Lot 88 Steakhouse & Bar — Restaurant in Burlington

I recently visited Lot 88 in Burlington with a party of six for dinner, curious about the new establishment that seemed to have taken over a large sushi restaurant in a bustling plaza. The location was ideal, offering ample parking and being wheelchair accessible ♿, a feature I always appreciate for its inclusivity. On top of that, I made sure to check out the bathrooms and they were very accessible and could accommodate wheelchairs of all sizes. so the washrooms are accessible they had good accessibility in the front doors, accessibility getting into the location and throughout the restaurant as well as had accessible tables.

Upon entering, I noticed the restaurant's spacious layout, featuring a variety of booth sizes and table seating at the rear. Cleanliness was evident throughout the establishment, including the well-maintained and tastefully appointed washrooms, which is always a plus in my book.

The menu was extensive, and we decided to sample a range of dishes, starting with oysters, calamari, mini Yorkies, and the unique steak on the stone. The food quality was generally good, with a particular highlight being the oysters. However, the steak experience left much to be desired. While the concept of cooking your steak on a hot stone was intriguing, the execution was flawed. The stone was hot enough to cook the steak but didn't provide the necessary sear, resulting in bites that were more grayish than appetizing. Moreover, the steak lacked flavor, likely due to its poor marbling, which I suspect was of choice grade quality. This resulted in one of the worst steaks I've ever had, despite the novelty of the cooking method.

The service was adequate but far from exceptional. On a busy Friday night, the staff seemed overwhelmed even though the restaurant wasn't packed. I would rate the service a four out of ten, indicating room for significant improvement.

In summary, while Lot 88 offers some decent dishes and a unique dining experience with the stone-cooked steak, the execution falls short, particularly with the steak quality. Despite the overall cleanliness and accessible location, the mediocre service and disappointing steak experience overshadowed the positives. I wouldn't discourage anyone from visiting Lot 88 at least once, as there are elements worth trying. However, with so many excellent dining options in Burlington, I don't see myself returning to Lot 88. The restaurant's potential is evident, but significant improvements are needed to make it a repeat...

We made the best of the night, despite the awful dining experience. I want to start by saying that our server and the hosts, tried their best but without proper staffing, or preparation there wasn’t much they could do to salvage the night. We were a party of 21 people. When we arrived there was seating at our table for 14. I was already not feeling great about this experience but mistakes can happen, plus we were early. Once we had all arrived, our server came and took a round of drink orders, which would end up being the only round offered, we spent our time there going to the bar to place orders for drinks as our 1 server appeared to be serving the entire restaurant. The lack of staffing was shocking. For a party of 20 people, you would expect at least 2 servers. Then the food failures began after that, one of my friends was served 3 meals, none of which he ordered, another friend ordered mussels and over half were dead and not edible as they had never opened. Another one ordered the seafood pasta and had a plate with a million red peppers, and little to no seafood at all. Not a single mussel in his dish at all. Our food came out staggered so some people were done eating while some hadn’t even be served yet. The food left little to desire and unfortunately despite her best efforts the service was subpar at best. This was my 40th birthday celebration and I had people coming from over an hour away to celebrate with me, and it was actually embarrassing that this was how the dining experience went. Having never been to Lot 88 before, I took a risk and unfortunately it ended up being a bad one. And on top of everything there didn’t even appear to be a manager around to even lend a helping hand to a server who was clearly stretched thin. Disappointing to say the least. I should have just...

First time trying this place, date night with my wife. It's okay and I would certainly recommend trying the lava stone steak method. I was sceptical of cooking my own steak but it was actually pretty cool and the steak was nice. Any sauce is an extra cost which I found strange. If I'm buying a $60 steak then I think sauce should be complimentary.

It was obvious that the wait staff needed more training; although they were friendly. We ordered mussels as an appetizer, the bowl contained lots of broken shell pieces mixed in with the sauce and we had to be careful not to swallow; also about 1/3 of the mussels were closed (spoiled) so we could not eat them. We mentioned it to the waiter when she came to clear the table but there was no acknowledgement of it, not even a 'sorry'. My wife was particularly unimpressed because she was still eating and I had finished but they bring the dessert menu to me and then come back to ask me what I want for dessert while my wife is till eating her dinner. Felt rushed and uncomfortable. I had to politely say that my wife was still eating so we weren't ready to order dessert. Then we sat there for a while when finished before getting our bill even though the waiter walked by several times. Had to wave her down eventually. Lastly, lighting wasn't great, there appeared to be poor renovations in the place such as the slats on the walls and the paint job....the walls of the booth were plywood painted black. It just seemed 'cheap' and poor quality to me. The first impression was not good.

I do hope they stick around and improve in some of these areas. It has the potential to be great but at this point I would still do The Keg when wanting a...