Bard's on Market Square

Original review from 2 months ago is below, I'll keep it there for posterity. We came back to Bard's tonight for my birthday dinner, and will likely never return after this experience. 1- from the time we arrived until the time we left, it was more than an hour and a half. We waited 15 minutes for our drink, appetizer, and dinner order to be taken (we had already waited so long, we just ordered it all at once). Another 15 minutes before our drinks arrived along with the appetizer (6 oysters). 30 minutes after that, our food finally arrived. We watched 3 other tables get their food before us, when they had arrived after us (they had a different server than our table). 2- when the food did finally arrive, the waiter only asked one of us about a drink refill. When that one drink finally arrived nearly 15 minutes later, the waiter was surprised that we were basically done our meals. That's when I was finally asked about my drink. We just asked for the bill. 3- we never saw our waiter after that, until it was time to pay. The Manager was kind enough to bring us our bill, but then we never saw him again either. We waited almost 20 minutes for our waiter to finally appear with a payment machine, and only because the waitress working next to us gave him the heads-up. He never once checked-in throughout our entire meal or appetizer. 4- my spouse's steak was 1/3 gristle. We've had better steaks home-grilled from Costco, and they didn't cost $60. My steak was supposed to come out medium-rare, but it was barely pink until I got to the very middle. By the time we got our food, we were so angry that we didn't see the point in complaining about the food quality. We didn't want to wait another hour for it to be made right. We would have been less angry had we gone to McDonald's for supper - at least you're getting what you pay for then. We had looked forward to this dinner for weeks, and have never been so disappointed. If this had been our only visit, I wouldn't even want to give this place 1 star. Absolutely disgusting experience. I've been recommending this restaurant to all of my friends and family, and I'm going to make sure they all know not to bother making the trip. -------------------- Original review: We went there for the first time on Friday before a theatre show. This place absolutely knocked our socks off. The server was perfect - he was attentive without being overbearing or obnoxious, with a great sense of humour and wonderful suggestions for food and drink. The food itself was mind-blowing. Hands-down the best meal either of us has ever had (and we eat at a lot of different restaurants across the province). I stayed back to speak to the Manager to give him our accolades, which is something I've never done before - but the entire experience made it a necessity. This place is one that we'll happily make the 40 minute drive to visit over and over again. If you order the sides, be aware that they're shareable portions - we found out the hard way that 2 people cannot order 2 sides each and expect to finish all the food.
2 7 years ago (21-10-2017)

Went before a show with a hour and a half. It was not enough. We were never asked if we were seeing a show, but we didn't say anything (at first) because we assumed we had plenty of time. Expect to spend over 2 hours. We split a 32oz. steak. order medium-rare. It came medium-well, but we didn't have the time to get it fixed. It was a good piece of meat, just overcooked, and its a steakhouse. On top of the, the truffle oil Mac & Cheese side although rich and tasty, only had cheese crispy on top (oven baked). It seemed to have a lighter cream sauce instead of a cheese sauce. Staff was friendly and it had a nice atmosphere. Likely won't go back though because of the slow service and poorly cooked meat, especially for the price. It just fell short of our expectations.
2 7 years ago (12-09-2017)

Dropped in for a late light dinner on way home. Yes it's a steak house and the steaks look and sound delicious but will come back and report on that. What we had Portuguese Chicken and Octoberfest Sausage appetizer. They were both fantastic dishes lots of flavour and presentation extreme. It is a place to go for sure . The staff were amazing very quick knowledgeable and helpful. Over all a great place to dine
4 8 years ago (31-05-2017)

We just ordered the Tomahawk steak at Bards. It was cooked perfectly, medium rare. The sides were to die for, and large! The Mac and cheese side was great. Highly recommend.
5 7 years ago (13-10-2017)

We had the duck and the striploin steak. The duck fat wasn't rendered and was so inedible my husband and to go to the bathroom to spit out the fat bits. The steak was seriously under cooked.
1 7 years ago (28-10-2017)