Fretboard Brewing & Public House — Restaurant in Hamilton

Stopped in with my wife and son for lunch. We arrived around 1:45ish on a Thursday afternoon. The first floor seats around 25 to 30 people and features some of their in house brewing. We selected this place based on the menu showing a high percentage of the selections that could either be made gluten-free or already were gluten-free because my wife has Celiac. This is always a challenge when we eat out. We were seated on the first floor but we're given the option to sit up on the second floor if we wanted to. Walking with a cane I'm clearly handicapped but the hostess made sure to tell me that they do have an elevator on site and it would have been no problem for me to go upstairs to sit. We opted to stay on the first floor and sat along the back wall at a high table. This gave us a great opportunity to see the entire restaurant from where we sat. The menu is very nice with several lovely selections. My wife was very excited that she could select anything she wanted from their menu apart from one or two items that could not be made gluten-free. We decided to get an order of the loaded hash brown squares. I highly recommend these. These are fried potato squares that have been cut into sticks and then covered with beer cheese and bacon. Could you ask for anything better than that for an appetizer? I paired it with their in-house brewed Fret light beer. An excellent choice I think. That was the best light beer I think I've ever had. My wife ordered the fish and chip platter and there is a picture attached. I wish I had taken pictures sooner but everything was so good we just started eating. I got the meatloaf meal which is served with mash and green beans. My son got the Pimento Pub Burger. And he's never had pimento cheese before. I think he's hooked now. The fish and chips were absolutely delicious!! The fish was haddock, cooked to perfection and very firm and meaty. The coating was not your typical gluten-free coating. This was crunchy and delicious. As many people know who eat gluten-free, coatings tend to be on the oilier side and normally fall off after a couple of cuts taken off the main piece. The chef should be very proud of the creation he/she/they made! The french fries served with both the fish and the burger were crinkle-cut and were cooked to perfection. Lightly dusted with salt they were an absolutely great addition to both meals. And even got a side mention as we were walking back to the car, as in "what did you think about those french fries huh? Weren't they the best you had in god-knows-how-long?" Yeah they were that good. I do consider myself a bit of a meatloaf snob and this creation put my best recipe to shame. It was meaty it was beefy it was fantastic! And the best part is ,it too was also gluten-free! The green beans were cooked just right. Not under done/not overdone. The meatloaf was served on a pillow of smashed potatoes that were cooked very well but we're seasoned a bit on the salty side but that's okay, paired with the meatloaf it was a very nice way to complement each other. The burger was done medium exactly the way he ordered it and it was served on a pretzel roll with the pimento cheese spread and a fried egg on top along with two very nice pieces of bacon. It was so large he couldn't put his mouth around it and he broke out the knife and fork and polished it off along with the fries. That was one happy young man right there! The dessert was the Donut Hole Sundae where the caramel was excluded because that could not be made gluten-free. And it was supposed to be shared by the three of us however I got one or two spoonfuls in before the two of them blocked me out, but from what I was able to try it was delicious. I'm sure the two of them loved it you could tell from the evidence on their faces LOL! Our server was the absolutely nicest person! If anyone from the restaurant is reading this please I apologize for not getting her name but know that she was the nicest and sweetest person we have experienced in a long time. This place is a definite CAN'T...

This place is the most unprofessional when it comes to online ordering also in store experience is unprofessional also. Store management is horrible the moment you walk in the door. Yes I would like speak with the OWNER in person TODAY. About an incident that happened yesterday involving your female manager and employees she was managing that evening, I'm filing a complaint with the city of Hamilton also. A complaint was also filed with DoorDash delivery service about this incident as it involved this service, including the customers you were payed to provide services to. Wearing a COVID-19 mask with a DoorDash logo on it the moment I walked into the restaurant I was at first ignored, as if I wasn't there. After about 15 min of standing there I approached an employee. I asked where "a" customers order was which was promised to be ready by a certain time. I was repeatedly told over a period of period of 40 min that we're checking on it. So I connected with the customer who ordered the food from your business thru this 3rd party app called DoorDash the moment it became over due for pickup, I told them to call and ask what's taking so long for the order. By some miracle I was again approached by same employee out of the 3 that knew why I was there, she stated; are you here to pick up for Jane Doe, "name redacted" I said YES, but she already knew why & who I was there for. This employee went to the back came back with a big brown bag to be delivered to the customer, so I promptly left to deliver the customers meals. It was when I delivered the meal to the customer the customer noticed an entire meal was missing. So I stood there with them as I had been in contact with the customers the entire trip, they called your business to ask about their missing meal! The manager stated to the customer we gave it to the delivery person it was in the bag that was handed over, basically saying I stole it. Also this manager told the customer that she had to TURN OFF your DoorDash ordering system as they were too busy to deal with taking any DoorDash orders, WOW! So I was accused of stealing part of the customers order and the customer knew this to be a lie as we stood there discussing the issue in their driveway. We were in contact the entire trip, even after after delivery of the partial meal they paid for. Your manager & employees treatment of 3rd party delivery services to get your product to the customer is HORRIBLE to say the least. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT ORDERING ANYTHING from, Fretboard Brewing & Public House thru any 3RD party delivery service! I have a 100% completion rating, an on time rating of 98% along with a 5 star customer satisfaction rating with a score of 5 of going over & beyond for customer service. Your employees follow your managers, I'm not letting your management destroy my reputation as a hard working "Honest" service provider. #1 To say I stole their meal to cover for your mistake is HORRIBLE! #2 to ignore me as a delivery service provider working on your behalf hopping I would just go away wasn't going to happen. It's obvious to me that this is a common practice at your establishment when business is GOOD to the point it's OVERWELMING. DON'T ORDER THRU ONLINE SERVICES for Fretboard Brewing & Public House you most likely will...

This was by far the best doordash experience I've ever had. Let me start off, though, with the only negative aspect of the event, and this is really not a very big deal.

Almost all restaurants today are going to great lengths to really seal the packages that leave the restaurant to go out for home deliveries. This package was not sealed. There was a staple in the far end of each side of the grocery bag, but you could still reach in there and get to the food. I think customers would feel more comfortable if you made it impossible for someone to touch the food between the store and the customer.

The food was great. The pub Burger was wonderful, and they even gave me special treatment by grilling the onions for me. The macaroni and cheese was an incredibly generous portion so we'll have some leftovers with that. The sweet potato fries were very good if not a bit lukewarm. But heck, when you have a home 10 miles from the restaurant I'm not sure how it would be possible to deliver those hot.

On a previous order with another restaurant I had ordered a brownie with some ice cream, and it came to the house with the ice cream already on top of the Brownie..... I wasn't sure I was going to have any ice cream left by the time I finished my meal.

Fretboard, instead, packaged the ice cream separately, so it was easy for me to pop it in the freezer as soon as my meal arrived.

I decided to try Fretboard tonight because I'd heard good things about them, and they were offering free delivery. As long as they offer free delivery, they will be my first choice in doordash food. It was awesome and I highly recommend it. It's even worth the doordash service charge & the tipping expense for the driver.6

One more thing. Before I placed the order I called the restaurant to ask for advice on the best menu items. The woman who answered my call was so incredibly helpful. I'll look forward to visiting this place in person...Well...