Born & Raised — Restaurant in Hamilton

TLDR: If you’re POC, DON’T come here.

I’ve heard good things about this restaurant so I was excited to take my friend who came from out of town to it. Unfortunately, this is a racist establishment so we did not end up having a good time. My friend is Black, and I’m Arab and we both were dressed well.

Here’s what happened: They give us a seat right under the speaker which ok understandable given that it was really busy and we didn’t have reservations They bring my food, it is completely unseasoned. With much difficulty, as in, the white waitress was ignoring us - which was a theme that continued the ENTIRE night - I called her over. I had eaten some of it and I explained it had no salt and asked if it was possible that I could get some salt. The waitress did not say one word of sorry she said okay we can remake it, I said sure thank you that would be great.

The remade dish comes out and along with it, an older man. He comes out and gives a whole spiel, telling me that he was sorry and that I was absolutely right it was completely unseasoned due to a miscommunication and that now it should be good.

Me and my friend were so happy and took him at his word. Then I ate one spoon and I literally could not eat the food. It was so salted that there were huge PARTICLES of salt visible on the gnocchi. We were shocked. Also he did not bring a fork, I had to ask for it.

Needless to say, I called over the waitress again. She asked, what do you want to do? I said, I would hate to inconvenience the kitchen by asking you to remake it again, so I just won’t eat and asked for a refund. She said ok. No sorry no nothing. With a stank face.

At this point, we just wanted to leave. Getting the waitress’s attention was extremely difficult and it was obviously intentional as she was attentive to the white patrons who were at tables on either side of us. We had to loudly call her over and say EXCUSE ME just so she brings us the bill (she ignored our waves and eye contact). And she puts the receipt on the table and LEAVES.

We wait 15 MINUTES or more for her to come back.

Until finally I stand up and go to the bar where she is chatting and ask her if we can pay please we’ve been waiting for 15 minutes since you gave us the receipt.

WITHOUT A WORD, she comes and puts the machine on the table. Again, not a word of apology.

On our way out, one last micro agression to wrap things up. The guy who she was talking to, goes to leave the bar area at the same time as we were leaving and he dramatically pauses his whole body as if I was gonna push past him or something in a hissy fit? Bear in mind, we were calm the entire time and I was walking slowly out. Slowly enough to just stop and tell him, it’s okay please go ahead. And he looked surprised. Didn’t fit the narrative he wanted to paint of us I guess (angry ungrateful POC lol).

Anyway, we were the only POC in the restaurant and I see why: unseasoned food and racist staff. Just avoid it please.

I feel so awful that my friend, who came from out of town, that THIS is now her impression of Hamilton and...

We are huge fans of born and raised and I have been many times with different friends. This time was much different from past experiences. My close friend and I went to born and raised last week on a Saturday. We had made reservations a week prior for 4 people, however our two friends were ill on the day of the reservation so I called the restaurant that day to inform them it would only be the two of us.

Upon arrival we were sat at a very small table tucked tightly between the door and a large table of 10-12 people. The door opened frequently and it was a cold spot, but we saw that they were very busy and dealt with it.

We waited for about 20 minutes before a server arrived to take our drink order. After our drinks came, it took a little while for our serve to return and take our order. We ordered an app, and informed the server we will be ordering dinner and wine shortly but hadn’t decided on the items just yet. Our app arrived from the kitchen a little while later. While the timing up until now was not speedy, we hoped it would improved and we enjoyed our scallops. This is when everything started to go down hill. After finishing our cocktail and scallops we did not see our server for approximately 30 minutes. When we finally had a chance to order another drink and our dinner, our serve walked away so quickly that we didn’t get our dinner order in. Our subsequent drinks did not arrive, nor did our server, so 25-30 minutes later we decided to leave. We asked another staff member for our bill who brought it over- the bill included the second round of drinks that we had never received. As we were looking at the bill and informing the staff member that we did not get those drinks, our server came over with the drinks and asked if we still wanted them. We said no, and that it had been quite awhile since we ordered them. Our server said “I know” and walked away as we paid with the other staff member.

I’d like to say that the scallops and cocktails we received were delicious and we still love the food. The concern is that had we not called to inform them of our change in number of attendees, maybe we would have been placed at a more comfortable table in a section that had the capacity to serve us? I understand that the restaurant was busy and as I mentioned, there was a very large party next to us. However, despite being an established restaurant, it seemed like they were completely unable to handle the number of people there, or at least in our section, despite having had made reservations in advance.

We were extremely disappointed of the service that evening, feeling ignored for the entirety of our time there. Our disappointment was further compounded by our cold drafty table, and the lack of apology we received from the staff members we interacted with. We went with the intention of having dinner and ordering a bottle of wine, and ended up going elsewhere for a quick bite.

We absolutely still love the food, but are unsure if we...

I gave it a 4 but based off my first experience it’s more of a 3.5

Service: 3 Bao buns: 3 Atmosphere: 4

I was trying to get Bao Buns at 11pm on a Sunday. This was the only place that had them available. I had originally called bcuz the online menu said it had pickles on so I wanted to know if they were dill. The hostess wasn’t sure , she asked someone else they weren’t sure and then she asked me to call back later to see if someone could answer my question cuz they were busy. I also wanted to order pick up but it was unavailable at that time prob also due to busyness

I ended up going in and did wait a bit to be greeted. I wasn’t sure who my waiter was so I did end up asking someone if they could take my order. She mentioned she can’t take orders but the bartender will help me. He was very busy making drink orders so someone came up and took my order. They confirmed the pickles are dill. I didn’t have to wait long after I ordered to get my food tho maybe like 10mins.

I’ve been trying Bao all around the city. I’ll say the chicken part was delicious, slightly spicy, nicely sauced and a good portion. The bun itself was gummy, chewy, tasted slightly undercooked as opposed to the traditional pillowy softness of a bao bun. I asked for the pickles on the side. It was 2 for $20 they aren’t very big but they are filling especially for an appetizer.

Im on the fence if I think it’s worth it, idk if I would go back for them … specifically bcuz of the bun texture. You can go to Plank get more for the same price and they’re sooo yummy (I do ask for them extra sauced tho). I will say again tho I think the born and raised chicken part of the Bao is my fav out of all the ones I’ve tried so far

Overall I would go back to try something else. Atmosphere was cool, ambient lighting, live music/karoke and the mc is engaging. The staff were nice. The bartender makes the drinks with good energy. He made me a mock tail called a flightless bird slight similar to a mule but tropical it is was really good pineapple, ginger beer and something else ?? If you like ginger beer I would ask for a higher ginger beer to...