19 Best Bars in Waterloo

“*Caution** Went to this venue for the first time on Friday. There were 2 men luring women who were there alone offering to get them 'closer to the stage'. They happened to approach my friend, and we watched it happen. When I went to my friend and asked how she met them, and she asked if she was okay, she disclosed that they were touching her inappropriately and was blocking her from talking to me. Security was told, bald man about 5'5" and a women security officer approached me. I told them what happened and instead of following up they asked me to leave with no reason provided. Either the security was incompetent or knew the perpetrators. Will never return. Please watch out for each other because those who are there to 'keep you safe' are clearly not. The owner and police are being contacted to provide this information. Disappointing do better protecting your patrons.“

“It's a great place to learn and play new games with your buddies. They have a lot of options in games , if you don't know about any game. Don't worry. The game master will be happy to help.
You have decent food and drinks options.

Charge is $10 per person as you can use $4 or $6 as cover charge for drinks or food.

Overall a perfect place to chill and to enjoy a variety of board games.“

“We were served by Asha who made our experience the best! For her second day, she was extremely professional, polite, positive, and courteous. As vegetarians, she made sure that our orders suited our dietary restrictions. We were celebrating my dad’s birthday and she made our birthday dinner even more enjoyable! Overall, I definitely recommend eating at Milestones due to their exceptional service. Keep up the excellent work Asha!“

“Great food, and service! Everything was hot and very tasty!! The price is right for the quality of food!“

“A high end restaurant around here used to be a business casual dress code, featured a lightly seasoned steak, a prime rib dinner, a dynamite caesar salad, a pasta dish, a seafood dish a few other signatures with an extensive wine list. All the food was made from quality ingredients, expertly prepared and the service was professional and caring. All of this is still expected in high end dining but one thing I felt was absent for a while was originality. I still fancy the local favourites but it was hard to find something unfamiliar. In the last decade, Waterloo has been invaded with delightfully unique higher end dining ventures. Steaks served with aggressive and colourful sauces. First course flavour explosions served out of a micro spoon. Exotic treasures from the sea like octopus or blow torched fish instead of grilled. The palate of the Kitchener-Waterloo region is expanding and in my opinion, for the better. The latest addition to our fine dining core is Babylon Sisters, a wine bar where simplicity done well is taken seriously, like a tuxedo. A black and white colour scheme, accented by silver, button bound leather bar stools softly lit by candle light. The Art Deco ambience is quietly stated above the sight lines. The long narrow venue is subtly divided into a bar, to a high top seated dining room and then into a retro 70’s high back vinyl booth seating area. The patio is vibrant, connected to adjacent venues. It’s very southern U.S. or Caribbean in it’s street social vibe. The two menus consist of two things: One is Wine. One is food to compliment the wine. It’s a bold statement to start your wine menu off in Canada with Ontario wines if you want to be recognized as a wine bar. Too often Ontario wine is poo pooed but to me, it just tells me whoever does the menu here has taste because Ontario has world wide award winning wines. Beyond the local selections, lots of old world wines, not the usual's you see on menus in town and offered in three ounce portions. A great concept to anyone who desires the variety of different wine flavours but doesn’t want to spend a fortune on higher end wine. Not to mention doesn’t want to drink two bottles worth of wine just to get variety. I went with the classic accompaniments with my wines, olives and cheese. A great mix of pitted olives. Queens, kalamata and cocktails, oiled up with a garlic clove. They were salty, fresh and firm. The cheese was a mix of brie, camembert and blue. I thought it was going to be mild, mild and explosive blue cheese but alas, the camembert and brie were far from mild. Normally I find those cheeses bland but they were carefully selected and well prepared. The camembert was woody and earthy. The Brie was almost whipped. The texture of the cheeses when topped on the bread turned the chewy bread into a supple ball of joy. When mixed with either the honey preserve or onion butter it was out of this world. The combination of the olives, cheese, pastes, wine and ambience was nothing like anything else in town. Oddly, across the street I could see Streetlights, another newer venue in town. A fruity coloured place that lives where Chainsaw used to be and it’s something, again, unfamiliar. All of this felt like an escape. I went in and out of Babylon Sisters expecting a nice drink but instead felt like I had a vacation. This is what I always want from a venue. Something unique. Something to take the rest of my day away so I can just enjoy the moment. Hats off to this brilliant new place.“

“The jazz room is a big venue. Lots of different options like billiards, multiple pubs.

Live music pretty much every day.

They have a good music system and cameras so you can enjoy the show from any place. The venue is also intimate. You are not more than 3 tables away from any place.

The amount of talent available is vast. The food is not overly expensive as expected.“

“This on campus site on University of Waterloo is really good!
I’m not a fan of the pricing but for portion served I think it might be reasonable
The taste is fresh and great
I had a Chicken Tikka Pizza and it tasted so good
I recommend this place to everyone it’s cozy and a nice place to have a chat with a friend
the food here is good ☑️

Vegetarian options: Across the menu there is one veg option offered in each category“

“awesome vibes, great prices and good food (the fries are really good!)“

“Great golf simulator and excellent service?“

“Everything! Great food all around but ultimately, it is the people who work there, they are like famlly💕“

“Very polite baristas, quick service, yummy pastries, the best coffee in town or if your looking for a extra boost they sell red bulls! Great price and relaxing place to do work :)“

“We were at Pin-Up just yesterday for a get-together, and it goes without saying that we all had a fantastic time. For some (including myself), this was a first visit. The staff was amazing, and the selection of available games was overwhelming (especially the number of pinball tables). There were a small percentage of machines that were out of commission, but most were indeed operational. I ordered their chicken tenders and fries. My nephew had the honey garlic chicken wings. Both meals were delicious and well portioned for the price! The cost is only $8 for entry which gives you unlimited play on all of their games. They even gave us free refills on the soda! We were there for well over 6 hours and it felt as though no time had passed. I'm a child of the 80's, so the opportunity to experience a REAL arcade again just brought back waves of nostalgia for me. I honestly can't wait to go back. Can't recommend this place enough!“

“Food was delicious, as always. Our server, Anika, was great. The manager, Caesar, was tremendous. He honoured our CAA discount even though it was wing night. We are long term and regular Kelsey customers. We often order more because of the discount. Kelsey's head office needs to stop nickle/diming customers and just honour the CAA discount no matter what.“

“Famous charcoal outdoor Korean bbq. Best Korean frozen Soju place in the city.“

“My husband had steak I had Vegan and both were fantastic. The baked Brie with the pesto, insane! Our server Logan was very friendly and attentive.“

“The first restaurant I ever tried kalamata olives!!! And the best Greek salad ever 😍This was probably 20 years ago. So glad the Jane Bond cafe is still going strong. Live in northern Alberta now. But may have to visit when I’m in Ontario this summer 🤔“

“I must tell you about Phils! It's hands down the best nightclub in Waterloo. As a student at Laurier, hitting up Phils is practically a rite of passage for every Golden Hawk. The place offers cheap drinks, a friendly staff, and an awesome atmosphere that's perfect for everyone. In my book, it's the ultimate bar in Waterloo!“

“If you’ve ever found yourself hungry past 9 PM, staring into your fridge like it owes you rent, let me introduce you to the magical land of Crabby Joe’s. The deal? Buy a drink, and boom: half-price appetizers. It’s like they want you to have a good time. Naturally, I took full advantage, so let’s break it down.

The spinach & goat cheese dip was dangerously addictive: creamy, cheesy, and just the right amount of garlicky goodness. If I had a spoon, I probably would have ditched the chips and gone straight in. Then came the Crabby Combo, a glorious, deep-fried trio of buffalo chicken quesadilla, wings, and mozzarella sticks, with marinara and sour cream on the side. It was basically a greatest hits album of bar food, and I was here for it.

The real star of the night, though, was the jumbo shrimp. Perfectly crispy, dunked in a sweet yet spicy Thai chili sauce that had me questioning all my past life decisions - mainly, why hadn’t I ordered more? But then came the chicken parmesan entrée, and all was right in the world again. The parmesan was cooked to golden perfection, the pasta was rich and creamy, and for a brief moment, I considered standing up and applauding the chef.

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“Awesome spot, fantastic service :)“