Bricks & Barley — Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Came to this place after many recommendations from some local vineyards, told that this is the local go-to spot for great pizza and burgers. The menu had many great options, something for everyone.

Started off with the chicken tenders as an appetizer, plump juicy chicken, perfectly fried and a very tasty batter. Tried 2 different sauces on the side, hot honey and peach bbq, thankfully on the side because we didn’t care for either.

Next up ordered 2 signature pizzas, the Wild and Blue (but without the blue cheese), and the Bruschetza. The Wild and Blue was baked to perfection, and all around was one of the best tasting pizzas I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of pizza! Lol. Absolutely delicious, all the ingredients complimented themselves so well, couldn’t stop eating this one. would highly recommend. The Bruschetza was also delicious, could have used a couple more minutes of baking, the crust was a bit soggy on the undercarriage, but excellent marriage of flavors. The pizzas are quite large, you could definitely share one pizza for 2.

The food did not disappoint, unfortunately our service was not stellar and we waited a long time for basically all of our food, appetizers and pizzas, and I mean excessively long. Sadly we did not have the best server which kind of put a downer on the experience (he shall remain nameless), however Victoria and Jessie quickly rectified the situation once the issues were brought to their attention and they made us feel like VIPs, and in addition presented us with a delicious night cap of a Mars Bar Cheesecake, absolutely incredible. I was going to give the service 2 stars which would have been justified, but Victoria and Jessie helped pull off a solid 4 stars. Food was definitely 5 stars, the hype is real....

ATMOSPHERE 4/5 BIG SPACIOUS PLACE, CLEAN & WELL LIT. LOTS OF TVs TO CATCH THE GAME(S).

SERVICE 4/5 A TAD ON THE SLOW SIDE. OUR WAITRESS SAID SHE WOULD BE BACK TO TAKE OUR ORDER BUT WE SAW HER CHIT CHATTERING AT THE SERVER STATION A FEW TIMES BEFORE FINALLY MAKING HER WAY BACK OVER..NO BIGGIE. WE ORDERED A PIZZA, PASTA, AND 2 APPS TO SHARE. SHE DID RING IN THE WRONG PIZZA, BUT VERY APOLOGETIC AND MADE SURE WE WERE ENJOYING EVERYTHING ELSE. HER SHIFT LEAD DID SWING BY TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE MISPUNCH TOO. WE APPRECIATED THEIR EFFORTS IN ASSURING OUR DINING EXPERIENCE WAS STILL ENJOYABLE.

FOOD 3/5 **WE REQUESTED OUR WAFFLE FRIES AND ROOT FRIES WELL DONE, BUT IT WASNT HOT AND CRISPY AS "WELL DONE" WOULD BE. SOME PIECES WERE UNDERCOOKED AND TASTED STALE. THE GARLIC DIP THAT CAME W.IT WAS TASTY THOUGH.

PIZZA 1/5 **LACKED IN SAUCE AND FLAVOUR. QUITE DRY AND HARD. THE DOUGH HAD A NICE CHEW BUT ITS MORE HARD AND DENSE (THICKNESS WAS INBWTEEN "THIN CRUST" & "THICK CRUST"). WE ORDERED THE "EXTRA MEAT" WHICH IS THEIR VERSION OF A "MEAT LOVERS" BUT WAS GOT A BASIC PEPPERONI. NOTHING STOOD OUT FOR OUR TASTEBUDS W.THAT ONE...

**PASTA (CHKN & KALE RAVIOLI) 2/5 NEEDS MORE SAUCE & A LITTLE MORE FLAVOUR. KIND OF BLAND IN FILLING AND SAUCE..ALSO, NOT SURE HOW LONG IT WAS SITTING ON THE COUNTER BEFORE IT MADE WAYS TO OUR TABLE, BUT THE SAUCE HAD COOLED DOWN AND YOU KNOW WHEN SAUCES/GRAVIES START TO FILM AND TURN A LITTLE DARKER? YA..IT HAPPENED BECAUSE THE DISH ITSELF WAS ROOM TEMPERATURE AND SAUCE WAS A DIFFERENT COLOUR WHEN WE DUG INTO IT.

OVER ALL I DONT SEE OURSELVES MAKING ANOTHER TRIP FROM TORONTO OUT THERE TO TRY IT AGAIN. BEST...

My husband sent this email to the manager last Thursday May 8th and there has been no response back. This is the email that was sent to Bricks and Barley.

Hello Rachel - I just wanted to let you know about our experience at your restaurant this evening. While excited about the menu and reviews, the experience did not deliver. We had reservations for 5:30 pm. After we were seated we were told that there wasn’t a drink menu that could be provided. We thought that was strange but my wife and I ordered a standard drink, beer and margarita, while our daughter's had water. We then looked through the menu and placed our order. It wasn’t till well after we had ordered we discovered the Thursday special tapas menu. We were never told about it which was a shame as much of what was on there would’ve made for our main choice. We decided it looked good so we ordered 3 items to go. The trouble was with my daughter’s meal. She initially ordered the Nashville Chicken tacos. They were way too spicy for her (and us) so we then ordered a pound of wings. The wings came and in our opinion, were not fully cooked (see picture). My daughter ate some before realizing, which is concerning. We did bring it to a managers attention who said they were safe but understood they didn’t look cooked. In any event, the bill was then brought (tacos and wings removed). No mention of anything else for my daughter to eat (she left hungry), no dessert or no coffee. Just the bill. All in all, a disappointing experience which I thought you should be aware of.

Thank...