The Duke Of Duckworth — Restaurant in St. John's

Date of visit: August 28th, 2025

The one star is not for the food. It is for the horrendous service.

We were in a large group on their patio and although the vibe was fun (we even experienced torrential Newfoundland rain under their leaking roof – the waitress knew but ignored that it was pouring on our food), their waitress Laura was the horrible part.

I sat with two young ones; right next to me. I asked if she had any thing on the menu for little ones and she stated she did not. My son and I asked her politely for “chocolate milk” to which she abruptly told him, “NO!” It was awkward, I thought she was joking as she was talking to a 9 year old. I think the appropriate response in such an industry would be, “No, I am sorry we don’t but we have …” Even my 9 year old wondered where her basic customer service was yesterday. 'Sorry, I guess he’s more Canadian than you, eh?'

Shortly thereafter, I witnessed Laura head down the table and as she got to the next three children, she offered them “grill cheese and fries” … oh look at that, an actual kids meal?

Fast forward to when the meals come; you guessed it. Mine was cold, it was incorrect despite being simple, and she told me that it would be easier if I just took it, ate it as is. So I did, witnessing her inability to appropriately host despite her rightful duties guiding so.

Not one offer of a refill; no help, no service. We get to time for payment for our group’s respective bills. I receive my bill - see there is a meal that is not mine, nor my family’s, nor the bride’s, nor the groom's. I ask Laura to remove it; she tells me, with other party guests shocked to witness and to see how she was treating me and my family. “Just pay the whole bill. Get cash from the person later it’s that person, she ordered the meal, her over there.” Awkward much?!

Okay: so as a paying customer, who has experienced such horrible service, be it unwarrantedly, I am to pay for a person I have never met nor know, I am supposed to pay for this meal as Laura stated it was “Too complicated to remove, I made my suggestion and you chose not to listen. Not my problem now."

Wow, The Duke; this is disappointing and horrible. We will take this experience back home to Ontario. The rest of Newfoundland has been pretty and kind, you know?

As a decent human, knowing that we all have good days and bad, I still tipped this waitress gratuity; although I wish I never had. Disappointing service. My food was cold. My skin is coloured, perhaps that’s the issue with this waitress but how she could be so rude and deceitful to children, is why this...

Went twice in the same week. Once for lunch and once for brunch. The lunch was on a Thursday afternoon, there was a cruise ship docked as well that day, which made the place busier than usual for a weekday. We sat inside and had prompt service the whole time, with an excellent plate of fish and chips to top it off.

When we went for brunch, it was on Saturday. We got there about 1:00 and the place was packed; however, we did manage to get a spot outside on the patio. We were warned about the temperature, so that was not an issue. We were greeted immediately and received our drinks relatively quick. Then we waited forever to order our food. The patio filled up so fast, that the server covering that section didn’t have a chance to keep up. It also seemed to affect the kitchen, because everyone’s orders on the patio took an excessively long time. Compliments to the server for doing their best and even maintaining a level humour and composure throughout the time we were there; although the same can’t be said for the kitchen. Three of us ordered the touton platter and it came about that the kitchen had run out of toutons while our order was in process. We overheard a table near us being told this and then needing to change their order. Rather than giving us the same option, they tried to split what was left of the touton dough across three platter orders. We ended up with half-size portions and one plate just had the remnants of what was probably leftover at the bottom of the bowl. In the end, they did take one of the touton platter plates off...

The place was full when I visited around 2:30pm on a Sunday. I asked if they made their own chicken strips and they said no so I ordered a burger (which they do make their own) with fries, dressing and gravy. My food took 28 minutes to arrive. I think she may have forgotten to put in my order because there were 3 tables served before me even though I was there before them. My burger was delicious. Thick beef patty, nice gooey, stringy white cheese & bacon! So good. The gravy had a really good flavor but I didn't care for the fries and dressing. I was disappointed because I haven't had fries, dressing and gravy for a long time and couldn't wait to have some. The fries were soggy (and they had even brought the pretty small amount of gravy on the side so that didn't make them soggy) and the dressing had no flavor whatsoever. I definitely don't feel like the meal was worth $27.01+ tip. The gravy and dressing were $2.25 each. To be fair, I didn't complain about my issues since it was so busy. I had to hunt down my bill to pay. I was alone at a 4 person table and there were people walking in and right back out after seeing there were no tables so you'd think they'd be in a hurry to bring my bill and get others seated in my place. There appeared to be 5 servers and the place isn't very big. Enjoyed that...