Treadwell Cuisine — Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake

The vegan options they promised are omissions not substitutions….

So the Treadwell is a well reviewed swanky restaurant with a prix fixe menu. They have a four course menu: Appetizer, second menu, main and desert.

The menu is a mix of sea food, meats and vegetables. They also offer a sommelier pairing with the food as an option for extra money.

What you should know: They are very busy and you cannot expect to just show up and be seated so plan ahead. On open table there is a $90 deposit required to confirm your reservation on busy days maybe. But I could not get the reservation set without the credit card info.

Expect to have your meals served in or around 4 hours or so. I got there at 7:30 pm and the main meal (third service) did not occur until 10:00 pm.

The staff: The staff is very good and but not very accommodating in that they are limited to the seating options are limited and the restaurant structure is also set. So no ordering off menu and no special menus. The food is the food. Also, they are warm but defensive when they mess up. Normally at high end places an apology is all that’s required not an explanation of their motive.

The chefs don’t wear any head covering in the kitchen and that was a first for me because I am used to seeing head covering in kitchens that prepare food for the public.

The establishment: The bathroom is accessible friendly and clean. There are also another two bathrooms downstairs. They have an elevator in the back. The restaurant is modern and the open kitchen is cool and clean.

There was no music playing and the place was quiet for the most part with people talking in the background. You can carry out a conversation with no effort.

So what’s the issue? If you go to this restaurant expecting them to accommodate your dietary restrictions, they will try and accommodate you by omissions not with substitutions. This is not only terrible but disgusting. For example, a tomatoes salad missing cheese to make it vegan which balances the sweetness of the tomatoes with the saltiness and acidity of the cheese taste like a sweet desert and not a properly balanced salad. This is really bad for a place that charges premium for its food. Also the wine pairing is designed for their regular menu and when they delete the cheeses the pairing does not work. Yet you are paying another premium for the alcohol.

As far as the portions are concerned, the quantity is not going to fill you up if you come hungry. But for a high end establishment, it is pretty generous.

Recommendation: avoid this place if you have a dietary restrictions because they will delete stuff from the meal and not substitute it with something equivalent but vegan. My strict vegan friend did not eat the food because it was not balanced and not integrated. If you have a taste bud you will notice that. If French fries is your thing then you will believe that the vegan food is good.

So the two stars are for their amazing non-vegan food and atmosphere. I took the three stars because they advertised vegan options for deletions, food safety, the fact that they don’t have sommelier on staff (no master sommelier) and...

This is my second time at this restaurant. My first time eating here was fantastic. The sommelier had spent a lot of time with us to talk about the wines, and we had time to ask questions. All the food seemed to be reasonably sized portions for a multi-course meal. The food, service and atmosphere were all top notch.

This time, not so much.

I had a reservation for 8:15, and arrived a bit early. Our table wasn't ready yet, so we were offered a glass of champagne. We waited outside (probably about 28C). The time of our reservation came and went. When the hostess finally looked at us and said our table was ready, they asked our name, and it was for someone else. They proceeded to tell us our table was not ready yet, and that the table was paying. Then the hostess said, sorry I thought you were this other person, and that she was not the hostess. I asked to speak with the manager (which did not happen). So, we were left waiting outside in the heat. They offered us more champagne which we declined. They offered us a table outside, which was not what we were looking for and said we wanted the table we booked inside. I advised them that they may need to have the difficult conversation with the people who were lingering inside that the next table has arrived.

Finally around 8:30, we were seated. The server seemed rushed and was clearly hot and over worked. We had the 3-course meal and my partner got the wine pairing. Similar to the server, the sommelier was rushed; he didn't have a lot of time to talk to us about the wines and kept getting called away while he was serving us. The food was okay, but not as good as I remember from my previous experience. The portions also seemed bigger, which is not necessarily better, because I was over full at the end of the meal. I am sure that the extreme heat and very high level of noise in the restaurant didn't help. Since we started dinner so late we were in the restaurant until almost 11pm.

We were provided a discount on our meal for the overall challenges that we had, but this was a birthday dinner, and it really fell flat.

Something has changed with this place. I am not sure if there has been a change in ownership or management, but this was really not a good experience and I highly doubt I...

Update - July 13, 2025 It's been 9 years, and I've come back with my wife to Treadwell, now also with my son. In that timeframe, a Pandemic has occurred and Treadwell, it seems, has lost its way.

Gone is the chef's tasting menu, which delighted everyone with its sublime menu filled with ingredients unique to the region. Here is now a prix fixe menu of relatively what seems to be a mish mash of some locally sourced ingredients mixed with flown-in and non-regional ingredients. The restaurant is Farm-to-Table in name only. Halibut from the east coast, quality control issues in the Gnocci; (which has gone from "best I've ever eaten" to grainy and un appetizing) the whole place seems to have lost what was the spark that made it special.

Is the food inedible? Not by a long shot, and the staff are still extremely pleasant to be around.

But there's been a loss of interaction with the chefs, a loss of care, and worse, it seems, the restaurant's food is no longer uncomplicated and confident about its sharp, intentional flavours. The aforementioned fish, as an example, was overcooked, the shrimp that was placed on top was likewise done the same, and everything just had no real depth of clear flavour. Why use saffron cream, if the flavour is a bland cream sauce that has no discernable connection to the ingredients on the plate?

Why provide a dollop of superfulous whipped ricotta heaviness to an otherwise perfectly delicious appetizer of tempura zucchini flowers?

It all feels like everything has taken two steps back at Treadwell unfortunately. Everything needs a rethink and edit on the menu, and it's unlikely we'll be back again.

Can't recommend it high enough. Chef's tasting at Chef's table is the way to go. Everyone's friendly and talks to you. Food is seasonal, and exceptional. Clean, clear flavours.

This has probably been one of my best and favourite...