Finch & Barley — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Had quite an upsetting trip here. Not sure how it's rated this highly. 5 of us went in last night. It was super busy. But we waited in line for 15 mins before being greeted by anyone. Finally after going inside, we were led inside by our server (turns out she was the only one serving and bussing 8 tables) we were given water and menus and just left alone for 40 mins without so much as a smile before we got up and left.

We made eye contact with the server and smiled at her hoping she would take notice, but each time she met our eyes she would just ignore us. Not sure what was going on or if she was instructed to slow down orders because it was too busy but eitherway, would have appreciated being told that they would need 20 mins or whatever before they could take our order.

But no, not so much as a check in once we sat down. Eventually we got up and walked down the street to the Gull bar and kitchen and OMG the best server, so happy and cheerful and attentive. Had the best meal and some really nice drinks. So my opinion, unless you're already drunk enough not to notice terrible service don't go here. I really was not expecting that given the ratings. Not the servers fault, the place was evidently understaffed, however she didn't have the courtesy to let us know that we would have to wait 40+ mins to order food OR EVEN DRINKS!!

UPDATE: As you can tell from the management's response to my review, they have the audacity and gumption to suggest that my review is a troll attempt to "tarnish their great service record" it's evident the issue with the establishment is bad management who don't know how to schedule people to work or handle the business. The sheer ego to suggest that a genuine review is a troll. They offered me some wine or soemthing like that for when I return which would imply that after the pathetic service (forgivable) but even worse the response from management (unforgivable) to my review, that the restaurant values its customers. They only value their "great service record" and I feel like they just hope to get a changed rating as opposed to actually fixing the issue which is evidently...

There were so many weird, bad things about our experience here that I'm not sure I have enough room in this review to explain it all. We were instructed by the bartender to seat ourselves inside, waited a long time to be acknowledged, got a glass of water that tasted funky (like metal, or freezer burned icecubes?). We ordered a $13 margarita but it was tiny and 90% icecubes with a bit of booze and pineapple juice (I know a lot of restaurants serve drink this way these days, but it's not okay - do better).

Looking around, it seemed like a lot of the customers were peeved. It was at this point we realized that the servers were understaffed for the size of the space. The music was too bass-ey, so we asked if we could move outside and did. Never have I been treated like an inconvenience to a server before, but here I sure felt like I was. Both of the tables we sat at were dirty - the one inside with drink rings and the outdoor table with crumbs in between the slats.

We waited for an hour for the food. The halloumi sandwich was delicious, but they skimped on the fries. We ordered prawns for our beet salad and they were overcooked, bland, and very hard to chew.

We talked to our server about the wait and she explained that the kitchen was backed up and that it was just her and ONE OTHER SERVER IN TRAINING. The restaurant and patio were full at this point, and people were waiting to be seated. I hope the management can learn to better set their staff up for success.

For everything I have mentioned, there is another thing I haven't. It was just an odd, mostly unpleasant experience and I really want to emphasize that it was not the servers fault (and probably not the kitchen's, either) and I really feel for the struggle they were having. All together, we were there for almost two hours for only one...

We decided to try Finch & Barely tonight after getting some recommendations. I will never return here and will have no problem informing people to steer clear of this place.

We were a party of 6, 2 of which were children. We sat outside and we were the only table out there. The tables inside were maybe 2/3s seated. Our server came out to us with water and to take out order pretty quick. After that we saw her once more maybe 10mins after taking the order. We were waiting nearly a full hour for 5 meals! I had to ask twice about what was going on, the first response I got was it was nearly ready. 15mins later I went to cancel the order as we were fed up and done waiting. As I stood waiting to cancel, the bartender or quite possibly the owner who was on his phone at the back of the restaurant, pointed towards me and our server popped out from a corridor, she informed me the food was just ready, that they were short staffed in the kitchen, only one or two cooks on so that was why it was so delayed. If that was the case then a staff member should have come to tell us that. The food was ok, but the service was absolutely b/s and dreadful. Not a hope I will ever give this place a second chance. It's disappointing as the place looks good, the menu reads well but clearly the owners /management don't give a toss about...