Betula — Restaurant in Hamilton

Completely Disappointed... I have been to Betula several times over the last few years and have loved it so much I have recommended it to every person who would listen. Last year I took my aunt for her October birthday and we had planned to visit again this year. I am sad to say I will never dine at Betula again. I was super excited to visit Betula this morning, Sunday September 12. 2021 and try their brunch menu. It was obvious upon first visit to the table the server was new, shy, and inexperienced, she took the coffee order and when she returned with the coffee she took our mimosa order, we were starving and hoped she would take our brunch order, instead she went off to make the mimosas to which she seemed to need help from management, truly no big deal. When she returned to take the food order, we asked how many slices of french toast, she replied 2 (it's 4) and when we asked if the sausages were links or patties, she replied "i think links" (its nugget like patties) and then I asked if there was a choice of bread and her reply was "that's a really good question"....Betula, as a former server, I have to ask, do you train your servers at all to know the THREE item brunch menu? The food took FOREVER (sausage, eggs, hash browns, toast??) After about 40 minutes in the restaurant I went to the bathroom and saw all of our dishes sitting on the counter in the open aired kitchen, just sitting there getting cold! I went to the bathroom, returned to pass the kitchen again and all the plates still sitting there...I returned to my table and waited some more. The server, another server and a woman I can only assume was management stood in a row staring into the kitchen. I assume this was some sort of "training" The food eventually made it to the table, I had asked for my eggs on a separate plate, they were not. The toast was stone cold, unbuttered, no offering of jelly or butter. MY partner and my grandmother said the eggs tasted artificial and completely void of seasoning. We waited longer for salt and pepper and ketchup which all came on separate trips. I sent my toast back, while my boyfriend and grandmother ate cold dry toast. We asked for syrup for the french toast, also cold, to which the server replied "umm not sure I will have to check" and never came back with an answer, or syrup. I asked if the butter was real butter, she had no idea. At this point I am so sick of even being in this establishment, I can't tell if I am more disgusted with the food, the inexperienced service, the total lack of management, or the fact that my love affair with Betula is over. As I said, I am a pre-covid server, I loved my job and took great pride in serving, I understand finding good help these days to serve food seems difficult, however, as much as I wanted to tip this server 0% 9which I have done once in my life) my greatest disappointment was in the management of this restaurant. Not ONCE did this manager or owner of whoever she was touch the table, check on us, ask us about our meal. Am i to understand the less than a dozen covers in the entire restaurant was truly overwhelming for this manager? I have worked in some great restaurants with some incredible managers, Betula is no longer one of them. My previous Betula experiences were amazing, delicious food and really excellent servers (pre AND during COVID) $100+ later for unacceptable food, slow service and absent management. One star for good coffee, cheap mimosas, clean bathrooms, and...

So we considered Betula our “go to” restaurant for a long time but as of the last couple of months everything seems to be lacking in so many ways. First of all the food…used to be tasty and well presented with good value (decent portions). My favourite was the schnitzel. They used to have the most delicious gravy with it. Now, it costs $4.00 extra for a new vegan gravy that is horrible! Why compliment a meat dish with a vegan gravy? Why change something that did not need changing? The schnitzel size can be anyone’s guess…sometimes huge and sometimes less than half that size.. lately they have been greasy. Everything tastes different now and NOT in a good way. Last night was sadly our last try at this restaurant seeing as the last few visits had some disappointments which we hoped were “isolated” incidents. My steak was like cardboard…even though it was cooked medium rare! Could barely cut it up with a steak knife and when I did cut a piece it was so hard to chew I was scared to choke on it. My daughter’s order was a joke! Chicken Piri Piri…I kept looking at her plate because I could not believe how poorly it was plated and the food looked inedible. Overcooked vegetables, 1 piece of potato! And a small chicken leg all black on the outside. No presentation or plating skills, lack of flavour and horribly overcooked vegetables. This plate should never have left the kitchen!! So we tried to politely advise the manager, albeit she took a while to come to the table, she did try to correct some issues but as a manager she definitely missed the mark. My daughter ordered a different dish which came out quickly but there was a mistake on what she had asked for as her side. Not only that, the charge on the bill was for the higher priced (replacement order)!! That is just so wrong!!. I was offered a different dish but by this point we had been there for a while and I had lost my appetite. I did not finish the steak (ate less than half of it) and despite it being unacceptable we were charged for half of it. One word …”petty”. After so many issues you are still going to charge for half of the food? After making it clear that we are regulars there and that we were not happy. We don’t feel there was enough done to make things right by any means nor was it handled with professionalism we would expect. Clearly the restaurant is having service issues if the water glasses never once are refilled. It takes way too long to seat people (despite it being empty upon arrival) and the person behind the bar eating their dinner in front of customers just does not seem right. Sad to say we will not be returning and I now have to warn family and friends who we had previously recommended this place to. What has happened here is a perfect example of someone (new?) trying to “fix” what was never broken. And definitely...

I was excited to go to the restaurant for a celebration with family. Unfortunately we didn't have the best visit. I asked the waitress if I could substitute some vegetables for the french fries that come with the hamburger. Due to food intolerances that I didn't really want to disclose. She said she couldn't make the decision and had to ask the chef who then refused the substitution. We asked to speak with him and his first answer was that coleslaw was not priced in to the burger charge. I'm not sure where the miscommunication was but I assured him that all I wanted was some raw carrots or broccoli because I couldn't have french fries, to which he looked at me and said " you can't have french fries?". He agreed that I could have some vegetables. All going well and the four of us ordered burgers. Mine was fantastic and cooked thoroughly however the other three were pink and slightly bloody inside. We asked the waitress about this and she said that the person who took our order should've told us that because the meet is from Cumbrae's it can be served medium. We weren't told this and unfortunately one of the guests in our party was quite elderly and not comfortable with pink meat. They quickly agreed to make her a new burger which she then had to eat alone because the rest of us didn't want our meals to go cold. Overall the wait staff was very pleasant and that's what saved the visit from being a total disaster. Based on the way I was treated when asking for the small substitution I would not recommend this restaurant as it was slightly embarrassing to have the chef come out to talk to me. Food intolerances are very common and can be a sensitive subject. I am giving a two star review because the wait staff were friendly the bread was delicious we had great cheese from Mickey McGuires, and my burger really was delicious. The food is good but the atmosphere hasn't quite figured out what it...