Hummingbird Pub & Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Southern Gulf Islands Electoral Area

The lady behind the bar was friendly and welcoming, and she mentioned we could sit anywhere we’d like. After seating ourselves, Lisa, our server, came and took our drink orders. As we ordered drinks, we asked if we could get water all around after getting back from golfing. Not knowing Galiano also sourced its water from wells, similar to many other Gulf Islands, she proceeded to snap at us, saying "Bottled water only" And that there were signs everywhere stating so, even though there were no signs in sight. We would also get wafts of sewage, which was extremely unappetizing. Next, after we were told customers were able to sit wherever they’d like, another group came in and wanted to sit down below the patio in the garden near the flowers. They were shouted at by Lisa as she said they weren’t allowed to sit down there because she didn’t want to walk down there to serve them. Lisa then told us what wasn’t available on the menu, and when we ordered our food and asked for poutine, she cut us off and said, "Don’t have poutine," even though she never said there was no poutine in the beginning. When we got our food, one of our orders had cheese on it when we asked for no cheese (we were completely fine with that), but it was the fact that when she started eating it, the waitress proceeded to grab the plate and say, "You're not eating that," and brought a new one that was messed up as well (missing ingredients). Lisa never checked in on us while we were eating to make sure everything was okay.

But that's NOT ALL.

When we asked for the bills, she called out numbers, saying "who is #1, 2, 3, 4, etc." like she was expecting us, the customers, to know what number each of us was. Lisa then proceeded to call us out for the tips that we gave, saying that we were costing her money when we were tipping because she had to tip out the kitchen staff. We tipped because it’s polite, though we did not tip a ton due to the poor service. Be grateful you even got tips! Tips aren’t mandatory! She then proceeded to throw the receipts at each of us and didn’t say "Thanks!" or "Have a good day!" As we were leaving, we could hear Lisa complaining to the kitchen staff about us and how we apparently didn’t tip enough. Overall, be prepared for Lisa’s bad attitude, and the pub has room for...

Genuinely the saddest small locally owned restaurant experience I've ever had. First the positives: free bus from the marina and campground, and the serving staff was genuinely charming and kind (must be seasonal based on other reviews). That's it. That's all I can say that's nice.

Here's the bad. First, bus driver was the most belligerent, impatient guy I've seen driving a bus (and I ride city buses daily). A far cry from the old bus driver who was literally a motivational speaker who drove the bus as a retirement gig.

Next, the prices. Holy moly. $35 for a piece of literally unseasoned fish with a single slice of iceberg lettuce and some chipotle mayo, or if that's too rich, $25 for a burger that I can only describe as "what you expect from the meal ticket at a high school day camp." The amount of fries with the burgers was kind of hilarious - so few that there were none on top of others on the plate, sliding around as the food arrived. All the food was similarly egregious.

One might write this off as "island tax" - and yes, I know it's more expensive to operate a restaurant on an island without a food distribution point. But this was good that was unloved, flavourless. Compare this to the most expensive burger that you can buy at the biggest resort in the islands (Poet's Cove) - a whole dollar more - and youught start to understand why I have nothing good to say about the food at this place. They even charge for water, something I've literally never seen in North America.

Health inspector would have a field day here - might actually call them - as the owner lets their dog roam free around the entire establishment. I don't hold this against the dog. He was the only other positive of the whole experience. But that is not safe in a commercial food prep setting.

I'll finish by saying the whole place immediately gave me dive-vibes when I walked in the door, and not in a...

On the surface, The Hummingbird is a local Galiano "gem" with a certain rustic charm to it. Unfortunately, this was some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced. Admittedly, we came in as a group of 14, which is a bit chaotic to begin with, but the restaurant was empty at the time (it was 4pm), and were scrambling for options after an early airbnb check-out and a late ferry on a rainy Sunday. The staff was visibly annoyed with our arrival, and scolded us for not calling in advance. We were told there was a mandatory 18% gratuity, but that 20% was expected for a group this large. One staff member, who was part of the conversation, avoided eye contact all together. They begrudgingly sat us at a large table 15 minutes later. Once seated, the server put on a fake, friendly smile, and the service was ok for the most part. One of my friends asked if the veggie burger could be made vegan, and the server responded by saying that the veggie burger wasn't vegan because, "it had gluten in it." I was given my burger without ketchup, so I asked the server to bring some to the table. She then asked the entire group of us if, "anyone needed anything else, so that she wouldn't have to go back and forth," in an extremely irritated tone. We didn't feel especially targeted though, because we actually overheard another table complain about the shockingly unfriendly service as well. The food itself was mediocre at best, and fairly expensive. The cheeseburger I ordered was over-cooked and lacking flavour, while the salmon wrap barely had any salmon in it. We were pretty put-off by the whole experience. Don't bother with this restaurant if you're looking for a welcoming staff...