Downtown Bistro & Grill — Restaurant in Burlington

First time there in 2016 was the night I asked my wife to marry me. Was an amazing experience food was great drinks were good. Fast forward 6 years. Went to dinner with my wife for our anniversary. Made reservations mentioned it was our anniversary. 1st off ordered martinis never had one before my wife said it’s all about the presentation and they are delicious. We ordered 2. 1 came half full with a messy done half rim.2nd came with a piece of frozen pineapple in it then started to have pieces of the pineapple floating around the top. They didn’t taste bad but not what me or my wife were expecting. Complained to waitress said that’s how they come. I said you should put some more care into there product. We ordered a Caesar salad to start with pecan crusted chicken for my wife and seafood linguine for myself.as we were eating the salad she asked twice if we were done. As soon as my wife was done they brought out the food as I was still eating my salad. Felt very rushed. My wife ordered the same thing before as did I thinking they were great before why wouldn’t they be now. Came with pickled sliced beets no where on the menu did it say that and my wife’s allergic to beets.told the waitress again she said it was cabbage it was not. My pasta came with good mussels and 5 clams and a bunch of scallops. 3 of the 5 clams did not open therefore they are bad should not have been sent out. I told waitress once again nothing was done. Pasta tasted like great value brand and served on a cold plate. Was an absolutely horrible dinner and not a pleasant way to start the night off, will never...

Long story short, horrible service. I don't care to watch my friend get accused and screamed at for no reason. Had a reservation made for lunch. The couple we were meeting had a dog, so we asked if the dog could come on the patio. We were told no, which wasn't an issue. The couple said they would return the dog back to the vehicle and leave it running, therefore, the AC being on. Three of us sat down and the waitress comes rushing back to our table. She starts yelling how she isn't comfortable with us putting a dog in a vehicle we couldn't see. And tells us we HAVE to move the vehicle to the back parking and sit back there as well, so we can see the vehicle. We corrected her to let her know we could indeed see the vehicle, so it wouldn't be a problem. She continued to berate us how it was wrong to leave a dog in a vehicle on a warm day. We again said that the vehicle was running, so the AC was on. She said "oh, ok" and walked back into the restaurant. Another server brought us our menus and left. We did the same shortly after. Left. I understand being worried about animals, but there is a way to go about it. Yelling at people, especially your customers, is the wrong way. The waitress could have come over and talked out her concerns instead. If she would have, we would have probably never left.

We ended up going to the place right down the road called The Dickens which had phenomenal service and food. On a plus we were also able to bring the dog on the patio. He was given his own water bowl,...

I don’t normally leave reviews, but the service we experienced at this restaurant was awful.

We arrived around 7:45 pm on a Friday night. We didn’t have reservations but were told no problem, they have open tables. We sat down and ordered cocktails followed by a bottle of wine and 5 different appetizers to share between three people. We then also ordered a bottle of wine and a beer. By 9pm the server started coming around every 5 minutes to try to clear food we were still eating. By 9:30 we were told it was last call, which is fine. We looked on google and saw that the restaurant closes at 10. Early for a Friday, but again, no problem. We didn’t order more drinks because we still had half a bottle of wine to finish. The waitress then came back again like 5 minutes later and said, the staff and I was to close up and handed us our bills. We paid and tipped well but still had almost a full glass of wine to finish. At 9:45 the sever turned on the full bright lighting in the restaurant and literally walked up to our table and said “I’m locking the door so….”

After spending $100/person for food and drinks, I’m shocked to have literally been kicked out before your closing time. The waitress was so unprofessional. And now after reading the owner’s responses to other people’s reviews, I’m even less impressed.

As a Burlington resident, there are a dozen other restaurants downtown that I would rather take friends and family. I will not...