Bâton Rouge Grillhouse & Bar — Restaurant in Whitby

I would personally give this establishment 3.5 stars, but 8 of the 10 of us really enjoyed the overall experience. From the beginning: Our reserved table for 10 was ready when we arrived. Perfect! Staff was friendly, and our sever Madora was as good as she could possibly be, with having to work with wait times of a busy time. Prompt service, under the circumstances. So good. Appetizers: calamari was a little overcooked, so it was a little rubbery. Spinach dip and chips seemed to be a favorite, although I did not fancy it. The cheese dip and chip: to me tasted like the processed nacho cheese dip you get at the movie theater....actually, to me it didn't taste that good, and a couple of people agreed. I hear the tuna appetizer was good, but I didn't try it. The entreè selections varied from seafood linguine, to rib steak, to prime rib, to tuna dinner, to the ribs and lobster special of the night. Everyone seems to be pleased with their meals, and I having the char grilled prime rib beef was pleased with this preparation, over the dujur, as suggested by Madora. Unfortunately, my baked potato was cold, and I was put off by my first bite that consisted of unmelted butter and almost as hard sour cream. Medora offered to replace it; I declined (it went home with me in my takeout container along with my remaining prime rib - yes, the portions are adequate) My honey also mentioned to me that his Tuna meal was not hot enough, and the guest beside him said his garlic mashed potatoes were not very warm. I am not sure what the other 7 guests dinner temperatures were like, they were too far away to discuss it, nor was there really the need. Madora presented the birthday cake, which we brought with us, but no one from the staff seemed interested in chiming in on a round of Happy Birthday with us, which I was sure they had done for other birthday parties happening simultaneously throughout the evening. But, I could be wrong. My after dinner coffee was spoiled by a sour creamer...again, Madora and the manager apologized and offered to replace it...again I declined and opted out of having coffee, which seemed very strong, and which is what led to the 3rd spoiled creamer being added. Surely it was just a one-off. No, unfortunately the guest at the very far end of the table from me also ordered a coffee, and was given a soured creamer. Hers was replaced with a fresh cup of coffee and cream from the cooks' supply in a mini carafe. (My coffee came from the Tim Horton's drive thru right beside the restaurant, on our way back home...and it was very good.) The establishment has a nice atmosphere. I do find the price points a tad high, but I am frugal...fyi I picked up the food tab...but it was my gift to my family....so a little over spending once in a while doesn't matter, but spending the same amounts on these meals at this particular restaurant is not something I would be keen to do on a regular basis. I hope I presented this review as fairly and objectively as I could, while still giving my couple of cents worth of my...

My Fiancé and I took my mother to Baton Rouge for Mother’s Day this past Sunday. Haven’t eaten at a Baton Rouge in years as we typically would just go to the keg as it’s always spot on. But decided on Baton Rouge this time, from my last experiences I remember it being a great place with high end atmosphere and great food. Unfortunately not the case anymore ! While the atmosphere is nice and the service is good, the food is a major disappointment.

To start off we ordered some wine and a few mojitos. The mojitos had 1 tiny tiny piece of mint in it. Definitely not a muttled mojito and not even a mojito at all, one of the worst I have ever had. We should of sent them back tbh. I noticed that all the waitresses were just making the drinks themselves. No actual bar tender, and we were seated in the lounge so I saw that personally.

We ordered 3 apps, Caesar salad, cheesy garlic bread and spinach dip. All were a kinda disappointing unfortunately. The salad was pretty bland, and considering this place is pretty much a steak house a good Caesar salad is a must. Garlic bread was kinda a joke smallest portion you have seen and no garlic and very little cheese. Spinach dip was ok at best, the dip was like gloppy glue with not alot of flavour. Like microwaved cheese slop. Definitely worst spinach either of us have ever had. The chips were great though !

We all ordered the ribs. They messed up the side on one order but quickly corrected it. Let’s start off by saying it’s a long rack of ribs, the whole plate length. But the ribs are so tiny and thin and virtually no meat on them it’s crazy that they claim these are the best ribs in town. I make better ribs at home tbh and I’m no chef. Big bone bbq has some of the best ribs in town or even Montana’s ribs are much better then the ones we had. Sadly my rack was also burnt and tasted like charcoal. They quickly corrected this as well and brought a new full rack of ribs for me. While the new rack was definitely not burnt it still lacked that good bbq rib sauce flavour and meatiness/juiciness that ribs should have . The saving grace of my meal was the chicken fingers, as I got the chicken/rib combo. Chicken fingers are big and super crispy. But again virtually zero seasoning sadly. For dessert we ordered the cheese cake, although it wasn’t too bad. It came almost frozen so had to wait a few minutes to eat it. They ended up not charging us for the dessert because of the burnt rib issues. Which is respectable. Together for 3 ppl we spent $240 So around $80 pp Overall a very poor experience at a once great restaurant. Definitely for the money I will just stick to the keg next time. We ended up getting the left over burnt ribs in a doggy bag and took them home to my dog whom didn’t seem to mind the burnt charcoal taste. Maybe she’s a more easy going client...

So I’ll start with the good. The food was delicious, definitely worth it and just overall a great meal.

Unfortunately that’s all the good. We had a reservation tonight, get seated. We get seated right next to the steps and main walking path so lots of traffic going past our table/by our table. Not to mention the table was barely big enough for two plates. I understand it’s Valentines, but a makeshift temporary table to cram more people into the restaurant doesn’t exactly make for the best atmosphere or comfort level.

We asked if we could switch to a booth (there were 3 empty at that time). Got told it’s for guests with reservations. Last I checked we were also guests with reservations. 20 minutes go by, waitress is not to be seen and oh yeah, those booths were still empty. So empty booths and, 20 minutes and our order hasn’t even been taken yet. Not exactly the best service.

We had to flag another server down to place our order and at this point we thought let’s see the next time our original server makes an appearance (spoiler alert it was 43 minutes).

I get it, it was busy, but that’s a bit ridiculous. Horrible seating, and borderline nonexistent service. Didn’t exactly leave a good taste in our mouth and really put a damper on our night overall, hence the 1 star. Food was great but for the price per dish and the kind of service received, not to mention being made to feel like somehow our reservation was not the same as others - it ain’t worth it.

Update: went again a few months later and the service was amazing, and food was delicious as well, despite an undercooked steak but it was rectified...