of our party was impartial to eating and was looking just to have a beverage, so this wasn't necessarily a deal breaker on our end. We asked if we could just come in for drinks instead. The hostess begrudgingly walked back to wherever the manager was hiding.

She came back a few minutes later and said that they would graciously accommodate us, but they could only do so under 2 conditions. 1) The bill couldn't be split 2) There would be a group gratuity.

At this point, I felt that the restaurant was deliberately trying to vex us enough to leave. Splitting a bill is not hard. For a group of 8 who are ordering multiple apps, entrees, drinks, and deserts, I can see the convenience on the restaurants end. However, our intention was drinks and apps if we were even going to be allowed to order food. We replied that we would take the table.

Side note: during this period two other two tops came in and were sat. Neither of these two groups of two were given any form of restriction and were sat immediately.

We were told they would have to put the table together. This process, which involved placing a 'leaf' to combine tables, took I wish I was joking, 20 minutes. I have never been to a restaurant that has tried so hard to refuse paying customers. Having done 8 years in this market of business myself I found myself particularily irate.

I get it; customers coming in late sucks.The group that comes in 20 minutes before closing should definitely expect modified service. This was not our case. This was clearly a manager wanting to be home early and placing the business' operations below their own needs and wants.

Then Katie saved the day.

We were sat and greeted by our server Katie wonderfully, for the first time in 45 minutes we felt welcome. Katie asked what we would like to have handing out menus and we timidly asked if we were allowed to order food which she responded immediately with  a "yes".

The rest of the evening went as most outings to restaurants go. Katie provided fantastic service, again the only reason why this review has 5 stars in some areas. Also it was Katie who allowed us to try the food which was absolutely delicious. I hope this review reaches the manager but I'm hoping higher as the restaurant business is a bit of a gamble right now and you've got a manager trying...

Food was great but did not have the best experience celebrating a birthday. I had booked our table online and it asked if we were celebrating a spacial event and I noted that it was a birthday. We come in and get seated, I walk back to the host stand and double-check with the two hostesses that they know this is a birthday. I asked them if they could bring our dessert with a candle after our main course and not to sing happy birthday. I even said I don't need this to be complimentary and to just add it to our order, I just didn't want to do this in front of my partner and wanted to be a little surprise. They reassured me that this was 100% okay and I could "sit and enjoy my time" and that they'll take care of it/talk to our waiter. We had our food (which 5/5 honestly) and just before our main was done, our server left for a break and left us with the person behind the bar (we were seated right in front so we could see all this) which is absolutely fine but the person behind the bar was so busy. I'm looking around trying to get someone's attention because I'm hoping the for dessert to come out any time. Instead, the person behind the bar comes after a good 15 min and asks if we are ready for the bill and I'm like?? Can you please check with the hostesses, I've already talked to them? Long story short, she goes to get the manager, the manger comes out and speaks to one of the hostesses that I talked to before (again sitting at the bar for their break, right in front of us, so we can see all of this), they keep looking at us, and the manger comes to us finally asks what this is about. Now I have to actually explain everything in front of my partner which I obviously did not want, they finally get us our server and he says we are out of the cheesecake you had wanted! This was the second thing they didn't have on their menue that day and it was so frustrating because I had already asked them for this 1.5 h ago and it just made the whole experience mediocre and honestly embarrassing as the person who was treating a partner to a nice birthday dinner. They could have just checked this and told me beforehand or when I was at host stand trying to get this organized. In all honestly, our server was great and we enjoyed his help but there was clearly a lack of communication/procedure which makes the feel of the restaurant less elevated. Staff can be in fancy clothes and dress pants but it doesn't do anything for the restaurant's image as a slightly higher-end place if there is not that extra care. I would come back if I wanted a nice dinner but would not be coming back for a...

Came from out of town for a birthday dinner because the food here in Burlington is always amazing. Earl’s seemed quite upscale but realistically after looking at how big the menu is we should have realized what we were signing up for. Booked the table through Opentable and asked for dining room. Got seated in the bar area super loud. Asked for a starter while we decided on mains. Starter took 15 mins to come out and after that we had to wait another 20 mins for the waitress to come see us again to get our mains and another 25 mins before that arrived. Not terrible considering how busy they were. Now the food which is the main thing we were there for, i ordered myself a chicken alfredo linguine with the cajun chicken & garlic bread. Sauce was oily fatty and clumpy, noodles were still hard and the garlic bread was a 4” thick slice of bread with plain butter… i asked one of the young gents who was running drinks to swap out the bread and he immediately took it away and it took snother 15 mins before i got a second slice which still tasted disgusting the chicken was however delicious. My s/o ordered the steak and sushi, steak done medium. Her complaint was that the steak was extremely tough and chewy she had to spit out half of it cause it got too rubbery. And to add to all of it i waited to get my food to order a diet coke, i saw the drink sit with 75% ice on the bar for atleast 10 minutes while our waitress ran the bar side their alcoholic beverages before another young lady brought us out my drink. Overall this was the absolute most garbage restaurant in terms of food and service was quite terrible too except for that young man who was running drinks he was extremely polite and courteous and the only good thing worth in this restaurant. 2/10 for food. 4/10 for service. 5/10 for overall atmosphere. Im not asking for any kind of compensation as im not from Burlington and will probably never choose to come back to Earls, i just ask that this place seriously reconsider the dishes they make and the standards they hold themselves too. Never suggesting this place to...