The Wooly Pub — Restaurant in Guelph

First time dining at The Wooly, and will also be the last.

Made reservations and got a nice table for four people in a cozy room next to a portable fireplace. When the lights went dim, service staff offered a magnifier with light for my mother which was a nice touch and appreciated. Environment was welcoming and friendly. Staff appeared to be aware of the patrons and safety-conscious, which is why the experience was ultimately so upsetting.

I ordered the Smokey BBQ Burger on a Gluten Free bun, with a side of fries. The server took the time to point out that the fries were not cooked in a separate fryer from other gluten-containing items, which was a green flag that he understood why I was asking for the special bun, and that he took the request seriously.

When the food arrived, the Burger looked fantastic. It looked and felt like a real "normal" bun, which is exceedingly rare for a Gluten Free bun. This should have been my first clue. The taste should have been my second. It tasted fantastic, just like real bread. I should have stopped right there. It may have been too late, but I should have notified the server that this was almost certainly real bread. It was way too good to be true. Instead, my hunger, instincts, maybe my trust, or perhaps just desire to eat some real carbs again took over and the burger was devoured before I knew it.

As I settled and noticed my stomach starting to.. misbehave, I glanced around at some of my fellow diners. Some of them had burgers or chicken burgers. The buns looked exactly like mine. A sense of dread crept up on me. I held out hope that this still wasn't the case, that perhaps the Wooly had created the greatest, most authentic Gluten Free hamburger bun the world has seen.

As we left the Pub the feeling in my stomach got worse. And when we arrived at our evening event at the Sleeman Centre (Wooly is within close proximity and about a 7 minute walk), my experience was soon interrupted by some particularly unpleasant time alone in the facilities that confirmed what had indeed happened. While I hesitate to mention any details, the after-effects carried over well into the next day and the suffering continues.

I accept a great deal of responsibility for what happened and what I consumed, but I leave this as a warning to individuals who may have allergy concerns, dietary restrictions, or other needs with their food. I wanted to love the Wooly, and although there were no other concerns with the experience, this mistake is a very, very big one, could potentially be life-threatening to some, and it's a mistake that just can't be made in a...

Update: After a not so great first experience and the manager reaching out and providing an incentive to give Woolly Pub another choice we finally made it back to give it another go. This experience was 100% better! Our food was hot, tasty and service was great. We had the Whipped Feta and Squash Dip (so flavourful!), chicken wings ( nice size!), and Fried Brussel Sprouts ( nicely done and tasty!). My friend and I are already planning a return visit for drinks over the Whipped Feta and Squash Dip. Definitely a better experience and I have adjusted my stars to reflect today's visit. You must check them out!

Visited the Wooly before attending an event at The River Run Centre. First, there is no air conditioning in the building (old house) and reservations are recommended (we had reserved). The menu is limited. We asked the server for her opinion on the 2 choices my friend and I were interested in. We asked about the Pickerel and Chips and the Chicken Tenders and Fries (there was nothing else on the menu that interested us). The server said both were her favourites. She said the pickerel was fresh that day from Lake Erie and the chicken tenders are made fresh in house. So I ordered the fish (comes with 2 pcs) and my friend ordered the chicken tenders. The meals looked great when placed in front of us. The fries were REALLY salty, the chicken tenders were very tasty, the pickerel...STUNK! It smelled fishy, tasted fishy and the texture was gross. I have had fresh pickerel in Port Dover and it NEVER tasted like the fish at the Wooly did. My friend tried it as well and she has worked in the seafood restaurant industry and her comment was the pickerel was old, NOT fresh today or, it may have been fresh in the morning but wasn't stored properly during the day until served. We brought our concern about the fish to the server and she just re-iterated that it had been brought in fresh that morning. No manager came to the table to enquire about our concern and there was no adjustment made to the bill other than the discount they offer when showing proof of attending the River Run Centre. We definitely won't be returning to the Wooly Pub. It might be an alright place to go if you like beer though, they have lots to...

Bob, the owner supports a movement that is found to be corrupt, that misappropriated money donated to the claimed cause.This movement is not really about caring for a particular group, they have been misused. Just before we were done, we spotted a sign on the wall in the patio " BLK LIVES MATTER 24/7 365 DAYS A YEAR. Also this is divisive. It perpetuates that a group is always a victim and continuously guilt the white folks. We do not appreciate your wokeness being pushed onto us when we are out to relax and get away from how the world is spiralling down. My advise to you is, concentrate on giving good value, don't turn your pub into a bad political arena. Many have taken offence and will not take the trouble to inform you and won't be back.

Response to owner's reply. Your response is most REVEALING about you. You are supporting this? According to a report in the Uk " Jail for fraudster who kept charity funds after Black Lives Matter protest. An organiser of a Black Lives Matter protest who used tens of thousands of pounds in donations from a fundraising page to back her expensive lifestyle has been jailed for two and a half years".

"Saleem, of Romford, east London, previously pleaded guilty to fraud by abusing her position as director of Changing Your Mindset Ltd, by transferring monies to her personal bank accounts and then spending it between June 2020 and September 2021". You cherry picked a review out of many reviews that praised a "caucasian" that I did not know the name of, but you assumed all the other names were of white people? In fact these were minorities, I praised. So you turn the table around to imply that I am racist! and that I am Caucasian! Just in case you don't realized that Canada and the world is diverse, and you ignoring the rest is RACIST in itself. You don't even need to ask not to return, I will not set foot in your...