Restaurant Revisited: Whiskey Creek Steakhouse by Maria Russo in Shows, January 2nd, 2013
At Whiskey Creek Steakhouse in Keyport, Wash., Robert Irvine found not just poor food and a dark, drab interior, but also untrustworthy staff members. After just two days, Robert had established systems that would help the owners, Pat and Karan Ziarnik, regain control of their restaurant and slowly pay off debt, and the eatery reopened as a welcoming, sophisticated steakhouse with crowd-pleasing food. We checked in with Pat and Karan a few months after their Restaurant: Impossible renovation to find out how the restaurant is doing today.
Pat and Karan tell us that October was a “very busy” month at Whiskey Creek Steakhouse. Since Robert left, they’ve begun to pay back some of their debt, and their overall financial situation is now “better than before.”
Thanks to the new, effective systems in place, Pat and Karan perform “a lot more double checks” to deter costly staff actions. Recently two staff members were let go, “mostly because they were caught doing other wrongs,” they tell us.
Both owners are working at the restaurant daily, and they say that customers have told them the food looks “clean” now. The most popular menu items are “prime rib and rib eye steak,” they note.
Pat and Karan have yet to make time for a date together, but they explain, “We have a dog that thinks he is our son, and we are stuck with him 24-7, but we love him.”
More From Restaurant Revisited:
Rising Sun Bistro (December 19)
Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Missouri (December 9)
Bronk’s Bar and Grill (December 5)
Rohrer’s Tavern (November 28)
Poco’s on the Boulevard (November 21)
Oleander Bar and Grill (October 17)
Valley Inn (October 10)
Whistle Stop (October 3)
The Maple Tree Cafe (September 26)
Michele’s (September 19)
Paliani’s Restaurant (September 12)
Frankie’s (September 5)
Gusanoz (August 29)
Stella’s (August 8)
Italian Village (August 1)
Zandi’s (July 25)
The Main Dish (July 18)
Longbranch Steak and Seafood (July 11)
Horton’s Kids (June 13)
Pollard’s (May 30)
University Grill (May 23)
Ristorante Barolo (May 16)
Pappas (May 9)
Mama Lee’s (May 2)
Pelican Grill (April 25)
Valley View (March 14)
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More posts from Maria Russo.
Seems like the easiest solution would be to install cameras in the kitchen and bar area and let everyone know they are being watched. I wonder how many were sneaking liquor bottles and steaks out the back door.
I love the concept of this show. Helping people get back on their feet. Bravo Robert and Food Network
My heart goes out to these people with so many financial and health problems.
And shame on their staff for stealing from them. Talk about kicking someone when they're down
wow
just seen the show and read some of the post that people commented on the restaurant after it was done.
Im so very sad and disappointed that it didnt work for the kind,warm,loving couple.
Good management is the KEY.
Its a shame that they couldnt invest in one.
would have saved them so much in the long run.
prayers go out to both Pat &Karen with all your troubles andmost of all your health!!!!!!
We just ate there tonight. I did not see a for lease sign and things still looked like they did at the end of the show. Our server was wonderful, making sure our drinks were never empty and that we had everything we needed. The food was really good! The seafood chowder was delicious and the steak was great and the brownie dessert was too good! There were quite a few people in there for a Wednesday night. We decided to make the trip out there after seeing it on Restaurant Impossible. We will be back!
Some nice juicy ribeye and a bottle of whiskey – that's one of the best ways to enjoy a steak. The only thing missing is some bourbon sauce and a mountain of fries.
I've eaten lunch at Whiskey Creek since RI and it was wonderful. However, a group of my friends ate there in Feb. and most say they will never return. Most because of the awful service, some for the food, some for the temp (too cold). Have only seen the owners once! Do they really want this place to close? Work is WORK. Whats up?
Just visited this restaurant and will not return. The service was bad. They need a good lesson on customer relationship. Never been to a restaurant where I had to place my order when I first came in and pay for it before I even got seated. (That is not unless it was a buffet type meal.) Had to wait in line while others placed orders and then given a ticket and had to go to the bar to pay before finding myself a table. When orders came out your name was called and had to raise hand to let server know where you were seated. bad bad bad. The food was excellent but not worth the trouble and stress. They need someone from Mystery Dinner to come in a tell them how to run a restaurant and how to please customers. WILL NOT RETURN ANY TIME SOON.
Are you talking about the right restaurant here? I just ate there and was greeted kindly, seated, had delicious (a little spendy) food, and paid at the table. The atmosphere was great…but was difficult to tell staff from customers because they were not wearing the uniforms they were given on the show. The order was brought out wrong but once fixed the food was amazing. Just poor customer service for the price sadly.
Are you talking about the right restaurant here? I just ate there and was greeted kindly, seated, had delicious (a little spendy) food, and paid at the table. The atmosphere was great…but was difficult to tell staff from customers because they were not wearing the uniforms they were given on the show. The order was brought out wrong but once fixed the food was amazing. Just poor customer service for the price sadly.
Tonight my husband and I had our anniversary dinner at Whiskey Creek Steak House near Keyport,
It was cool to see the changes in person that I'd watched take place on TV — we sat right next to the wall they'd re-done with the wooden discs made from the former posts, the new window let in SO much light in the formerly dark dining room, the food was very very good. I had the NY steak, garlic potatoes, veggies. My husband had the 1/2 rack baby back ribs, baked beans, potato salad.
However – the wait staff failed to learn much of anything from Robert's visit.
The young man who brought us our water, spilled water across my husband's menu and left a puddle on the table. He said, "Sorry" and walked away.
When our waitress came, my husband picked up his menu and shook the water off ; she gave a little laugh, took our orders and started to walk away so he asked if he could please have a rag or something to clean up the water. "Oh! Sure!"…as if she was surprised he'd asked . …
Later the young man was wiping the tables next to us, wiping the spilled food off onto the floor — large enough pieces that I could see them fly and hit the floor. He wore the stylin' low hangin' jeans so I was getting a great look at his plaid undies as well.
There were three waitpersons and nine tables. Service was painfully slow and the wait staff kept gathering around the welcome desk, talking, laughing, and eating, leaving guests waiting for service, bill, etc.
SO, my overall review is that while the food was very good, I would not make plans to eat there again. Should friends want to meet there for dinner however, I would agree to do that. Robert Irvine would be sorely disappointed in the staff.
Are you talking about the right restaurant here? I just ate there and was greeted kindly, seated, had delicious (a little spendy) food, and paid at the table. The atmosphere was great…but was difficult to tell staff from customers because they were not wearing the uniforms they were given on the show. The order was brought out wrong but once fixed the food was amazing. Just poor customer service for the price sadly.
We had lunch today at the Creek. The service was excellent but the food was not. We learned they are moving their business across the street to a vacant restaurant, expanding the menu, and offering music and dancing, hopefully by the end of July. The building that currently houses Whiskey Creek is on the market and has been for years. We love Pat and Karin and we truly hope something good comes from all of this. No one wants to see hardworking, honest people fail in their endeavors. I hope this new change will return some of the old Creek magick back to the patrons and prove successful.
The owners are moving Whiskey Creek across the street to a vacant restaurant. Their business has not improved and they are blaming it on RI who "stole their soul". I just had lunch there last week and it was no-good. http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/jun/09/keyport…
Moving across the street to another building? I read this in the local paper the other day and couldn’t believe what I read. If Whiskey Creek was so down and out, so close to failing before the show, how in the world can they afford the money to relocate across the street? What is a building change going to do for them? It sounds like from all the bad comments and reviews they need to look within, poor management and terrible customer service is the problem. A new space is not going to change any of that.
I can’t believe the owners of Whiskey Creek are so ungrateful. To be that arrogant is just unbelievable. So who “stole whose soul”? What a waste of Restaurant Impossible time and money! Whiskey Creek owners should be made to pay every bit of the money back to Restaurant Impossible, so they can help a restaurant that really needs the help and would appreciate the effort time and money that Restaurant Impossible spent needlessly on them.
I totally agree that the owners are ungrateful and crazy to move across the street. I went there about a month after their episode on RI, and the waitress was too busy socializing with the drunks at the bar, who could barely walk out to their car…let alone drive home…that I will never go back for dinner
My wife and I were excited to go back after RI, and tried to go on holiday. We expected it to be busy, but it wasn't even close to as busy as we thought. We went into bar seating since there were plenty seats available. The bartender/waitstaff knew we were there and it took them probably 10 minutes to even get a glass of water, 15 minutes to even get drink orders. After 30 minutes of just waiting, we gave up. Not sure if it was because we chose bar seating over dining room seating, but that bad service prevented us from staying to taste the food. I guess you can't please everyone.
My best recommendation is go somewhere else. It's not worth the trip anymore!
one more item please, didn't quite get that……..
OMG…are you an internet idiot who can't contain how many times you post the same message? Or are you just a Troll/Shill for the restaurant?
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Well they do own them. But I was suspicious of their response when told of the "missing" money. they're probably going to get audited by the IRS now.