Burgoo Bistro Lonsdale — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Disgusting!!! That is the word I would use to summarize my experience of this restaurant. From the food to the customer service, this restaurant was a major let down in every possible way.

I recently visited the Burgoo Bistro restaurant at Lonsdale with my family. Prior to eating at the restaurant my family had looked at the menus of many restaurants in the area. The waitress who talked to us at the time explained that they were having a thanksgiving special that she said was absolutely delicious!!!

After deliberating about where to eat we decided on the Burgoo restaurant, and returned later in the evening. We were seated inside the restaurant (instead of on the patio), and only a few minutes later we were approached by the waiter (different than the one we had spoken to earlier in the day), who asked abruptly what we would like to order. We asked for a few extra minutes to look over the menu, but before leaving the waiter told us about the thanksgiving special.

Out of the 4 people at our table, 3 ended up ordering the special. 5 minutes after we had ordered our food it was delivered to the table. Everything listed above in the special was thrown into a bowl all together. Not long after we started trying the food we were approached by the waitress we had seen earlier in the day, who informed us that because of the lack of customers our waiter from that evening had been sent home. Not once were we asked how the food was.

Once we had finally had a chance to taste all of the food on our plates we all realized the turkey was tasteless, tough, and honestly appeared to be questionable as to if it really was turkey at all. Not only was the turkey disappointing but the stuffing was cold as if it had been sat in the fridge.

Not once over the next 15 minutes were we approached by any staff, including the waitress that had now been assigned to our table, to see if we were satisfied with the food. By this time we had eaten only the few vegetables and mash potatoes, leaving the turkey and stuffing which was about half of our plates. The waitress finally returned to the table and we expressed our concerns about the food. We were then rudely questioned as to why we hadn’t told her this prior to now which created a very awkward and negative atmosphere.

After she had cleared all the plates off of our table she came back and said she could offer a free dessert as compensation for us not enjoying the turkey. Everyone at the table reluctantly ordered a dessert and she made a point to loudly announce that only the people who had ordered the turkey could get a free dessert, almost implying that the 4th member of our group was trying to get something for free.

Once the desserts arrived, all of which were in a jar, both people who had ordered the peach Brown Betty said it tasted like warmed up canned peaches with cut up bread on top of it. The other too desserts were extremely cold as if they had been sat in a fridge or maybe even a freezer. The cheesecake tasted mostly of cream, and the chocolate mousse was bland.

None of us finished our desserts and when the waitresses returned to clear away the remainder we didn’t bring up anything about the desserts as we were fearful of how she would respond. By this point we just wanted to pay and get out of the restaurant.

We were charged full price for all mains and the one dessert. After around 15 minutes after leaving the restaurant we had to rush back to our accommodation as we were feeling physically sick to our stomachs. I am no doctor; however, I believe all members of my family experience food poisoning from eating at Burgoo that evening.

To conclude this was a massive waste of money and time as we had to spend the rest of our nights in the bathroom. Do not go here unless you want to risk feel physically sick! I can confidently say that this food was not something we were at all thankful for, and if I am being very honest I wouldn’t even give it to my dog as I fear it would make him sick also. Do not waste your money on this food and terrible...

This took me a long time to write, however it was necessary. I kept putting it off because its not in my character to leave such reviews, but it would be wrong if I didn't share my experience.

On my birthday last year during the summer we went to Burgoo (North Vancouver location) as I wanted to enjoy a cozy - comfort food place. it's a place I visited atleast three times a month since childhood and brought many clients to them through my friends circle and business. Over the years I noticed a downwards trend in service level and with the rare occasion the quality of food. Regardless of the service becoming noticeable poor we still supported this establishment.

That is until the last visit. As mentioned service has been on a decline but this visit prompted me to make others aware and stop immediately from visiting again. The server was extremely rude from the minute she came to our table. We at first glanced over the fact thinking she is having a bad day. But we then noticed that she was extremely friendly with the table next to us and behind us. We still decided that we were not going to say anything. We ordered drinks and appritizers to begin. The appetizer came out wrong and we asked nicely that this is not what we ordered (but were met with a reply as if it was our fault) plus were still not served our drinks (which were ordered prior and always come first. When asked where they were she got noticeably angry). When they came one was the incorrect drink and we added more drinks at this point. Once again they were not served. We waited a substantial time before I lost my patience. I got up and went to the bar to pick them up myself and she stood there talking to her co-workers. One of the other staff members intervened and said don't worry we will bring them to you. A few minutes later she came and dropped off the drinks really hard on the table and purposely put the drinks randomly infront of each of us. I then with a loud tone called her back and asked for them to be served as ordered and placed infront of us correctly. From there I decided I must change my tone too.

The fact she was so pleasant to others and disregarded our table from the moment she approached us says something. Her passive-aggressive behavior and demeaning behavior was clearly noted from the moment she approached us, unwarranted and unnecessary, it lasted during our entire visit. A similar situation occurred with a friend. We had our appetizers and dinner and decided to go for dessert at the Village Tap House which completely changed our night around and put a smile on our faces. The staff there as always was beyond pleasant.

Because this has occurred at Burgoo not only to my family but others as well I feel like certain people may not be welcomed at this establishment. This was at the Lonsdale location, however maybe this is a reflection of the overall management for the entire establishment. Being a business owner I have decided to use my links to spread awareness to other not to eat at Burgoo. Once a loyal customer that introduced my family/friends along with hosting casual lunches for cleints I have turned to ensuring I do what I can to deter people from stepping a foot into Burgoo. I hope this will serve as a lesson to the restaurant to screen and train their employees properly.

They made me and my family feel less then and embarrassed. This is why I finally decided to write this, because no one should have to face that feeling.

I hope this helps others and especially the management at Burgoo to do better in the future...

It’s never fun leaving a low review for a local restaurant, but i felt this one was necessary especially after reading all the amazing, yet misleading reviews.

We arrived at the restaurant, without reservations so expecting to wait. We had an approx 20 minute wait, while noticing one table open; figured it was for a reservation. The host finally noticed it was open and sat us after around 20 minutes.

The server came over and it felt like it was her first day serving… She walked past our empty water jug 3 times before we had to ask for a refill. We asked about an item on the menu “is the chicken on this grilled or breaded?” her response was “uhh its not grilled, but idk what it is” we were confused but figured ok, well it must be breaded/fried or something? she didn’t find out. We then got the item and it was in fact sliced grilled chicken. We were confused, but left it alone.

We asked for 2 items to come as appies and 1 of 2 came and the other came at time of main course. The 1 appy that did arrive was nearly frozen it was so cold. The server avoided our table, did not ask how everything was throughout the entire visit, even when we paid.

Our main courses were all below average, tasted like pre-made sandwiches lacking flavour and quality. Although these items took a long time to come out, they weren’t as expected. The chips were also stale.

We also ordered a non alcoholic cocktail and was told that one was unavailable tonight, but just before we left we saw one leaving the bar and heading to another table.

The whole experience was confusing and disappointing, especially since we had a good experience before in the summer, but seems those items/quality are no longer there.

This whole experience will unfortunately be our last time at Burgoo: I highly recommend reading the bad reviews over the good reviews before...