Castle John's Newmarket — Restaurant in Newmarket

Honestly Liz and Nick saved the experience. My Dad wanted to go here for his birthday on Sunday march 10th. My boyfriend and i had had a long weekend of working and as it was just up the street we thought it was a good idea.

Sunday night was horrible! We were told it was a little busy and there was gonna be a 10min wait. Which we said was fine as we were gonna be chitchatting. But chatting was very difficult. We basically had to scream at each other to hear ourselves over the band that was playing.

We waited 30min for service from I believe Tasra. I was about to suggest leaving as it was unbearably loud and very cold. Our server finally appeared after liz asked if we’d been helped. Tasra had no customer service. There were other tables chasing her down for their change or to get the bill. Liz had to be watching her like a hawk. Nick was serving other tables and was being an all star while our server was playing hide and seek with her tables. She had no sense of priorities. She got my dad his water while another table was telling her they wanted their change and were leaving. I assume they had been waiting for their change for quite some time.

My dad had ordered the blackened salmon, i ordered the steak frites and my boyfriend ordered the Guinness poutine. The fish that came wasnt very black so my dad was just asking some questions if he got what he ordered cuz hes had blackened fish before. Liz politely explained why it wasnt very black and offered to take it back and cook it more. My dad turned down her offer saying he was just curious because it wasnt what he was picturing in his head but he felt like fish. Liz offered to comp it if it didnt meet his expectations.

Luckily my dad really enjoyed his dinner. My boyfriend and I not so much. My boyfriend felt the gravy was way too salty, which was the same for my peppercorn sauce. There wasnt much flavour to it. And i had ordered a medium rare steak that came out close to well done. My steak was very tough but the fries were great.

My dad and I have father daughter dinners on Wednesday nights so we thought we would go back and try again with the 30% off appetizers. We were greeted by Nick. When asked where we wanted to sit we wanted to express anywhere but Tasras section.

Nick was kind enough to take care of us and the food was amazing! Nick has amazing customer service and had really lovely conversations with us. My dad got the battered mushrooms and the fish tacos and i had the tater kegs. Everything was absolutely delicious! Liz even came to say hi.

I think some of your staff is amazing but the others either need more training or to be replaced. Because if there are other servers like Tasra or worse then they are toxic to the environment and will be deterring future customers from your establishment.

If it wasnt for Liz and Nick my dad and I wouldnt be back. So please make the changes and adjustments needed accordingly. This is a cute little pub with good food. Cant wait to try the house made chicken souvlaki Liz was raving about.

I was debating on a 3 star review for how bad Tasra was. But Nick and Liz bumped it up. Id honestly only give the place a one star review if it was only Tasra and the quality of the food sunday.

For Nick and Liz i would give 5 stars. So the total review looses a star for how awful...

Just moved to East Gwillimbury and had driven past this place many times before deciding to go in - how I regret not just going in immediately!

Went on Wednesday which is 30% off all appetizers night and wow were we surprised with how good everything was! Me and my buddy - who had just helped me move - ordered a bunch and split everything, along with some beers.

I'll start my review with the only negative thing I have to say about the place: the beer selection. I know that they have to stick to the selection offered at the other, more country based Castle John locations, but they have just moved into an area rich with excellent craft breweries. With Market just down the street, Flying Monkeys, Barnstormer and Redline just a little north in Barrie and all the excellent brewers in Toronto, they could have done better than your standard Molson/Labatt/Budweiser range. Even Kelsey's up the street, a huge chain around the country, features some local craft brews (including Market's excellent 'Bear Hug IPA). I won't take a star away for this reason but it's definitely something to consider since I feel it opens up to a completely new crowd AND you'll be helping the local economy.

Let's get back to the positive, the food. Now, I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot. If Gordon Ramsey has taught me anything, it's to never trust a restaurant with a phonebook as a menu but what we ordered was fantastic. We had breaded mushrooms (admittedly the weakest), the mini Yorkies stuffed with mashed potato topped with horseradish gravy (being a Brit, I can assure you, they were impressive), Thai chicken strips and chips (huge portion), coconut shrimp (as good as any I've had in seafood restaurants) and my personal favorite, the butter chicken poutine. Again, if Gordon Ramsey has taught me another thing, it's that most of these were probably from frozen but who cares, they were excellently presented and dressed deliciously.

Our server Kaitlin was an absolute dream, very sweet and really prompt with our drink orders, there wasn't a moment we were gasping for a beer! We even asked her about the history behind the whole Castle John franchise, to which she answered all our questions. Both being bartenders in the city, we were intrigued about this little chain that had started to crop up and she gave us all the info we needed.

Then came the bill, now being from Toronto, we are usually expecting upwards of $200 for a meal and drink outing of this calibre...$98! Drinks were cheap, the food was even cheaper and it was all delivered with a smile (under the mask!)

I'm so glad this spot is literally a 5 minute drive from my new house and I will be back again - even more frequently if you strike a deal with one of the breweries in the area but you've only been open a few months, can't expect...

We were a party of four and we sat outside on the small patio. From the moment we arrived, We were attended to by a very friendly staff. We sampled a lot of different things off the menu. The chicken wings were absolutely amazing. I’m very fussy with chicken wings so I asked them to be done a certain way and they had absolutely no problem doing it for me. We also had the lobster ravioli and the lobster dip which was just wonderful. We also had onion rings and we had garlic bread with cheese and they two were absolutely delicious. The prices on the menu are great. The young girl that served us was really really attentive Even though it was her first day working on the outside patio. She was very thoughtful and pleasant and explained the menu to us as we asked questions. The manager Ricky came outside and spoke with us and asked us if we had any suggestions for the beer taps And anything else that we could recommend to make his restaurant a total success. We felt very welcome And we would rate this restaurant at 10 if we were able to. We can’t wait to come back and we’ve already told a lot of our friends about this restaurant. The inside of the restaurant has been completely renovated and it is also beautiful. If you want a great great meal at not too high cost and great service please go and visit castle John’s in Newmarket. You won’t be...