1881 Steakhouse & Burger Bar — Restaurant in Guelph

Went to the Restaurant, at approx 530 to avoid the Storm game, met my wife and we looked at the menu....when we ordered, told our server, a small, whispy bearded fellow, that we would like the California burger for my wife, and the burger with smoked cheese etc..asked about the sides for $2, the server said if we wanted EXTRA FRIES, it would be $2, we could upgrade to Poutine, for $3....my wife and I agreed,..after a 30 minute wait, our food came out, mine was correct but my wife’s was a chicken breast on a bun, NO WHERE NEAR A CALIFORNIA BURGER....the young runner, not our server, took it back and while I ate, she sat there looking at me...for 15 minutes!!!....our server came meekly over and said, ‘they’re cooking your food’...and went away.....I finished and her food arrived 15 minutes later.....NO MANAGER TOUCHING OUR TABLE TO APPEASE US AND MITIGATE THE SITUATION....just .....WAIT, WE’LL DO IT AGAIN....NO SENSE OF URGENCY....HORRIBLE MITIGATION OF THE BAD SITUATION......when the invoice came, the $3 poutine became $4, not what was told.....and another thing, we sat there with our menus on our tables....the guy didn’t even take them off after may visits to the table.... this day never have seen a MANAGER....WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND to go here is you’re in any hurry or can’t be totally focused on your food and what they say.....server took 25% off my wife's california burger...should have been comp'd....for all the mistakes.....food was great but all this aggro is not worth the...

I can't comment on the food (as we only had drinks), but the service was beyond disappointing, probably one of the worst experiences I have had. I'm not sure if it was our waitresses' first day, but I hope so, because she was super unhelpful and impersonal. The vibe of the place is nice when we walked in.When we first arrived the waitress bluntly stated "are you here for drinks or food because the kitchen is closed". We were only there for drinks, so it was fine, but it was worded very strangely and almost as if she was angry. When asked what the drink special was (as the menu advertised to "ask your waitress"), she claimed to not know (which is fine), but then did not even try to find out? When asked what was on tap, she again, didn't know and did not try to find out? It was as if we were inconveniencing her. Just before 1130, she locked the front door. We were confused as it was a Friday night at the hours stated that it was open until 2 am (and the restaurant was busy, it is not as if the place was dead). She then came to our table and said "do you want your bills now", which we were taken aback by as we had no intention of leaving yet and were planning on having another. I felt like we were being shoved out! We asked what time they close and she literally didn't give a straight answer and basically said whenever and added when people leave. We decided to leave right then.. the whole experience was...

Western is a much larger venue than it appears to be, judging by its modest exterior. Its staff members are attentive and polite, while the restaurant's selection of beer on tap is plentiful. I have visited this establishment on multiple occasions and have always been able to find a comfortable booth to sit at, accompanied by several friends. Drinks are priced fairly reasonably and the atmosphere itself is inviting. The restaurant seems to be clean and well maintained and feels much more welcoming than most other downtown Guelph hot spots. In my opinion, Western is a cut above the majority of its competitors.

The only less than satisfactory experience I have had at this particular establishment was due to its kitchen closing early, even though there were an adequate amount of patrons still inside the venue at the time that I arrived. The waitress informed me that the kitchen staff had already cleaned and shut down the kitchen appliances for the evening, despite the fact that food would typically be served for another 25 minutes. This was a very poor experience that was not handled in a polite manner by the staff member on duty and left me with a negative impression of the restaurant. After giving Western a second chance, my faith in the level of customer service delivered by this local business has been restored to an...