Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in West Vancouver

The service here has suffered lately, not sure if it’s a staffing issue or what but the past few times we’ve come we’ve had issues. Our last visit was no exception. Seated outside in the evening. Sat and waited for someone to come by. No one for almost 10 minutes. Feels long since I know that someone is suppose to stop by within a minute. Server finally comes. We order drinks an appy and mains. Drinks come, my beer glass has a 1” chip along the rim. Bar shouldn’t have sent it out but they did. Beer swapped out and manager comped it, thank you. Said he comped both drinks but only one was credited. I didn’t mention anything, didn’t expect both anyway. Appy and mains came out at the same time. Oh well. Noodles were a little cold after finishing the oysters. Had to ask for water again. Finally came, caraf was placed on the table and two empty glasses. I guess we pour ourselves? Oysters came out with the usual condiments, no little fork or spoon. Asked the runner for the spoon and she looked at us and said, “you want a spoon?” I had to explain. Maybe she didn’t know how oysters were to be sent. She came back with the right spoon. Can’t blame her I guess, should be trained on it. Finishing up. Asked for a go box for the noodles cause she didn’t want to finish a cold dish. Server said there’s a promo, fill out a google review and get a free dessert. Sure! Waited 10 minutes no dessert. He said it’s coming. Still waiting. Finally I said pls bring the bill and put the desserts in a go box. “No problem”. Left to tell the kitchen. Came back with the bill, I paid and he asked if I was sure I didn’t want to eat here because it’s ice cream. Wait what? I just asked for it to go and you didn’t say anything. I said no because we really had to leave. 5 more minutes and I got my desserts and left. Photo attached. lol. Can’t buy a good review with this. Last time I went our order somehow got inputted but didn’t get to the kitchen. We waited 45 minutes and finally they came and told us. It was busy so we thought that’s why nothing was coming out. Don’t want to complain. Manager came and profusely apologized and dinner was comped, thank you. Tipped our server 20% of what the bill would have been because she was truly apologetic and even said we didn’t have to tip. Time before that our dinner came out late and they got my order wrong. They apologized, said they’ll get my order out right away. By the time it came out my partner was finished her meal. It took longer than the original order to come out. The food here is good. I go to earl’s quite a bit and have been for over 30 years. I think that it’s the lack of staff and proper training at this location. Managers are good with comping if something goes wrong. But I’d rather pay and have great service. The only food complaint I have is that their calamari is not like it used to be. Looks like they have a new supplier and the quality is poor. Sorry for the long rant but I did get free desserts so I...

I went to Earls last Sunday for brunch with my family. It was my mother’s birthday. We arrived early for our reservation and waited on the bench for them to call us in. The hosts were all talking among themselves.

The new dress code is ridiculous putting 16 year olds in ill-fitting suits does not make the business look “professional.” The girls looked miserable and overheated, both complaining about how warm they were. I was disgusted by how inhumane it felt. The restaurant has fun, colourful décor, yet the female hosts were dressed like Levi Miller in the movie Big, creating a strange and uncomfortable contrast.

When we were finally seated, we didn’t receive water, and no server came to our table for 15 minutes. When a woman eventually arrived, she didn’t introduce herself, looked tired and flustered, and simply asked if we were ready to order. We asked for more time, and when we looked around to find her again, she was nowhere to be seen.

We eventually asked a manager for help—only to find out it was a host. The suits made it overly complicated, and we couldn’t tell who was a manager and who was a host. The host said she’d bring our server or a manager, but then she disappeared. After waiting a total of 45 minutes, we finally found our server and placed our order.

I ordered the Chorizo Hash and specifically asked for no feta cheese. She asked if it was an allergy, and I said no, just a preference. Our food arrived 30 minutes later, and my dish had feta cheese on it. I politely asked if I could have another plate or a side plate just to remove the feta—not even asking to send the dish back. She took my plate without saying a word and rolled her eyes at me. Ten minutes later, she returned with the same plate, just without the feta. She placed it down in front of me and walked away angrily.

At this point, we had waited over an hour and a half, so I don’t understand how the dining time is supposed to work when it took that long just to order and get our food. We were all extremely disappointed and decided to skip dessert, knowing it would likely take another hour to arrive.

We ate our meals—mine was cold by then, and my son’s was bland with absolutely no flavor. We ended up leaving and going to get ice cream, which honestly was the best part of our day. It’s crazy to say that after spending over $100 on brunch, the $12 ice cream was what we enjoyed most.

I believe that over the years, the restaurant has lost its fun and special atmosphere and has turned into a miserable, poorly managed place. A message to the Fullers: maybe instead of focusing on the staff’s work attire, focus on the food and actually training your management team.

I mentioned this experience to a couple of friends, and they all agreed—going to Earls is a “win or lose” experience,...

Whenever I’ve been to your Ambleside location as a dinner guest with other people, I’ve been served well. Sitting at the bar, as a single woman has been mostly awful. The other day one of your staff members sat down at the bar abruptly - causing a glass to smash into another glass — right beside me. It was loud and scary and glass smashed all over me … I couldn’t move as members of your team picked glass shards off my body. I moved from the bar to a table to allow your staff to clean the area thoroughly. Nobody brought me my water or beer I had just ordered and had none of… because of the glass incident. I sat patiently and waited. Someone finally brought me my drinks, but I was shocked to watch that they had not actually replaced the beverages where the glass had just smashed. I asked to please be served new beverages bc I didn’t trust there wasn’t glass in them. When I asked this, all of a sudden the bar tender told me they would no longer serve me. I was very upset. The whole ordeal was extremely traumatizing. Nobody came to check to see if I was alright after moving seats, and the fact that I was served my same beverages without any second thought… and then told I wouldn’t be served anymore when I explained I’d like new beverages… is appalling. The fact that half your staff sits at the bar after their shift,… chatting with whoever is on shift… honestly is uncomfortable. With the exception of a few individuals, those on shift also have a habit of hanging around together instead of offering excellent or friendly service to your patrons. Your bar is not a friendly or welcoming environment. It’s extremely disappointing because I have always enjoyed coming for meals with family… I’ll never go to...