Browns Socialhouse Village Green — Restaurant in Vernon

Browns Socialhouse is my 105th eatery in Vernon on my quest to eat at every eatery in Vernon.

This is a Vancouver based chain. This location has been inside the mall for over a decade. It is the only restaurant apart of the mall.

I have been to Browns in South Surrey and Central Saanich, but this is my first time at the Vernon location. Surprising given I have lived here for 24 years.

It was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday afternoon. I was greeted by a server who gave me water but forgot to come back for my food order.

Luckily the manager was on top of it and took in my food order rather quickly.

My original server came with my nachos and made a return trip to top up my water.

Great service overall.

The Loaded Nachos were a solid B-Tier nachos.

After 105 restaurants, Sir Winston's and Los Huesod are A-Tier, then B-Tier would be Browns, The Kal, Boston Pizza, and Taco Del Mar.

I like how they do Florida / American style nachos here by using sour cream drizzle and a lump of guacamole on top. It's different from the standard mediocre uninspired nachos you see elsewhere in town.

Anywhere else except Los Huesos you would pay extra for guacamole, but not here.

The music was great. Snoop's "California Roll" and Abba's "Dancing Queen" played while I ate.

I ate the entire plate of loaded nachos. It isn't a small serving, but definitely not as big as Boston Pizza or Alexander's servings that charge roughly the same price.

The only minor annoyance is paying by debit here. The suggested tipping percentage starts at 18 percent rather than the current BC standard of 15 percent. 18 percent is what you see when eating out at restaurants in Ontario.

Because it is too socially awkward to manually punch in a percentage below the accepted minimum as your server watches, I went along with the 18 percent tip.

I bought loaded nachos and water for $28.50 after tax and an 18 percent tip.

It seems a lot for nachos, but given you typically have to pay three or four bucks to add guacamole to nachos at most places, the pricing isn't outrageous. You do have to pay $6.50 for protein which would push your total closer to $36 after tip and that's without ordering any drinks or sides.

They also have free wifi here.

Overall, I enjoyed my loaded nachos and Browns here in town. The manager is clearly on top of things here and the staff are very friendly.

The place is clearly popular here as after 105 restaurants you don't see many places busy at two o' clock on a Tuesday afternoon.

I likely won't be back here but am happy to have made it my 105th Vernon eatery.

105 down....

I’m writing this review after a shockingly disappointing experience. My mother-in-law, who has a severe gluten allergy, ordered a dish labeled as “gluten-free” on the menu. Naturally, we trusted the menu as presented—only to discover afterward that this restaurant hides the crucial detail that these dishes are only gluten-free upon special request, buried in the fine print.

This is unacceptable in today’s dining landscape, where “gluten-free” menus are expected to clearly and accurately cater to dietary restrictions and health needs. This oversight put my mother-in-law’s health at serious risk, which is utterly inexcusable.

When we raised the issue with our server and later the manager, their responses were defensive and dismissive. They argued that we should have read the fine print, as though a customer’s life should depend on scrutinizing hidden disclaimers. To add insult to injury, they even debated whether they should charge us for the meal they served her—despite their clear negligence.

What made the situation even worse was the manager’s unprofessional behavior. When I mentioned that I knew the restaurant’s owners, she dismissively stated, “I’m not threatened by you.” This level of hostility and arrogance, especially in response to a legitimate complaint about a life-threatening issue, is both shocking and unacceptable.

This level of carelessness and lack of accountability is appalling. Restaurants must take dietary restrictions seriously, and hiding critical information in fine print is irresponsible and dangerous. We won’t be returning, and I encourage anyone with dietary restrictions to think twice before dining here.

Please, if your server is Dillion, or your manager is Siman, double check your meals for...

Updated: Gave us food poisoning.

The service and atmosphere here is always great, food price I find expensive but we had a $10 off coupon so wasn’t too bad. My husband ordered a burger - 5 star. I ordered the dragon bowl with teriyaki chicken - 1 star. Chicken was perfect but there was something wrong with the dish and it tasted sour and off. Got the bowl switched out and recooked without the pickled cabbage but again it tasted off and couldn’t eat it. We figured out that ‘tangy’ sauce was what was off and the running to the bathroom within 20 minutes confirmed it. Would not recommend that menu item but would recommend Browns.

To the comment from Gerran - if you actually read my review, you would have noted they did offer a replacement but it still tasted off. They did offer another replacement but we were out of time. People work during the day and have limited lunch times. My husband tried the sauce and he too got within 20 minutes after we left the restaurant which is how we figured out it was the sauce. Entire meals should not taste sour and off and obviously no effort was made the 2nd time to taste the sauce. It felt like food poisoning. How clean is your kitchen if the sauce was off. Dropped to 1 star overall because you gave us...