KANVAS by Kevin Kelley — Restaurant in Dallas

I recently visited Kanvas in Dallas, Texas, and I have to say, my experience was extremely disappointing. I had heard decent things about this place, but after my visit, I can confidently say I won’t be returning anytime soon.

To start, the customer service was absolutely horrible. From the moment I walked in, I felt like the staff couldn’t have cared less about the customers. The place wasn’t even busy, but it felt like we were being completely ignored. We were seated promptly enough, but that’s where the efficiency ended. I understand that sometimes restaurants have off days, but the level of neglect we experienced here was truly unacceptable.

We waited over 30 minutes just to get a simple glass of water! I had to flag down the waiter multiple times before anyone even acknowledged our table. When the water finally came, there was no apology or explanation for the delay, just a casual drop-off like it wasn’t a big deal. At this point, we hadn’t even gotten to the ordering phase, and I was already frustrated.

Unfortunately, it only got worse from there. After waiting for what felt like forever, another 45 minutes passed before we were finally able to place our food order. Keep in mind, this was not during a rush or at a busy hour — the restaurant was relatively empty, so there was no reason for such slow service. Again, no apologies, no explanation, just an indifferent attitude from the staff.

When our food finally did arrive, it was decent, but nothing spectacular — and definitely not worth the wait. At that point, I was so irritated by the terrible service that it was hard to enjoy the meal. It’s a shame because the menu seemed promising, but any potential enjoyment was completely overshadowed by the awful experience leading up to it.

To make matters worse, they automatically add gratuity to your bill. Now, I don’t mind tipping well for good service, but when the service is this terrible, it feels like a slap in the face to be forced to pay an additional gratuity. The automatic gratuity policy wouldn’t be so bad if the service had been decent, but considering we were ignored for most of our time there, it felt completely unjustified. At the very least, gratuity should be something that reflects the level of service you receive, not something that’s automatically tacked on regardless of how poorly the staff performs.

Overall, I would not recommend Kanvas to anyone. Between the unresponsive staff, the outrageous wait times, and the automatic gratuity, this was hands down one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in Dallas. There are plenty of other places in the city where you can get better food, better service, and actually feel like a valued customer. Save yourself the frustration and skip Kanvas. Hopefully, they’ll get their act together, but based on my experience, it’s going to take a lot of changes to make this place worth...

Edit: This establishment won’t last long. Nothing has been done with me personally to rectify this situation. I also reached out directly and received no reply. Based on the circumstances, some form of compensation is warranted and not just a lousy apology and a general comment that they talked to the staff. Unacceptable!!!

There was no seating available in the dining room, so we were told we could sit and order on the rooftop, where there were no reserved signs. We found a table, but someone approached us and said the table required a $300 minimum. We explained that we only wanted food and a couple of drinks and were told we could move to the other side without the $300 minimum. After moving, we sat for over 15 minutes without service, so we had to find someone to ask how to place our order. When a server finally arrived, the first thing she told us was that we might have to move if someone reserved the table. This was frustrating, as paying customers shouldn’t be disrupted like this.

We ordered a few appetizers and drinks. While the drinks arrived first, we were left waiting for our food, and no one came to check on us. When the food finally arrived, it was missing the items we requested, and we had no silverware. After waiting for a bit, we flagged down someone bussing tables, who brought us silverware but mentioned they couldn’t find our server. Eventually, the server returned, and we asked for condiments. Another staff member brought them and, when I asked about the ranch dressing, simply replied, “I don’t know,” and walked away.

Our server then came back while we were still eating to tell us she needed to close out the tab because it was a day party and we had already ordered food. We said okay and requested another round of drinks. She asked for payment without giving us an itemized receipt, so I had the receipt emailed and left a $5 tip because, at this point, we had to request everything ourselves, and no one checked in to see if we were enjoying the food or needed anything else. We finished eating and didn’t receive our drinks for another 10 minutes. When the server finally came back with one drink, she dropped it off and walked away without returning, even though we had ordered two drinks. Upon checking the emailed receipt, I saw only one drink had been charged, and a 20% gratuity was automatically added for a party of two, which was absurd given the poor service.

While the atmosphere was pleasant, the service was terrible. Based on this first experience, I can confidently say I would not recommend or return to this...

This restaurant has potential to be great, but it does have minor things that need to be fixed or those issues will in fact turn into bigger problems in the future.

Now , the aesthetics are great , the whole idea of a combined restaurant , club area , & rooftop bar area was a great idea .

The fries were awesome and the spicy watermelon margarita was also top tier 🙌

But honey , the shrimp potato is so TERRIBLE , I mean TERRIBLE !!

First all, I waited over 40 minutes for a shrimp bake potato on a day the restaurant wasn’t even busy .

Mind you I was told the wait was long because the first potato they made was too small ..

Our waitress was super sweet, but she was always forgetting to bring things to our table and she was super slow to bringing items to the table as well .

When I finally received the 2nd potato, to my surprise the potato was hard , shrimp tasted cheap , not meaty at all , and the shrimp taste like they were raw ..for $19 , I should have had a meaty shrimp and a soft seasoned potato .

The wings were fried way to hard and wasn’t seasoned correctly .

Also note that there is a 20% service charge, which is ok to have , but what I don’t like is the fact that the waitress doesn’t even mention the service charge until after she brings out the bill .

The rooftop area doesn’t mention the 20% service charge either but you’ll definitely see it in your receipt ...

So, make sure you read the menu because the 20% surcharge is probably listed on their menu..

Now , the 2nd head chef did bring out more wings after we informed him the wings weren’t tasty and the second batch of wings were better tasting than the first and fried correctly .

Oh , I forgot to mention that I didn't get another potato after the second one was made and was told that they couldn’t make the potato too salty so that is why they made it like that , but honey , it didn’t taste like it had an ounce of season on it at all . I just feel that the potato needed to be cooked more cause it wasn’t soft & it needed some seasoning . So I just went ahead and put my own salt and pepper on it and let my husband taste it and it was still TERRIBLE !

Also , after the surcharge was added , our bill was $91.19 for wings , fries, one lemonade , and a large spicy shrimp potato.

So in all , this restaurant has potential but definitely needs to make some much needed...