The Waterfront Gastropub — Restaurant in Carleton Place

I really wanted to like this experience. I’ve been for breakfast on the patio and it was good, so I was really excited to take my family there for dinner. None of us will be back.

We had made a reservation for 6pm. We walked in right at 6 but had to wait several minutes to be greeted by anyone. When someone finally came, we were taken to a table in a small, dark room.

It was a sunny, +27° day. One of the first of the season. We asked to sit on the patio and were just told “no, it can’t be accommodated.”

We offered to split up, since there were 7 of us. 4 at one table, 3 at another. Everyone was quite short with us, unwilling to help. We watched couple after couple and small groups be taken through the door (which was right beside our table) out to the patio.

When a couple members of our party went out just to see the view, they were questioned as though they had no permission to even go out and have a look.

If you have a spot with a beautiful view, you should at least allow people to go out and take photos, and have a small space set aside for that (it would be good advertising, too, because people could post photos and tag the restaurant).

We sat there alone, in silence, looking out the tiny window at the nice view, trying to catch a glimpse every time the door opened (which was constant) feeling like chumps being the only ones inside on a beautiful day. It was such a waste.

The food did not make up for it. The nachos were dry, served with processed chicken, with the smallest serving of mild salsa for a big plate. I got a burger and I was offered no condiments, so I waited and waited for the waitress so I could ask for one, and was just brought an entire bottle of French’s mustard.

The service was awful. Our waitress was nice enough, and to be fair, everyone seemed run off their feet. But overall everyone was very inattentive and unwilling to cooperate. And we felt like an afterthought. We were on the way, and IN the way of all the patio customers (who we desperately wanted to be).

The way I see it, if you make a reservation, you should at least have a choice of one of the better tables in the place. The fact they couldn’t even accommodate us splitting up, was so frustrating.

We couldn’t wait to be done and leave (which also took a while because we couldn't get the waitress’s attention) and go outside to a nearby park to see a glimpse of the view we were teased with all evening, and enjoy what little remained of the sunshine and...

I researched this pub and saw how beautiful it is online and decided it was the perfect location for a Sunday brunch with my family the day after our Wedding. My now husband and I made a reservation well in advance and then called and spoke to the owner to alter it since more people showed interest in joining us. The owner offered a buffet style brunch for up to 50 people and said it would be $20 per person. All was settled and we were happy to have this great location to share with family and friends.

Come Sunday, my guests were greeted rudely by THE OWNER, and were told there was no confirmation (yes there was) and that they would have to order from the regular menu. Ok that’s fine but then they were further instructed that no tables could be combined (rudely once again).

My husband and I arrived a little after with our 7 month old and were also greeted rather rudely by the owner who stated that actually we needed to make a $1000 deposit to confirm the 50 ppl buffet style reservation (this was NEVER mentioned as we would definitely remember that??). I said “wow, we apologize there clearly must have been some miscommunication. We didn’t know -” He cut me off saying, “no I was on the phone and I recall the conversation clearly.” We were not there to argue (especially in front of my family and friends who were seated and watching the whole scene) and just wanted to sit and eat since our wedding was the night before. I said, “we appreciate you accommodating us despite the mix up,” to which he responded, “well I don’t have a choice, do I.”

I was appalled by the unwelcoming manner of the owner and blatant rudeness. Holding my son in my arms and wanting no headaches I waved it off but I was definitely put off by the owner. He then sat at the bar and didn’t speak to anyone afterwards.

The staff were friendly and we enjoyed our food but it’s unfortunate that the owner himself is the one that left a very sour taste in our ALL of our mouths.

Needless to say we do NOT recommend making reservations here and don’t expect to be greeted kindly. We felt we were treated disrespectfully and were publicly humiliated. We will not recommend that our friends and family go there ever. An utterly horrible experience after a...

My spouse and I came here in July and will not be back again due to the crummy treatment from the male host.

We were seated at the Patio, which was totally fine. A friend who was going to meet us later on in the area had come to town early. I invited our friend to join us at the restaurant, and we'll see if we can either get a slightly larger table, or pull up a chair. He said he was on his way.

We asked if we could have a recently cleared 4 seater table instead of our current 2 seater. They said the tables were spoken for. Sucks, but okay. That was fine. So far, nothing so bad.

So we asked a nearby diner eating alone if we could grab his other unused chair and pull it up to our table instead, so our friend could sit. He agreed.

Our friend arrived to the restaurant, where MR ATTITUDE in the front treated him as a nuisance, saying he can't join us because he already told us that he didn't have space. My friend just stood there and asked if he could just go to the bar instead. The guy said something like "I guess so". Get this dude a customer service award......

My friend called me and let me know he was at the bar and what happened. I was very annoyed that the "Host" made absolutely no attempts to check things over with us and assumed we were trying to get a non existent 4 seater table. That was not the case. My friend was made to feel unwelcome, and I won't patronize there again.

Please get customer service training in there. The waitress was fine, the food was just ok, but I will NEVER be back for being treated poorly for the "crime" of inviting another guest to their establishment.

My advice: Go to St James Gate instead. Our trip to Carleton Place has some excellent customer service examples. There are soooo many better options. Check out Freska Cafe for Outstanding...