Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Penticton

August 17/23 - 19:30 hours

Let's start with the food. High end prices for lower to mid-grade quality. While the steak a little tough, it tasted okay. The bed of pasta and cheese sauce had the texture and consistency of microwaved boxed macaroni and cheese. The hamburger did little better. The meat tasted okay, but it was over cooked and dry. There was little cheese, while the menu described cheddar and bacon. Bacon was dry and hard. The good part of the burger is that the bun was tender and toasted nicely. The side of salad is wilted and bland. Finally, the coffee is distinctly the quality and sharpness of MJB or Nabob coffee. Watered down and bitter. This brings us to a related issue, service.

Service. Disorganized at best. I counted ten(?) waitresses, most of which congregated in the employee bussing/table supply section. Our server "assisted" us four times. Once to seat us. Another to bring water. Eventually brought honey & sugar for coffees. Finally to bring the bill. Her demeanor to us was a friendly yet mildly irritated sense of duty. The only times our table saw attention was when the assistant, Aiden, tended to our table. Aiden is gracious, friendly and had the sense of honor to serve our table. He regularly checked on our progress and refilled our coffee and water without hesitation. Our waitress advised that the burger came with fries. Of course it didn't have fries. Aiden was only too happy to bring an order of fries. However, the fries were little better than the no-name frozen fries found in a discount mart. Perhaps it is better that the fries are forgotten. The assistant's service quality is the only reason that the rating is as high as it is.

Atmosphere. The dining atmosphere is pleasant enough. The decorum reflected a calm, yet polite air. Furnishings are in good repair and fairly contemporary. A real detractor is the conflicting image portrayed by the serving staff. The accepted norm is incongruent with the atmosphere. If the serving staff wished to dress they way do, perhaps they will feel more comfortable working at Hooter's or an adult specialty shop. The men are suitably attired in semi-casual uniform wear. For the most part, their clothing reflected the intended dining experience.

Overall, the experience is a step up from an evening out at A&W or McDonald's. Anticipate high end prices. Notice the promise of exceptional service and do not be surprised to experience the...

My wife and I got steaks, blackened. Once they were cooked correctly the food was amazing. First time the food arrived it was the wrong food. Then the right food came, but without my fries (I ordered steak frites) so no fries was funny, they just brought a salad. So then they made me my own side of fries and I ate the salad anyway :) My steak was very good. My wife's steak was over cooked and her potatoes were cold -they made it right without questions and it the food was amazing. I ordered a spicy cesaer for my drink, but instead they gave me a "earls cesaer" which used a ton of steak spice and not celary salt, very strange and I did not like it at all, I returned it and again they made it right without question and the new cesaer was great.

I It's funny because this review is 5 stars, yet all I've done is tell you that the experience was not smooth at all. That's because it wasn't. Stuff happens and it's about how it's handled, that's what matters. Brynn took care of us this night, we had just been evacuated 2 hours prior and my wife and I were both a little overwhelmed to say the least. Brynn is 100% an asset to Earls and she would be at any business. Her xustomer service skills and problem solving was incredible and it really felt like our experience at the restraunt was important to her. Thank you so much Brynn for being a great human.

Earls, Brynn saved you a customer for life and she single handedly changed a 2 star review into a 5 star review. I suggest you read this in front of all your staff so they understand the power and impact they all have on your guests.

And maybe Brynn gets something.

Respectfully...

I’ve been coming to earls for a long time, both kelowna and penticton. The experience we had tonight was by far the worst restaurant experience i’ve ever had at any food place.

It wasn’t too busy but it wasn’t slow, there was some empty tables. We could tell from the get go that our waitress was new to her job, which is completely fine and obviously respectable but the amount of mistakes made with little to no apology was really disappointing. I ordered tacos on a corn tortilla, served w ceaser salad- no croutons - pretty simple gluten free person order. Was brought the food full of gluten- flour tortillas and croutons in the salad. Of course sent it back, the waitress hardly had an apology. Didn’t even stay long enough to ask if all 4 of us with empty drinks wanted drink refills. It was so bad there that the chefs started serving food to the restaurant because no servers were around. Our waitress was feeling overwhelmed and we didn’t see her for the rest of the night as she hid in the back. The bill was all messed up for the girl who took over our table. Only the tacos that were incorrect were comped, but we felt we should’ve got at least a free drink or two for how long we waited wanting to order more. We would’ve been there all night ordering drinks but we left. We wanted so bad to speak to a manager but couldn’t spot one the whole 2 hours we were stuck there. Hoping a manager finds out the train wreck that tonight was and fixes that for future because it was...