Kelly O'Bryan's Restaurant - Vernon — Restaurant in Vernon

My sister & I, along with both our daughters stopped in after leaving the Vernon winter Carnival on opening night. Being repeat customers we looked forward to our favorite appys, meals & drinks; in the warn, inviting & fun atmosphere that was Kelly obrians. Being this Irish pub/restaurant is one of very few places in Vernon where friends/family, can catch up over a meal while enjoying a drink or 2. The happy hours are appreciated in this economy,and make it easy on your wallet!! All that said our most recent visit- 4 of us left pissed right off & even more hungry then when we got there! It was a busy night so we were happy to wait for a table. We stood there right in front of the bar for a half an hour and not one of the bar tenders, waitresses or even the shift manager- not one staff member out of the 7 or 8 that were right in front of us- not one so much as looked over at us, smiled or said a single word in 30mins we were standing there. One lady came in after us with her family asked us how long we were told the wait was for a table, and we replied that we didn't know because the staff hadn't acknowledged us yet. That's when the middle aged women, I believe her to be the shift manager or bar manager, must have over heard this conversation between the other family & mine & very hastily snapped saying that we have been helped & have to wait! Rather than apologizing for her teams ignorance as a whole or talking with us to answer the question of approximately how long it would be till a table was available to seat us,she rolled her eyes barked just those few words our direction. she then continued to speak, now voice over ours, to another person at the bar as if she was done & seemingly annoyed by the line up of hungry people waiting patiently for a table. The staff that evening didn't work as a team or carry themselves as professionals individually. With a full house & over flow line up it was unpleasantly alarming just how many ignored those of us in the line up waiting to be greeted. Each member of the staff failed to recognize, greeting customers, being approachable & friendly as part of their job description & they all went about as thou someone else will/can/has or should be responsible to greet walk-ins?? Management at Kelly obryans must have loosened up on the standards as their staff demonstrated no interest or care for paying customers. They uniformly did not uphold even the beginners basics of customer service or showed any understanding of what hospitality is about! As we frequently choose this establishment over others in town this experience has left an awful taste in our mouths!! - snapping at customers in a conversation she wasnt even a part of was embarrassing, and that women should be ashamed of herself. With a miserable look on her face, she made example of what unprofessional looks like. She was way out of line speaking to anyone; customers or coworkers in such a belittling disrespectful manner. Needless to say we left, angry & very hungry. To be greeted & seated with smiles in under 2 minutes across the street at Mr.Mikes steakhouse. One can hope that Kelly obryans hires a whole new crew, under strict standards!!! If this restaurant doesn't anti up it's repor & morale, its reputation along with its profits will continue the decline. And Kelly obryans will find its way into the distant memories of Vernon's...

I normally dont post reviews however my experience recently here was honestly ridiculous. I was mentally physically and emotionally exhausted this week and all I wanted was to just relax and grab a bite to eat at a favourite resteraunt. My mother had tagged along for the trip and had issues with hearing since a workplace accident. All she asked was for the music to be turned down a bit (it was the middle of the day and we were directly under the speakers, so we thought it was fair enough to accomadate). Server reply: "this is a pub" and "will you be o.k here?" To me this essentially meant "are you in the right place? You are not welcome here..." I was already too tired to argue even and wondered afterwards why not just offer to move us to another empty table away from the noise (My feedback: inquire about customer needs and accomodate as best as possible). So we just ordered food, I ordered a classic since the resteraunt had opened "lips and chips with pachos." Another server had brought a pachos for one with no chicken at all. So I looked at it and simply said to the server "this is not what I ordered." The original server come back and became defensive and said "I had asked you if you wanted plain fries ..." In my head I'm thinking to myself: "am I having a stroke." I clarified "can't you normally get pachos with lips and chips." Her reply "No they normally come with fries." My mother backs up and states "he had ordered earlier lips and chips with pachos." So I knew at that point there was some miscommunication and just thought to myself "that doesn't explain why you brought out 2 pachos for one with no chicken." The server was so focused on the fries part of the order, the pachos which were correct but didn't address where the chicken was." The server then spoke up again along the lines of " I have been a server here since 2015 and the lips and chips has never come with pachos I can show you the menu... so do you want your food or not." At that point I just gave up because I was already exhausted that day and did not want to argue anymore and simply said "no."

Overall feedback: Obviously miscommunication involved - properly clarify in a non-defensive/aggressive manner (ie. I have been working here since 2015, which was essentially an attempt to exert authority over a customer that has been ordering with you since the place initially opened 😅) Lastly, get to know your customers, inquire needs and accommodate; don't be complacent. You have customers coming back to you since the place opened and rely on. Being able to have those conversations on "what brings you in today, how has your day been" adds to customer engagement and serving staff used to do it all the time there.

Granted the server could have been having personal stuff going on or was having a bad day already. But it should never be directed towards customers.

The server could have replied with open non-judgemental questions such as "what seems to be the issue with the order". I would have just replied I ordered lips and chips, I am just missing the chicken 🐔." Server could the respond " I am sorry about that, let me fix that." Would have been a way nicer way of clarifying and prevented the whole fiasco...not entirely sure where she got the idea the pachos part of the order...

Kelly O Bryan's is my 118th eatery in Vernon on my quest to eat at every eatery in Vernon.

Note: Appy Hour is 7 days a week between 2pm-5pm and 9pm-Close.

Another note: You get $20 off on birthday meals for lunch and $30 off for dinner.

I haven't dined in at Kelly O's since I was 21 years old when somebody I am no longer friends with celebrated her birthday here.

I had pachos delivered once in 2020. They were overpriced and mediocre.

It was a great opportunity to give Kelly O's another chance.

Luckily I did my Appy Hour research before coming here. My server didn't say anything about Appy Hour, but thankfully I went with my gut that it would be in effect.

A veggie Portobello burger meal is priced at $22.95. This puts it at $2 higher than any other gourmet veggie burger I have encountered around town, and as high as $6 above the cheapest gourmet veggie burgers at restaurants (Red Robin's Burnin' Love burger).

I couldn't justify paying up to $29 for a veggie burger, lattice fries, and water after tax and tip so it was one of the rare times where I felt priced out of a burger meal.

I bought the deep fried pickles at the Appy Hour discount (they are normally $14.95).

I tried buying a bottomless soda with it, but if you order root beer they bring you a Dad's Root Beer.

Sadly, the server said nothing about root beer orders defaulting to Dad's Root Beers which means they aren't bottomless.

I get the impression that the server thought I was a regular. These are just some minor tips for him. After 118 eateries in Vernon, I feel like I am unintentionally that guy who thinks he is being helpful but rather is that annoying nitpicking guy. What have I become.

The deep fried pickles were pretty good. Sir Winston's are still the best in town, but Kelly O's are on that secondary tier.

After tax and an eighteen percent tip, I paid $16.81 for deep fried pickles and a Dad's root beer.

Is the menu overpriced in contrast to the similar restaurants throughout the rest of Vernon? Yes.

Should you take advantage of Appy Hour: Yes.

Fill up on Appy Hour, avoid root beer when ordering soda, and maybe come here for a heavily discounted birthday meal here at Kelly O's. It's more like a 3.5/5.

I really liked the patio area and the whole decor inside the restaurant. It is a very clean place too.

The server also got a lot friendlier as the meal progressed. I should note the big fire downtown happened a few hours earlier, and I know everyone was sad and quiet today.

I could see everyone just needing to go through the motions for the day especially given Okanagan Eatery is a fellow restaurant that was lost today.

I will come here for Appy Hour again. Just please reconsider reducing your burger meals. Even a dollar reduction will make a lot more people willing to buy the burger meals.

118 eateries in Vernon down; 40ish to go.

It was great to give Kelly O's another try and be satisfied...