The Pantry Restaurant Nanaimo — Restaurant in Nanaimo

What an absolute disappointment. The first stop in Nanaimo when I go to visit my father on the island.. was to go for breakfast at the pantry to visit our favourite server Amber. (Off the chart- her Caesar’s were to DIE for.) Over the time of the pandemic when it was hard to travel out of course it had been about 6 months since my last visit.. and not only were we absolutely devastated to discover that our favourite server had moved on and quit.. we see why. Did the standards go out the window? I myself as a server who has worked in the industry for 10 years completely understand that sometimes an establishment cannot be perfect.. but regardless Amber always made everything a solution and ensured that our experience was a positive one. She went above and beyond! She treated every table, every guest.. as if you were dining at the café at the Ritz.. for a $2 breakfast diner.. she didn’t treat it as one.. she ensured to make every guests experience a damn memorable one! We really went here for the service she presented, and her personality. Even if she didn’t serve our table.. who she was, her standards for service, and her positive attitude rubbed off onto who she was working with. She made this place shine! Now, it’s dull.. our food was cold.. our Benny’s overcooked.. and as far as our server & management go (whom we will not mention names.. & i’m sure considering that they are too busy on their phones rather than ensuring they are touching their tables & giving proper service.) the presence of the diner as a whole is negative and doesn’t compare. It’s too bad.. Please take this review into consideration, and even though she’s moved on.. this place is going downhill and should reflect on this! Get her, or someone that can at least compare to Amber back!

Cheers, Aspen & her...

We hoped to have a nice Mother's Day brunch today and chose the Pantry because it used to be a family favorite when I was younger. We were seated after waiting for awhile at the door and the waitress took our order within a few minutes. That was pretty much our only interaction except when she brought us our food and bill. To be fair, there were only two servers on and the place was full, so our waitress had her hands full. I can't tolerate gluten so ordered just a few sides and the rest of my party ordered breakfast items. We didn't have our food for half an hour after we ordered but noticed that two other tables were served before us even though they arrived well after we did! When our food arrived, it didn't look very appetizing so I touched the egg with my bare hand. Cold. The hashbrowns were dry and barely lukewarm. The sausages were hot, though. We had to flag another girl down to ask for refills of water, and I asked for cream for my tea and my son asked for a sprite refill. She returned with water and tried to put it in my sons cup so we quickly reminded her he wanted sprite. She came back with sprite and then remembered I'd asked for cream, so had to come back a third time to give me cream. By that time my tea was already cold. My sons dad finally had to stand up to catch someone's attention to get the bill, and a man at a neighbouring table did the same and made a comment about just getting out if there. If anyone would have asked us we would have told them how atrocious our meal was but I think they were all too busy to care. Don't waste your time on this restaurant. We know we wont make the same mistake a...

Faced with a bit of a wait for an appointment, we stopped in to the Pantry to have breakfast and kill time.

Unfortunately, this is the last time we'll be here, I think, as its only redeeming quality is its proximity.

I ordered the potato cake Benny with a side of hashbrowns and a side of sausage.

The soft eggs were overdone, and there was a miniscule amount of hollandaise on them, and the potato cakes were relatively insubstantial and thin, though they probably had the most flavour out of anything ordered.

Side of hashbrowns managed to be entirely flavorless (minus a bit where they were crunchy), and the sausages were 3 small standard breakfast links. (Both of these things were extremely disappointing given their $4/ea. Price point.)

Partner had the strawberry pancakes and while the order is absolutely massive, the pancakes aren't that good. They're dry and dense and pretty flavorless. The strawberry syrup is what you'd find anywhere and tastes just like it.

All in all, it was a pretty underwhelming experience i have no desire to repeat. My partner is at least willing to give them another shot for lunch, though, so I guess I'll be back at least once.

Breakfast for two came to $40 before...