Bae Side False Creek — Restaurant in Vancouver

Went here on Canada Day. I personally thought the food and drinks were great, however the people I was with said the food was average. Great location and they really made it pretty with all the decorations. My main issue was the service. All the staff were very polite, but it just took so ridiculously long to get service. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for well over a decade and for the amount of staff they had on shift it took far too long for our server to come to our table. While I was there, there was at least 20+ front of house staff, despite having so many people on shift my server looked like she had to do everything for herself. I hope management will see this because they really need to work on their organization and I would suggest they do the following:

Your servers should focus on the customers and taking orders. Not bussing their own tables. Floor managers should also constantly check in with servers on how busy they are and in particular help servers take payments so the server can focus on getting food and drink orders.

Your expos (food runners or whatever you refer to them as) need to learn the concept of “hands full in, hands full out”. Your expos did a good job delivering the food and drink, but they would constantly go back with nothing in their hands when they could have been picking up empty plates and cups. This will help keep tables clear so your servers can focus on what matters (ie. taking orders and increasing the amount of the bill).

You need to have clear distinction of server sections because it seemed like there was a lot of confusion with who had what table. There was a table of about 8 people I watched waiting to see when they would get service. I honestly think they waited about 20 minutes if not longer. By the time we left they still hadn’t even received water. Which brings me to my next point.

In this heat, water to a table should be one of the first things they receive. As soon as a table is sat either the server/expo/busser or whoever needs to bring water to the table immediately. Having something the customer can sip on while they wait for the server to get their drink order helps make the wait not feel as long. When you are dehydrated and sitting in scorching heat waiting for a server to come take your drink over order feels like an eternity.

Your bussers should constantly be doing laps and picking up dishes and cups not just going to a table they were directed to. I was watching your staff and felt that they didn’t have a lot of experience in the serving industry and required a lot of direction. Managers need to step up and teach staff how to do their job efficiently so the staff can become proactive to a given situation as opposed to reactive. This will also ensure your staff can function without constant direction and oversight.

To the management staff please watch how you speak to your staff especially around customers. I didn’t hear what was said but my friend heard a manager speak to a server rather rudely. That’s not necessary and shows your unprofessionalism. Learn to speak to your staff appropriately and if you take issue with them take it somewhere private.

I encourage you to really reconsider where your server station for the patio is. Most places will have server stations in doorways, which is a problem I have noticed for most patios so it’s not specific to this establishment. However for your purposes having the server station right where the entrance is to the patio is going to cause problems and a lot of bottlenecks. If there is another entrance onto the patio you should encourage the hosts to take customers through that alternate entrance so customers don’t unnecessarily crowd the server station . If there isn’t, you may want to really consider whether having that private 10 person dining area is worth keeping or if it would be worth setting up your server station in there to open up the doorway in and out of the patio. You would obviously need some curtains to cover up the windows etc but...

Here's the setting: reservations for 5:45 PM on Saturday, July 12th for a party of 6 blue skies, warm, and busy seawall traffic entrance was busy and congested, with lots of walk-ins and customers with reservations, waiting to be seated. Could be more organized or consider use of phone paging app or a pager system

We were seated shortly after 6 pm and to our surprise there were ample empty tables on the patio. we were informed by the hostess that we had a maximum 2 hour limit due to the number of reservations Our party ordered 3 appetizers with intentions of ordering entrees after reviewing the menu, and a round of drinks at approx 6:15. the appetizers arrived at approximately 6:40 what further compounded to our stress level was our "2-hour time limit" was ticking, which they finally revoked after we informed our server of our slow service

we had essentially finished eating our appetizers before our round of drinks arrived to the table approximately 45 to 50 minutes after ordering with very little apologies nor communication by the server and/or the manager(s).

We were not the only table that had slow service as there was adjacent table of disgruntled customers experiencing the same. we ran into a group of other friends that were leaving, and they also shared their slow service experience with us without prompting. from a staffing count it appears they had plenty of bartenders, servers and bussers so not sure where the delays and bottlenecks are. it could be a combination of the following:

1. ensuring the stewarding department has cleaned and provided sufficient glassware to the bar?
2. are the bus people clearing the tables efficiently and dropping off with Stewarding?
3. the drink and cocktail menu maybe too elaborate and "fancy" for this level of restaurant and the execution requires more time and attention to detail. Suggestion: perhaps menu should have less fancier- ingredient cocktails, especially for those who simply want to sit back enjoy the view and the sun without having to wait. These expensive cocktails may generate a higher average check, but when you can only execute one round per table per hour, it's counterproductive.

The food was tasty, but the amount of naan bread to the amount of hummus was sparse.

We were informed the restaurant was rebranded approximately three months ago from Mahony and Sons to the current Bae Side. I have been a customer of this venue since the days of being Monk McQueens.

I live close by and would like to see this restaurant succeed as it is a great venue, especially during the summer months. This would be another good dining option to competing outdoor venues in the area, such as Tap & Barrel in the Olympic Village and in Granville Island, Craft Beer Market, and Sandbar.

Note: I am not a restaurant operator, but I have worked in hospitality for many years in various progressive positions, so understand the dynamics of customer serving and providing positive experiences for customers and guests.

I am all about giving second chances, as my experience could have been an anomaly. However, this restaurateur will need to address some basic service flaws in order to create a regular customer base and returning reservations, and positive reviews.

Our slow service experience influenced our decision to not continue ordering so we opted to dine elsewhere for our entrées, which is a loss opportunity for Bae Side and the server was aware. Again, better communication and perhaps a visit by the manager could provide some goodwill gesture acknowledgement and apologies.

I sincerely hope Bae Side can get your operations in order for the coming weekends of sunny weather, more people on the seawall and increased tourism in the city. Most consumers won’t give you a second chance to correct a...

I truly hope this feedback is received positively and that your team takes note of these points to improve performance. We went to celebrate my sister’s birthday dinner at this restaurant after she saw an influencer post about it online. It was just family, so a party of six.

The décor and interior design? Perfect. The ambiance? Also perfect. Full credit to whoever designed the space—it’s stunning. But it feels like all the investment went into the aesthetics, leaving little room for everything else that actually matters.

The menu is tight, and I appreciate the creativity of the curator. However, the drinks menu feels performative and ridiculously overpriced. The drinks don’t make sense, and the flavor profiles are just… odd. $20–$25+ for a cocktail with 1–2 oz of liquor is sadly expected in Vancouver, but other places at least make up for it in taste and quality.

The appetizers were okay, but the portion sizes left me speechless. I don’t mind paying $15–$25 for an appetizer—especially for a celebration meal—but when you’re handed portions that small, it’s more funny than appetizing. The mains, however, were somehow more disappointing.

We happened to go during happy hour, and half of us ordered from that menu. I thought the point of happy hour was to bring in crowds during non-peak hours and offer special pricing. Guess I was wrong. For example: if you order the burger off the happy hour menu ($15), it doesn’t come with sides. If you order it outside of happy hour ($24), you get sides. But fries during happy hour are $6. So basically, for a $24 “deal,” you’re saving exactly $3 during happy hour. Math isn’t my strong suit, but that’s not a deal. On top of that, the burger itself was underwhelming—a stale bun that tasted like Walmart bread, a patty that felt frozen and was half the size of the bun, all served on a side plate. The pizza base wasn’t house-made either and tasted like Domino’s—just at double the price.

Service wasn’t much better. The servers seemed to have little knowledge of the menu, and when we asked for our appetizer plates to be cleared to make room for the mains, they didn’t do it—even after I asked twice. We ended up stacking them ourselves just to have space. I want to emphasize, though, that none of this criticism is directed at the servers themselves. It felt like they had little to no experience, were probably earning minimum wage with no tips, and hadn’t been given the training needed to succeed.

The point of this review is to reach the chefs and management: please focus on the food and service before putting together a hollow, overpriced restaurant that feels like a cash grab. The servers are absolutely 0% at fault.

To add insult to injury: • After all this, we still had to pay an 18% gratuity, which honestly just felt sad. • And when we requested a birthday dessert option, we found out that if you want the whole candle-and-celebration moment with servers, it’s $29. For a candle. On a dessert. On a birthday.

I won’t be giving this place another chance, but if you choose to, I hope any changes that come from reviews like this improve...