Tilly's By The Bay Café & Bakery — Restaurant in Meaford

My friend and I had lunch at this quaint little restaurant during our visit to Meaford (Sunday, July 20, 2025). We had the soup of the day (Loaded Potato) and shared a Western sandwich with home fries. The soup was delicious, but to be honest, the sandwich and fries were not that special. The prices were great though and the servers were very friendly and attentive despite the heavy traffic while we were there. (A bunch of young people were dining on the upper level which was reserved for parties and larger groups.) The main level was filled completely, mainly by Seniors and local residents. (Sign of a good restaurant!) Don't be fooled by my pictures though which make the place look empty. They were taken after everyone left ... The place is closed Monday & Tuesday and only open until 2 p.m. all other days. Parking was easy and just across the street, the views of Georgian Bay were spectacular! On the whole, I think we made a good choice on where to grab a bite...

Hands down the worst restaurant experience I've ever had.

Owner from the kitchen and owner in the front of house were aggressive and rude. We left quickly. The food was dull and service was awful.

COVID precautions were basically non-existent. No face masks on any staff (kitchen or service) and unwrapped food (cookies and tarts) sitting a couple feet away from our table. Only real safety precaution was a Plexiglas barrier at the cash register.

Would not provide a glass of water because of COVID safety concerns and charged $2.97 for a bottle of water instead. Did not mention the limitation when we ordered and they would not take the bottles back since "we already touched them". They had no issues...

The food was decent breakfast food. Was nice that they had homemade bread and fair prices, enjoyed that but that's where it ends. It was unfortunate we had such slow service. It's a pretty small place with maybe about 12 tables, but there was only 1 server on a Sunday. Waited at least 10 minutes before she came to our table and almost half an hour after that for our breakfast. Also seemed like the teenagers in the kitchen didn't really know what they were doing as our server spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen with them cooking and telling them what they needed to do. I want to give this place the benefit of doubt that it was just a fluke visit. Will hopefully try again and see if wait...