White Spot Gilmore — Restaurant in Burnaby

Oh boy where do I begin? In the late 60's I worked at the white spot on burrard as a car hop and later in the kitchen in downtown Vancouver. The man who started white spot was Mr Nat Bailey, he said people have an hour for lunch so that hamburger orders etc have to be ready to be delivered to the customer in 5 minutes, 5 minutes. Now you are lucky to be asked to be seated in 5 minutes at the white spot!! The last time we went to the white spot was in New westminster about 6 months ago. We had about 2 hrs before an appt ,it took us 30 minutes to get a seat, there was a bit of a line up. When we were finally seated I noticed the restaurant was 1/2 full? Why the long wait ? Maybe not enough servers? As we were waiting for about 15 minutes for someone to take our order, I noticed it was very cold where we were sitting then I looked up to the ceiling and saw this giant air conditioner, we couldn't sit there so we moved to the table beside and it was better. We ordered2 classic eggs benny with shredded potatoes not not smashed deep fried potatoes. Specially ordered shredded potatoes. Now the big wait after 25 minutes I tried to flag a server but to no avail so I went to the kitchen entrance and was told our order is coming! 15 minutes later I again approached the kitchen with the same answer! Finally after about another 10 minutes our eggs benny camel! However our orders came with smashed deep fried potatoes not shredded potatoes as we ordered? Before we could tell our server the mistake on our order he took off! Now I had to try and flag a server to no avail, so I approached the kitchen for the 3rd time and was told that a server will be sent to our table? After about 5 minutes sever arrived and said he will bring us some shredded potatoes. Well my eggs were almost cold by now and just as we were about to get up and leave about 15 minutes later when our server arrived with a small plate of shredded potatoes, so we asked gor a container and took the shredded potatoes home. What a terrible terrible experience. Why would anyone ever go back to this restaurant! Nat Bailey would turn over in his grave!! So 6 months later I wanted to try the fish and chips at the lougheed and Gilmore white spot. The restaurant was about 20 % full at about 6.30 pm approx. We were seated almost immediately upon entering the white spot. We had a nice bench table in the middle of the restaurant. Our server arrived about 5 minutes later with menu's. I ordered fish and chips cause I like the crunchy batter on the beer battered fish that the white spot has but I don't really like their French fries. My wife ordered a cheeseburger with no tomatoes, cause my wife is very allergic to tomatoes and she specifically told the young lady that! However after about 20 minutes we received our order. My fish and chips was 2 pieces of fish with a pike of French fries no other garnish and I kept looking at the order thinking something is missing? My wife noticed a large tomato slice in her burger and about 5 minutes or more we were able to tell the server that the burger was to have no tomato? Oh the server said there's tomato in there I thought you were concerned about cheese??? Really? So our server took the burger away to make another one. After about 15 minutes our server dame by to tell us the burger will be about another 4 minutes? Not 5 or 6 or 7 minutes but 4 minutes? Finally after about 10 minutes the burger arrived with no tomato whoopee!!! What a horrible experience another fine serving from our local white spot. Oh and that order of fish and chips for me that was missing something ??? They forgot to give me a little bit of coleslaw!!! Oh boy please if your reading this go to fat burger or x- site on hastings east of willigdon they have a deluxe burger with mushrooms ,bacon and cheese with a Ceasars salad no fries for $10.00 Also go to North Vancouver the Tomohawk restaurant that's been serving great burgers and salibury steaks for 98 years. What happened white spot what happened shame on you!! We won't be heading to the white spot ever again...

Growing up, White Spot was a cherished part of my childhood. Our local spot at Ross & Marine Drive, before its redevelopment into an industrial warehouse, was where we created countless memories—especially on Pirate Pak days. Naturally, I was looking forward to revisiting those nostalgic moments during a recent visit to the Gilmore location. Unfortunately, this experience left a lasting negative impression.

Our usual order at White Spot typically includes staples like the Monty Mushroom or Double Double burgers, served with fries and zoo sticks. On this occasion, my wife and I also decided to add onion rings, Caesar salad, and perogies as an appetizer. Sadly, the only items that met even basic expectations were the perogies and Caesar salad.

The burgers were overcooked to the point of being dry and unappetizing, with patties so burnt that no amount of sauce could mask the charred taste. However, the fried items were by far the most disappointing. Everything fried was excessively dark, suggesting the cooking oil hadn’t been changed in some time. The overcooked onion rings and zoo sticks were so hard that eating them was almost painful. Oddly enough, the fries were both cold and stale, a surprising inconsistency compared to the other items.

I brought this to the attention of the wait staff, who escalated the issue to a manager. The manager was apologetic and offered to remake the fried items, taking the onion rings and zoo sticks off the bill. However, when the new batch arrived, the fries were still cold, and the onion rings and zoo sticks were once again overcooked. At this point, we decided to cut our losses, pay, and leave.

To our disappointment, the final bill still included all items as originally charged. Although it was the holiday season and I didn’t want to create a scene, I found this oversight frustrating. When paying, the server asked how our meal was, and I expressed my concerns about the food quality. Their response—blaming the issues on being short-staffed—did little to explain or justify the poor food preparation.

Another disappointing aspect was the lack of basic service. No one checked on us during our meal, nor did anyone offer to refill our water—a standard expectation for any restaurant.

Ultimately, this experience at the Gilmore location was profoundly disappointing. For a brand with such a strong legacy, it’s disheartening to see a location fail to meet even the most basic standards of quality and service. I’d advise caution when choosing which White Spot location to visit, as this one fell far below...

I’ve had a terrible food and experience with this place . December 5 /22 was staying at the hotel next door and ordered a pasta bake the girl said it was broccoli cheese and pasta baked in the oven no microwaved food 4 me!! So went and picked it up walked it back to the hotel to find a horrid cold soggy stringy and under cooked vegetable it was the worst took it back the next day met an employee who was a manager he said they don’t give cash back that my account would be reimbursed $40 dollars .. cut to months later the year has changed and I still have not seen my money ? Then I get in touch with head office who PROMISED to take care of the stressful time consuming couldn’t have come at a worse time inconvenience as times are tough and cash is helpful around Xmas time .. they let me talk to Phil another management person who promised me they would fix it get me my money back and sent me a consolation prize of a gift card for my troubles .. I used it at the Metrotown location( see review) the zucchini there were raw but I gave up and didn’t complain because the waitress at least she was great 👍oh and Phil thanks for NOTHING your fired !!Also head office read my review and asked me to call so I did talked to a lovely answering machine and they too never got back to me …. Crickets just nothing as sad for one of my favourite places to go even your burgers are hockey pucks hard and usually they forget the cheese??Prices are highway robbery !!🎰Update June now no calls from the management I’ve been robbed in broad daylight with 5 separate managers dropped the ball on my refund since December 5 last year such a bad business practice to ignore and hope I go away no I’m going to small claims c u there PHIL broken promises multiple times head office you are no better not returning my money no apology crickets nothing heard from any rep I’m beyond done to the point of tears frustration was timed time perusing the original cost was 45 buck I’ve upped it with my cost of reviving money not returned bad business I’ll never eat...