The Ricco Room — Restaurant in Kelowna

This place is the Fyre Festival of restaurant experiences - if you are planning to visit, DON’T.

We went in as a bachelorette party of 13 with a reservation made 2 months in advance over instagram. The MOH had to call to confirm the reservation on the day of since she hadn’t heard from the restaurant. They said they had no record of the reservation because “the owner manages the instagram account and didn’t tell us” but they put a table together anyway.

When we arrived, we were told that there is only “1 person in the kitchen so the food will come out sporadically”. We were starving so we agreed. Turns out their one person in the kitchen is actually one person manning an industrial toaster oven? When asked about food timing, the waitress told us that she had “tried to explain there is only one cook but perhaps it was too confusing” and then proceeded to tell us “the oven only holds 9 dishes at a time and you guys ordered like 20”. She also told us that when they see a large party they usually call them to advise that the only appliance in their kitchen is an oven and that the food will be slow to arrive; interestingly, that was not mentioned when the same waitress answered the phone in the aforementioned confirmation call made by the MOH.

The food was terrible. The website boasts a bespoke dining experience and that is not at all what this was. It was more of a bespoke disaster. Nearly every menu item was a frozen Costco product, from the meatballs to the burgers and wings, and the chips were just plain unsalted chips tossed in a vat of paprika. Additionally, someone in our party tried to get a salad instead of chips and was told they couldn’t make a salad but could “put some leafs of lettuce on the side - no dressing though”. That’s right, they offered us the frozen Costco black bean burger with a side of naked lettuce for $20. Nearly half of the menu items listed online were not available to order, though I don’t think I’d get ceviche or any sort of seafood knowing what their kitchen capabilities are now.

Since many food items were taking over an hour to arrive, we started cancelling items in hopes of getting out of that miserable twilight zone restaurant. The “manager” came to speak to our table about the food. He told one guest who ordered their prime rib burger that he “can’t make the food come out faster because it takes a specific time to cook in the oven”. Why is a $24 burger being cooked in an oven!? When the bride asked to cancel her order, this same “manager” told her that her grilled cheese sandwich was coming out of the oven imminently and that she could still have it. She declined the offer. He then continued to push her, insisting MULTIPLE times that “I want you to have it” each time she declined. The bride ultimately asked him to end the conservation because she did not want his grilled cheese sandwich. At this point his tone changed to a defensive one as he stated, “whoa, no stress”. If that is your front facing staff member, perhaps they need a lesson on consent and the concept that no means no.

Further, when one of the members of our party told the waitress that this wasn’t the experience we were hoping for she proceeded to burst into tears and tell that party member that she just found out she is pregnant and was overwhelmed by such a big party. This was an interesting change in tone from her comments made earlier in the night where she implied that their kitchen concept (aka their giant Easy Bake Oven) was too confusing for us to grasp. Anyway, she ran off crying and sent someone else out to settle up the final bill.

All in all, this place is just smoke and mirrors. The website is appealing and the decor is nice so it’s very instaworthy but otherwise, it was a horrible waste of money. None of the staff were willing to take accountability for the unsavoury experience and even stated that the owner was “away in Vancouver” so there was nothing that could be done to...

When we first arrived we all, 4 of us, commented on how welcoming the atmosphere was. We were welcomed and asked if we were walk in or reservation which we confirmed reservation. It didn’t seem however that a table had been saved for us as our host seemed to look around for an option and offered us the choice between two small booths and a chair. We chose the one farthest from the door and sat down. The booth however was ridiculously small as three of us crammed into it. No leg room and quite close to each other. We were then presented with the food menu and the drinks menu. The cocktail menu is extensive with lots of good choices. However, the only reason that I could get my husband to this place was to guarantee him that beer was on the menu. My husband went to order a beer and was told that the tap was not working and so no beer was available or it would take at least 15 minutes to pour a glass. So my husband asked, do you have beer in a bottle and the response which was rudely delivered was“ No, this is a cocktail bar!”

To be honest, after this rude interaction, our server was friendly after that.

Between the four of us, three of us ordered the truffle prime rib burger, and all three were pleased with their choice. I however had ordered the Marinated tomato and asparagus and was not really presented as was on the menu. First of all, it was not marinated tomatoes. It was a handful of cherry tomatoes that looked like they came from Costco because I have the same tomatoes in my kitchen, but I can’t obviously know for sure all I know is they were not marinated and they were not heirloom. The other thing that was missing was a chickpea fritter and the radishes, or at least I don’t recall radishes. The next thing I ordered Was the Tuscan Ragu. It was very good full of flavor and texture, but was supposed to come with marinated beans, which I did not see unless they were in some form of purée. Overall, the food was good. Just missing ingredients as advertised on the menu.

Everyone seemed to be pleased with their cocktails however I was not drinking alcohol so I ordered the 0%. On the menu, it says it has 0% gin, cilantro, lime, white pepper, ginger, and tonic. I’m not sure if the tonic was missed, but it felt like I was drinking lime juice with cilantro and a hint of ginger. If the tonic was there, maybe more tonic is needed.

The last thing I want to comment on is how loud the music was. It was impossible to carry on a conversation without yelling and considering how close we were sitting, and still having to yell it just was not appropriate to have the music so loud.

This has been an honest review of our experience. I do feel the descriptor on the webpage is overstating...

This place is definitely designed to be a cocktail bar ONLY and food is an afterthought due to legalities. The atmosphere is adorable, the swings are so cute and gitchy. Saturday May 3 my party and I called to make a reservation and check if they could accommodate 11 people for dinner, and we were assured this would be no problem. We chose the place because it has a good selection of dairy free and gluten free options, which one in our party requires. Upon arrival the server was really kind and took the orders, she let us know that they were short staffed and that the food would come out as it was being made instead of all at the same time as a typical restaurant setting. This was due to the bartender also stepping in as chef. Everyone agreed that this was okay. After an hour a couple people’s food had come out. After another half an hour a couple more dishes came out. Myself and the gluten free/dairy free order waited for 2 hours for our food. During this time, we watched two servers tend to multiple other tables refilling cocktails repeatedly and even watched a table that came in after us, order and receive food before us. I ordered the wings and meatballs, and the other order was the asparagus. I believe that with 3 staff working, there should have been a better delegation of tasks. 1 server, 1 bartender and one making food, at least until food orders are complete. This comes down to poor management and I hope that this is taken into consideration in the future. Being short staffed should not be taken out on the wait staff or bartenders and is a reflection of poor management, however the quality of the food suffered as well. The wings were delicious but the meatballs were not to the quality I would have expected to wait two hours for. They tasted very similar to the ones I buy frozen at superstore on sale and the sauce definitely came from a jar. I appreciate that the food that was very late was take off the bill but it was a little ridiculous for my friend to wait 2 hours for cold asparagus on lettuce. I hope this review finds management and something can be done in place of being short staffed, a better plan should be in place in case of this...