Barley Vine Rail Co — Restaurant in Orangeville

Last minute hunger pangs hit on a 3 hour drive from Pearson Airport to Bruce County. This is one of those places you will likely NEVER stumble upon on a Sunday drive. Armstrong Street is one of many quirky, directionally confused offshoots of Broadway- the downtown of my hometown. We were starving, jet lagged and did NOT expect a stellar dining experience at 4:30 on an April Saturday. It was close, well reviewed and open. The public parking lot beside it was a plus. The large " Entrance" sign guided us down obscure alley that starts to make you doubt you are on the right track. Trust me...keep going. Taryn met us with wonderful professionalism you'd expect from a seasoned hostess twice her age. She didn't sugar coat it. We could eat, but not make an evening of it. We had inadvertently arrived on the verge of a sold out night. No reservation. No idea this was a Hotspot for many reasons. Amazing building. Old polished wood. Plush velvet benches and chic modern chairs. Craft beer bar side. Tables for 12. Variety. Character. Comfortable and cool. Palma. Probably the most efficient, genuine and aware serving expert in Dufferin County. It's a tough balance. In a very short time you have to convey patience, build rapport, put new clients at ease and remember to list your specials and answer inane questions while remembering multiple drink orders. Palma was friendly but not intrusive. No false banter just to make you feel guilty at tip time ;) Food. Look at the menu online and you will see a surprisingly inclusive selection. Wings if you are in jeans. Ginger salmon if you showed up in a suit. Enchiladas for those of you upset the USA is fighting Mexico as well as us. PEI mussels came piled high and hot. Beef Short Rib and mashed potato were elegant on the plate but down home delicious. Duck fat French fries under Haddock? Even fish and chips can be fancy. Vegan and vegetarian things are on the menu but I am not the person from whom you want unpaid advice on those selections. Gluten free things are an option because everything is reportedly house made. Even BVR ketchup. As we finished up and were paying the place was gearing up for an evening people would remember. That buzz in the air as tables filled, energy crackling almost audibly. We had truly snuck in and shared a family moment in a place we really shouldn't have experienced without a plan and reservations. Thank you to the ownership who clearly- whoever you are - imbue your food creators and front of house staff with confidence and support them at being very good at their...

I Chose this restaurant for lunch with my wife and a friend. The reviews seemed pretty good, I guess I should have delved deeper. My wife and I ordered the "smashed chicken sandwich" on recommendation of our server that it was "huge", although her first recommendation was the $40 short rib, (for lunch)?! Our guest only wanted a salad so she ordered a Caesar. The inevitable up sell was given to her and she was talked into chicken Caesar. I ordered tea and my wife and guest ordered coffee. All 3 came in individual mini french presses, including the tea? We discovered why when we got the bill. Sadly refills on the coffee did not come even though the contents of the mini french press barely filled a small cup. Our meals arrived and to our dismay were meagre at best. The caesar was served in what looked like a cereal bowl with 5 pieces of chicken on top. The "smashed" chicken sandwiches had us searching for chicken. When we removed the top of the bun and two pieces of pink anemic tomato we discovered a miniscule 1/4" thick piece of chicken. The breading was almost as thick as the chicken it covered! The taste was as disappointing as the presentation, soggy bun drenched and a "big Mac" wannabe sauce. Short of sending everything back (our guest had limited time), we decided to pay the bill and move on. The bill...... I think that over $100 was totally ridiculous. On looking at the detail our coffees and tea were $5.50 each! Really! We have eaten at hundreds of restaurants some great, some good, and a few not so good, so we don't write reviews casually or with malice, but Barley Vine, at least on this occasion was terrible!

UPDATE: Angela, perhaps more control of what comes out of your kitchen should be a priority rather than your lengthy defence and excuses. Nothing in my review was other than the whole truth. Refills were not offered on the SINGLE cup $5.50 coffee! The chicken in the sandwiches was probably 3 Oz at best. When a chicken breast is pounded flat it spreads to the extent that it would be larger than the bun it occupies not considerably smaller and practically see through! It is obvious from the portion sizes to the ridiculous tiny metal containers that held gravy and ketchup (which was additional charge) that you are cutting corners. I stand by my...

Where to start?

Well first off. Generally a tip is something earned. Instead here they add it to your bill. Very odd. A sign of a bad business.

However that does explain why the waitress looked and acted miserable, I guess she doesn't have to be warm and kind anyways because they charge you for a tip. So why bother...

She gave us the bill then said "oh here's the real bill" and it was extra on top of it. So why would they give us 2 bills with 2 different prices?!

But before all that was the food.

Very bland, on top of that the "steak" sandwich which was just bits of leftover meat in a bun. Not an actual steak sandwich was small and bland. Normally anywhere else it comes with mushrooms. However what you won't know is here they charge you $4 for what works out to be 1 mushroom! $4! That's nuts and they didn't even tell us prior. But wait there's more! you want Ketchup for your fries and a sauce. (Which is in the description of what comes with it) They charge $2 more for "condiments" Which is absolutely ridiculous.

I suggested a beer taster to my friend while here and the waitress rolled her eyes and said "you don't want that"

Long story short we rate this our worse restaurant experience of the year.

Save your hard earned money, and go elsewhere.

Bad staff, not trained well No sense of a Manager. Bland food that's overpriced Extra charges Expensive Misleading menu and waitress Forced tips (a sign of a business starting to fail)

To the owner: It takes years to get good customers it takes minutes to lose them, people vote with their feet. We won't be back.

UPDATE: to owners response, take the criticism and improve. Your basically telling the customer the experience they had. When it's not the case. -Normally a manager would still come and check the table that was not the case.(especially a large group) -We Still expressed our concerns with the front desk the young man did nothing. Did you even know that? We did that so it was private and to not ruin anyone else's night but then you went to my friend. Which is not professional. -tips are earned you cant expect bad service to just automatically get a tip. -Normally an issue would be solved instead of even leading to this point. As for other reviews, Don't compare someone else's...