The Canadian Brewhouse (Kitchener) — Restaurant in Kitchener

I have mixed feelings and I say all of this in great appreciation that this is its opening week. The five star reviews have me flabbergasted and I am guessing if you’re drinking, you don’t really care for anything else, or the service has so wildly changed from night to night. I notice a lot of reviews are from men whose only comments are on their waitress, interesting 👀

The building itself is nice but a tad too “generic”, there isn’t much to distinguish it from say a corporate bar and I wish it had a more focused theme instead of trying to be everything. The rooftop patio was not open yet although it does look enticing.

It was near packed when we entered and we expectedly had to wait a moment to reach the hostess, no problem although the staff didn’t seem to have a full grasp of what was going on yet, ie. not knowing how many tables were cleared. There were a lot of people briskly walking back and forth.

Once seated we were given menus… but the menu is printed one sided and placed on two different sheets. Appetizers/salads/bowls etc. on one, and mains on the other, plus drink menus. I’m not sure if this was intentional or a printing error but it was very frustrating. We were only given one menu for the four of us initially before asking for more (and we got only one more still). The biggest problem with the menu is that there’s nothing you can’t get at a dozen other places, and a near duplicated Jack Astors exists literally next door.

Our server (being understandably new) had some difficulty putting our order in on the tablet and didn’t seem to know the menu too well. She was friendly and apologetic about it however.

Then the wait began. It took an hour for two of our mains to arrive, then another 15 minutes for the remaining two mains to arrive, then another few minutes for our appetizer to arrive. They said there was some confusion in the kitchen - fine - but no one really jumped in to make it up to us. No manager visit, just apologies from several waitresses.

Then the actual food… was sadly very mediocre. Chicken strips were not homemade and the accompanying container of sauce was almost comedically small, the mac and cheese was simple noodles tossed in cheese sauce with too thick of cheese layered on top (not melted), and the poutine looked very bland and mono-tone. Fries were good but 100% from frozen. The best part were the chicken burger sliders appetizer (that came after our mains). I got the strong impression the food would probably be okay to get someone by who was also drinking, watching a game, but as main entrees… nothing stood out, and the portions are incredibly small for the prices. When the poutine arrived, we questioned if it was a large as we had ordered. The waitress believed it was a side so she took it back. When she returned, it was the same portion just in a slightly larger bowl. Not impressed considering everything was $16-19. Certainly not what we paid for.

The waitress came back and asked twice if I wanted the chicken sliders made buffalo style, I declined but they still charged me the extra $0.99 for it. While I did not care enough to ask to have it removed, I was shocked to see nothing had been considering the 75+ minute wait. Most restaurants would at least offer a free dessert, etc.

At this rate we would not return unless the food improves. The service will improve with time, but I’m unsure how much it being new can be to blame for the food quality. Perhaps the drinking experience is different, they have plenty of taps and lots of TVs so I can understand that’s probably more of the appeal. But as a place to simply eat there are much better...

Myself and two of my family members went to The Canadian Brewhouse in Kitchener on a Saturday evening. It wasn't too busy and we were seated quite quickly which was nice for being at the busy mall. The waitress was attentive and got our drink orders.

We ordered fried pickles to start which came out quickly. And then my one family member ordered their Saturday special of ribeye, the other family member ordered the sliders and a side of sweet potato fries, and I ordered the Canadian burger with a side of fries.

The ribeye came out promptly and then we waited and waited for the rest of the food. My family member was more than half way through his meal when the waitress came over to say our food is coming but there was a mistake as another table ordered the exact same thing as us and they hadn't made out food yet.... It was very confusing because I don't think there is a strong likely hood another table order the EXACT same thing....and we didn't see those items being brought out to another table.

So my family member was almost done his meal by the time we got the burger and sliders. They never brought out the side of sweet potato fries and frankly, we didn't bother saying anything because it would have been another wait and we were just hungry and ready to head out home.

The burger I ordered wasn't good. It was covered in grease and yes, burgers are greasy, but this was another level of grease. The burger couldn't stay in the bun because it was so slippery. The bacon was also so over cooked that it was hard and not chewable. I let the waitress know and she was apologetic and asked if I wanted something different. We couldn't wait longer and by that time I was starving. I took the burger apart and just ate the patty and took off the cheese, etc. When I looked at the lettuce, it had a pool of grease in it....

The regular fries are average and were nothing special sadly and I love fries. But they wouldn't be something I'd order again.

The waitress was very understanding and she resolved the burger problem with 30% off which was kind but I never expected anything from the restaurant, just to eat and go.

The sweet potato fries weren't on the bill so it's unknown if they were ever rung in or were they just forgotten about.

We likely won't be going back. My two family members have been to another location in Calgary I believe, and didn't have this type of experience with late food and food not being great quality. We appreciate the attentiveness of...

My boyfriend and I went for a date night to try it. Over all the experience wasn’t what I was expecting. Service was just standard and the food was meh. When we first walked in there was no one waiting all the girls where behind the bar talking and laughing. I don’t care so much about that but it’s important to note as it did happen every time we needed service. We where seated with in 5/7 minutes like I said I don’t care about this. We had two different services come up and ask us about drinks, we ordered alcohol. The drinks came in a timly manner. I went to go take a drink and I had a cracked glass. Not an issue I would just let her know next time she comes (we ordered drinks and food at the same time) our food had come (about 30 minutes not an issue) and I still hadn’t moved my drink or even taken a sip because my glass is broken. Still while all this was happening all the servers where still behind the bar chatting up a storm and laughing. I did attempt to get her attention but she didn’t look at us much. As I was eating my dinner she did come and see how it was and I did tell her about the glass. She made me a new one with no issues. Our food choices where beef ravioli and chicken parm. I had the ravioli with beef. The flavour was good and it was filling for the size of the dish. The noodles tho they need lots of work. They where all stuck together like they didn’t get cooked in the sauce straight after the water. It’s like they where sitting in the basket or a bowl before the sauce was put on. I couldn’t really enjoy the ravioli feel. My hubby had the chicken parm. The chicken you could tell was hand made it was good he said. The pasta tho, it was dry as all hell and just no sauce on it.

Now I’m not one to give a review but I feel as tho the money we spent with no app and just two drinks with two dinners was a little crazy for what we received. Our bill was over 100.00 and we didn’t leave feeling happy with the service or food. Just be aware that the food cost doesn’t match the experience. Won’t be going back. Jack asters is better for food, cost,...