Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Burnaby

I've visited this place for work-related lunch meetings a few times and have generally had great service and food. However, today might have been my first time here for dinner, which happened unexpectedly due to a delay in my schedule. We arrived around 6pm and were quickly seated despite not having a reservation. At our table, we ordered salt and pepper chicken wings, house lager, Bangkok bowl with prawns, and kale and mushroom pizza. The wings arrived promptly, although some of them had pink flesh and even traces of blood after a few bites, which was not ideal and I’m going hope that they were fully cooked (sadly I didn’t take a picture of the wings as I wasn’t even thinking about writing a review today). Around 6:30pm, we realized the food was taking longer than expected and were joking about different scenarios why that could be to pass the time! Finally, at 6:40pm, the Bangkok bowl arrived arrived at our table through another server who was helping out our server and we were asked if we needed anything else? We mentioned we were waiting for a pizza but just assumed that the pizza is taking longer but the server seemed a bit rushed to get to her own tables. I took a picture of the bowl because it looked AMAZING and tasted fabulous! Now it was around 6:45 and we were chatting, eating the bowl from the same plate as we weren’t given plates for sharing, checking the status of our flight, etc. that someone (who looked like a manager) coincidentally passed by our table (we seemed to be on her way as she was coming from another table) and asked us if we needed plates for sharing or if we were ok without them? We mentioned that we weren’t expecting to be sharing this dish and we were still waiting on the pizza. She apologized sincerely and said that she would personally check on it for us. About 5 minutes later our server stopped by for the first time and acknowledged that the pizza had not arrived (up to that point she had rushed back and forth couple of times passed our table without talking to us tending to other tables as our section was quite busy). Now it was around 7pm, the manager came back and informed us that the pizza seemed to had been given to the wrong table but assured us a new one was being made. She apologized again, introduced herself, and promised to remove the pizza from the bill. She even offered us a complimentary dessert. The pizza arrived around 7:10pm, but we had to pack it to go as we were heading to the airport. We took the manager up on her offer though and ordered the crème brûlée to share, which was fantastic. We paid the bill at around 7:15pm, but it took two reminders to receive the to-go pizza box. Overall, the service was ok, and the food had its highs and lows. Considering this and my previous positive experiences, I would rate it 4 stars. However, the management's exceptional response deserves 5 stars. I appreciate their efforts and will definitely return. Thank you! (Please note that the mentioned time stamps are approximate, and I based them on the activities I was engaged in on my phone and also...

It’s taken a few years, but the Station Square area is starting to finally come together and be revitalized with a bunch of new development. Sure enough, this also means that a lot of newer restaurants are popping up here… including fancy iterations of Cactus Club and their perennial competitor, Earls. I mean, they’re right next to each other here (did you know that Cactus Club was opened by former Earls servers and are owned by the same family?)

I visited the new Cactus Club next door and was underwhelmed with both the service and food (which is disappointing because I used to really enjoy the food at Cactus) so I thought it was only fair that I come by the new Earls and see if they suffer from the same issues.

On this visit in mid-January (before the whole coronapocalypse came into full force), I noticed that Earl’s has also updated their menu to include a lot of plant-based items (I’m getting so tired of this fad) but we opted for a bunch of appetizers instead. Starting first with the Clam Chowder ($11.50) which is a nice, chunky version.

Next up was Leroy’s Crispy Ribs ($13). I really enjoy these dry and meaty ribs but you have to be careful because you’ll invariably end up with pepper stuck in your teeth.

We did decide to try one of their new menu items… the Lobster Tostada ($13.25) which turned out to be a bit underwhelming. Seriously, these were more like tortilla chips instead of tostada shells. Suffice it to say, items in menu pictures appear larger than in person. Size aspect aside, these mini bites were pretty tasty but a little difficult to eat without falling apart

Overall, I think I liked this Earls over the Cactus next door but I found that the water glasses that they used during our visit seemed like they were ripped off from a hole-in-the-wall diner.

Update: It's been a number of years since we've been back here... Not for lack of trying tho. On a number of recent occasions, we've tried walking in only to be turned away because we didn't have a reservation. It's odd because we peer into the dining area and they have lots of available seating. Once I even checked for reservations and it said I could book a table even though we were turned away. Not sure if they keep a dedicated number of tables free just for reservations.

In any case, we finally made reservations to come back in late July. Front desk was a bit of a mess and they didn't know what to do with the diner in front of us. Finally got seated ten mins later but were told that our server hadn't arrived yet. Whoever did show up for work did wind up taking our order and they were pleasant enough.

Menu has changed again. They've taken some of the classics that we enjoyed and replaced them with various plant-based options. The yuzu tuna tataki looked good but lacked in flavour (barely notice the...

I was hoping not to have to make this experience public, but three strikes and you're out Earls. The people need to know. My friend and I dined at Earls on July 30th. I ordered a grilled chicken caesar salad with extra dressing. After our food was dropped off, I realized that the chicken was missing. I had to wave over our server to let her know. A while later she dropped off the chicken, along with the bread that was also original missing. I added the chicken to the salad at which time I realized there was no dressing on the salad. They had given me some dressing in a ramekin, but this was the extra dressing. The vessel in which the salad was served was not conducive to me mixing it myself (and there wouldn't have been enough), so I again had to get our server's attention and ask for the salad to be tossed with dressing. It was taken away, and a while later it was dropped off by someone else. That's it, dropped off, no apology, no visit by management, nothing. While this was all taking place, my friend was being courteous and waiting to eat her food, which was cold by the time my food finally came out correct. I should have asked to speak to a manager, but at the same time, I shouldn't have had to ask. Someone from management should have been sent over. Something should have been done to make our experience right. I know that earls can and does do better.

I was so bothered by the experience that I was telling my friend at work about it the next day. She suggested that I submit feedback, which I did, on July 31st. The website says "We will respond via email within 48 hours. If you do not receive a response, please check your junk folder". I checked my inbox and my junk folder and never received a response.

Earlier this week I met up with my friend again, which reminded me about our last dinner. Giving Earls the benefit of the doubt (maybe I typed in my own email address incorrectly?) I submitted feedback again a few days ago. It has once again been over 48 hours and I have not received an email (inbox or junk folder) or a phone call. I have been a loyal customer of Earls for over 25 years, but the run may have ended.

Long story short: Ordered: Grilled Chicken Caesar with extra dressing (an item that has been on the menu for 25+ years) Received: Romaine with a side of dressing (missing: grilled chicken, dressing, bread,...