Braaibar — Restaurant in Stratford

Braai Bar atmosphere is incredible, as well as the service.

My partner and I went to Stratford Festival (August 31st)and between the matinee show and the night show we booked a table at the bar. Our table was initially to dine indoors but the hostess kindly rearranged our reservation and had us sit on the patio.

We decided to book a table at the Braai Bar because I'm vegan and we wanted to make sure we went to a place where we could both enjoy the meal. Braai Bar sounded like the perfect spot, as on the first page of the website you have "Our talented team have curated a bar menu that will leave you wanting to try every dish. Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, gluten free or a carnivore, we have something for everyone". My partner called the restaurant Friday night to confirm whether there'd be vegan options, which was confirmed.

When the server gave us the menu, I couldn't find many vegan options. More precisely, the only vegan option they had was the Hippy Bowl and 2 vegan salads (options that were not originally in the menu but could be made vegan since I asked).

Since we had the table booked already and had a limited time between the shows, we ordered drinks, a tomato salad (really good!) as a starter and the main dishes - Hippy Bowl for me and a steak for my partner.

I don't have words to describe the Hippy Bowl. That was EXTREMELY disappointing. The Hippy Bowl was essentially a quinoa salad with vegetables. No dressing, no further preparation, no taste. And $23! I couldn't eat half of the bowl because how tasteless it was. My partner is an excellent cook so we asked for a take-out container and brought it home to use the leftovers for something else (picture attached of the delicious vegan sandwich he made with it).

We had a show to attend at 8pm, and would get home (Toronto) only around 1am. Therefore we had to stop by at a vegan diner in town to get me another meal (more $).

I understand the Braai Bar menu is focused on steak. However, when you advertise you have options for everyone, including vegans, the customer expects a dish that at least requires more preparation rather than throwing vegetables into a bowl. We all know that Vegan cuisine can be more than just plain vegetables.

It was extremely disappointing, considering the place is awesome, the service, and the patio is lovely.

I'm not the one to leave bad reviews or express my disappointment. I know vegan cuisine is still on the rise and places are getting used to having vegan clients and catering to them. This is feedback for a place that has potential and I would love to return to and have reasonable options with substance (e.g. pasta, risotto, flame roasted hearty vegetables, toasted crostini with heirloom tomatoes and balsamic reduction. For dessert: vegan chocolate cake, cookie,...

I have been wanting to go to Braai House for over a year, but we're about 45 mins away from Stratford and life gets busy. Finally, we had an excuse to go, but sadly found it it wasn't open on Mondays. But I knew there was a sister restaurant and it happened to be open! I called for reservations and there was a large party that had booked. The gentleman on the phone worked with us to get us a table by asking us to come in a little earlier if possible. He was so nice and courteous, outstanding customer service! When we arrived, the gentleman we had spoken to made a point to come over to our table, introduced himself (we had no clue he was the owner) and even knew my first name. He said he had a cancellation and that there was no rush and we could stay as long as we wanted. Our server was outstanding, every recommendation was spot on, she was friendly, professional and just a delight. Even the owner came around to check on us a couple times. The food was outstanding, we had the top sirloin which was cooked perfectly, the flavours were amazing and the drinks were great as well. All in all, not disappointed that we couldn't go to Braai House, we now just have to come back which is not a bad thing!! Would recommend this place in a heartbeat!!! Best service I've had in a VERY long time!! Thank you for a...

I had quite a negative experience at the Alley on Saturday, August 26, 2022.

I had made a reservation back in June after carefully researching the restaurants in Stratford. We made the reservation for 6:30PM knowing that we had a show at 8:00PM. We promptly arrived for our reservation at 6:15PM. Upon arriving - we were told that someone had claimed our table and it had been given away.

We were kept waiting at the bar until 7:00PM. Despite arriving 15 minutes early, we were kept waiting for 45 minutes for a table.

Once we were seated, we told staff that we had a show at 8:00PM and we were unsure if we would even have time to eat. The waiter told us the kitchen was incredibly backed up and wasn't sure they could accommodate us. I don't feel like any efforts were made to compensate for keeping us waiting. We ended up forgoing appetizers and desserts and only ordered mains. We did not get water until about 7:20PM.

I had been looking forward to this reservation and trip for months, and the experience overall was an incredible let-down. Except for our host, no one apologized to us. Nothing was done to address the poor service we were given. I am sad that I spent so much time looking at restaurants only to choose one that did not prioritize my experience at all. It definitely put a damper on our trip...