Gabriel's Cafe — Restaurant in Nanaimo

A lot of pluses, some issues to work on I was here on a winter Sunday morning around 10 AM and we were able to get a table quickly. I really enjoyed the breakfast wrap that was more than enough to share with my husband. Allthree of us who had brunch together found the coffee really acidic and unpleasant. The menu has many really delicious looking items and makes me want to go back to try some other dishes. However, my friend dining with us who put in our orders found the counter service would not give them what they ordered: a simple cheese omelette. The server at the counter argued with them about other toppings and options (caviar! Meat!) and ultimately my friend felt they had to compromise and accept avocado with the cheese omelette they ordered because the server gave them such a hard time about their order. This is wild to me and apparently it is not the first time it’s happened. It’s very difficult to show a restaurant with counter service only when there’s an issue like this, and Gabriel’s should talk to their staff to avoid arguing or over suggesting what they order unless it truly cannot be accommodated.

Like most restaurants this size with an open kitchen, It was a little bit loud, which can make it hard for the customer and the order taker to hear each other. At our table, the noise was just loud enough to require us to focus on each other to be able to hear. It might be difficult for people with hearing impairments, or when the place is jam-packed. It was about 3/4 full when we were there.

Other than the noise, Gabriel’s is accessible in many ways: there’s level entry from the sidewalk and accessible curb parking nearby. There’s a lot of regular table height seating, & it seemed like there was a fair amount of space in between the tables to get around. There’s a large wheelchair accessible washroom that I was disappointed to see them storing a table in (it might have been there as a baby change table?) but it was large enough for me in my manual wheelchair to use with no issues. The order counter is pretty reasonable in height. The counter with all of the coffee fixings is a bit too high for some wheelchair users (not great because the last thing you want is to drop a hot cup of coffee on yourself) and not easy for folks using mobility devices to navigate with a full uncovered mug of hot coffee to the coffee station and then their table. Normally I would not go to counter service restaurants that serve hot food but at Gabriel’s they carry the food out to you, Bread Garden style, which...

The experience started off okay. The server welcomed us in and explained the new ways to order due to the pandemic. Orders can be done at the counter or online, but it is preferable that you order online. We went with the online method, and some of us chose to pay online while others ordered online but payed at the counter.

The food arrived sporadically, with some of our friends who showed up and ordered later receiving their dishes first. Not one of us received a drink we ordered and we had to tell the server multiple times each of the drinks that was missing, as if the orders were just lost entirely.

The receipt for my online order said that my food should arrive by 10:06 a.m. at the latest. By that time most people at my table had received their orders. No one came to do a quality check or ensure that all the orders for the table had been complete. When I asked a server she said it should be coming soon. Finally around 45 minutes after I ordered, when all of my friends were nearing finishing eating, I went up to the counter to inquire about the status of my omlette. The waitress went to talk to the kitchen staff and informed me that somehow they had lost my order. She was apologetic and said that they would get on it right away. However, we were visiting from out of town and wouldn't have enough time to wait. I took a cash refund and was offered a breakfast sandwich to-go for purchase.

Gabriela's is completely disorganized having both online and in house ordering systems. The restaurant needs to keep things simple and work on getting out drinks and completing orders so customers don't leave hungry.

I honestly don't know how this place has a 4.5 star average review score, which is what brought us here in the first place. I will never go here again, and I would never recommend anyone go here based on my experience. I can't attest to how the food tastes, as I was...

First time eating here. Came with family who raved about the food. Breakfast was tasty although husband said the scramble he had was a little bland but once he put some hot sauce on it the taste improved. My real complaint is with the service and the rude hostess we encountered. We used the function on the website to get ourselves in line before arriving. The timing worked out great and by the time we parked around the corner and were walking towards the restaurant we received a text that our table was ready. We walked in to the restaurant and told the hostess we received the text that our table was ready. She immediately said that someone texted me in error and they weren’t ready for us. She looked at her screen and told us we were no longer on the list.. we just stood there awkwardly and she went to get the employee who supposedly texted us in error. The two of them stood there and tried to figure out what happened, neither one apologetic. Then the first girl we spoke to tried to tell me that I needed to have shown up within 5 minutes to claim our spot.. she said the accidental text went out at 10:17 (before I even put us in line). I told her no we received the msg at 10:57 as per the time stamp on the text on my phone and it was currently 11:01 plus we had already been standing there for a couple minutes. This rude hostess didn’t even look at what I was showing her on my phone and proceeded to look at the other staff member and begrudgingly say “well I guess we have no choice but to seat them”… not exactly the warm welcome we...