Shepherd's Pub — Restaurant in Centre Wellington

I really don't want to leave a negative review, but I have to.

We've drove past here dozens of times with the intentions of dining only to see the restaurant is packed. That has to be good. We've even walked in before and told the wait was over an hour.

Anyway, we finally made it in late on Friday night (August 30/19) but since we already ate dinner at home, we just wanted a drink or two. We decided to eat something small just to see. We ordered our drinks and an order of onion rings with ranch dip and curried fries.

We waited well over half an hour for our food. When it arrived the onion rings were burnt and dripping in grease. My wife had curry with rice and naan bread handed to her. This was NOT curry and fries like she ordered. They took it back and brought her out the fries. They were rushed and not cooked properly. Whatever, we'll just eat and go.

The town drunk, a local old guy, was wandering around the establishment bothering people. Leaned over our table to look out the window. Whatever buddy... go get lost.

We waited over half an hour again after we asked for our bill. Nobody showed up. We had to go look for our waitress to pay the bill. She had forgotten about us and was in the back stuffing her face with food. Umm hello?? We would like to pay and leave!

Needless to say, no tip was left.

We left feeling bad. We had REALLY wanted to try The Shepherd's Pub for a long time. It looks like our kind of pub from the outside, and after reading many positive reviews, we were excited to finally find a table in there. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that it was promised to be and we won't be returning for a proper meal.

EDIT

I've read the owner's response and have this to add.

You don't know what more you could have done about the town drunk wandering around bothering people? HOW ABOUT CUT HIM OFF FROM DRINKING BEFORE BECOMING SLOSHED?!?! That's what you're supposed to legally do!

Your server is allowed to eat... but how about after she gives us the bill instead of forgetting about us? We could have easily walked out without paying and probably should have after waiting over half an hour after asking for the bill.

We definitely will never be back. There are much better pubs in the area. The Brewhouse in Fergus is what you want to emulate. We've been going there for over 10 years without a complaint ever. I don't know what I was thinking trying something different. Head over to Fergus, folks. I promise it's much better, and you won't be...

Elora is a wonderful place no far away from Toronto attracting many people. Its a favorite place for my family and grandkids to visit. We do love dining and Shepherds Pub was soon or later on our list. I was never really impressed with this place in terms of food, beer and especially service, but our last weekend visit turned out to be very upsetting to my family and me. We encountered hostile staff member which is beyond any acceptable standards. General impression - who cares, it is Elora, crowded place so if you are not happy - take a hike - others are waiting in the line. So forget about good customer service, be prepared for long waiting times and generally speaking - bad things might happen to you. Do you like smelly (yes there is a very specific smell), crowded , noisy place with questionable food and service? I definitely don't. There are better places to dine or have a beer, just google it and you will be surprised. My advice to all good peace loving people - avoid this place, walk away.

Edit If your staff member is very aggressive towards customers, a family member with kids for no good reason, the public- potential customer needs to be aware of the dangers. This specific female staff member displayed hostility, total disrespect and zero customer service skills. I never seen person acting like she did. As I said, you as an owner failed to recognize the problem with the specific person and take corrective action. Instead you focused your time and energy on customers and their reviews, in some instances doing copy /paste in response. If you look at the 1 star reviews, you can see repetition from the owner saying - oh we couldn’t serve a group of 14 on Friday……., This is indication of manipulation of facts and proof that she ( owner ) is not honest and just pretending that she do care about you - the customer.

P.S. You should check the definition of the word harassment- ! I don’t think posting review on google is a harassment, even if you don’t like it. Banning me from the pub after my review doesn’t make any sense- does it ? And your food bonus ? No thank you , I don’t want to have...

I'm a regular here and had a 5 star review up. Now it's a zero star review. I experienced something in this place today that was new to me. I came in with 6 people to dine in, and they told me it will be a little bit of a wait. The guy that took down my name said to come back in a bit and check to see if a table is ready. The place was not full and there were many tables available. I came back in a bit and was decided to stand inside to wait as my family members (kids) were hungry and I wanted a table as soon as one became available. I was literally standing minding my own business, scrolling on my phone, when a woman working there came up to me and asked me if I needed help. I said I'm just waiting for a table for 6. She left and came back like a few minutes later and asked me if I needed help again. I looked at her and said that she just asked me that. She said that I'm not allowed to wait inside and that I should come back in 1 hour (way longer than the time that was told to me before when my table would be ready). She told me to walk around town and kill some time. I replied that I had already walked around town prior, that my family was waiting to have a meal there and drinks, and that I was just waiting for a table when one became available. She told me that that I couldn't wait there inside (it was not even that busy), and that I had to leave. Also as she turned away from me, she rolled her eyes at her co-workers behind the bar and kitchen door area. Awful experience as I am a regular there for years and recommend this place to people. To top this experience off, as I was waiting there, I was texting my dad to come back so we could at least have a beer at the bar while waiting for our table. Guess that didn't happen...

Ill give the owner or manager a chance to reply here with their contact info. I would love to talk to you over the phone and explain to you how this situation went. I'm willing to forgive and forget if I get an apology. If not Ill be boycotting this place, not recommending it to people, and taking my...