2 Doors Down Food & Wine Dartmouth — Restaurant in Dartmouth

This review is a little overdue. I wanted to like this place so much more than I did. I used to love 2 Doors Down when I worked downtown. This was my first time at this location. I'll preface this with we went here on a busy Saturday night during burger week.

Let's start with the good. We had the onion rings and some fries as appies. The onion rings were 10/10. So crispy and loved the drizzle of honey. We both were raving about them.

The fries were a little disappointing and I can't put my finger on why. I love fresh cut fries but these were so flavourless that I asked the server if they were frozen.

Then we got our smash burger with a side of kale Caesar. The kale Caesar was as good as I had remembered it was. I think they make the best kale Caesar in the city! Unfortunately the burger was so salty neither one of us finished it. You couldn't taste any other flavours. I was so disappointed as I had remembered the burger being so good.

We finished our meal with a coffee. The server made a fresh pot for us, which was really nice. The coffee was really good.

Our server was attentive and friendly. I would say the service was mostly good. We let her know that unfortunately the burger was just too salty for us but said we didn't want her to do anything. We were pretty full at this point anyway. We just wanted to let her know. And she said she would let the kitchen know as well.

We paid our full bill, which is fine. We weren't looking for or expecting to have our meal comped. But the one thing I would say as someone who also worked a long time in the service industry is that if someone was only able to eat half of their main, I would in the very least have comped their coffee. Especially when neither of us finished our burgers.

I still think 2 Doors is worth a visit. If not for the kale caesar alone. They've always had a creative menu and lots of good things to choose from. I've had many a good meal at the downtown location. If I go again, I will definitely update my review as I really think this may have just been an off night for the...

Posting my Gordon Ramsay review! Lol so to be completely honest the food is very good. However, it is a bit pricey for the portion you get. It’s petty busy and it’s a small area but overall nice setting.

Pros: -Food is tasty -Staff is really nice -Nice environment

Cons:

-Very small menu, not much to choose from. The options are very unique so a lot of it could be unappealing to certain people (lack of basic/classic options). I also find the menu is constantly changing and when you like something on the menu it’s usually gone in a couple of months. (Happened with the Kim chi burger I really liked now it’s gone) -The service is very slow. I’m not sure if this place has their logistics mastered yet, but the first time we went we waited 1 hour for our food to arrive. The second time was better, but still slower than usual. -No salt and pepper shakers, have to ask for common things like butter and ketchup (which I guess is a normal thing it’s just annoying having to ask) -Prices are pretty steep especially for the wine and burger options which I guess is justified because they taste good. -Very small and cramped

Just...

Sadly, I am always disappointed with 2DD restaurants. Last time we ate at the downtown Halifax location, a member of our party ended up with a terrible bout of food poisoning.

Most recently we tried the Dartmouth location (mid afternoon on a Saturday). The restaurant was about 3/4 full but all of the empty tables were filthy. We waited about 5 minutes to be acknowledged by the hostess and then had to continue to wait because, as mentioned, a table had to be cleaned. The floors, too, were questionable as all four members of our party noted how slippery they were. Further, the washrooms are located past an open area that must be used for bussing tables. That area was also pretty gross with bits of food and dirty dishes piled up.

Though the food was okay (just okay), I was disappointed in the lack of vegan/vegetarian options. At first I was excited because the menu noted that there was a vegan bun option for hamburgers, so I assumed there was also an option for a vegan burger--not the case.

If this were the first bad experience, I would assume it was a case of being...