Elephant Bar (closed)

[sweetdaisy]

I ate at the Elephant Bar for lunch today, and for all the "hype", I wasn't really that impressed with the food. Perhaps it's a fantastic place for happy hour and the like, but my friend and I were both a little disappointed in our meals.

I had the fresh fish with the Roasted Macadamia Nut Beurre Blanc Sauce and she had Stir-Fried Sesame Chicken. Both of us used the salt frequently trying to get some flavor added to these lame dishes. Perhaps I made a poor choice in my meal? The menu items look amazing, so maybe I was expecting more from the place. I'll try the restaurant again in the future, but I won't hold my breath.

Anyone else have an experience there that was better? Can you recommend a more flavorful dish?

[escan]

I wasn't excited AT ALL about going to the Elephant Bar, but thought I'd give it a try since it's so close to my house. I try to steer clear of all chain restaurants, so didn't expect to be impressed, but actually was! My husband had the grilled catfish with a tropical fruit salsa and I had a grilled shrimp salad and they were both excellent.

I went back for Happy Hour one evening for the half priced appetizers and ordered the lettuce wraps. They were good, but not wonderful...I like them a little spicier (like at Pei Wei...another chain I gave a try!!), but they were still tasty. Maybe I just picked well, but I was really pleased. The service was great as well. I have heard from others that they haven't enjoyed it, but I'll def. be back.

[metro]

Yeah, I've heard a lot of people aren't too impressed with this place.

[BDP]

And the serach for flavor at a chain restaurant continues...

[Patrick]

I ate there tonight as was actually very impressed. I had the Shrimp Platter and my wife had the firegrilled salmon. Excellent. No complaints. Great service. We had a specialty drink called the Mango Raspberry Swirl, which was delicious.

[sweetdaisy]

Hmmm...sounds like others are having success at this place. I will definately try it again.

Thanks for the feedback, folks!

[Patrick]

It might just depend on what you order, as with any restaurant.

[Luke]

The calimari is excellent. The sauce that comes with it is delicious. The burgers are darn good. The chicken salad sandwich was amazing.

We've had good luck. And the 30 minute wait we had for a weekday lunch indicates they aren't hurting for business.

[Easy180]

I too wasn't that impressed w/ the chicken/macadamia dish, but went again and the Chinese food we had was much better...Not as good as Pei Wei, but close

[metro]

My gf and I ate their last night. Unfortunately I had no appetite so I just ordered an appetizer and dessert. My gf ordered the strip steak sandwich which was an 8oz New York Strip steak on an open faced sandwich with onion straws. I had a bite or two and it was amazing. The portions were definitely very generous on about everything. For an appetizer we got the baked garlic bread for 2.95. Again, the portions were huge, 4 very large slices. For dessert we had the Fudge Brownie Sundae. It was okay but not outstanding.

The service on the other hand I thought was just ehhh. The hostess forgot to buzz us with the little buzzer and she sat 3 groups that arrived after us. Keep in mind we were only a party of two. The waiter then took forever to come to our table with menu's and to take our drink order. After finally bringing back our food, we had to track him down to take our order. After our food arrived we still had not received any silverware or napkins. We had to track him down for those as well. Had to wait a long time for our refills as well. I was waiting without a drink for a good 10 minutes.

All in all I say the food is excellent and the portions are generous but the service is lackluster at best. I'll be writing the manager a letter today.

[Pete]

I like their Asian-influenced menu but as stated earlier, a chain restaurant is always going to take the safe route when it comes to flavoring and spicing it's food.

By definition, they are trying to cater to a very broad audience and for every person wishing for more boldness, you have 50 who would complain about the same.

I like the atmosphere and variety on their menu, but for truly interesting fare the small, family-run places will always be a better choice.

[metro]

Malibu, what did you think about their service, or have you eaten at the one at Penn Sq.?

[Pete]

Service at the ones out here (Cali) is fine.

I haven't been to the one at PS.

[PhilTLL]

I had a pretty good experience there a couple of weeks ago. I had the "MisoYaki" pork chops, which had a sweet, thin glaze over good stirfried vegetables and much-too-garlic-laden potatoes. The chops themselves were large, tender and flavorful, though. Service was adequate, not amazing.

[Turanacus]

I ate at Elephant Bar twice, food was barely decent, service was bad first time but really bad the second time. I thought after my second visit that it may be the worst service from any restaurant I had ever been to. I was proved wrong - shortly after I visited the Elephant Bar in Tulsa, I learned it has the worst service ever, from any restaurant. I'm done with giving these jokers chances for redemption. Too bad such a sweet location is being wasted by that joint.

[Patrick]

My wife and I ate here at the Elephant Bar in OKC, and then again at the Elephant Bar in Tulsa. I ordered the Seafood Platter both times. It was a little pricey at $13.95 for the plate, but it was really good. I'd have to say it might be what you order at Elephant Bar. If you haven't tried their Seafood Platter I encourage you to try it, especially if you like shrimp.

[Easy180]

I've heard on here that the Elephant Bar in Tulsa is much better than the one in OKC

[u50254082]

Went here for the first time today for lunch...

The atmosphere and cleanliness of the place were top notch, as well as the overall design.

Waitstaff was very competent and courteous, quick to bring our drinks.

I ordered the steak and my buddy ordered the ribs, but the menu seems to have everything from appetizers to large salads to sandwiches to burgers to Asian to American, including a very decent drink page.

The food came within 30 minutes of ordering and the portions were appropriately sized and the presentation was on par. My steak was cooked to perfection and had just the right softness and toughness that makes meat, meat.

Now, here's where I had a problem. The food was bland. The rice, grilled vegetables and even the side of BBQ shrimp I had were lacking in DEPTH of flavor; they all had an initial taste, somewhat, but eventually you were just chewing on something with a texture. Sure, I could have added salt and steak sauce, but any foodie will tell you that extra seasoning shouldn't be necessary.

The on-duty manager was courteous enough to stop by and see how we were doing, which was a nice touch.

Prices were about average for this category of eatery (Applebees, Chilis, etc).


Final thoughts: Unless my experience was just a horrible mistake and the food is normally great, I'm staying away. I can make bland food at home that will fill me up-- I go out to eat because I enjoy it when food is cooked with lots of flavors and is an experience for the senses. Sure the restaurant is nice, the staff is efficient, and the bar looks killer, but when the one thing that a dining establishment capitalizes on isn't so great, there's something wrong.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Sounds about like my experience the one time I ate there.

I remember the food being very edible, and everything else being better than average (other than my company).

I have no idea what the prices were like. I dumped my date right about the second bite of dessert, dropped $60 on the table, and walked out. Yes, she really deserved it. Actually...She should have paid. But I'm too cool to stiff somebody with the bill, even a *insert colorful name* like her.

Come to think of it, I should go back...As my date was most likely the cause of that bitter taste in my mouth...Not the appetizer.

[AFCM]

I've always enjoyed the Bankok Pad Thai dish.



Perhaps you could give that a try if you dine the Elephant Bar again.

[tuck]

Went here for the first time today for lunch...

The atmosphere and cleanliness of the place were top notch, as well as the overall design.

Waitstaff was very competent and courteous, quick to bring our drinks.

I ordered the steak and my buddy ordered the ribs, but the menu seems to have everything from appetizers to large salads to sandwiches to burgers to Asian to American, including a very decent drink page.

The food came within 30 minutes of ordering and the portions were appropriately sized and the presentation was on par. My steak was cooked to perfection and had just the right softness and toughness that makes meat, meat.

Now, here's where I had a problem. The food was bland. The rice, grilled vegetables and even the side of BBQ shrimp I had were lacking in DEPTH of flavor; they all had an initial taste, somewhat, but eventually you were just chewing on something with a texture. Sure, I could have added salt and steak sauce, but any foodie will tell you that extra seasoning shouldn't be necessary.

The on-duty manager was courteous enough to stop by and see how we were doing, which was a nice touch.

Prices were about average for this category of eatery (Applebees, Chilis, etc).


Final thoughts: Unless my experience was just a horrible mistake and the food is normally great, I'm staying away. I can make bland food at home that will fill me up-- I go out to eat because I enjoy it when food is cooked with lots of flavors and is an experience for the senses. Sure the restaurant is nice, the staff is efficient, and the bar looks killer, but when the one thing that a dining establishment capitalizes on isn't so great, there's something wrong.

The "bland food" problem that you experienced is really a common problem among most chain restaurants. They usually hit all of the service points; however, the ability to reach that depth of flavor you are referring to is what seperates the great chains from the rest.

The Elephant Bar people are direct descendents of The Cheesecake Factory...menus are fairly similiar with "global" offerings and $15 price point.

My suggestion: Stick with the independents!!!

[metro]

Here's the other review thread on Elephant Bar if you want to read others comments: http://www.okctalk.com/food-court/67...t=elephant+bar

[Pete]

Yes, chains by definition are trying to reach a very wide audience and therefore have mass-produced (and conceived) food and will always flavor to the bland side so the fewest possible people complain.

I like happy hour at EB, as they have good drink specials and some 1/2 price appetizers. It's a nice-looking place which is more than most chains.

[u50254082]

When I say bland, I mean the food had absolutely no flavor. I'm usually pretty satisfied when I eat at places like Chilis, Spaghetti Warehouse, etc..

It's not necessarily a bad thing for Elephant Bar, since everything else was done right.

Maybe I just went on a bad day?

[windowphobe]

I've only been there once; I thought the food was pretty decent and the service was above average.