The Palms Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Victoria

Okay, a lot of stuff to unpack here. Service was very friendly and outgoing. I'd even say top tier in terms of friendliness. That being said, kinda felt like the staff was awkward and not quite set into their roles. The manager took my drink order and brought me water. It was a nice gesture, but I immediately could tell something was off because he raised the pitch of his voice when I asked for one of the craft cocktails.

Well, I realized why because it took a really long time to get my drink, and the bartender had to consult the bar bible. Honestly, that's not a huge deal to me either. The problem is that the bartender was also serving the entire floor, with multiple high maintenance tables. You can't execute a swift cocktail bar while also having table service at this level. How do I know this? Because I used to run a ten seat bar with 35 cocktails and ten tables all by myself, and we would fill up regularly. I would say sorry, the customers would also say sorry because they'd realized I was shafted with unreasonable expectations, and then we'd joke about it.

The food took forever. I don't think I ordered anything complicated, and if I did, the restaurant was empty, so whatever.

So, how do they fix it? The manager needs to do more. Sorry, manager. I know your job sucks, and you already have a huge workload. Too bad. It's you and one other person on the floor, and even though you were trying to help, you were going at like 10% of the pace of the bartender. Your presence on the floor could go a lot further to up the level of service. I tried to keep an eye on what was happening with all the other tables and bar patrons while I was there, and it was friendly but slow service from what I could see.

So yeah, timelinewise first drink took about twenty minutes, placed my food order at about thirty minutes. Finished my drink and started the stopwatch (21:04.23 minutes). lol, I hate being this petty, but I'm so sick of fake service in BC — just do what you're capable of executing! You will make more money if you can execute stuff quickly! Simplify! The bottom line is that it took over twenty minutes between finishing my first drink and ordering my second drink — half an hour without anything in front of me. Sadly the food came later! (Even though I just ordered a salad)

They nailed the salad, but the tofu add-on was lackluster. The food quality was really good otherwise, but I have a hard time getting overwhelmed tofu add-on

I think of all the places I've left a bad review. This is the one that hurts the most because the staff were genuinely nice. The atmosphere was awesome in terms of interior design, but the elderly clientele and otherwise empty bar was a buzzkill.

If I could sum up the experience in one would be sterile. Nevertheless, I will be back, because I want to believe this review will help, and I do see the makings or potential. Please take into account my critiques. This is the kind of spot I want to bring my friends, but at least from my experience it felt more like the local shuffleboard club was checking in. Please don't fail me! I need places to spend money! I will be back in two weeks. There's a reason the Palms is slow — the vibe is awesome, everything else is off.

Edit: I snuck in a couple of weeks later. And it was even more dreadful. Didn't get the opportunity to even order food... not even sure if food was available — whatever, it is what it is.

Service was awful, kind of felt off. I feel like a lot of awkwardness could be solved with an explanation of food availability. Not even sure if food was available, but I was starving, so if it was, oopsies! Would have spent way more. Welcome to Victoria I guess.

The manager who was there last time was now wearing all black and pretending to be a server. Again did not help and ended up clocking out and drinking at the bar. Did some digging and found that this guy has a bad reputation. Advice; sell your lot in the business, because I think it will go downhill with the next wave..

Takeaway: you have good reviews, yet you're dead. Ask...

I would give zero stars if possible. I went here with 3 friends for one of theirs birthday. I thought from the outside it looked nice and fun and a bit classy. There was one person working/making drinks/taking orders and serving the food. It was a Tuesday and it got decently busy. Our drinks took quite some time which we all understood given he was alone. The food took over an hour. I asked for the bill halfway through so we could pay, get our food and leave. When we got the bill it was around $240. It was quite an absurd amount. When I looked at the food and drinks we were over charged on every single drink. when I brought up the concern the server tried to persuade me into thinking I was too drunk to remember what I ordered and that I had ordered double, which I did not. I was not intoxicated nor were the other 3 people who were there who also heard me order everyones drinks. He did eventually go and change the price to the right amount and our bill was $170 afterwards. I used to be a server and I always tip well but in this circumstance I did not want to. I have heard of restaurants over charging very intoxicated people for the purpose that they're being rude, disrespectful and very drunk. My group and I were none of those things. So now I learned first hand. Make sure you check your bills properly to ensure they aren't...

My daughter took me for a birthday dinner and drinks at Palms restaurant and lounge. Given the reviews, I was expecting a fabulous dining experience with some unique cocktails. I ordered a $22.00 drink called Caribbean Nights, which is a warm drink that comes in a snifter, typically served in a holder, over a tea candle to keep it warm. My drink arrived, cold and placed over a teapot with lukewarm water in it. I mentioned to the server that this is not how the drink should be served and that there is a specific holder they can get to properly serve the drink. She asked if I wanted to return it and I declined, stating I only mentioned it so she could share the information with the bartender for future reference. As we continued our drinks, I noticed a rodent run across the floor. Then another and another. I discreetly mentioned this to the manager, who commented that he was aware of the situation and the rodents were always there. He was quite nonchalant about it and mentioned that they became quite active when there were fewer customers in the restaurant. He commented it was because of the empty building that shared a common wall with the restaurant, that was infested with rodents. My daughter and I did not finish our food after this. All in all, a very disappointing experience. Possibly some health bylaws...