Not What It Was!
I went to the Crystal Place several years ago and it was the absolute best. We went last night and it was horrible. The food is bad. Green beans raw, steak not prepared as ordered, way overpriced for the poor quality. When Buck was alive, I considered this restaurant to be excellent and well worth the money. Last night we spend over $300 on food we could not eat. The band was great and our waiter was attentive, however, these do not override the bad. If I return it will be for drinks and to listen to the band. I will not eat there again. And to make it worse, I recommended this night out to family here from out of town.

Oh yeah --- they also tried to seat us at different tables when we had reservations.    [16 Sep 2006 20:07:08]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­Anonymous   

Bucks' Customer Service Sucks
I've been to the Crystal Palace quite a few times. As a Bakersfield native, I've been there mostly to entertain out-of-town guests. The last and final time was when my family and I took a guest from China and expected at least adequate service and food. The food was marginal. A specific request was made to leave the bacon bits off the salad, it came with bacon bits and although we asked that it just be removed from the table, they left it on the bill. They left us hanging for at least 30 minutes, until a manager finally came by and had to be convinced to fix the bill. Then upon further inspection of the bill, they had added an extra $25 entry fee of some sort. We confirmed that the hostess did not advise us as to any fee for entry whatsoever; they insisted that we "must have been told," but they could not find anyone at the hostess stand to back up that b.s.

The evening ended with the charges paid but in dispute. They actually threatened to call the police if I didn't pay the extra charges. I am disputing the charge with the credit card company to see if they can help resolve the matter that way. Many out-of-town friends and relatives are interested in the Palace; sorry to say that the attitude of the managers and some of the servers is brutish, and I will advise all not to bother with the place and settle for a postcard. I met and dined with Mr. Owens many years ago; he was quite gracious, and he'd be embarrassed by the service at his restaurant now.    [05 Sep 2008 21:08:19]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: None

     ­Anonymous, Bakersfield, CA