Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Ontario

I want to start by acknowledging something positive: the staff did a great job accommodating our large party and organizing a table for us. Unfortunately, everything that followed was disappointing.

The children were seated separately (we had asked for that) and while we placed their orders all at once, one child’s meal was missed. By the time we tracked down the waitress and added the order, the rest of the kids had already been served, leaving one child waiting an additional 10 minutes.

The same issue happened with the adults—some drinks were served while others were completely skipped, and again, we had to flag down the waitress to place the rest of the orders. At no point during the meal did anyone come by to check if drinks needed refilling or if we wanted another round; we had to wave someone down each time.

As for the food, I had higher expectations since it is a “family owned and operated restaurant” but feels like a franchise that left me disappointed. I ordered the Cajun Brown Chicken—unfortunately, the chicken breast was overcooked and dry, and the sauce lacked flavor. The potato salad and coleslaw were decent, but overall, the portion sizes felt small for the price, and the quality simply wasn’t worth it.

Dessert was another struggle. Some kids received theirs, while others were forgotten or received the wrong items. When the missed orders were finally placed, they arrived nearly half an hour later. The waitress even asked only one side of the adult table about desserts and never came to the other side, which left us waiting unnecessarily.

Toward the end of the meal, I expressed my concerns to a server about the poor quality of service and the automatic 18% gratuity that was applied to our bill because of our party size. I strongly feel that when gratuity is guaranteed, staff sometimes stop putting in the effort, and this experience reinforced that feeling. The service we received did not justify that tip.

To make matters worse, I noticed that other tables around us also lacked attentive service, so this wasn’t an isolated incident. The manager was sitting at the bar on her phone instead of actively supervising the staff, which explained a lot about the overall service culture.

Also the kids’ table was never cleared, and they had to sit with piles of plates and cups for the entire two hours.

In the end, I can only give this restaurant 1 star. If the service had been attentive and professional, I would have considered giving it 4 stars, but the lack of care and the poor dining experience ruined what could have been a good evening. I truly hope management takes this feedback seriously and reevaluates their service standards—customers should not have to teach staff how to...

FOLLOW UP REVIEW... THE MANAGER CALLED AND MADE EVERYTHING BETTER. THEY TOOK FULL ACCOUNTABILITY, INVITED US BACK TO GIVE THEM ANOTHER TRY AND THEY DID NOT DISAPOINT. VERY WELL DONE EARL'S. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PATRON THE RESTAIURANT. Where do I begin. I made a reservation the day before our visit this Saturday on the patio at 345. We arrived and the Manager advised that we have to eat inside as the table will not be ready by 345 on the patio. No expression of sorry or understanding things started off on the wrong foot. We then ordered apps and drinks. Each time something was brought to the table it had to be auctioned off, no clue who ordered what, this continues all service. They forgot our crab cakes and when we reminded them, they were served burnt. Chef's make mistakes but serving the mistake instead of advising the customer and remaking is a big big mistake in this industry. It proves you chose to serve below standard product and that it is acceptable to you. Bad look. We then had to let him know we wanted to order entrees and more drinks. My god, this is a basic expectation to be served, not feel like an inconvenience. We then ordered our mains and when they came out the food was served to all the wrong people at the table with no clue by several people what is going on. Finally got that figured out and again, no table check, no offer of more drinks, we needed condiments. Zero service. Then the billing debacle started and our bill was messed up 3 times and even in the end it was wrong but my time was worth more so I paid and left. The other bills were also incorrect. My wife and I dine there once a month, we celebrate our anniversary there every year at the booth beside the kitchen for 7 yrs. This was a real disappointment and I expect better. I offered a couple suggestions to our server on how things could be better for his patrons and I got the eye roll. Listen, I have ran restaurants in London since 1995. Opened some of the top places in town in early 2000's and retired in 2015. I can help if you need but lets be clear, you need to do a much better job to even meet basic expectations. Good Luck going forward and remember, your guests are the boss, they own the place, because without them, you don't have a place to work. Therefore show it, let the enthusiasm show with pride and honor, not like an...

I am very upset as Earls is one of my favourite restaurants to order from and I have had amazing experiences when I have gone to dine in with my mother. Today was not the same. I went in with two of my friends, we are in our mid-twenties and got sat on the patio in-between two groups of older women. Great seating! But I did not feel very welcome. The groups of women showed up all around the same time as us, one a bit earlier, and one just after. It was happy hour and we were sitting around, still nibbling on our food for a bit, and then we were just sitting sipping on our drink refills. But our server stopped checking in on us about maybe an hour in after we said we weren't ready for boxes. I kept seeing them walk by, we weren't asking for anything and were still chatting so that was fine, it wasn't necessary! But after a bit longer, someone who was clearly a manager came up and abruptly asked us if everything was tasting okay. It felt very out of place, no mention of our server. I didn't feel very welcome even though the other groups of women were still there and weren't getting eyed at or seemingly urged out of the restaurant like we were. That person then walked away, and then came back again and asked if we wanted boxes, again. We said yes, then we asked for our bills after. Our original server dropped our bills off and wordlessly walked away, and then the manager seeming person came back to take our payment. It felt very off and very standoffish. It didn't seem like the other women were getting treated the same way, and it felt very ageist. We are young women in our mid-twenties, but we were sitting and respectfully chatting and trying to enjoy happy hour like everyone else, nothing special. I wanted to leave immediately as it felt like I was getting stared at and urged for doing the same thing every other table was doing: peacefully enjoying happy hour with friends. We were only there for just under 2 hours, no different than other tables, and I am a slow eater so sometimes it takes awhile before I decide to ask for a box to take my food home. But I definitely didn't feel welcome to stay and enjoy, me and my friends felt very awkward and upset, and I left happy hour very unhappy. It was very upsetting. My food was great, but service was also slower compared to other tables with guests who were...