Bâton Rouge Grillhouse & Bar — Restaurant in Montreal

My boyfriend and I visited Baton Rouge last week for a dinner out. It was my first time dining there after hearing glowing reviews from friends around Montreal over the past year since moving here. We walked in on a quiet weeknight and thought the emptiness would mean a more attentive and pleasant dining experience—but unfortunately, we were wrong.

To start, we ordered an appetizer: the pretzel. Our waitress confirmed the order, but after a significant wait—odd given how empty the restaurant was—she brought us the “Christmas Tower” instead. When we pointed out this wasn’t what we ordered, she insisted we had asked for it. Not wanting to argue, we decided to make the best of it. Then she casually mentioned that this “tower” was $90.

The tower itself was almost inedible. It consisted of spinach dip with tortilla chips, calamari, grilled shrimp, cauliflower bites, and truffle mac and cheese. Every fried item tasted like it had been cooked in old, dirty oil. The spinach dip had a layer of oil pooling on top and was barely filled. The mac and cheese was mostly sauce, with very few noodles. We couldn’t even salvage the leftovers to take home.

When our mains arrived, we were hopeful things would turn around, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. I ordered the mushroom chicken, and my boyfriend had a burger. My chicken was smothered in a poorly executed gravy that completely overpowered the dish, soaking the chicken, potatoes, and vegetables. The only way I could eat anything was by scraping off the gravy, and even then, I barely managed to eat a quarter of the plate before giving up. My boyfriend’s burger was just as bad—the patty was so unappetizing that he ended up removing it entirely and eating just the bun and toppings.

The only bright spot in the entire meal was the frequent drink refills my boyfriend received. Other than that, the experience was severely lacking.

Both my boyfriend and I have extensive restaurant experience, from managing fine dining establishments to overseeing and running fast casual restaurant openings. For a corporate establishment that’s only been open for a few months, the lack of food quality and attention to detail is shocking. There was no visible management presence during our visit—no table touches or effort to ensure guest satisfaction. It’s clear that there’s a serious need for improvement, both in the kitchen and on the floor.

We were thoroughly disappointed and can’t see ourselves returning...

Many things went wrong.

It started with my reservation. I called to make a reservation at 7:30pm on the same day to being told once I got there that my reservation was made for the following night. I never said it was for tomorrow. The front desk told us we had to wait 30+min since it was full. I looked inside and the restaurant was barely half full. After expressing my dissatisfaction,they offered a table at the bar section.

The food itself was ok, not great but not bad either. We had fried calamari, caesar salad and fillet mignon. The calamari was good but very greasy and had a lot of batter. Some pieces were very small and tasted only like overused oil. The ceasar salad was a bit blend, lacking sauce and the bacon and croutons were very not crunchy. The fillet mignon was good but the plate lacked finesse. It looked like a poor deli quality dish. No sauce comes with the steak...... you have to pay extra for it. I mean come on, very dissatisfying to pay so much for a pile of fries, basic grilled veggies and no sauce.

Finally the service was very slow. Not because the waiter was very busy but because he was just wasting so much time small talking and complaining himself about how management is not good. We asked ketchup for the fries and while clearly acknowledging he never brought it to our table. We also waited over 20 minutes just to pay for the meal. We saw the waiter talk with the girls at the front desk laughing for over 5min while we were there waiting for that eye contact for the final bill with empty plates. In all respect he was not a bad waiter but just wasn't focused.

Over for 183$ for a meal for two it was just not worth it. If the food has better presentation and if the steak came with sauce, and if service was better it could get a 4 star but this was definitely a 2.5 to 3 star experience. Update: I would like to mention that management was kind enough to offer their apologies and took measures to make our next visit better. I appreciate...

April 6 & 20, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Been twice in the last couple of weeks (for dine in) and service is top notch! Notable staff are Doan & Jair as they were attentive, friendly, courteous and very accommodating. Both made you feel right at home and made sure everything was ok. My greatest appreciation is hot food! Special mention for the manager, Mariann, as she managed like this was her family. Bravo team! Will be back🤗

Feb 1, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Went to order some meals for pick up on Saturday evening. Placed look great and seemed busy. Was asked to head to the bar to order my meals and waited a solid 10 mins before my order was taken.

The server, Mercedes, was super nice and said she would put in the order right away and would be 15-20 mins. I understood and stepped out and came back 15 mins later to be told that the kitchen was slammed but it shouldn’t take too long. Another 20 mins later and I am standing & waiting patiently and this time Mercedes told me she felt bad for the wait time and that the manager said they would offer me a free dessert. I said it was very kind and not too worry. 10-15 mins later another server comes by to hand me my food and gives me a scratch card. He apologized and said that everyone wins with the card.

I get home 5 mins later and my food was good but sadly not hot (my car was running outside). I never got the dessert but I did win a Coke.

Lesson learned: eat at the restaurant if you want to be served quickly with a hot meal.(A table was sat when I came in and they left before I got my order) Never order at the counter and just pay the up-charge with DoorDash to...