Commonwealth Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Winnipeg

I recently made my 3rd visit to commonwealth for my birthday and to say I was disappointed by the experience would be an understatement. I will say the initial booking experience was very seamless and the team was able to accommodate my large group, so for that I can say the booking experience was great.

Considering I had been a few times prior I knew the drinks were great but the food can be pretty great or not-so-great depending on what you order and your palate, this experience was no exception. Aside from that the bartenders were great and our server was exceptional. For the most part the food was good, I think a few people in my party were not satisfied in terms of portion size considering the price but I find this to be a restaurant where you’re paying for the experience as a whole, not just portions so the value for money shows through in other aspects of your dinner.

Knowing this, my intent for celebrating my birthday here was mainly because I am a fan of the aesthetic of the restaurant and I wanted to take photos and videos with my friends and family to commemorate the day, the other reason being because I knew they now turn into a nightlife venue in the evening and I thought it would be fun to celebrate my whole night in one place instead of switching locations after dinner.

While eating dinner, I did notice closer to the time where we received our bills, some of the staff began hovering around our tables and beginning to make it seem as though they wanted us to leave, which was initially an uncomfortable feeling because I didn’t see this happening at any of the other tables and I started to suspect a hint of a racial prejudice until I realized our seats were right in front of where the dj was supposed to be set up and they likely wanted us to move so they could transition the dance floor. I do wish someone would have brought this to our attention so that we could act accordingly rather than choosing to hover over only our table and make us feel unwelcome in the space.

As soon as I noticed that we were blocking the dj area, I quickly transitioned my group to the staircase area so that we could take our photos together and commemorate the experience. I will admit, there were quite a few of us in this hallway area (party of 20 guests to be exact) but I thought this would be good for them to be able to set up the dance floor and for me to take my pictures. Shortly after moving to this hallway, we were told to clear the area and go back into the restaurant because we were blocking the exits, I did not see us blocking any doors at all but we were a big group so I understood this and we moved back into the restaurant. I then began to take a few people at a time back to the staircase area to continue taking pictures but I was ultimately barred from taking pictures in that area for the same reason, even though I was now taking pictures with smaller groups of 3-5 people and we couldn’t take up that much space to block all the exits even if we tried.

I have never heard of anyone being barred from taking pictures on the staircase and the way we were being spoken to by the individual who barred us from the area (I believe he may have been a security guard but I can’t say for certain) was appalling, yelling and being aggressive towards a group of women who were compliant, no one was yelling or talking back, no one had refused to comply, we humbly requested to take our last few photos and leave but he refused to even allow us that. From that moment on, I had a bitter taste in my mouth with the experience, so we left for the night and I don’t think i’ll be returning in the...

We booked this restaurant well in advance for a Saturday date night, expecting that securing a reservation early would ensure a better dining experience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Despite our 6 PM reservation, when most tables were still available, we were placed at a middle overflow table. When we requested a booth, we were told they were all booked, yet many booths remained empty. Even when we left around 7 PM, those booths were still unoccupied. They did offer to seat us in a booth but mentioned it would be for limited time seating—something we didn’t find appealing.

As for the food, it didn’t live up to the hype or our expectations. The menu appeared creative, with some unique combinations and dishes that caught our interest. However, the execution fell short. Everything we ordered seemed overly salty, which overshadowed the flavors the dishes were supposed to highlight.

The pasta, for instance, was cooked perfectly al dente, showing that the kitchen knows how to prepare the basics well. Unfortunately, the sauce didn’t do it justice—it was far too salty, masking any subtlety in the flavors and failing to complement the pasta itself. It felt like the dish had potential but was undone by poor seasoning choices.

The other dishes we tried followed the same pattern: interesting concepts that didn’t translate well on the plate due to an overpowering amount of salt. The presentation was nice, but the taste didn’t match the visual appeal. We left feeling underwhelmed and dissatisfied, especially after having such high hopes based on the menu and the restaurant’s reputation.

The saving grace of the evening was our server. They were attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely tried to make our experience better despite the disappointing circumstances. They provided detailed explanations of the menu and offered helpful recommendations. Their professionalism and positive attitude were the highlights of our night, and they deserve credit for that. Unfortunately, even excellent service couldn’t make up for the overall experience, which fell short.

For a married couple's date night, the overall experience was a bit disappointing. Unfortunately, we won’t...

First of all I’d like to say I am super disappointed with my visit to this restaurant. It was my first time, and it was for my birthday. Right from when I and my friends walked in you could just feel the coldness coming from the workers, not one single person offered to get the cake from us. The energy was off. I could understand it being a Wednesday perhaps they were tired, but it’s a restaurant, there was no atom of hospitality shown. It was almost as if we weren’t welcomed. The stench of subtle racism was quite blatant. Sad enough there wasn’t any food at the time we came so we had to settle for the oysters which were quite tasty. Then the part that really got me was how they poorly handled my cake!!! This is a three tiered cake we’re talking about which was poorly mishandled , only because I asked the workers to have some , you can just tell discretion wasn’t involved, appalling. You would think it being a KITCHEN full of staff and chefs they would know exactly how to cut a cake, but no that was not the case. Woke up this morning to quite a chaotic scene I must say. As if that wasn’t enough, the time to leave came and one of the supposed security who couldn’t help the racist in him jumped out. Speaking to women like he lacked home training! Telling us to leave a restaurant wit so much vim and attitude, nobody cares if you think ‘you’re just doing your job’ do it with respect for others, this isn’t a night club, it is a supposed RESPECTABLE RESTAURANT!!! Now act like that or get fired! Overall experience was a 2/10 and that goes to the live music and our lovely server who made our stay somewhat conducive, he should be promoted because regardless of everything, he was very much professional. NOW COMMONWEALTH KITCHEN I ASK THAT YOU PROPERLY TRAIN YOUR STAFF ON HOSPITALITY, you either do it the right way or not at all! Below are before and after...