Big Bear Eatery & Taphouse — Restaurant in Whitehorse

A story from a restaurant in Whitehorse. I rarely see this, but first things first

I was with a friend and his wife at this restaurant somewhere in May. We went into the restaurant. It was full, no seats. We were asked to wait 20 minutes to be seated. Okay, we thought about it and went to the store to buy something. We came back after 15-20 minutes. The hostess told us: "Oh, I thought you left. Other people took your table."

Okay, we'll wait. I'm probably being picky. We waited another 15 minutes. While we were sitting, the guy who helped the waitresses wiped the tables and seats at the table. With one rag. People sit at the table in the clothes they wore all day, sat in different places, rubbed against different surfaces, and then the table at which we eat is wiped with one rag. Well, okay, I guess I'm being picky

We sat down at the table. A young waitress came up to us (there were two of them then, both young girls). She was probably tired or something had happened at home, because she was in a bad mood and, as they would say in my language, with a sour face. Well, okay, I guess I'm being picky. We placed an order. We ordered three main courses and one appetizer.

So far, everything was going well. They brought us wings, we ate them in 15-20 minutes and began to wait for the main courses. 10 minutes passed after the end of the appetizer. 15 minutes passed. 20 minutes passed. 25 minutes The people who came after us, THEY had already received their main courses, but we had not. I turned to the waitress and thereby scared her a little and asked her to clarify when the main courses would be ready.

Coming to our table, she politely explained that because we ordered an appetizer (one for 3), the main course was taking longer to arrive and everything was messed up. And she left. I looked at my friend's face and asked him: "What the hell did she just say?" I want to mention that it was said in an accusatory manner, that it was OUR fault that the main course was not brought. Well, okay, maybe I'm being picky again

The main course was brought out. My shawarma was great, my friend's wife's shawarma was also not bad, but my friend's shawarma... Well, how can I say it. He said three times that he wanted it with onions and pickles. He explained it three times. Okay, I'm being picky again

And the icing on the cake was paying the bill. When I went to the toilet, my friend paid the bill. I went up to him and he said to me: "You know, we ate for more than $100 and I left a 10% tip, which I think is not bad. She saw it, made a face, got offended, took the terminal and left."

And when we walked past her to the exit, the waitress did not even say goodbye to us.

Question: why the hell should we leave another tip for such service and such an attitude towards guests? Has the man at least undergone some training in service, was he taught how to communicate and behave with guests?

Oh, I forgot to say. If you had looked under our table, you could have put another salad on your plate. Do you understand what I mean?

Disgusting, vile, unprofessional and disrespectful service in this establishment and the attitude of the waitress. My friend and I worked in restaurants. I worked for a year and a half in Qatar in a 5 star hotel in a restaurant, then as a bartender for 4 years on cruise ships. I understand and know what I'm talking about. The service is just zero. What tips are we even talking about?? The waiter did not do his job and expects tips. Is this a joke?

If you want to improve the quality of service, the prestige of the restaurant and the level of service - conduct training for the staff, let them pass tests on knowledge of the menu and service. I can conduct this training (if necessary, contact me and we will agree)

The only thing that was nice was the food. No questions for the chefs, very tasty

Total: Food - +1 star Restaurant - +1 star Service - -1 star Blaming guests - -2 stars

My friends and I were just shocked. Thanks for...

I have been going to big bear donair long before they moved and changed everything. I have eaten at the new big bear donair and have observed a huge decline on the quality of food I always get there. I found myself disappointed everytime I go there since they reopened.

One time I ordered, the chicken shawarma and it was spicy and I didnt put any chili for my sauce. I told the servers and they told me that they do put some spice in their chicken that could make it seem spicy. Makes sense, but I would definitely know the difference cause that shawarma was burning hot for it just to be the spices. Server was giving off a vibe she didnt want to replace it. But when she asked I said yes please replace it. They replaced it with another one, and it tasted same as the first and still was spicy. I told the server again, they finally got it right on the third time. I know my shawarma i know how its supposed to taste. Totally unpleasant experience, since my peers had to wait for me to finish to eat since mine took too long. I wish I didnt have to pay for it since they messed up so much, but I just paid since I did eat it. But overall that was a bad experience.

Another time, I ordered take out via doordash. My chicken shawarma large recipe is Tomato Cucumber Onions Tzaztiki Cumin yogurt Lebenese garlic Hummus. There were too much chicken, and the chicken had no taste at all. AT ALL. It tasted like there’s not enough sauce. I didnt taste the garlic sauce much. And the veggies is not much too. I was eating a shawarma that was mostly chicken and that shawarma was not good at all. The chicken also looked pale which explains it not tasting like anything at all. I have a pic attached and you can actually count how many cucumbers are in there and also it didnt look like it had the garlic sauce cause the garlic sauce should look thick and you can see in the pic the sauce looks runny.

I have ordered this same one so so many times before they moved and it has always been good! This is the only time I had complaints. I miss the old big bear, the take out style where you see them make it was such an experience that we don’t have now. Now I only get bad food.

We used to go there at least 3-5x a month before they moved. Now I have been there maybe 4x total in...

Walked in (as a non-fussy party of 2) last night and waited to be seated behind one party in front of us… so far, a normal experience. They seemed somewhat busy but nothing crazy. Strangely, the hostess did not greet us or acknowledge us.

While we and the party in front of us were waiting to even be acknowledged by the hostess, two parties came in after us and were both greeted by the hostess, and one of them got seated at the bar. The hostess ignored us and the other party completely.

Another party came in right after and the hostess greeted them, and I had to interject with “hello, us and this other party have been waiting here for 10+minutes.”

She then said “I’ll put your names on the list”.

We should have left at that point.

After some more waiting we were seated. The server came 10 minutes later asking for drink orders. We got two cocktails and the pretzel to start. The cocktails were great, and the pretzel was good too. Then we ordered the shawarma poutine and feta pizza to share.

We waited 1 hour for food to arrive. The poutine was not edible. The poutine shawarma chicken was well overcooked (chewy and dry), and the dish was brutally overpowered by a Lebanese garlic sauce. The sauce burnt our lips after 1 bite each. It was hurting our mouths, and we are huge garlic lovers. I’ve have Lebanese garlic sauce at shawarma places around the world. It does not burn like that. The ratio of sauce was overpowering as well.

The pizza was mediocre. It’s a very basic pizza, nothing to rave about. Not enough sauce, average dough, and the toppings were all under the cheese which, for pizza fans, is a nono.

The poutine was not edible. And since we had lost our appetite from the garlic and having to wait 90 minutes before eating, we boxed up the pizza and got the bill.

We tipped out of kindness for the server, but overall this place was a huge miss.

The menu was overcrowded, and each item was overwhelmed with ingredients. Won’t recommend this place to others until they sort out their kitchen. The chef needs to...