I miss this restaurant me and my gf use to come here I least every other month. The bread and butter was the best also the steaks !!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Red Wine and Balsamic Hanger Steak, Clam Chowder, Bread Pudding, Soup, Mashed Potatoes
brandon majers
Used to be an amazing place with magnificent alcoholic beverages, then they got rid of the alcohol option and then they closed the entire place down without posting anywhere that it's closed so Google and the website say it's open until you get there and it's just a single lonely sign saying closed.
Frothy
When we went there was no food being served. :(
DYH
Oh boy, do I have a list! First off the ambience and setting is great! If you are looking for a theme of midevil times, you have it! This isn't the problem though!. I ordered 1 of the 5 options on the menu. The most expensive option was the burger, which was $25. My thoughts were (a $25 burger better be epic.) I asked the waiter if it was worth it, he said it was great and a definite yes! NOPE! The burger came with a bun that was burnt, all it had was lettuce cheese and a burger. It came advertised with bacon, onion, lettuce, and tomatoe It was at the very most a $5 dollar burger. This was during the October fest of 2022. The park itself as well as the food were a huge disappointment and a complete waste of money. Even while I can respect the dream and hope from the owners.
Donald Reay
Not impressed and I love about anything I eat. The menu was limited to the Oktoberfest menu. I ordered the burger which was cooked very well done (burnt). In total we ordered a burger, side of fries (x2), soup (x2), salad, entree item, butter bear (x2), and one desert. Bill was over $150 with tip. None of the food was good and I am very easy to please. Service was bad, and the 22% tip was preprogrammed into the hand held portable credit card machine. The waitress held it as I signed for my charge, watching very close to make it uncomfortable to change the tip amount. On just the tip manipulation alone, I won’t go back. The credit card machine is preprogrammed with 20%, 22%, and 25%. I almost always leave 20% plus but at this visit I would not have as service was poor. I doubt I go back. Cool building so I gave three stars instead of two.
Taylor Ellis
Reading through all the other reviews makes me wish we had similar experiences but this was one of the worst experiences I've had at a restaurant. We reserve a table for 8 PM on a Friday night, get there and there is a wait. Okay fine, it's Friday night I can totally understand. Finally we get seated around 8:30 to a half empty dining room. Okay fine, they're probably short staffed and that is unfortunately common nowadays. We get our water and our server asks if we would like a drink so I just order a bottled beer. After about 20 minutes she finally comes back after I had to flag her down only to apologize she forgot about us and also to tell me they didn't have the beer I ordered but she could get me another one. I say fine, I'll get the other beer. Another 5 minutes goes by and she comes back only to tell me they actually had the beer I initially ordered, but BOTH beers are all warm... At some point during this whole beer debacle we get to order our food and decide to go for the Vanders Burgers. At this point, I'll be okay with the experience because I am confident this will be a good burger considering the price ($24). The food comes out and I can honestly I could've have gone to Wendy's for a burger 10x better than this one at a fraction of the price. The buns and patty were dry. The fries tasted like they had been made an hour ago and were just sitting out as if someone else ordered them earlier and either walked out or didn't want them anymore. In fact, I could probably say the same about the burger. It tasted like it had been made a while ago and repurposed for our order.
I won't be the one to say "DON'T EVER GO HERE", but rather steer on the side of caution as this was our experience and I witnessed a couple other tables encounter something similar as I saw them walk out without ever getting any food or drinks. The environment was pretty cool especially of you're a fan of Norse or Celtic culture.
Elad P
Mismanaged. We were seated 30 minutes after our reservation time. Meanwhile they kept misleading new arrivals telling them they are 10 minutes behind schedule. When we were finally seated at a table, we saw that half the tables were unoccupied, so there was plenty of room for all the people waiting outside - the backup was not due to lack of space. The live music had just ended. Then the waiter came to take our order and we found out that they had a new menu, which they didn't bother updating on their website and didn't tell us about while we were waiting for a table for half an hour. The new menu is basically the old menu with half the items removed. Everything we had planned to order was removed from the menu. We got up and left, never returning again.
Tristan Palmer
Our experience started with us waiting half an hour past our reservation time to get seated. After that, we were informed that the menu online is not available and that we can only choose from their special Oktoberfest menu. This is mentioned nowhere on their website or in the lobby. Several items that are on both the Oktoberfest menu and the normal menu are more expensive on the Oktoberfest menu. That feels like a bait and switch. We were also informed that they were only able to serve us from a tiny beer list and that the full bar that was serving others was unavailable to us. To cap it off, the food took forever to come out and was very mediocre. I'd recommend going pretty much anywhere else.
Elena I
Fantastic ambiance and good old world fare. Their cocktails are delicious and imaginative!
David Eddy
With the exception of under estimating 1600 Friday traffic in Happy Valley it was a good experience, the food was great and the wait staff was even better. Of course the best thing was my Trophy Wife of 43 years.
Parking: An immense parking lot it shares with Everland.
My husband and I are pretty frustrated. It was our first time visiting Vanders Keep and we had a reservation for 9:00. The gal at the front could see that we had small children with us, but continued to seat everyone in the building but us. We got to the point that we couldn't wait any longer and had to leave because again, we are a family with young children. We weren't contacted that a table was ready for us until just before 10. What's the point of having a "reservation" if it appears to mean nothing at all to staff?
Colton peterson
Excellent experience and food, my server dan was very personable and showed a genuine care of how everything tasted, the chefs David and Nathan personally came out to check how the food tasted, the bartender grant even came out during a slow period just to chat about cars and motorcycles, phenomenal staff, great food, if you haven't been here, definitely try it.
Kenice Whitaker
Start your meal off right with the poutine! It was so good! I ordered the bangers and mash. Potatoes were delicious and the horseradish sauce was of the charts. Beet salad completed the meal perfectly.
Dennis Wright
This was my 3rd time at this restaurant. The first 2 times were amazing. This most recent visit however, I was very disappointed. Not to the fault of our waitress but the service was absolutely terrible. She was the only waitress working so I don't blame her. This was definitely the fault of the management. Who schedules one waitress to work the entire night? The food was as good as I remembered. The drinks were great when they finally arrived. It took about 30 min per drink once ordered. Lastly the one negative about the wait staff and employees was that they lost the theme of the restaurant. Last 2 times we came, the employee attire was along with the theme and they played the part. This was not the case this time. The experience was much different and I was very disappointed for $400 for the meal and a long, almost, 3 hour ordeal after waiting and waiting and waiting for our orders. Unfortunately as loyal, return customers from the past, I'm not sure I will ever come back. I don't think it's worth the money anymore. Sad sad day.
Jason
Good food and fun atmosphere. A little bit pricy for what you get... dinner for 2 at $100 should henge been steak not fish n chips. Anyway staff was friendly and on top of it.
I miss this restaurant me and my gf use to come here I least every other month. The bread and butter was the best also the steaks !!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Red Wine and Balsamic Hanger Steak, Clam Chowder, Bread Pudding, Soup, Mashed Potatoes
Used to be an amazing place with magnificent alcoholic beverages, then they got rid of the alcohol option and then they closed the entire place down without posting anywhere that it's closed so Google and the website say it's open until you get there and it's just a single lonely sign saying closed.
When we went there was no food being served. :(
Oh boy, do I have a list! First off the ambience and setting is great! If you are looking for a theme of midevil times, you have it! This isn't the problem though!. I ordered 1 of the 5 options on the menu. The most expensive option was the burger, which was $25. My thoughts were (a $25 burger better be epic.) I asked the waiter if it was worth it, he said it was great and a definite yes! NOPE! The burger came with a bun that was burnt, all it had was lettuce cheese and a burger. It came advertised with bacon, onion, lettuce, and tomatoe It was at the very most a $5 dollar burger. This was during the October fest of 2022. The park itself as well as the food were a huge disappointment and a complete waste of money. Even while I can respect the dream and hope from the owners.
Not impressed and I love about anything I eat. The menu was limited to the Oktoberfest menu. I ordered the burger which was cooked very well done (burnt). In total we ordered a burger, side of fries (x2), soup (x2), salad, entree item, butter bear (x2), and one desert. Bill was over $150 with tip. None of the food was good and I am very easy to please. Service was bad, and the 22% tip was preprogrammed into the hand held portable credit card machine. The waitress held it as I signed for my charge, watching very close to make it uncomfortable to change the tip amount. On just the tip manipulation alone, I won’t go back. The credit card machine is preprogrammed with 20%, 22%, and 25%. I almost always leave 20% plus but at this visit I would not have as service was poor. I doubt I go back. Cool building so I gave three stars instead of two.
Reading through all the other reviews makes me wish we had similar experiences but this was one of the worst experiences I've had at a restaurant. We reserve a table for 8 PM on a Friday night, get there and there is a wait. Okay fine, it's Friday night I can totally understand. Finally we get seated around 8:30 to a half empty dining room. Okay fine, they're probably short staffed and that is unfortunately common nowadays. We get our water and our server asks if we would like a drink so I just order a bottled beer. After about 20 minutes she finally comes back after I had to flag her down only to apologize she forgot about us and also to tell me they didn't have the beer I ordered but she could get me another one. I say fine, I'll get the other beer. Another 5 minutes goes by and she comes back only to tell me they actually had the beer I initially ordered, but BOTH beers are all warm... At some point during this whole beer debacle we get to order our food and decide to go for the Vanders Burgers. At this point, I'll be okay with the experience because I am confident this will be a good burger considering the price ($24). The food comes out and I can honestly I could've have gone to Wendy's for a burger 10x better than this one at a fraction of the price. The buns and patty were dry. The fries tasted like they had been made an hour ago and were just sitting out as if someone else ordered them earlier and either walked out or didn't want them anymore. In fact, I could probably say the same about the burger. It tasted like it had been made a while ago and repurposed for our order.
I won't be the one to say "DON'T EVER GO HERE", but rather steer on the side of caution as this was our experience and I witnessed a couple other tables encounter something similar as I saw them walk out without ever getting any food or drinks. The environment was pretty cool especially of you're a fan of Norse or Celtic culture.
Mismanaged. We were seated 30 minutes after our reservation time. Meanwhile they kept misleading new arrivals telling them they are 10 minutes behind schedule. When we were finally seated at a table, we saw that half the tables were unoccupied, so there was plenty of room for all the people waiting outside - the backup was not due to lack of space. The live music had just ended. Then the waiter came to take our order and we found out that they had a new menu, which they didn't bother updating on their website and didn't tell us about while we were waiting for a table for half an hour. The new menu is basically the old menu with half the items removed. Everything we had planned to order was removed from the menu. We got up and left, never returning again.
Our experience started with us waiting half an hour past our reservation time to get seated. After that, we were informed that the menu online is not available and that we can only choose from their special Oktoberfest menu. This is mentioned nowhere on their website or in the lobby. Several items that are on both the Oktoberfest menu and the normal menu are more expensive on the Oktoberfest menu. That feels like a bait and switch. We were also informed that they were only able to serve us from a tiny beer list and that the full bar that was serving others was unavailable to us. To cap it off, the food took forever to come out and was very mediocre. I'd recommend going pretty much anywhere else.
Fantastic ambiance and good old world fare. Their cocktails are delicious and imaginative!
With the exception of under estimating 1600 Friday traffic in Happy Valley it was a good experience, the food was great and the wait staff was even better. Of course the best thing was my Trophy Wife of 43 years.
Parking: An immense parking lot it shares with Everland.
Restaurantji Recommends
My husband and I are pretty frustrated. It was our first time visiting Vanders Keep and we had a reservation for 9:00. The gal at the front could see that we had small children with us, but continued to seat everyone in the building but us. We got to the point that we couldn't wait any longer and had to leave because again, we are a family with young children. We weren't contacted that a table was ready for us until just before 10. What's the point of having a "reservation" if it appears to mean nothing at all to staff?
Excellent experience and food, my server dan was very personable and showed a genuine care of how everything tasted, the chefs David and Nathan personally came out to check how the food tasted, the bartender grant even came out during a slow period just to chat about cars and motorcycles, phenomenal staff, great food, if you haven't been here, definitely try it.
Start your meal off right with the poutine! It was so good! I ordered the bangers and mash. Potatoes were delicious and the horseradish sauce was of the charts. Beet salad completed the meal perfectly.
This was my 3rd time at this restaurant. The first 2 times were amazing. This most recent visit however, I was very disappointed. Not to the fault of our waitress but the service was absolutely terrible. She was the only waitress working so I don't blame her. This was definitely the fault of the management. Who schedules one waitress to work the entire night? The food was as good as I remembered. The drinks were great when they finally arrived. It took about 30 min per drink once ordered. Lastly the one negative about the wait staff and employees was that they lost the theme of the restaurant. Last 2 times we came, the employee attire was along with the theme and they played the part. This was not the case this time. The experience was much different and I was very disappointed for $400 for the meal and a long, almost, 3 hour ordeal after waiting and waiting and waiting for our orders. Unfortunately as loyal, return customers from the past, I'm not sure I will ever come back. I don't think it's worth the money anymore. Sad sad day.
Good food and fun atmosphere. A little bit pricy for what you get... dinner for 2 at $100 should henge been steak not fish n chips. Anyway staff was friendly and on top of it.
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