Mettawas Station Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Kingsville

Rushed and treated poorly, will never return. My friends and I had a reservation last night at 8:30pm, we didn’t really think anything of it when we made the reservation. We arrived a few minutes after 8:30pm and were sat promptly, we discussed drinks and the menu. The server was great to start she shared the menu, the specials etc. The server came back to our table at 8:45pm and advised if we were going to order food as the kitchen was closing at 9pm. So all 6 of us quickly placed our orders. Drinks and 1 table appetizer came out at 9:00pm, our food came shortly after around 9:10pm. I ordered the salmon along with one other person at the table, both of our salmon entrees were hot but the sides were slightly warm and you could tell they were sitting under a warmer for hours, I only ate the salmon and left the rest of the food. Promptly at 9:20pm the server returned to our table and asked if anyone wanted boxes for our meals, keep in mind food was on the table for approx 10minutes. Not one person was even half done their meal. She advised they were closing at 9:30pm and we needed to finish up. We were astonished, why would a restaurant take a reservation 30 mins before a kitchen closes and think not to even advise the party they would need to rush through their meal. This is a great disappointment as this was a meal with friends to celebrate all of our 30th birthdays. Some of us hadn’t seen each other since before the pandemic started. We took our food to go after being rushed out. To commemorate the day we wanted to take a few photos outside, a staff person promptly came out and offered to take them. She was very gracious in offering but we then realized she only offered so she could move us along. After the few photos we took a few more and no more then 1 minute after the staff person walked inside she shut off all lights outside so we couldn’t take anymore photos. It was incredibly rude. Overall the food was subpar, and the service was just not acceptable. I would advise skipping Mettawas Station and maybe try another local restaurant where their service is good. If you do decide to eat here avoid an 8:30pm reservation at all costs if you don’t want to be rushed...

Its pretty sweet just walking up to this restaurant as the original building was the old Kingsville railway station. I really appreciate fine craftsmanship in a historic restaurant design (especially stone).

Offering dine in and patio service (opt for the patio if it is 🌞 ), the MS offers a variety of appetisers and main course options for those looking for a twist on Mediterranean cuisine.

You'll want to book reservations, as we called last minute and were lucky to be offered a table. We had a nice server who was prompt and helpful despite being busy with many customers.

We started off with the sicilian arancini risotto balls with meat sauce and a plate of calamari rings. The arancini was tasty although both appetisers seemed very salty (perhaps my taste). Calamari was standard and the sauce wasn't very complimentary and seemed store bought.

For the main course I chose the sautéed veal scallopini in a mushroom and marsala wine reduction with broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes. The veal marsala was well cooked unfortunately, although for my taste was unfortunately overly salty and I had to use the mashed potatoes as a buffer per bite which seemed to set a salt trend. My wife had linguine pescatore seafood dish in white wine and tomatoe sauce. The seafood was cooked very well but the dish was also really salty.

Maybe this was a one off incident 🤔 We had a glass of wine each which was nice to enjoy together on a wonderful...

Mettawa’s is one of our favourite places to go. The vibe is wonderful. The restaurant is nestled on a lovely piece of property in Kingsville (many dogs walk by so it’s my favourite spot to « dog watch » instead of people watch). The staff are friendly and helpful with ordering and their specials are usually scrumptious!! The interior is small, cozy, wooden and even has a fireplace to make it that much more welcoming. They also serve warm bread with this delicious mix of sun dried tomatoes, olive oil and who knows what else. I always have to stop myself from devouring the entire loaf so I don’t ruin my dinner!

Pictured below is what we ordered on our last visit in March for my birthday: Arancini, the steak with peppercorn sauce, veal with mushrooms and the special dessert which was to die for pistachio cheesecake with honey drizzle.

Side note: normally we would rate this spot a 5/5 stars but our March experience was really upsetting. We went for my birthday and a lot went wrong. Our Arancini was cold on the inside, my steak had to be sent back because my medium rare was more of a blue rare, and the bread came late. This was just a one off, never happened before but our waitress was amazing about everything which made the experience a bit better - was just upset as it was my birthday celebration and wasn’t to its usual flawless standards.

That aside, definitely visit for a nice evening whether for a romantic date or a little...