Ripples Estate Winery & New Wave Distilling — Attraction in Abbotsford

DO NOT GO TO RIPPLES TO CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS OR SPECIAL OCCASIONS! I’ve been to ripples a handful of times before and had good experiences, enjoyed lovely events they’ve hosted-but this last time I went will be my last visit. I reserved a table for myself and 4 friends to celebrate a birthday, we wanted to bring a cake and balloons in so I requested this in the reso. 10 minutes prior to our arrival time I received a phone call from the staff stating we are not allowed to bring a cake in due to a no outside food policy… understandable. I then clarified that the balloons we wished to bring in were okay, and was refused due to health/safety due to the heated patio. Fine. We had no time and no notice to change the plan, because the woman who called me (our server no doubt) gave me no notice. So we had to go forth with the reservation anyways. The server was so unfriendly and seemed annoyed by our presence. Not to mention we were the ONLY table in there. My friend ordered the soup of the day without knowing (or being told) that it contained beef-she does not eat beef. She politely told the server and apologized, but our server met her with ignorance. The server looked at the rest of the guests at the table and said “can’t you just switch with someone?” Suggesting we’d swap our meals for hers … who does that? Eventually the soup was sent back and she got a new meal. There was an elderly lady who brought the replacement meal that made up for our servers poor hospitality, she was friendly and apologetic for the mishap. However, our servers unkind nature and behaviour made this worst experience at a restaurant I have ever had. I would not recommend going here for any special occasion. To tie in all in a shitty bow, we asked the server for if she has plastic forks to spare so that we could share the birthday cake we brought for our friend in the parking lot…and she gave us a smug smile and said “no, we don’t.” It wasn’t until my friend had a visceral reaction to her blunt decline that she changed her mind and told us she might have “gross wooden ones if we wanted that”. Well… yes you ill-mannered woman a wooden fork is better than our hands… so we agreed, thanked her for the forks, and celebrated our friend with a parking lot cake. What a joke. I am in utter disbelief by the rude behaviour of this staff member and I hope this reaches her, and anyone else researching ripples for a celebratory evening. Do. Not. Go.

EDIT & RESPONSE : The outside food and balloons could have been understandable had your staff contacted us with notice. We would not have come with those ridiculous rules. The balloons being a hazard with the propane heaters could make sense if the heaters were even on... it was freezing and we were all in blankets. Just an all around terrible experience, we could have let go of the cake and balloon drama but it was all together awful due to the ignorance of our server. As for the soup, you did not have any information about it lol it was just "soup of the day", which by the way beef is not a key ingredient. (Minestrone (/ˌmɪnəsˈtroʊni/, Italian: [mineˈstroːne]) is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables and beans, and sometimes pasta or rice. It typically includes onions, celery, carrots, leaf vegetables, stock, Parmesan cheese, and tomatoes. Minestrone traditionally is made without meat, but it has no set recipe and can be made with many different ingredients). Regardless-the argument is not the ingredients but how rude the server was about the mishap. Your suggestion about dietary restrictions is laughable as I can only imagine the reaction from this woman had we of inconvenienced her with allergy information. She should not be working in this industry, this is no way to run a successful business and I am even further displeased by the lack of accountability in your response. However, I’m not surprised reading through more reviews lol. Good luck maintaining any kind of positive reputation with your inability to right your wrongs and provide a positive experience to...

For my 60th birthday, my husband treated myself and a relative to what was supposed to be a lovely lunch and afternoon at "Ripples" out in Abbotsford.

We drove over an hour from Coquitlam to get to Ripples and arrived at 12:15.

While waiting to be seated, the staff had some hushed conversation, and after the host seated us she returned and advised "I guess I will be your server today", which she did not seem overly pleased about.

We had one drink each, and ordered the charcuterie board to share at the table ... our intention was to relax and enjoy the lovely ambience, then have lunch afterwards.

After our first drink and eating the charcuterie board, we wandered the garden areas then entered the tasting room where we enjoyed very small samplings of the various spirits made on site.

We returned to our table and ordered a second drink around 2:00, We sipped our second drink until about 3:15 then ordered lunch with a 3rd drink ... we had planned to stay all day, until they closed at 6:00.

Shortly after placing our order, at approx 3:30 the Manager came to our table and announced that their 'system' had sent an alert that we had ordered too many drinks and she attended our table to ask if we 'had a safe drive home'.

She then went on to say that the seating for the tables is only for 2 hours and that another party would be needing this table.

We were dumbfounded and asked, "oh, Do we have to leave then? Is there another table we can move to? Do we need to cancel our order then?". Of note, there were vacant tables visible and available.

It was almost embarrassing to be confronted in front of all the other customers. We were definitely being 'un-invited' to stay, and instead being invited to leave. We suddenly felt very unwelcome.

We then noticed that the table right beside us who were pounding back flights of wine, bottles of wine, and pints of beer, were not advised that the system had raised an 'alert' about them having a safe right home, or being confronted that they were staying too long.

Perhaps we overstayed our welcome because we were not spending enough?

We were prepared to leave when the same manager returned and said "no need to cancel your order, well, we have two other tables of 4 available so we will use them first before we need your table".

She further stated that the tables have a 2 hour rotation cycle, and that this was stated on their web site; We checked, and there is no such statement on the Ripples site that you are only allowed to stay for 2 hours!

Why then did she confront us and make us feel we needed to leave immediately to free up the table?

She absolutely spoiled our special occasion, soured the pleasant conversations we were having, and made us feel like scolded children.

Honestly, none of the servers seemed happy or cheery, there were few smiles to be seen, and the only happy and friendly worked there was the hard working lady bussing the tables.

We ate our lunch, sipped on our 3rd drink but did not finish them, and left there saddened and disappointed at approximately 4:30 for our over one hour drive back home ... observing that by then half of the tables were empty.

The manager lady sensed our disappointment and gave our guest 2 complimentary drink cards which was a little strange as there were 3 of us, and it would have been more appropriate to give them to my husband whom they know was the person who made the reservation ... not to mention that was a lame attempt of conciliation after the damage was done and we were already departing and disappointed.

When I first arrived, I said I would totally go back because it was so cute ... now, I will absolutely not go back, and I am quite astounded to realize how such poor personal interactions and treatment can blemish and negatively impact even the cutest of places.

Ripples has a wonderful location and ambience, however the staff and customer treatment left a lot to be desired and I suggest they may wish to re-evaluate their...

This was my first time at Ripples Winery, and the atmosphere was pleasant, but the service was horrible! My family and I drove an hour out from Burnaby, BC thinking we would have a fantastic experience though it was everything but that. Once we arrived, we were taken to our table. Our waitress did not tend to our table for a while, and another waitress had come and given us water and asked if our assigned waitress had come, but she hasn't. Soon after she arrived, without a "hello, how are you guys doing" or "hi welcome to Ripples Winery," she ONLY looked at her paper and pen and said, "do you guys know what you'd like to order." We stated no, as we were not ready. She came back and took our orders, and again, did not make any eye contact with us while speaking. We ordered our food and drinks and soon later received them. Our order consisted of Italian meatballs and a charcuterie board with some drinks. After that, we never saw our waitress for a very long time. Once received, we noticed that our meatballs were stone cold and that there were nuts on the charcuterie board. My sister had a severe allergy to nuts and was unaware that the board would have them. We then asked another employee to seek out our waitress to ask to have the nuts removed. Once our waitress had arrived, she showed no concern and told my family to eat around the nuts, which was shocking. She then told us that she wouldn't take it back as it has been placed on our table, and we can purchase another charcuterie board, as we did since she gave us no other option besides my sister having to "eat around the nuts".

Halfway through our stay, we observed her behaviour towards us and the difference between how she was treating my family versus others. She never came back to our table, and I had asked another employee where our waitress was, and his simple reply was, "I will go get her". I then watched the employee go towards our waitress to state that our table needed assistance; with my own eyes, I visibly saw her shrug her shoulders and then our table was given a new waitress without notice. Being a person of colour and how this waitress was treating my family and me, her behaviour felt very racist. From the moment my family and I arrived, it was apparent she held something against us. She did not engage in conversation, nor a simple "hello, how are you" was spoken. The table beside us was greeted with a "Hi, How are you guys doing" and more welcomed than my family. This waitress made it her duty to tend other tables rather than asking my family how our food was, even once! Her attitude, the lack of care and judgment this woman held made me feel very uncomfortable.

When my family and I were ready to leave, I had to find an employee to give us our bill to go. Nobody was tending to our table then. We even ordered more food, which NEVER arrived!! Once we were done paying, I brought this issue up to the front desk, and the only reply that I received was, "Oh, okay, sorry." They did not ask who our waitress was or seem to care to investigate this complaint further. I am appalled by how my family and I were treated. I myself, who is a server and works within the food industry, am very upset with the experience and behaviour that my family and I have gone through. I was left feeling hopeless when bringing the issue up to...