21 Steps Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Whistler Resort Municipality

We just arrived in Whistler this evening around 8 PM. We checked into our hotel. Took the hotel car to the restaurant. It’s easy to find. Came upstairs and it’s unremarkable.. Lots of large tables making a lot of noise so if you’re trying to have an intimate dinner, this is really not the place. My first drink was their Sazerac and I was not impressed. Certainly could not taste the absinthe wash at all. My wife had something called the Femme Fatale. Stated it was very good. We ordered the warm bread with the garlic butter. Again, nothing special. I did not care for the garlic butter that they serve so I asked for some regular butter on the side. The server came over with a small square of butter that was cold and by the time she brought it to us, the bread was also no longer warm. That’s OK. It’s just a starter. Not a big deal. I ordered the bacon wrapped fillet, and it came with mashed potatoes and their vegetable of the day. Vegetable the day was carrots, green beans, and broccoli. I asked for no broccoli. The server was very kind and said she would tell them no broccoli. I ordered it medium and With the peppercorn glaze. My wife ordered the scallops and prawns, but asked for no prawns as she does not like them. The server said they could just double up on the scallops and it would be no issue. My wife didn’t ask sides, but the scallops came with rice and the mixed vegetables. We asked for the scallops to be seared extra well. We seemed to wait a very long time for the dinner. As many other tables had already gotten up and left by 10:15 PM. I ordered an old-fashioned because sometimes my assessment of a cocktail program is how well they can make a standard drink. I ordered a rye old-fashioned. It came with a stamped large ice cube. It tasted absolutely of nothing but rye whiskey. There was no finesse in this drink at all. No sweetness in this drink. I asked the server to ask the bartender to please re-stir it with some sugar. They use simple syrup. I firmly believe that all old-fashions start with either a sugar cube or a package of sugar. I believe that their cocktail program is well curated, but their bartending staff cannot do anything off Cocktail recipe list if you know what I mean? My wife watched the bartender put simple syrup in the drink and stir it. The server brought it to the table with a little extra shot of simple syrup on the side and told me that I could add it to my drink if I wanted to? I tasted the drink. It still tasted nothing but like straight rye and sent it back. Our dinner took about 35 minutes to arrive, although there were not a lot of other tables in the restaurant at this point. My wife’s scallops were not seared at all and were very small and very tough. There was some sort of bland rice and then the mixed vegetables which were carrots, green beans, and broccoli. Everything completely non-imaginative and basic. My bacon wrap fillet was quite large, which was a little concerning as most fillets are either seven or 9 ounces, or they are 10 ounces. They did leave the broccoli off my plate. I cut into my steak and it was very unevenly cooked. some parts medium well, some parts kind of medium… Probably one of the worst steaks I’ve ever had. It was mealy and grainy. Mashed potatoes were OK. I ordered the peppercorn sauce which was just okay. It just couldn’t make up for the poor quality of the steak that was being served. We called the server over and my wife , who never complains, said that she could not eat the scallops as they were rubbery and not seared at all. The server then looked down at my plate and without even being asked said, “oh it looks like your steak is a little unevenly cooked. Would you like for me to take it back and have them remake it?” By this time we were both so over it we just said, “please just take them both back and we will pay for the drinks that we had. The server was very nice. Nothing was her fault. An absolutely disappointing...

One of the worst experiences I’ve had in my life. Service is so rude you’d think they are a money laundering front not looking for actual business.

Went with a large group. My brother in law ordered the ‘dry spell’ and I ordered a ‘paper plane’ which is one of my favourite cocktails. Took the first sip - the lemon juice proportions were off. It’s a simple cocktail that needs 3/4th of all ingredients having made paper plane hundreds of times and also enjoyed it at bars all over the world. This was especially surprising as 2 years ago, I had had the exact cocktail at this restaurant and was impressed then by the balance and ingredients used (could tell they used Amaro Nonino as opposed to Amaro Averna or other cheaper hacky alternatives) but because it was ‘drinkable’ nonetheless, I didn’t think it was worthy of bringing to the notice of the staff. However, after my brother in law had a sip of his cocktail he nearly spit it out. He said it was too tart. I sipped it and I kid you not- it was the worst cocktail I have tried in my life. It was tart to the point that you could not taste ANYTHING else other than the overpowering taste of concentrated citrus. We both decided that drink warranted being sent back and started looking for our server to request that . A different server (a blonde with tattoos) saw us looking for our server and intervened to ask what the issue was. It is awkward enough to bring to the notice of a restaurant that they made something that is unacceptable, and although we were super polite to say sorry but this is a bit too tart. I kid you not, the other server spoke to us in the most rude condescending manner. Telling us “really? That’s strange because this is my favourite cocktail here and it’s incredibly balanced”…ummmm okayyy but we are telling you it is undrinkable. Maybe some proportions got messed up -happens to the best of us, giving her the opportunity to be graceful and simply say oh! Sorry about that. Would you like me to replace that one. Instead it got way more hostile with her taking it so personal that her demeanour was extremely standoffish and argumentative. She said fine I’ll replace it what would you like some strawberry flavoured drink ?!(she was being super sarcastic) I used the opportunity to convey that I did enjoy the paper plane cocktail last time too (2 years ago), and even that was tart this time (albeit not as much as the other one) surprisingly to which again she made, hostile and defensive comments essentially saying we had no idea what a good cocktail means. I ended it by saying that was my feedback and You do what you will with it. She said sure.

Not going here ever. They assume their customers are idiots. To give credit where it’s due- food is decent but unless you give your staff basic foundational level customer service training and an attitude adjustment, the food alone...

Amazing food, subpar customer service. What a strange experience. Starting off with reservations, my husband surprised me with a last minute surprise trip to Whistler. Luckily we were able to get a reservation at 21 Steps but it was a bit late to our liking, so I signed up for text alerts in case of openings. I got a text for an earlier timeslot of 8 pm but as I already had a reservation, yelp didn't allow me to change it. Called the restaurant, the woman I spoke with claimed they had no open times for 8 pm, then that their 3rd party reservations aren't reliable and she doesn't even have my phone number on file (even though I booked directly via their website, which lead me to yelp, so there's no other way to reserve a table??). She in fact discouraged me from walking in at 8 pm as its their "busiest time of night." After hanging up the phone, I promptly went back to my reservation email, cancelled the later time, and booked 8 pm despite her claiming there was no availability. Weird experience number 1.

We ordered 2 drinks, 1 appetizer, and 2 mains. After finishing our appetizer we were nursing our drinks and waiting around for our mains, which I guess they don't prepare until after you finish your appetizer? Or they're just very slow with service? Ended up waiting an hr for our mains, which arrived lukewarm, but we didn't have the chance to send it back or anything as our little one was getting fussy from having to sit in one spot for 2 hrs. Other than the food temperature, the mains were very good - the salmon and tiger prawns and scallops were absolutely delicious. The tofu appetizer was nothing special in my opinion

For a restaurant that is supposed to be the top to dine in at Whistler, 21 Steps really needs to step up their customer service, from staff claiming times are unavailable to dine in and in fact discouraging us to come then as it's their "busiest time of night" to service wait times and...