Rail & River Bistro — Restaurant in Township of Langley

3 weeks ago, I booked reservations online for Mother’s Day. I called a couple days later just to confirm and was asked if I wanted the Mother’s Day brunch menu or the regular menu. I confirmed regular as we had picky eaters in the group. Nothing was said about a ticketed event.

A week before, I got a call saying they had a note next to my reservation that I didn’t buy Mother’s Day brunch tickets and they didn’t have room for our group. It was now sold out. At first, the woman was quite rude. Insisting she wasn’t the person I spoke with when I confirmed our reservation and now the restaurant is full. After some back and forth, I was told they could make it work and have a table for us in the pub section or outside. I said no, I booked for the bistro. We didn’t want to be outside (the forecast wasn’t looking great). So finally, they called me back and said they were able to sort it out and find room for us. Definitely felt like we were inconveniencing them.

That night, I got another call again asking if I had bought tickets. I had to explain all over again t a new person that no, we did not want to do the Mother’s Day brunch. Just the regular menu.

Then last night, I got another call to confirm saying I had 2 reservations. How they could get things so mixed up is beyond me. I used their website to make the original reservations and got an email confirmation. I cleared up that we only had the one reso, not two.

Fast forward to today, Mother’s Day. We arrive 5 min before our reso. The bistro’s chaotic. We didn’t get acknowledged at all. There was nobody at the host stand. After 10 minutes, we finally had to walk into the restaurant to find someone to give our name and check in. While waiting, a family came in to see about getting a table and were told they didn’t have enough staff. Eventually, someone comes to take our group at the front and again asks if we bought brunch tickets. Again, I explained we were just doing the regular menu, not the set brunch.

We are finally told our table is ready and they proceed to bring us to the pub side saying they thought we would prefer it as the only other table was near some rambunctious kids.

At this point, I got upset. I specifically said in earlier calls that we didn’t want to be in the pub after speaking to them a week prior when they messed up the reservation. I had planned this well in advance for the moms (and myself being a mom too), and as soon as we got there, it was stressful and a chaotic environment.

We finally got a table in the bistro, and were given a complimentary drink for the mix up. But, service was awful. We couldn’t get a glass of water despite asking several times. Couldn’t tell who the server was as they didn’t have enough staff serving both the bistro and pub side and they were often not to be seen. Some of the servers were quite rude constantly telling customers they didn’t have staff. I get they were short staffed, but that shouldn’t be taken out on customers who made reservations for Mother’s Day.

All tables had to wait a long time for food and drinks. Tables sat waiting to be cleared. Some customers were getting up and helping themselves to a pitcher of water up at the front as they also weren’t being taken care of.

It was very, very disorganized. Don’t host a Mother’s Day brunch if you don’t have the capacity for it. Don’t allow regular reservations but then insist you need a ticket. Ensure you have staff to work. Yes, people call in sick. Things happens. But Management should have stepped up to the plate and helped out if they were that short. You are hosting an event. The servers were all flustered and overworked and unhappy. It showed.

It was a disappointing Mother’s Day. All the runaround and phone calls less than a week before saying we no longer had a table was stressful in and of itself. It would have been next to impossible to get a reservation elsewhere at that point. Needless to say, I...

We arrived yesterday for Brunch after boating. We were there at 12:42pm (only know as I texted others to potentially meet us there) there was a family in line in front of us waiting for a table. There was all the booths open (clean and ready to go) and a high top as well. We waited patiently for family to be sat, that took awhile even tho the booth they were being sat at was open and cleaned. Once they were sat, we waited to be acknowledged. We weren’t. At one point I said hi to a staff member walking by. No response… We waited. Waited Finally we were acknowledged and were told to sit at the third booth. Menu arrived a few minutes later… just put down on the table and staff scurried away without a word, it was a lunch menu. We waited for someone to come back, ended up asking a random staff member walking by if we could get a brunch menu please, she stated brunch was over, it was over at 1pm. I then stated that we have been waiting to be seated since 12:42pm was it possible to get brunch due to the waiting even though tables were open? (No wait list either, just to be clear) She respectfully responded that it was not possible, she left and so did we.

I went on line to view the menus before I wrote this and noticed the brunch menu claims brunch goes until 2:30pm????

I am frustrated with this whole experience. I don’t know if they were just understaffed, if there was issues in the kitchen? What the problem was but it seemed chaotic and unorganized.

No disrespect but not impressed and not likely will be encouraging my team or the club in Fort Langley to attend this restaurant in future.

Attached is a close up of time for...

Disappointing Experience - Poor Customer Service

Rating: 1/5

I recently visited River and Rail Bistro with my family, excited to try their cuisine, especially because I have a 10 month old with me. Unfortunately, our experience was marred by a shocking display of poor customer service from the hostess.

Upon arrival, she was taking orders from one table, which was understandable, so we waited. However, things took a turn when we tried to accommodate the hostess's request to move our stroller to a corner. She became agitated when we asked for a different booth becoming visibly frustrated, and started swearing at us. Yes, you read that right - the hostess swore at us under her breath.

We were taken aback by her unprofessional behavior and tried to diffuse the situation. However, the damage was done. The rest of our experience was tainted by this encounter, and we left feeling disrespected and disappointed.

Didn't even get to try the food, but clearly, the service and hospitality were severely lacking. It's unfortunate that one person's behavior can tarnish an entire establishment's reputation.

Until they address their staffing issues and train their staff to handle pressure with grace, I would caution others against visiting with children on a SLOW day.

Note: I hope this review helps the restaurant to identify areas of improvement. It's essential to treat customers with respect and kindness, even in...