Electric Pickle — Restaurant in Tempe

I always ask for the background for new places and this is what they told me... This location is their flagship location with 5 more locations set to launch around the southwest. There is nothing more I love than to see a business start from scratch and see them succeed. I am hoping Electric Pickle will be one for the memory books. Tom Brady may or may not be one of their investors. ;)

Now, I am not a Pickleball player first and foremost. I want to try one day but that day hasn't come just yet ;) I say this because you can still have enjoyable time at Electric Pickle even if you don't play pickleball!

The Ambiance: Once you arrive, the vibe makes you feel like it's tucked away at first. You're not too sure what you're walking into. A sense of curiosity will lead you down this path of plants hanging from overhead and a water fountain to your left. Definitely photo opp worthy. The vibes inside are FRESH, new, modern, high end but not stuffy. Because of the soft launch, there were entertainment dancers walking around giving everyone a light show and fire dance. I'm pretty sure it's not a normal occurrence but maybe it will be like that for future special events??

There are two floors. Bottom is mostly the restaurant, entryway to the outdoors, cornhole, fire pits, pickleball courts and outdoor entertainment. I heard they will always have a DJ going probably nights and weekends?

Second floor has the golf simulators, another bar, more seating and an amazing view of the bottom floor below. I think I counted 3 full bars?? Restrooms are separate all gender bathrooms and are nicely decorated.

The Food: I tried the truffle, bacon and mashed potato pizza just because I thought it was so bizarre sounding and shockingly after the meal was over, that was definitely my favorite dish! Fries were also top notch. Couldn't put those suckers down. My friend got the sushi and said it was really good. I'm not much of a seafood fan so I didn't try it. The drinks were good! The sangria was white not red. Wished there was so fresh or marinated fruit in it but maybe they can tweak that in the future. I did ask about a kids menu and they DO have one along with chicken tenders in it for the chicken lovin kiddos like mine.

The service: Probably my favorite part! Our server was John and definitely ask to be seated in his area if he's available! He was kind, conversational and knowledgeable of the restaurant. Definitely felt taken care of. The hostess were also very kind and nice which is appreciated.

Overall, I really enjoyed this place for the entertainment value. I am very excited to get my 11 year old over there to play some pickleball, the golf simulator and try out the tenders. Definitely...

I planned a birthday party here for my husband last weekend. We had a lot of fun using the pickleball courts. I reserved 2 courts next to each other (courts 2 and 3). We had ample space for our party of 13 people and the courts were well kept. The food was delicious. A lot of spicy options, which didn’t bother me but for people who don’t like spicy their options were limited. We spent about $650 between court rental and food/drinks for 13 people, which wasn’t bad.

I feel like the website could include a lot more information than it does. I ended up having to call and ask the host a bunch of questions, which she seemed annoyed with.

Where they can definitely improve is service. My husband and I arrived 30 minutes early before our reservation and the hosts checked us in and we paid for the courts. They said to let the rest of our party know to stop at the front desk to sign waivers and get a wristband. Once our party arrived, however, the host had already forgotten that we already checked in. They said they did not see a reservation under our name and we’re trying to charge the courts to our friends checking in. I had to go back to the host desk and argue with them because they insisted I had not paid yet. The same people who had just checked me in 30 minutes earlier did not remember me whatsoever and continued to tell me that I had not paid yet.

The other part that was frustrating is before anyone ordered anything I asked our server if we could split checks because most of us were couples paying on separate checks. He said that was fine just to remember what we ordered so when we go to check out, he can separate them. When it was time to pay our tab, he said he could not do that and said we needed to pay the entire check on one card and people could just send us money individually.

He barely came back to check on us to make sure we were doing well or ask if we needed anything else or to order more drinks. There was another female server who was really good about refilling our drinks though.

He also failed to mention that gratuity was included on the check so I ended up doubling his tip on accident, which was really frustrating especially since we weren’t happy with the service and I feel he barely deserved the 20% included.

It was very surprising to me that the manager on duty did not stop by our courts at all to check in and make sure we were doing okay, especially considering the size of our party and how much money we were spending.

Overall, you’ll be happy with the facility and food but don’t expect much in the...

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Terrible Service and Quality

I recently visited this location for the first time, coming from Texas, where I usually visit a place called Chicken and Pickle (an amazing experience every time). I thought I’d try something new, and based on the location, this place seemed like a fun spot for food and drinks. Unfortunately, my experience couldn’t have been worse.

When we arrived, we mentioned we were new to the area, but the hosts greeted us with nothing but awkward silence, just looking at each other. After what felt like an eternity, we were finally directed to high chairs in the middle of the room, right next to the bar. No problem—I figured, “Not many people here, it’ll be a quick bite, then some fun.” How wrong I was.

The lady behind the bar leaned over our table and bluntly asked, “What do you want to drink?” I ordered a Coke, and my wife asked for a water. After about 10 minutes, the Coke arrived… flat and tasting off, and only one straw for the two waters. At this point, we asked our server for an additional straw and explained that the Coke was flat and tasted strange. We also placed our food order.

45 minutes later—yes, 45 minutes—there were about 12 employees in the area, running around, but no one checking on the customers. A family came in, sat down at a big table, then left after waiting for 20 minutes without any attention. The manager (I assume) noticed and asked what happened, but honestly, if they had been paying attention to any of the guests, they would have realized that no one was checking on us. Our water glasses were never refilled, and we had been forgotten.

When the food finally came, my burger was soggy and looked like it had been sitting around for a while. On the other hand, my wife’s food came fresh and hot. At this point, another table was seated, and they left after waiting. We should’ve taken the hint, but we stuck it out.

After the meal, I asked to speak with a manager. We paid the check, but then waited and waited. No manager came. Frustrated, we decided to leave. As we walked out, the staff was still talking about all the tables that were leaving.

In summary, this place is a huge disappointment. It looks nice, but it’s obvious they spent more time and money on the decor than on properly training their staff. $50 wasted on a soggy burger, cold pickles, and water. Honestly, I would’ve rather gone to McDonald’s.

Avoid this place at all costs—looks...