This is one of my favorite restaurants - especially for group gatherings after work. Â The food service is pretty quick, and the food selection/variety is nice. Â There seems to be something for everyone. Â I tend to eat their healthier, low calorie options, while some of my friends have the option to get something else. Â Plus, there are some fun drinks of the non-alcoholic variety that I can enjoy when my friends want to meet up for happy hour. Â While sometimes my steak can be hit or miss depending on who's cooking back there, the service follow-up is great. Â I've sent my steak back and a manager came out personally to make sure my next one was correctly cooked to my liking.
Review Source:Atmosphere good... food bad.
I had the Orange Chicken. The orange sauce was pretty good, but the chicken tasted like dry ash in my mouth, and even the white rice was too dry. I had Chinese broccoli and other veggies with my dish... I only received the stalks of the broccoli... none of the tops!!
But I like the feel of the inside (like the decor and the seating, etc), and our servers were all pretty nice. The bar is also good... they have tons of tvs, and they'll let you change one to a different game if you want.
I might come back here again if we have a huge group or something... but otherwise I'll pass.
On a recent visit, my tongue told me that the food here was bland and it was heated in the microwave; I found it amazing when my cousin's Marinara shrimp/chicken pasta came out 10 MINUTES after Miss Sweetie took our orders. Most of the group had appetizers and they were slightly warm. Hmmmm. Their menu is mainly Pacific Rim fusion and the prices are Denny's-esque.
I used to frequent the place when I was in college and it seems like they've gone downhill or maybe because my palate has grown more sophisticated or spoiled. I remember getting into an interpersonal conflict with my ex-best friend here over a girl, I threw salt in his face; I had issues. And I was being a typical Scorpio - gotta find something to justify it!
We took advantage of their happy hour and that made up for the bland food. The servers were efficient, friendly and polite, I can't say the same for the hostess cunts but it didn't bother me too much to holla at a supervisor 'cause no one really tips them anyway.
I'd return here only for birthday celebrations or when someone's paying for my food (it was in this visit!!).
:P
This restaurant was okay. Â For being so packed, you'd think the food was amazing, but I felt is was mediocre. Â It was good tasting, but nothing spectacular. Â I cannot remember the name of the meal I ordered, but it was a salad with shrimp, my BF had a shrimp sampler kind of plate which came with grilled shrimp, fried shrimp and one other item, and we shared the spring roll appetizer. Â The restaurant was quite loud, but we were there with a large group for a birthday, so that was no big deal. Â The service was great! Â The servers were very friendly and pretty attentive. Â One check was done incorrectly, but they were very quick to correct the error, and were not annoyed by having to do several split checks for our table. Â Overall - good, but not great!
Review Source:The Elephant Bar is just one of those chains that I just don't give two sh**s about. Â What is the concept here? Â Asian? Â Italian? Â African? Â I just Their menu is ridiculously long and nothing really stands out.
On the good side, the portions are huge, the service is fast and friendly, and the food isn't bad.
I'll come here if someone happens to be craving something off of the menu here, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
The food is good but they don't serve happy hour drinks to those that come in to dine. In fact they even short pour. They also need to work on cleanliness. We ate there last night and the first thing we noticed was a previous diners food on one of the menus we were given. Next we unwrapped the silverware from our napkins and one of the knives had a crusty piece of green lettuce or spinach on it. We told the server who in turn must have told the manager as he came over to apologize. He said that he would adjust our bill for the inconvenience. He didn't.
Review Source:Service was top notch without question. We did not need or want for anything the entire time our server was very attentive.
I'm a little lost how African safari has anything to do with Asian food but that a small thing. Our booth had a huge rip in it exposing the guts, and the table was quite wobbly. Seems like little fixes to make it great.
As far as the food my wife greatly enjoyed her seared ahi tuna salad. I had a french dip with the signature 3 cheese mac n cheese. The bun needed to be toasted so that the juice (not the au jus) from the beef doesn't cause the bread to become soggy and paste-like. The mac n cheese was ridiculously over cooked. Pasta is supposed to be slightly firm when it is finished cooking. This stuff was almost the consistency of baby food. Mushy, gummy, mashed up mess. Flavor was very good on everything so as I said some little fixes and this place could be great.
Wife also had some pineapple and caramel cake dessert she enjoyed. I ordered a red velvet cupcake sundae on the menu. The waitress came back after a while and informed me they didn't have it anymore. If it isn't stocked and served anymore TAKE IT OFF THE MENU.
All in all price is ok for the value. I'll consider going back again.
We average coming here about once every two months. Â Our experiences had always been good. Â This last time though, was not so good. Â I would give the food 3.5 stars. Â The service was only 1.5 stars. Â I ordered the Classic "Big E" Cheeseburger which was fine. Â My companion really enjoyed her Wood fired Honey Mustard BBQ salmon. Â The rest of our party also liked their orders. Â For our first time here, the service was not good. Â The waitress was inattentive and it took a long time to get our food. Â The restaurant was not even busy at the time we were there. Â We will still come back because the food is good. Â Hopefully, the service will be back up to par for the future.
Review Source:My mom and I like to go to this place every few weeks or so. The waiters are nice and relatively attentive, depending on who you get. There is a good selection of food so you can try something different every time if you choose.
What's really cool about elephant bar is their coupons, which are in the new paper pretty frequently. The last time we went, we used our two for one entree coupon that also included a free creme brulee for dessert!
One of our favorite entrees is the lamb shank, the meat falls right off the bone and the gravy makes it succulent. They also have a bar with several televisions and a good drink selection as well.
My overall experience at EB was not bad. The food was pretty good, I ordered the Shrimp Scampi and their New York Strawberry Cheesecake. Both were delicious.
I really liked our  first waitress. She was super helpful( she checked up on us repeatedly) and fun. At one point, she had to leave because her shift ended and she came to let us know and even sat with us for a while to chat and apologize for leaving. Our second waitress was not that great but that might have been because the first girl was awesome. With the second waitress there was a slight attitude: My dad ordered a Corona and about ten minutes later she came asking if we wanted dessert, once we ordered my dad told her, "Hey you never brought me my Corona" to that she replied, "Yes, I did, it's over there" pointing at the bar.
I thought that was almost like a snap back retort. It didn't matter that she got the corona out, if she hadn't brought it to our table that was still an issue. After that she only returned again with the check.
We also had a slight issue at the beginning when we arrived. We had made a reservation but for some reason, that the staff didn't really explain, there was a mistake made with our reservation and we had to be seated at the bar rather than inside the restaurant. So that was weird.
Other than that reservation issue and the second waitress's little mistake and lack of enthusiasm, everything else was good.
The things that I like about Elephant Bar are pretty simple. I love that they offer things at a reasonable price, and the diverse menu makes it easy for many people to find something they enjoy that you typically wouldn't find all in one place. I usually go with the spring rolls, the sushi, or the seared ahi tuna. I've always had really great tuna and sushi, it's one of my favorite things to eat in town. For a chain restaurant, that's pretty awesome!
I don't know what's happened lately, though. The service has gotten TERRIBLE. My friend and I (young-twenty-somethings) arrived about five-ten minutes before a couple that was maybe ten years older than us. They seated the other couple first in a nice area away from the hustle and bustle noises of the kitchen and bathroom, and stuck us right near it! It could have been a fluke, but the location we sat in was SO noisy and awful. I was irritated we didn't get the better table even though we were there first. But okay, I can overlook that.
The Ahi I ordered yesterday wasn't even seared. It was cold and completely raw. I tried to get the attention of the waiter to take it back and he didn't even come to our table for nearly twenty minutes despite empty drinks, dirty salad plates, and both of us needing to complain about our food. He didn't make eye contact when he DID show up, and we could barely understand what he was saying because he was rushing through it and didn't answer ANY of our questions. He was SO rude. The only time he even refilled our drinks and spoke slowly and politely was when he brought the check, clearly because he wasn't the tip. He didn't even notice I barely touched my food, and didn't give me a chance to get A SINGLE word in edgewise. Seriously, I couldn't believe how rude he was.
The awful service and the terrible food have made me question my loyalty to this local installation of an above-average restaurant chain. Get it together, EB.
Tonight we went to EB for my nephews B DAY. The parking lot was completely jam packed with people fighting for a parking space, but this is also because they share a parking lot with CPK next door. Â Even though the restaurant was crowded, we were sat fairly quickly by a very nice young gentleman who also gave us menus and explained some of the specials, we were next greeted by our very nice waitress who took our orders. Â I ordered the lettuce wraps which I did not care for, the rest of my family loved their food, crispy chicken terriyaki, chicken pasta, and a steak sand. Â The only thing I enjoyed were the sweet potato fries. Â I disliked my food and sent it back and it was NOT taken off of our bill, however I did not complain.
We mentioned several times that it was my nephews BDay but I guess they do not do anything for peoples BDays unless you specifically ask them to.
All in all my experience was just  . . meh.  I might go back if asked to go with someone but I will not go out of my way to eat here again.  My food was awful and I left hungry.
I have to admit that I was excited when I found out Elephant Bar was coming to Bakersfield. Â I had eaten there once or twice when I was in other cites. Â My first impression of the place was good. Â It didn't take long for the Elephant Bar in Bakersfield to change my opinion. Â The food and service is consistently poor. Â After visiting the place 5-6 times, I decided that I wouldn't go back. Â I haven't been back since. Â I do agree with Casey R. on the Bar area. Â I have stopped by for a drink (only a drink) and it was a good experience. Â I would stay away from the food. Â By the way, their menu is ridiculously huge! Â They hold the record for number of dishes that suck!
Review Source:There are several reasons for which people go to the Elephant Bar. I would say that your experience will hinge on what your expectations are going in. You can go for a regular meal, drinks at the bar, or appetizers and small plates of food with drinks at the bar. First, the regular food at the restaurant is overpriced and not that great. Second, the bar area is actually quite nice with reasonably priced drinks (especially during happy hour). Third, the appetizers and small plates of food you can order at the bar are actually pretty tasty. I would recommend going here for the bar and bar menu, but not the full price menu in the restaurant. The burger combo, the big burrito, and the chicken lettuce wraps are all things that you'll probably enjoy.
Review Source:Elephant Bar is the kind of place you go to for large-party celebrations, such as the one I was invited to last night. EB is particularly good for that; the service is very professional, there is a "something for everyone" kind of menu, and I happen to LOVE the over-the-top "wild" theme used in decorating every square inch of the place. Elephant bar is all about the visual and social experience.
What EB is not about is any kind of authenticity. Yes, the asian dishes--like all of their "global" dishes -- Â are Americanized. I had to stifle a snort at 8 bucks for 3 Vietnamese spring rolls..but this is Bako after all, and where else would you get spring rolls in this city?
Everybody seemed satisfied with their meals, and I couldn't complain about my macadamia-crusted Mahi. The Kona BBQ pork ribs were aiight, the sweet potato fries were aiight, the three cheese macaroni was pretty good. The guest of honor reported that his Wonton Sundae was aiight. Nobody gushed about their food, but nobody griped, either. The only fail was the kids' cheeseburger.
All in all, a solidly earned 3 stars for an A-OK dining experience.
Was in Bako for work today. Met some friends for dinner to catch up and let traffic die down before driving back to LA. We got there early (5PM) and it wasn't crowded. By the time we left the place was getting crowded.
SERVICE: Our waitress was great. She kept checking in with us with drinks, food, dessert. She was friendly.
FOOD: I got the seared ahi tuna salad with ginger soy dressing. I thought it was great and only 500 calories! We also ordered the lettuce wrap appetizer. That was good too.
DESSERT: We got the mini brownie sundae. It was meh. The whipped cream looked like the store bought kind. It was just OK.
LOCATION: My Garmin told me the restaurant was on the left but it was on the right. Large free parking lot.
I went there to watch the Bulls-Heat game and while the prices on their happy hour menu were great, the service and overall experience was lacking. We ordered two orders of buffalo tenders and we were first brought two orders of calimari... then one order of buffalo tenders... and then finally our correct order. We also tried to order two burgers and despite never being asked about fries, one came with regular fries and one with sweet potato fries.
Tv placement is also sub par. There is basically no good seat unless you turn a stool around at the bar. The tables in the bar area are directly under the TVs and at bad angles for all of the other ones so if you are really interested in whatever is on, find another bar.
The buffalo tenders were great though and a lot of food for only $4 during happy hour. Beer prices and selection were also good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Overall not a bad option.
Elephant Bar is like that guy that you all know that just tries way too hard. Â We all know him; you invite him to the park for a quick game of football and he comes dressed head-to-toe in UnderArmour gear, complete with eyeblack. Â Elephant Bar is that guy.
The thing is, the price isn't that bad, so you can't really complain too much; it was just under the line with what other theme restaurants charge. Â The food was unremarkable but the drinks were creative. Â A true rating would be "meh, I've had better." Â But that would be a little harsh, so I'll give it three stars because I didn't have a bad time and ate my leftovers the next day.
Elephant Bar...what can I say about you? There is not much I like about you. The decor is obnoxious. The food is no good. The service consistently sucks and yet you still fill the place to the raptures almost every night because the hard working public need their strawberry lemonades and an Americanized version of any Italian or Asian dish you could think of.
When I do frequent this blinged out safari it is normally for the bar. They have decent drinks and the bar staff is definitely better than the wait staff. However I would never choose to come here on my own accord. I only come here if invited as I have friends who enjoy this place. They are the friends who love their spring rolls with peanut sauce and bruschetta with tomatoes that are not in season. I'm sure not everything here is bad but I'm not going to eat it all to find out. I'll stick with beer.
I went here for a friend's birthday along with about thirteen other people. It was fairly busy that night but we did get a table in a reasonable amount of time. Our waiter was excellent, he took care of the whole table on his own and didn't mess up or forget a thing.
The food here is a bit pricey but when it comes to their seafood dishes they aren't stingy. I ordered the appetizer sampler which was very good and had a lot of food on it. So much that I ended up taking half of it home. Everyone at our table was trying everyone else's food and I can say I didn't taste anything I didn't like. Everything tasted excellent.
The decor was interesting, more of a modern take on something you would see in a 1940's era safari tent. The lighting was dim, and I loved that you could see the kitchen.
Over all it was a pleasant experience with good food.
-I went here a while back. The decor is interesting and the bar looks cool. The food my wife and I had was tasteless. I had jambalaya which looked the part but all I could taste was Tabasco. My wife had some sort of pasta with white sauce that again was flavorless.
- I've seen some people say that their creme brulee is great, what!?! Â I hope they changed it since I went but if they haven't then some people have never had a real creme brulee. Theirs was just vanilla pudding with burnt sugar on top, I'm sorry that is not creme brulee, that is a cheap imitation of one, just like the rest of the food I tried.
-I will probably give this place one more shot, mainly because I have a gift card. If I have a better experience I'll update. Guess I'll have to try some of their Asian inspired dishes.
Really don't understand the awful reviews for Bakersfield's E-Bar! It's one of our favorites. Food is always really flavorful and fresh. Mixed drinks and desserts are fantastic. It's a little overpriced but always good in my opinion. Never had bad service. Gets busy on weekends...because a lot of people want to eat there. Sure there are restaurants that do this kind of food cheaper and better. But not in Bakersfield. So grading on that curve (and because personally I like it)...five stars.
Review Source:if you are here, you are not here for the food. Â or the service. Â
you are here because you have been told that this is one of the 2 places to hang out in bakersfield if you're under 30 (or look it) oh but whoops maybe 40 (since youi probably have money to spend). Â there are cooler places to hang out with better food, but honey -- you're in bakersfield. Â don't be pretending you're in l.a. or san francisco. Â leave and go find shogun. Â you'll have a better time especially when i get my review of it up on here.
This review is for the bar.
We sat down and was ignored for a good five minutes. Â I'm not too sure why. Â I saw what looked like the manager, telling the bartenders that we had been waiting. Â
My brother wanted a shot of Hennesey, but they didn't have it. Â So then we asked for Southern Comfort, didn't have that either. Â You've got to be kidding me. Â If you own a bar, you need to carry these two liqueors, it's standard.
These were the worst bartenders. Â They weren't nice, or friendly. Â They were snobs. Â This town needs to lighten up, and smile more.