Karma Lounge — Restaurant in Vancouver

As someone who has worked in the service industry for many years and never leaves reviews, I felt it was necessary for this place as it was the WORST experience ever. Firstly, it was my birthday and I made a reservation for 12 people a week prior. I even called the day of to confirm, which was also a bad experience in itself. I get there with some of my party and for 15 minutes the hostesses acted like they had no idea what was happening as we stood there. We finally get sat at a table with SEVEN seats. My reservation is for 12. I told the staff THREE times that if they cannot move my table to something bigger I need more chairs. To the point where my party of 12 all arrived and people were standing. I even went up myself to ask for more chairs saying, “its just embarrassing as I invited 12 people and now half of them are standing for my birthday.” The table we were sat at also was sticky and had NOT been cleaned. Maybe don’t accept reservations for 12 people if the “biggest” table you have suits 6. Secondly, we came for dinner at 7pm and ended up walking out at 8pm without eating and making a dinner reservation elsewhere. The service was insanely slow and the table could maybe accommodate a dinner for 6 people, so we had no choice but to leave. Yep, we came their for a birthday dinner reservation and left without having dinner! Thirdly, despite them not even having the reservation set up for us, as we were being sat, we were told “we need the table back by 9.” I’m sorry but what? We were standing there waiting for our reservation for almost 15 minutes, it was 7:30 pm, no one told me about any time limit for tables the entire week before I booked. All of a sudden as we are being SAT we are told this information and when we would have to be “out” an hour and some odd minutes later? It was all a super unprofessional experience and we left after a round of drinks that took 1 hour to be served to everyone. I honestly felt SO embarrassed as my party was uncomfortable, annoyed, and talking bad about how things were going down. It was a birthday dinner to which we didn’t even have dinner, had to get up and leave, and go elsewhere. COMPLETELY put a damper on the night and it was hard to enjoy when so much from the establishment was going on, to where we had to scramble to find another place as this “reservation” was not reliable. If you book a reservation and want it accommodated and actually confirmed do not go here. I even thought at one point they had no idea we were coming and was going to tell us we had to leave...

Really bad experience. I want to give ZERO STARS to this restaurant. We were really hungry and called before going there to make a reservation as i thought it might be necessary. When I called in girl on the phone said we can come in anytime. We confirmed the open hours as well with her. When we reached there, no one came to take our order. When I went to ask receptionist, FOUND OUT that servers didn’t even know they had ‘us’ new customers in the restaurant.

When server FINALLY came she said only bar is open, kitchen was closed like an hour ago.

We were really hungry. No one told us that the restaurant is open for bar only, no food. Not even the girl on phone let us know that restaurant is open for drinks only before we actually dine in.

I have been working in the customer service from a really long time and luckily learnt many things but this is the worst MANAGEMENT I have ever seen.

VERY BAD COMMUNICATION between team. COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO RUN THINGS SMOOTHLY AND NICELY. I didn’t expect this poor management from such a classy looking restaurant.

I guess team should be taught more working and customer service skills rather than focusing on makeups and looks.

AS I KNOW a good worker let customer know of everything he/ she needs to know.

It’s staff’s and worker’s responsibility to let customers know that only bar is open not kitchen.

Plus on top of everything, we were given full menu. Not just a drinks menu.

I want the value of time I wasted driving, going in there BACK.

Very POOR MANAGEMENT. 👎👎👎👎👎 Before opening next day of work y’all should have a proper meeting of training the crew about customer service skills. And the manager needs to take some classes...

Upon entering the restaurant, the atmosphere failed to establish the desired ambiance for our celebration. The subdued lighting, intended for creating a cozy setting, inadvertently made it challenging to comfortably visualize the menu. Our seating arrangement made of 3 round tables, lacked the inviting charm we had anticipated. It was disheartening to see the contrast in lighting between our area and other booths and tables in the lounge. We could have used a lamp in our seating area at least.

The service further exacerbated our disappointment. Despite multiple reminders, the staff required repeated prompts for us to access gluten-free and nut-free menu options. One of our party members endured an unreasonably lengthy wait for a simple side order, which arrived well after the rest of the meal. The demeanor of the servers, characterized by sarcasm and a noticeable lack of warmth, left us feeling unwelcome and undervalued.

Our disappointment was heightened when we were informed, accompanied by exaggerated hand gestures, of a $4 charge per slice of cake, as though we were unfamiliar with the concept of a slice?

Overall, our experience at Karma's Lounge deviated significantly from the atmosphere we had envisioned. From the lackluster ambiance to the indifferent service and uninspiring food, our evening failed to meet our expectations. If you're seeking a memorable and enjoyable celebration in Vancouver, I suggest exploring alternative options, as Karma's Lounge struggles to deliver even the most basic aspects of...