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.

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.

Dr. Carole Casteen, MD. , specializes in wet and dry AMD that normally is an ailment that shows…read moreitself later in life. Dr. Casteen always shows a deep personal interest in you with respect to the health of your eye. She has great passion in treating her patients. She stops and listens when you talk in explaining your symptoms and what concerns you. I highly recommend Dr. Carol Casteen If you are a member of Kaiser Permanente in Bakersfield. She treated me before in her private practice and now through Kaiser. !

Yes, Dr. Carole A. Casteen, M.D. is just one Superb Opthalmolojist. A very understanding, very…read morekind, friendly and caring Doctor and I can go on like this. She is knowledgeable and perfectly knows what exactly she does. My wife feels absolutely the same. Maria who works here is a wonderful, very helpful person absolutely. She manages pretty well. Great. My wife knows her too. All the very best to Doctor, Dr. Carole A. Casteen, M.D., and Maria. The Office is:, Calloway Eye Care and Optical on Calloway Drive, Bakersfield, California, USA. With Warm Regards, Sushila Vasan and Villivalam Vasan.

This doctor is a butcher. He permanently disfigured me when he did my eye surgery. My eyes are…read moreasymmetrical and one eye is a different size than the other. Don't let him touch you.

I went to Empire Eye to set up my cataract surgery, I got the name from United Health Care's…read morewebsite which indicated that they were "in network" I received the estimates and signed paperwork with Empire Eye and I thought I paid all my co pays and deductibles before the surgery. Surgery was performed at Empire Surgery which is in the same building but "out of network" and even though this was never disclosed and I was under the impression that I was dealing with Empire Eye, Empire Surgery bills separately and since they are "out of network" United healthcare only covered seventy percent of the cost. This resulted in an additional $685 charge a year and a half after the surgery.

In our experience, this was the WORST eye care my mom has ever received. Dr. George Alexandrakis…read morediagnosed my mom with glaucoma and put her on multiple eye drops. The drops always made her vision feel worse, and when my mom tried to tell him, he would get mad at her. At every visit, he would say her eye pressure was "very high" and repeatedly pushed surgery. When my mom said she wanted a second opinion, it REALLY pissed him off. Her drops were switched almost every visit, with no clear explanation and no improvement. Eventually we sought care elsewhere (ACE Eye Care). Over multiple visits, her eye pressure has been normal every time, and her new doctor performed far more thorough testing. Based on those exams, she was told she does not have glaucoma. The office environment was also extremely concerning. The office was dirty, dust throughout, restrooms that looked neglected, and exam rooms that did not feel clean. We personally did not see any equipment being disinfected between patients. While many reviews complain about the receptionist, he was actually polite. It seemed like the problem was understaffing, he looked overwhelmed since he was responsible for nearly everything in the office. Overall, this practice felt rushed and volume-focused rather than patient-focused. Its literally a MILL. We felt unheard, pressured, and uncomfortable. I would strongly encourage anyone considering this office to go somewhere else.

No stars, you are better off going somewhere else you call to make an appt and the dude front desk…read moreleaves you on hold forever and if you call back he just picks up and puts you back on hold, the Dr is just as lousy as his staff I drove down there to get an appt made since the receptionist can't multi task and the Dr was flat out rude and obviously too cheap to hire extra help

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 am generally very forgiving about waiting to be seen but must admit that today's visit was not as…read moreexpected. my wife had to wait two hours to be seen for an appointment she was on time for. The total time spent here: 3 hours. For a follow up exam. This is not the way to run a modern business of medicine. We've done PET scans in less than an hour.

Most of the staff and the Dr are very good at their jobs, but they pack the patients in, and only…read morehave 6 chairs in the waiting room. Everyone else is standing outside in the lobby.

Dr. Varma is the best and worth waiting for. I went to Dr. Walia prior to Dr. Varma and lost 25%…read moreof the vision in my right eye due to malpractice by Dr. W. I have glaucoma and Dr. Walia put me on an over the counter drug instead of working with my insurance to get the necessary prescription. My eye pressure was at 18-19 when I first saw Dr. Varma and now it is 8-9. I credit this doctor with saving what vision I do have left. He and his staff are always pleasant and knowledgable. Thank goodness I found him when I did or I could have lost more of my vision. Yes, sometimes you have to wait awhile, but isn't your vision worth the time? Thank you Dr. Varma for your service and expertise!

Dr. Walia and team are the most responsive and best ophthalmologists in Bakersfield. We have had…read moreother experiences with local practices but West Coast Eye Institute is by far the best. Highly recommend!

So my first experience here was great. I was seen in a timely manner and they gave me a great…read moreadvice. The second time I went in the appointment literally took two hours. So I had to reschedule work. And when I was finally seeing, I did get some great advice, but my prescription was supposed to be sent was never sent. So two weeks later I check on it and they say that I wasn't supposed to get a prescription. Of course, then they want me to have a follow up and check my progress. How am I supposed to get any sort of progress when they never sent the prescription? And now the doctors on vacation and the people that answer the phones don't know anything and they just want to schedule another appointment for my progress. I was always wondering why everybody had such a horrible time according to the yelp reviews and now I know why. It's all the same thing they never send the prescription. Nobody gets their prescription. I really wanted to get a new pair of glasses here. But I'm sure when I pay for my glasses, I will never get them. Because Glasses is also a prescription. This is why I continuously have go to extremely expensive overpriced places like Dr Ratty.