Garfield's — Restaurant in Town of Essex

Normally I’ve heard great things about this location, but I’m never able to order here when I show up. Every time I impulsively go for food during hours that a normal establishment should be open, they are closed. This restaurant looks very cute and I would’ve loved to try it but not after my first interaction with staff tonight. I stepped in with my grandparents at 7:00 for dinner. Every table was filled so we decided to wait off to the side for a table that looked they were finishing up. The waitress serving (unfortunately didnt catch her name) approached us in a very impolite manner saying “ HI, ummm we’re not serving” with attitude that wasn’t needed. We asked why and she very combatively responded “we have 2 kitchen staff back there, we’re not putting in any more orders because it’s 110 degrees back there and we’ll be closing by the time all of these customers finish”. I get it’s so hot, business is booming so you’re trying to be there for everyone’s needs and it’s frustrating. being a server you’re putting yourself in that position for these moments and situations to arise and you need to be ready for it all. so unprofessional of this waitress to go back to the kitchen staff and start talking crap about my grandmother questioning the very on and off hours of this establishment loud enough for me to hear when we haven’t even left. all i gotta say is A.emotional control and B. know your limits to your serving...

What a fantastic place.

It was a rainy grey Saturday afternoon and we decided to enjoy a day in western Ontario. I didnt really care how we spent the day, but I said "while we're in Canada, I just want to get poutine."

So we went to breakfast in Windsor; it was great. But poutine isn't served at breakfast. Then we went to a coffeeshop and it was delightful, but coffeeshops don't serve poutine. Then we went to a park to walk around. We drove along the lake... you see where this is going. We saw all kinds of things at every place in the world that does everything under the sun but sell poutine.

So we were cutting through Colchester. Good grief, I have no idea how we even ended up in the area. But sure, we're in Colchester, and I hadn't heard of it either. When I saw the Garfields sign I nearly grabbed the steering wheel and turned us into the parking lot. It had been hours by then.

And then... The Fries Box!

FOUR KINDS OF POUTINE. One tray.

Bless my spouse's heart, sure is lucky that after me waiting so long, it resulted in such a masterpiece. FOUR TYPES OF LOADED FRIES. One tray.

Mission accomplished. Eat at Garfields. They have poutine!

Really it's a super cool restaurant, casual and friendly. Pride of ownership shows. And the food was so good I even ended the guilt trip about spending 7500 hours one afternoon aimlessly riding around in rural Ontario.

Five...

Once again, the outside did not reflect what we found inside!

Garfield’s seats quite a few people inside and in their patio - we went last Friday night. It was packed!!! Who knew we had found an awesomely delicious gem 🤷🏻‍♀️

Most people seem to know each other but that didn’t make us stick out at all even though we were cottage renters for the week.

Our waitress was amazing - she was fun, efficient, and attentive!

She warned us that it might take a while for our food as there was a number of people ahead of us. We didn’t mind… it was fun to experience the energy of the room while we waited.

The plates going by looked delicious- our own did not disappoint!

We tried their Ribs & Wings Platter as well as their Hot Damn Hamburger.

The wings were really tasty with a Lemon Pepper Dry Rub - soooo good! The ribs were fall-off-the-bones… There was nothing left on my plate… good til the last bite.

If you’re looking for good food and awesome service; make sure to drop by...