oddBird. — Restaurant in St. Catharines

Came here with my S.O. for lunch. I was really excited to try this local restaurant I've heard so much just about.

We ordered 4 things: Feature Thai Coconut Soup, Haggard Burger, Fried Chicken Sandwich Nashville style and Salt and Vinegar Potatoes.

The soup I found the acid profile very high, with very subtle hints of coconut. My S.O. loved the soup though, so if he's happy I'm pretty happy.

The Haggard burger tastes exactly like a Big Mac according to him, minus extra patty and middle bun. I don't know for sure since I haven't had a Big Mac in years. I thought it was tasty, but he felt he was just eating an expensive Big Mac.

The Nashville Fried Chicken sandwich was described to me as 'very spicy' by our server. I decided to go with that one. I was totally surprised by what made it spicy was what appears to be and tastes like chili oil. But what really took me a back was the sheer amount of it! To be fair ive never had Nashville fries chicken but after a little google search I understand what it is now. Still, the fried chicken seemed like it was literraly dunked in their hot oil and put right on my bun. It was absolutely soaking to the point of having to ask the server to get me another plate and ditch the bottom of the bun!

I wanted to love this sandwich (mind you the fried chicken itself was juicy, flavorful and crispy), but that oil drench has to go. My constructive criticism would be to let the oil drain before putting it on the bun. I also think putting lettuce and what I think was mayo didn't really do much to compliment the sandwich. I think a coleslaw of some kind to cut the grease would have made it way more palatable. Again, I acknowledge the fact that I ordered something I've never tried before, but I just felt that level of oiliness was really too much.

The salt and vinegar potatoes is essentially salt and vinegar chips, but thicker cut of potato rather than chips of course. Crispy yet fleshy, and I'm a die hard fan of Salt and Vinegar, so it was my favourite dish of the night.

I think maybe they did a great job recreating classic old old times food? But overall we weren't exactly satisfied by our sandwiches. Service wasn't bad, but didn't get asked how our sandwiches were. Would we come back again? Maybe...but probably not in a while. I just hope they take my honest review into consideration.

Ambiance - 4/5 Service - 3.5/5 Food - 3/5 Price - 4/5 (lunch menu prices...

I feel like most 5 stars for this place either on here or on Facebook are from friends of the owners and I have noticed that anyone who complains about this place is harassed to no end. Hence my review on Google Review instead of FB. Now onto the review. The place is nicely redone. Small but thats what is semi-normal in the area. The music screams "we're trying too hard". Very loud and only hardcore hiphop. It doesnt fit the atmosphere and makes being social very hard. I know the menu changes often but other restaurants find a way to adjust (i.e. printing a few temp menus every week). Trying to read the chalkboard was awful. I ordered what i could see basically. I felt bad for the couple that was sitting in front of it because all you can feel is eyes staring at you while you eat. I wanted a cocktail but couldnt see the board at the other end of the restaurant so I just went with wine (which is an extensive list of local and international wines). The food is completely overpriced. I ordered the fried chicken and sparkling wine. I was not told that the chicken didnt come with anything and for the price I didn't imagine it was just chicken. Delicious (including the big mac style sauce) but not even the cheap canned wine justified the price. For tapas style portions, the price should reflect that. My friend got the ricotta gnocchi and then we were still starving so we got the bone marrow. Again, way over priced and walked out still hungry. Service was okay but for the amount of tables, the servers should be a lot more attentive. They should be asking if people want anything else not just taking away empty dishes/glasses and walking away super fast. Last but not least, safety. It was a snowy day in St.Catharines and the flooring chosen in this restaurant is awful. Almost slipped coming in and going out. I feel bad for this servers and can only imagine the upcoming insurance claims. I had very high hopes for this restaurant but theyre just trying too hard and it shows. Their reviewers try to say that anyone who doesn't understand them has never eaten anywhere 'cool' outside of Niagara (i.e. Toronto), well that is just ignorant. I will give them another try down the road (if they last) but I definitely won't be suggesting this...

We were here for dinner yesterday. Before I even start I want to emphasize that the food was delicious hence I can’t give a bad mark, because it would be unfair towards the chief and cooking team and the food would be the only reason to potentially come back. However, I’m beyond shocked with the service and staff behaviour, after going to thousands of restaurants I never faced anything similar before and I hope this will never happen again to anyone. I came with an infant in the stroller, and they seated us ( the restaurant was empty inside, and all tables were available) next to the open door/patio, it was past 8pm and it was super cold and windy. My baby and I got frozen. There was only one group of young people sitting out there on the patio, having blankets on them and drinking wine. After I politely asked both servers to close the door because I have an infant and we were in the direct wind or to move us somewhere else they both refused to do any of these things. We were out of words and wanted to leave immediately. I assumed they heard us talking and eventually closed the patio door. This made us so uncomfortable and it was borderline harassing to say something like that to any quest let alone to the mother with an infant. A restaurant like that can’t have servers without elementary customer service support, knowledge and empathy.

Furthermore, if the kitchen is exposed and many guys are cooking there with a lot of beards and hair they should be wearing appropriate cover/hats or something for that hair, it’s very unhygienic to witness that as a quest.

Food is delicious and I can’t say anything about it! However, whoever owns this place needs to work on these issues because they can mess up the impression hence people might not come back and I think that’s a super stupid reason to lose customers/funds. Choose your employees wisely or educate them on these things. It’s their job to make customers feel safe and comfortable, and it’s okay to open/close doors while serving customers in and out. That much effort is paid by giving them salaries and this rude attitude is beyond comprehension. I hope this doesn’t happen to any other...