Le Routier Restaurant — Restaurant in St-Pierre-Jolys

Le Routier is the kind of greasy spoon where you go in hungry and come out older. We waited 35 minutes for two burgers and a poutine—not true poutine, mind you. The shredded cheese was tasty, but without curds, it’s just fancy cheesy fries. Delicious? Yes. Legit poutine? Nope.

The fries, though, are the highlight of the menu and possibly the town. Hand-cut, perfectly crisped, seasoned like a dream. If they went all-in on their fry game with proper curds and gravy science, they’d be unstoppable.

The burgers? Not so much. Dry, overcooked patties on buns toasted into submission. Toppings were fresh and trying their best to salvage the situation, but even they couldn’t save it. To top it off, we made special requests—no sauce, hold the pickles—and got the full works anyway. Classic kitchen rebellion.

Ordering takeout here feels like trying to decode a ransom call. You can’t see the staff, you can barely hear them, and you’re just hoping your burger doesn’t come with mystery sauce. The building exterior could use some TLC: weeds everywhere, paint clashing like a bad Tinder date, and a garbage bin perfectly positioned to host a fly rave. We waited in the car, windows up, like we were hiding from a bear.

Google won’t allow it, but I rate it a 2.3/5. Those fries slap harder than Aunt Bev’s when someone says her lasagne is “pretty good.” There’s serious potential here, but until they clean up the service, fix the ordering setup, and give those burgers some love, it’s a...

Visited here in January 2024. The median temperature outside was -39ºC with the windchill. Together with a group of likeminded friends, I embarked on a 6.5 hour bike ride through the open prairies of southern Manitoba. We began in St Pierre and returned there for the finish. On the ride toward the finish we were all famished and fantasizing about authentic French Canadien poutine. My friend recalled visiting Le Routier around 4 years ago and said the food was really good. So we pulled up our bikes and walked in.

Upon entering we immediately realized the restaurant was under new ownership. We were greeted promptly and my friend asked the new owner how long they had been in business. He replied 4 years. The restaurant had changed hands and was now operating as a Chinese establishment.

This was not a problem for us as we both love Chinese cuisine, however we had been craving salty poutine and this was on our mind. The owner assured us he served poutine. After surveying the daily menu board we decided on the lunch special for $13.99 despite our obsession for fries and gravy.

Pardon my French but wowaweewah the lunch special blew us away! When the first plate came out of the kitchen we thought it was for both of us it was so full.

The plating, taste, serving size, etc, it all exceeded expectations. Overall the poutine took a backseat after eating the lunch special.

Next time you are in St Pierre-Jolys, check out Le Routier, you will NOT be...

We stopped there yesterday on our way back from a motorcycle ride to get something to eat after a long ride. We went to the takeout window where the sign said to ring the bell for service. We did, but nobody came. We then went to the front door. There was a young lady sitting inside who told us we had to go to the takeout window due to current public health orders concerning Covid. We went back to the window and rang the bell 3 times. Finally someone opened the window slightly, waved us away saying No No, too busy, and promptly slammed the window shut. We were flabbergasted! I have never seen anything like it. We ride almost every week with a group of 10 to 15 and we are always looking for new places to go and eat. Needless to say, Le Routier will NOT be one of our stops. Too bad 1 star is the least I could give. They didn't even...