Ventura Room — Restaurant in Vancouver

I unfortunately had a bad experience at this place last night (9/11) and I truly hope the staff will prevent this from happening again to other customers. I want to clarify that the place looks lovely and the menu looked good. It's the way we were bothered the reason why I'm posting this with 1 star.

Me and my wife arrived around 7 pm to watch the Raptors game and we clearly mentioned we were looking to get a spot to enjoy it. The first member of the staff was very kind and offered a nice table with very good view. Everything was great, we ordered couple of drinks, were watching the game and I was actually about to invite some friends.

But then, another member of the staff approached and asked if we could move to a different table because he wanted to move a party of 4 to our spot. I said "as long as we have good view, sure we're fine" and we went together to check the new spot. It was literally the worst place to watch the game with obstructed view. I told the person that the alternative he offered wasn't good and then he said he'd then look for another option. Next, he tried to grab another table but exactly at that moment a couple was about to sit there. I started to feel uncomfortable and just told the guy there were no more options and that I just wanted to sit and enjoy.

A minute later, he approached again and apparently moved the couple from the table which was next to a window which btw had a poor view of the TV and was insisting in a very pushy way saying that he needed to move the party of 4 to our table because they wanted to watch a hockey game and that it was an internal miscommunication; He didn't seem to give up until we move which was so annoying and uncomfortable. He actually said "we'll give your those cocktails for free if you move, I need to move these guys here" which was really insulting to be honest and it was the moment when I said this is too much, we're leaving. Since this guy started to annoy again and again, I actually asked my wife to not sip her drink cause it seemed the staff member was committed to get us out of the table.

I'm not planning to return, first time this ever happened to me in this lovely city and it's not the...

Not sure if it was an off night, but after our experience here last night, I can’t recommend it and don’t think we’ll be returning.

We arrived with a reservation and were seated at a wobbly table directly next to another party, even though the restaurant was mostly empty at that time. A bartender promptly provided water and our first round of drinks, which was the only positive aspect of our visit.

After informing them that we would be ordering food, we weren't acknowledged for 30 minutes. A server finally came and took our food order and second round of drinks, but unfortunately it took ages for our drinks, and we had to follow up multiple times. Mind you, we ordered a beer and a glass of wine, which doesn't take long to pour. The server seemed unfamiliar with the menu, and it appeared that our drinks hadn’t even been rung in (we were seated right by the bar and could see other tables drinks being made). One of the two drinks eventually arrived only after our food was served, and after following up with the server again about the second drink, it was finally delivered with the bill - 45 minutes after being ordered.

Throughout our visit, there was no quality check on the food, and our water glasses remained empty. It was unclear who was responsible for our table, and there was no apology for the delays or the oversight with our orders. To top it off, we were still charged for the drink that came while we were ready to pay. Unfortunately, this was the worst service...

I honestly think Ventura room is one of the best cocktail lounges I’ve ever been to. The staff will make you feel like family, they are all so attentive to detail and love sharing their knowledge about the different spirits and drinks they provide. The house cocktails are so much fun, my favourite off the menu is their Nitro Pornstar (which is on early happy hour!), it’s a vodka base, passion fruit syrup cocktail that has a wickedly soft foam and comes with a shot of Prosecco, I really loved how I could customize the sweetness of my cocktail by adding in the processco, very fun!All the bartenders are extremely creative, I chose to let the bartenders make me something fun and boy did they deliver! Everything was balanced and I enjoyed every sip! The tapa’s are also amazing, my favourite was the tuna poke tacos, but the meatballs were a close second.

Also, can we talk about all the cool EVENTS they do? Burlesque, Latin night, paint days, drag brunches, karaoke?! My gosh, what don’t they do here?! Each night is so much fun, and the space is so beautiful, it’s hard not to make good memories here.

Highly recommend visiting The Ventura Room for your next fun night out, you...