Great doctor! Professional and very helpful. Staff is very nice too…read more ***The downfall is the wait time. EXTREMELY long waits. Upto 21/2 hours for scheduled appts. ***Patient waiting area in the summer is so excessively hot, you feel nauseated. If you ask the staff about it, they tell you the blog manager has control of it. I mean...VERY hot!!!!

I have had an appointment with this place for months. And at this point, I am convinced that they…read moreare trying to do is screw with my sleep. They always give me a crackhead early appointment and then they call me to come in even earlier than that and then the morning of right when I'm ready to leave, they call me and cancel. This is the fourth time that they've done it now. What is going on? They always tell me that the "system is down." How could it be down every time I'm supposed to come in? OR How could it be down for months? It's literally been MONTHS!!!

February 2, 2026, is a day that I will not forget. Dr. Gupta is the doctor. I see every three…read moremonths. He has been watching a freckle behind my eye and a tear in my retina. My freckle has been stable until this visit, when it changed shapes, size, and now had fluid. When he told me that I knew right then I had cancer. He didn't have to tell me, but what he did say was, "we need to get you to Dr. Tara McCannel at UCLA." She is well renowned ocular surgeon and works with patients that have this rare cancer. Sis in one million are diagnosed. It's aggressive, and it likes to metastasize to the liver. Within the week, I was at UCLA having ultrasounds and scans confirming what I already knew. I wasn't sure I was going to share this information, and then one of my kids mentioned that it could help somebody else. Your regular eyeglass doctor will not see if you have a freckle behind your eye. It is a retina doctor that can see it and monitor it. Usually, by the time it's found, it's too big to possibly even save your eyesight or it has metastasize. So, people get your eyes checked don't let it go. Life gets busy, and we like to put things off thank God this was being watched. If you need a retina doctor, I highly recommend Dr. Gupta. *** after healing from a week of plaque radiation surgery something felt off. I returned to Dr. Gupta and he found that my retina had detached. Within a day I was having surgery again at UCLA. Thank you Dr. Gupta for taking great care of me. 4/29/26 4/29/26

Been waiting for two months for a follow up. Four hours ago, I get a text asking me to confirm my…read moreappointment. I said I will be there. Now I get another phone call saying they need to cancel my appointment and reschedule 6 weeks from now. This happens because they over book and you are not their priority, If, you have to go here expect a long wait time.

I suffered a sudden 90% loss of vision while under Dr Chawla's care. He at no time let me know I…read morewas in any danger of this substantial loss of vision. He never could give me a straight answer as to the exact cause and actually showed no emotion when i informed him of the findings of another DR. Patients BEWARE!!

Long wait time, and it doesn't matter what day or time your appointment is. Always over 2 hours…read more One good thing.....Dr. Chawla is great!

What is the first sentence of praise?…read more THANK YOU is the only one that comes to mind. And I'm not a guy who praises a lot. 5 months ago my wife had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. The removal caused permanent hearing loss and facial paralysis. The facial paralysis caused horrible eye pain. So much so most nights she cried. We have Kaiser insurance and those that do understand the lack of care. My wife kept waiting for an appointment to see an eye surgeon. Waiting and waiting and waiting. Nothing. Then one day I had enough. I researched Bakersfield for an eye surgeon who specialized in the treatment she needed. I am overjoyed that I found Bakersfield eye. I walked in without an appointment, asked for an administrator and from that conversation my wife's tears dried up. What Kaiser couldn't/wouldn't do in 5 months Bakersfield eye solved in three weeks. Compassionate professional care plus real people honesty. Can't thank them enough.

I have been a patient of Dr. David Hair for many years, and I want to start by saying that Dr. Hair…read moreis a wonderful doctor. I have always had great experiences with him, his technicians, and the staff who provide patient care. They have been professional, helpful, and kind, and I have never had an issue with this office in all the years I have been coming here. Unfortunately, my recent experiences with one particular front-desk employee have been very disappointing. I have repeatedly experienced a dismissive and condescending attitude and have felt as though I was being talked down to rather than helped. Even more concerning, I have witnessed this employee speak rudely and disrespectfully to other patients, including elderly patients. Seeing senior patients treated that way is especially upsetting and is not what I would expect from an otherwise excellent medical practice. I still think very highly of Dr. Hair and the rest of his team. My concern is specifically about the way patients are being treated by this one front-desk employee, and I sincerely hope management addresses it because this office has always been much better than this.

Just a quick stop in , spoke to Brianna at the front desk to get my prescription she was very nice…read moreand courteous as well as offering me a cold water instead of the room temperature ones that were sitting out i. The waiting room, another great experience with Empire Eye and Laser Center.

Be cautious when considering this eye center. I paid a large deposit for a LASIK consultation and…read morewas told in writing that it would be refunded if I was not a candidate. After my evaluation, I was informed that I was not a LASIK candidate but qualified for a different, more invasive surgery that I did not want. Despite their written refund policy, they refused to refund my deposit. The staff was very friendly during the consultation process, but communication changed once I declined the alternative procedure and requested my refund. I left several messages and was promised a callback, but never received one.

If I could give him & this office negative stars, I would here it is years later and still I do not…read moredrive. My vision is beyond frustrating. All I could say is there are so many other competent better doctors out there in my opinion do not waste your time on this person.. These are my senior years. I am supposed to be enjoying them having fun traveling and instead no I cannot drive. I cannot see good just Horrible now in my opinion this man should not have a license to do anything having to do with Vision or Surgery..

Had an appointment last week 6/17/2026, I stated I was 31 weeks pregnant, they proceed to tell me…read moreto come back today (06/24/2026) so I did just that. I was told I have two oil cysts on my eye and had to be removed, to which I agreed. I got to the institute at around 8:40, my appointment was at 9:15. I decided to walk out at 11:40 because the ophthalmologist, Dr. Steven M. Yaplee told me he preferred not to proceed with the procedure due to me being pregnant, and lidocaine being part of the procedure we decided to just wait a few more weeks. I was very disappointed and extremely dissatisfied with today's events. Being 32 weeks pregnant, that last thing I need is to be stressed out and feeling extremely annoyed. I am not sure if this was the staffs fault or the doctors, but I sat there and just completely wasted my time. I will not be going back, and I would NOT recommend such an unorganized setting and staff. The staff and ophthalmologist were and had been completely aware of my pregnancy and still decided to proceed to have me come back, booked 10+ people and myself at around the same time.

Love love love these ladies here and of course Dr.Varma the GOAT of the eyes. Had a lovely visit…read morewith my grandma and like always great hospitality of service made me feel so grateful. Forever Thankful

Very long wait....it's just ridiculous!! i understand that you have to wait at a doctors…read moreappointment for some unforeseen circumstances...But waiting for 2 hours with each and every visit doesn't make sense at all!! I come here with my dad for his appointments. He has anxiety issues and his blood pressure goes up whenever he sees a new or different provider. I'm just concerned about thats why we're stucked at this office. If i don't have to consider that, we would have changed provider a loooong time ago. If you have a choice and you have other options , find a different place that's professional enough to respect your time and schedule the same way as you respect theirs. And an advise to patients stucked at this office for some reason, bring stuff for you to do while you're waiting in your car and don't make any other appointments same day after your set appointment with this office coz you'll definitely be late for your next appointment. Ive learned the lesson the hard way when i mad another appointment for my dad 3 hours after his appointment here and still didn't make it to his cardiologist appointment across town....And be ready to wait in your car just to be safe instead of waiting in a crowded waiting room for hours. Take care of your own health and safety especially when this office isn't concern of anything else other than themselves .

I get tested/looked at between 3 & 4 times a year by my retina specialist!…read more Dr. Khaled Tawansy MD, he is a very awesome doctor and works out of the Los Angeles and Bakersfield, California areas! I trust him completely with my eyesight!!!!! Please, if you are ever in need of a retina specialist, make an appointment with him! The only number I have is for his Bakersfield California office... sorry! Dr. Khaled Tawansy 5000 Physicians #100 Bakersfield, CA 93301 661-846-4985

I've been coming here for years for my eye exams. While ownership has changed, the experience…read moreremains the same high quality. I had Dr. Pham for my most recent visit and I couldn't recommend her more. She is a true expert in her field with excellent bedside manor. Dr. Pham spent the time to get to know my eye health history and explore any concerns I had. She provided an excellent and thorough eye exam experience. The whole staff is very helpful and friendly. Alexia, who did the begin portion of my eye exam, was attentive and nice to visit with. Agnis helped me explore their selection of glasses, and while I didn't end up buying a pair she was very kind. Thanks to the whole team for a great experience. I'm very excited for my new prescription.

Today we decided to go shopping for our new glasses after putting it off for months due to my…read morehealth issues. As usually upon walking in you are greeted with a friendly smile and hello which is always a plus for customer service. We were given trays for our glasses while they checked on our coverage. They have a very nice selection of men and women glasses. We are always pleased with this business. Agnes is very nice and helpful... she was able to help myself and my husband with our selection process. After finding the glasses we both liked CeCe also very nice and helpful came over to assist us and everything went smoothly. We were able to both get the glasses we liked and Agnes help my husband with his old pair we purchased from them years ago. Great customer service as usual and we highly recommend them for your eye glass care. We'll upload pictures of our new glasses in a few weeks. Thanks ladies for everything.

Dr. Steven Yaplee is Superb ! His entire staff is beyond professiional & friendly. Always finding…read morehelpful ways to accomodate. My husband had to get both eyes done, and is wheelchair bound, and Dr. Yaplee & his staff did everything to thoughfully accoumodate my husband both times of surgery and going for regular visits.. My husband is extremely happy with the results of his eyes ! I would give more stars if I could. I recommend Dr. Steven Yaplee, Nothing stands in his way to getting the job done. Thank you Dr. Steven Yaplee & your entire Staff : )

My first visit took 4 hours they herd you in there like cattle when they call you wow how fast no…read morethere's a second waiting room!! Plus there nurses were rude and the doctor doesn't have any people skills!!