Temblor Brewing Company — Restaurant in Bakersfield

This place could be a five-star experience, for sure, because the space is spacious and decent, and the brews and food aren't bad. But it needs to fix a lot of kinks in its system: (1) I checked the website to see if we needed to make reservations. Nowhere was it noted that they even DO reservations, yet when we showed up (on the early side), about half the place (maybe more) was reserved. Other people who showed up later couldn't get a seat at all, they just got turned away. (2) The host guy waved us over to one of the few seats available... but made no mention of how we order food. (Eventually, when we saw people carrying numbers to their tables, we figured out you have to go across the facility to a poorly-marked far corner of the bar to order food) (3) This lack of communication continued when I had to walk up to the counter to ask about beers -- what sizes did they have? Who knows. I wanted tasters, and saw what looked like taster glasses, but when I asked... the bartender just said you could get 10, 16, or 20 oz pours -- no mention of tasting flight (which also isn't listed on the menu... in fact, I could never find prices for any of the beers listed anywhere, either.)

Maybe this place only wants business from locals who have been there before and already know the drill and the secret handshakes or something? But that's not a great idea, considering I watched the next three people behind me in line come up and ask the same sorts of questions because they were from out of town it was their first time there, as well.

So what happens? A bunch of stress and confusion for the customer, and a bunch of extra work and time wasted for the employees.

Once we got past all that, everything was enjoyable. But I've never had an experience at a brewery or restaurant that was so confusing and...

After our order was taken, we were excited to have our appetizers before our main course as promised. While waiting for our appetizers (garlic cheesy bread and beer battered artichoke s) we decided to look at the reviews on Google. The one star reviews seemed harsh and at that stage we had the impression that people are just mean. Fast forward 1 hour later and we were still without appetizers, 1 main course arrived, followed by another main. Our server admitted that he forgot about the garlic bread and cheese and promised that it would be right out. As he walked away, we reminded him that we were also still waiting on the artichokes...to which responded, “oh I didn’t bring those already?”, “my bad”! - atrocious service aside, the food (when it eventually arrived) was inedible. Just terrible. The Nashville west chicken sandwich was just gross, overly salty and overly seasoned. The chicken and apple salad was dull and the balsamic dressing was thick and soupy. The cheesy garlic bread looked like a hot pocket, served with cold tomato paste (supposedly marinara). We wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt (what with Covid and possibly short staffed) but this dining experience was well below any acceptable levels of hospitality. We shouldn’t have closed out after ordering. That way we could have adjusted the tip accordingly. In this case it would have been zero. Don’t go here. It’s just bad, bad, bad. Below a photo of our...

went in shortly after grand opening. walked to a table, wasn't greeted by anyone, sat for a few, saw the way they expected us to serve ourselves. order your drinks at the bar where there is no clear spot designated to do so... just reach over the people at the bar?!?! and order your food over there?!? come on! My wife and I walked in sat for a few and walked out without anyone saying anything to us. You've got to do better. there are way too many places vying for our dining dollars to patronize a self service place that doesn't even care if we walk out unhappy. get it together.

Update.. Went back in. Still no one at the front. found a table and sat down. this time our children were with us. I saw the new cordoned off "lanes" for ordering. Decided on what we're ordering and I'm off... to stand in the line for food and drinks. It was still literally 35mins between the time I walked in and actually spoke to a staff member. People that are just getting beers are flying thru but the food line was slow. Chuys' has a similar service system but their lanes are right up front and it's first come first served regardless of what your ordering.

We got the beer sampler. They were all adequate as were the chicken strips.

The proprietors have reached out to me and are really nice guys. I want them to succeed and think they will just needs a little fine tuning. I've updated my rating...