Chino's Bistro — Restaurant in Steinbach

Oh dear. Well. We came for coffee and desert but decided to grab a pizza too as I missed supper and my partner was moderately hungry too. Ordered the Funghi pizza. It was an excruciatingly long wait. 40 minutes? Mostly empty restaurant? So I’m not sure why. And when I tell you I was starving! So this pizza arrives and it’s very unattractive looking… like it’s as if a bag of arugula was just emptied on it blindly and everything else is just white. If this thing was near a wood fire there’s nothing to show that, no golden edge, no crispy crust, nothing. But okay. Shouldn’t judge by looks right?

Absolutely nothing could prepare me for the degree that this thing was such a disgusting, soppy, dripping mess. An actual pool of water? Mushroom juice? Under the crust, which is not a crust but a wet, slimy layer of gluten. Absolutely horrific. But I’m starving. This took FOREVER. So I eat a bite. The boccocini cheese is thickesh and chewy and it’s not hot - not helping the mushy “crust”. Just picture chewing wet dough? With congealed cheese? The bacon looked like that ultra thin kind you put in the microwave. Like see-thru bacon. Which is fine! I don’t care! I am STARVING ! But when I went to slice it … it pulled apart like the dough- flaccid, gooey, no crisp or desire to act like bacon at all, I have never seen bacon do that after being cooked. It acted more like how raw bacon would pull apart? I couldn’t take it. I got an urge to gag so I had to leave the resto for a minute. I actually started tearing up as I was so hungry and this was supposed to be a special date for a tired mom and dad and we won’t get another chance for a while. My partner was so hungry he ate most of it anyway and said he felt sick. I would have ordered more food but I couldn’t handle the idea of waiting another 40 minutes. And my stomach was turning. It is midnight as I write this and I still haven’t eaten because I wanna gag still.

We got gelato (excellent) and two caramel macchiatos. The coffee was insanely bitter for the first ten minutes, like a shot of pure espresso?, but we tapered it with the gelato. I almost got used to it, but we got to the second half of it, and it was near pure caramel syrup and cream with no coffee flavour at all. That bottom half was undrinkable for both of us. We saved them as syrup to add to coffee for the next few days. So I figure it just didn’t get mixed? And that it actually was the pure espresso sitting on top?

Service gets lower stars because our server disappeared after delivering the meal - ended her shift but never checked in with us which should take place 1-2 minutes after dropping food. A second server arrived well past the point I could have even ordered anything else anyway (my partner ate 7 out of 8 slices before she ever came by to ask how it was and no I didn’t tell her the truth, I just didn’t say anything, and she looked exhausted, unhappy and stone-faced, was training an employee, and I didn’t want to add to whatever was wrong there).

Atmosphere gets three stars because it was Saturday night and the fireplace was not lit inside (why have it then?) and it was freezing in there, no candles on the table or anything (flowers? Are they hard to find?).

And it’s obviously just a whatever but there are plastic shrubs along the window seats which, well, are real plants hard to find? Why have a window into a greenhouse and put lawn chairs and plastic shrubs along it? Felt a bit like eating soggy bread after the sprinkler ran on it for an hour in the discount garden section of a Canadian Tire?

People around here don’t have many options. But if you have to choose a place to spend your money and time in this one horse town, you might have a mediocre meal here, or one of the actual worst food experiences of your life.

You might leave and be unable to eat or even see a mushroom pizza for a long, long, long time without wanting to gag.

Do you really want to take that risk with your special date night? No. Go to Irori, or the Indian Spice Club,...

Food is excellent, but I am posting this review about an interaction we had with a staff member. When our server was at our table she was coughing, making my wife uncomfortable. When my wife asked if the server could put a mask on she was told that "We don't have masks here." My wife also saw the server carrying our water glasses with her fingers inside the glass (this was before they were full) and without washing her hands after her coughing. My wife then asked for us to have a different server. Our meal went very well. After I had paid I overheard the same server complaining about my wife's request to another staff member. I calmly confronted the staff member to explain why my wife requested what she did and the server got very upset with me, implying that we were hypocrites as we didn't wear a mask, saying that her coughing was only clearing her throat and that she had washed her hands in the back. We had no issue with the server personally but her behavior had made my wife uncomfortable. Indeed, I was very satisfied with the server's description of her actions taken (i.e. washing her hands in the back), I am sure they follow the standards quite well. But when I told her that the way she was speaking to me and about my wife did not reflect positively on the establishment, she did not apologize and instead accused us of malicious intent, saying that she could have gotten in trouble because we asked for a different server. I apologized, for this was not my intention and left, as I could see the server was still upset with me.

Our dining experience was wonderful, the food was excellent, and we have many memories in Chinos as it was the place where my wife and I had our first date. Unfortunately this experience has soured these memories. To think that none of this frustration would have happened if I had not overheard the server talking disrespectfully about my wife and confronted her makes me sad.

I will make this clear, the food is excellent and we have had many positive experiences at Chino's before. But this interaction was very upsetting. We will not be returning to...

Chino's Bistro is a hidden gem tucked beside a wonderful green house called Sunshine Green house on the east edge of Steinbach. This quaint restaurant features a real wood fired pizza oven that produces the best pizza's and foccochia I've ever had. The flavour combinations are delicious, upscale and unique and the crust is a thinner crust that still has substance. They offer a gluten free version too. I ordered the Chick pizza which consisted of a roasted garlic sauce , roasted chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, asparagus with fresh basil and a pesto drizzle. It was absolutely delicious. My companion ordered a Make Your Own version which turned out amazing too. We started with foccochia and an olive oil / balsamic vinegar dip which was light ,chewy and had a great flavour. The dip we tried was roasted garlic infused olive oil mixed with black pepper and honey balsamic vinegar from the local Prairie Oils & Vinegars shop. We then had the crab cakes & stuffed mushrooms which also were amazing, the mushroom caps were smaller but each was a bite of pure delight with its robust filling complimented with the balsamic reduction that was garnishing the plate. To me crab cakes are usually bland but these small gens had a light subtle taste that you couldn't stop eating which was totally complimented by the Chipotle sauce on each cake. Chino's has a fantastic dessert selection that you can't go wrong with any of the choices and if that's not hard enough they have a great selection of inhouse made Geletos. The service is attentive, helpful and friendly. The ambiance is simple but beautifully done with a relaxing feel. The attention to details such as using fresh ingredients, oil & vinegars from local shops and waxed fresh flowers from local artisans in the community is wonderful to see. Everything is made inhouse.and you can tell corners are not cut with the menu or ingredients Prices are very reasonable and portions are substantial. A restaurant that...