Beatniks Bistro — Restaurant in Township of Langley

My family (four adults) and I went for lunch and we were all greatly disappointed with the experience because of the disrespectful service. We had waited 20 minutes before getting seated, which was fine, but as soon as our server approached us, we were under the impression that we were an inconvenience to her. She did not greet us, but asked for our drink order and we told her we were also ready to order our appetizers and meals, which we preferred to have altogether. "I don't have a pen or paper, but I'll remember your drinks" was her response as she walked off to take another table's order. We tried to not let this bother us, and waited for her to come back. When the drinks arrived ten minutes later, she took down our food order and came back with just the appetizers. Initially, we were fine with that, but after 40 minutes of waiting, our patience was wearing thin, especially since we wanted everything together. No one checked on our table and we could see other customers getting their meals while they had arrived after us. We tried to get our server's attention, but she was practically avoiding our table. Another 10 minutes went by before my dad got her to come over to check on us. At this point, we were all irritated and my dad asked about our order to which she responded that the kitchen was busy and she didn't work there to know what was taking so long. What was ridiculous was her mention of her not working in the kitchen when all she could have said was that she can check on the food. We pointed out that others who had arrived later had already finished their meal and she said that "they" did not order appetizers (as if all customers knew not to make that mistake haha) My dad then asked to speak with the manager/owner because he didn't appreciate her attitude nor her approach to the situation. She asked why that would be necessary and how that could change anything before stating that she is an owner because she is a partner. Upset, my dad said that he had enough and if we could just get our lunch. Within five minutes, all our plates arrived and was served to us by another server. Overall, our food took over an hour and a half to reach our table and although it could have been good, it was cold. Which begs the question "how long had our plates been ready and waiting until we asked our server?". No one asked us how the food was or if there was anything we needed, and we had to seek out the server in order to get the bill. When we wanted to pay with a gift-card, our server said to just leave it on the table. We were done with the place and the service, so we did not wish to stick around any longer to suit her needs, and so we left even though the balance on the card was more than the bill and tip. I would never recommend this place and I am surprised that it has good comments when such a situation is treated in such an unacceptable manner by an owner. It is most certainly the first and last time we will ever go to...

I'll start off with the Good: The food at Beatniks Bistro was great. We ordered two dishes: the seafood linguine (pictured), which came chock full of salmon and gigantic prawns, and was smothered in a very tasty sauce, and the beef dip (also pictured), which was filled with tasty roast beef in between two pieces of sourdough.

However, the service has a lot to be desired. We were seated quite hastily without any more than a 'here you go' from the hostess, but let's chalk that up to it being busy around the restaurant.

It gets worse from there, though: When our waitress came around to take our orders, my partner started us off by ordered the seafood linguine. After noting down the order, our waitress immediately asked "just one?!" in apparent disbelief, without even asking for my order. Now if you look at the picture, the linguine is clearly not a shareable plate, so is it not reasonable to assume that each guest will order an entree? And it doesn't stop there. Once I ordered my beef dip with yam fries, she quickly said "okay" and walked away. About ten seconds later, she leans out the door and asks me to confirm my order. Was it so unimportant that it could be forgotten during the walk from our table to the computer?

Throughout the entire dining experience, our waitress did not check up on us once, and did not refill our water which had run dry by the time the food arrived. Our only other interaction with her was when we asked to pack up the remainder of our meals, which again was not a great experience.

We had asked to pack the the remaining linguine, as well as the yam fries from my beef dip order. The linguine was packed messily in the two-section takeout box, with the garlic bread smushed in the middle. I personally do not think that it would have taken much more effort to place the pasta in one section and the garlic bread in another for both presentation and in the interest of not making the bread soggy. The yam fries were packed in a separate container without the sauce, but that was just a minor annoyance.

Finally, when our waitress brought our takeout boxes back to us, she also included the bill (which we did not ask for yet). Well, "brought" is being kind; it felt more like "dropped off" the way she leaned out the window to place it literally between my partner and I as we were having a conversation (we sat on a patio table next to a window). Again, there was no interaction involved as she merely dropped off the boxes and walked away. A few minutes later, she brought the card machine. We paid, and managed to get a gasp quiet "thanks" out of her before she walked off.

Needless to say, I would not recommend Beakniks Bistro to anyone visiting Fort Langley. I mean, the food was great (as I mentioned previously), and if that's all you're looking for then by all means give it a shot because you won't be disappointed. However, if you're looking to feel even an inkling of friendliness or respect, look...

This review in no way reflects the food at beatniks. The food is delicious and it’s been my husband and I’s go to spot for lunch for years! However, I am shocked that there are no high chairs and no changing tables in the bathrooms. I went there a couple weeks ago with my friend and her son and their patio wasn’t open so we asked if they would be able to fit 2 strollers inside. The waitress said no which is fair, as it’s so small on the inside but I was quite shocked when she told us we could try going somewhere else and that Saba next door definitely had high chairs. It was definitely shocking to turn down business instead of offering solutions or allowing us to sit in the undercover area of the patio (the weather was gorgeous) I’m not sure the logistics that would be behind this as I’m sure there’s a reason they couldn’t seat us out there (staffing etc..) but still quite shocking. This all would’ve been fine if it was a one off, and I genuinely never write reviews but we went there again recently (as I said before it is genuinely one of our favourite lunch spots) and I asked the waitress upon our arrival if there was a change table in the bathroom and she said no. Now, this would’ve been fine in any other scenario but given the fact that my daughters diaper needed to be changed and I had nowhere else to go, I had to resort on putting her changing pad on the floor of the private single person bathroom and change her on the floor. I’m not quite sure why in such a family friendly neighbourhood and kid friendly restaurant there wouldn't be a changing table especially because they most definitely have the space for one in the bathroom I was in. Before I became a mom I would’ve never thought twice about any of these things but it has most definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. I’ve seen multiple families with babies or young children at beatniks who 1000% have probably run into the exact problem that I have. I’m not sure if anyone will see this or care, but if this reaches the appropriate person I really would hope you would add something into one of the bathrooms that would make it just a little more...