Lowville Bistro

Wish I could rate zero stars. Ridiculous that it was closed Sun Oct 13, with people lined up to get into the parks nearby! When I looked up the hours, it said open, so it’s not like we didn’t plan ahead. I asked and was given the lame excuse that the cooks wanted the day off. The day after, I could understand, being Thanksgiving. Ruined our plans, as we were planning on going to another one of the parks close by with our visitors from overseas. If you are advertising as being open, BE OPEN!

Slow service and the food was cold when I got it. The management staff was very rude and aggressive when we asked for the food to be reheated. Will never return.

Disappointing

I must have driven past this place a hundred times, and always wanted to try it. As they say, don't judge a book by its cover. The setting is great, the restaurant - not so much. This is a very negative review of this restaurant and the two reasons for this are, the attitude of the person who 'welcomed' us and the very ordinary food. We arrived and were met by the manager who looked mildly annoyed that we were there. His first words 'do you have a reservation' and at this stage (early evening) only two tables were occupied (both couples). No I reply. Are you here for dinner? he asks. Yes I reply although I can hardly think of another reason a family of five would enter a restaurant at DINNER time. Weelll I guess we can find a place for you here, he says. I had roasted butternut soup and penne with veal, goat cheese and saffron oil sauce. The soup simply had no discernible flavour – not of butternut, or of anything else for that matter. The penne were cooked al-dente but were not of good quality – nothing that couldn’t have been bought at a local supermarket. The tiny pieces of veal were gristly – all 5 of them! The goat cheese was the best part. Overall the dish was very disappointing. I left the restaurant hungry, and believe me I don’t have a huge appetite. Only once I came to post this did I notice other similar reviews of this place, and was hardly surprised with what I found. Next time I will be sure to read on here before going out and trying a new place. I will be sure to give this restaurant a miss in future, at least until I know some personnel changes have been made (read new chef and manager).

A nice restaurant on the outside, but not so much on the inside

A nice looking restaurant tucked away but we were deceived. trying to find our way into the restaurant was a challenge with signs all over telling us to use the patio entrance..... in winter???? Then once we were inside, we understood why we could not come through the front door as they sat us in front of it, the place was just too small and tables crammed in. The staff were too busy chatting in the corner and the "manager" (term used loosly as he didn't seem to manage anything). Fish was dry and over cooked. Not sure if this is coincidence but both my wife and I were sick a few hours after eating the fish, not a chance I want to take.

pretty good

Been twice for lunch in the past 3 months, once on a weekday , once on a saturday. Very busy on Saturday, and understaffed, but the servers did a great job considering the number of tables. Burger was excellent, melted in my mouth, a tiny bit of hot pepper mixed in was subtle, but a tasty novelty. Everything seemed freshly made with fresh ingredients. Fries were shoestring style, but piping hot and very good. Dry ribs were a tiny portion and virtually no meat, but my son liked them anyway. Rather expensive, over $100 both times. Clientele is a$ you would expect for the neighbourhood.

Out for a drive on a Friday afternoon & decided to stop at this interesting-looking place for lunch. The decor-outside & in was fantastic-inc. the quartz in the washrooms! Had been many there for lunch/we arrived shortly after 2. Service quick & friendly from the time we walked in the door. Menu not extensive but it became obvious that they felt the quality of ingredients to put together interesting & enjoyable meals was most important. Going back with friends.

scrapes the "low"est dregs of the proverbial customer service barrel!

Lowville Bistro in Burlington scrapes the "low"est dregs of the proverbial customer service barrel!!! After a good friend and I were walking out with our four kiddies after a fun lunch date, our waitress made the public announcement of,"Silence is Golden!" to the entire restaurant. I was flabbergasted, as we were completely in earshot! Needless to say, won't be going back there again!!!! We had called ahead and were told that they were a kid-friendly establishment. I felt completely disrepected and devalued as a customer.

Stopped here last week after many drive-bys. Excellent food, excellent service. The chef was very accommodating for three dairy sensitivities, switching to goat cheese on what my son said was the best pizza ever. Had grilled seafood salad, again accommodated, fresh, tasty dressing. A little high price point, but worth stopping at. Surprised by the negative reviews.

Didn't let us down

Before the change in ownership food was usually great (sometimes not) and service was spotty. Now on a busy Sunday after the waters were poured and orders taken we expected a wait - it was only 20 minutes... everything came at the same time and was freshly prepared. The shrimp and scallops plus the in-season fruit and greens for the salad were great. The salmon was heaped on multigrain thickly sliced toasted just right and the crab was real not artifical. The desserts were fantastic. Super lunch for everyone. Thanks

I had suggested the Bistro to my friend after...

I had suggested the Bistro to my friend after having been there 4 years ago. Heard through the grapevine that it had changed owners. Made reservations in the morning and then read the reviews on this website. This caused me some anxiety. Well, let me tell you. We had a wonderful lunch, the service was attentive, on time and impeccable. The burger was cooked to perfection. I will definitely go again with my husband and other friends. My only comment is that their wine list is somewhat overpriced compared to other establishments in Burlington. However, the server did not judge us by the wine we chose. (At a high end Burlington restaurant recently where your wine was decanted if it was over $100/bottle, served in the bottle if under $100/bottle - yuch). We were also looking for an Australian red, which was not offered. Other than the wine list, I am looking forward to taking my husband and other friends for dinner.

Never Going Back

I was absolutely appalled with this place. My boyfriend and I went there for a nice meal cause I had been to this restaurant before and I really liked it. My opinion completely changed after my experience last night. When we arrived there were no tables available inside, so we sat on the patio. The sun was kinda still in the sky, so we didn't think we would get rained on. The waitress was really nice. She is the only positive thing I will say. Her service was pleasant but a little tardy. We ordered the bruschetta for an appetizer and it was really good. We waited about 20 for the appetizer to arrive. When we were finished, they took the plate away. We ordered our main dish at the same time we ordered our appetizer and about 45-50 minutes later we finally got our meal. I even had to go into the bar to ask where our food was. Not only did it take forever to come to the table, my boyfriend didn't get what he ordered. He ordered the Chicken Breast Supreme which was supposed to be stuffed with gruyere cheese and shaved ham. He got a plain chicken breat. When I brought this to the waitress' attention, she said she would tell the manager. The manager came to our table and tried to convince my boyfriend that he could get a proper chicken breast supreme but we turned the offer down as it already took 45 minutes to get out meal. He said he would come up with something to ease the inconvience that we had already experienced. When we asked for the bill (which took about 10 mintues) they said that they were going to give us 50% off my boyfriend's meal only. I was so livid. We just paid our bill and left as we felt it was not worth the aggravation. For this resturant it is pretty posh and their clientele usually arrive in BMW's, Porshes, and other fancy cars. I guess my Nissan Sentra doesn't deserve proper service!!!!!

The food was exceptionally amazing. The new chef...

The food was exceptionally amazing. The new chef Steven came out personally to greet and give us a short briefing on the meal, we were heavily impressed with the originality of his creations and the impressive presentation. The quality of food makes this bistro fine dinning in a casual setting. The service was very pleasant and on the ball. Atmosphere is cozy and quaint, small town feel but elegant and modern. We will be back.

Thank you. Great music on Sundays best food as...

Thank you. Great music on Sundays best food as always. Service better then ever. Cant wait to visit again.

Wine Service excellent and knowledgeable from the...

Wine Service excellent and knowledgeable from the Manager Caesar Salad-full and light dressing unique Ribs-not salty and great portion size Stuffed Chicken-Way too much! Juicy cooked well and spiced lightly. Coffee-outstanding. Too full for dessert. Service-Reception outstanding, and follow-through excellent! Only comment-Need to appear to have a little more fun and smile more. Quite busy restaurant and people waiting when we left. Attentive, caring, and love the atmosphere. Would definitely return!

The food here is just plain bad. I had asked for...

The food here is just plain bad. I had asked for medium rare lamb and got well done. The dinner came with mashed potatoes that were over beaten and had a glue like texture. The potatoes had no seasonings just large chunks of raw garlic. Terrible! The lamb was also tasteless and dry. The dry ribs are basically overly deep fried pork rib pieces with lots of salt and pepper. Bad! Tasted more like overdone chicken wings. Another weak dish. My dessert was stale and tasted like it had been in the fridge for a while. The service was also very bad... No bread until we asked for it, no water unless we asked for it and even then didn't get it for 30 min's. I would not go back here if the food was free. To top it all off this is by no way an inexpensive restaurant! You've been warned!

Was worried that the bistro had gone downhill...

Was worried that the bistro had gone downhill after reading some of your reviews but we went anyway and were happy that it was still a great place to dine.

showed up and were the only ones there, served...

showed up and were the only ones there, served quickly, promptly and accurately food was good, and portions were large but not too large. entres were good, not too fancy, but quite tasty. the pricing on the whole for what we ordered was a bit high. salads were fresh and crisp. we were there for lunch on spec. and found that this was more portioned and priced like dinner. very good nevertheless, don't know what the others here are complaining about.

40 minutes to get our food, and it wasn't really...

40 minutes to get our food, and it wasn't really busy. Waitress was new and nice. poor value for what you get. $11 for an angus burger (tiny) with shoestring fries (fastfood style). ($10 for eggs and bacon!WOW!$$) I think they are trying too hard to be chic and gourmet, but falls short. not realistic. french toast was good, but again very pricy. the tables nearest the parking lot (patio) are about 4 feet from vehicular exhaust, no barrier. the restaurant was full of kitchen smoke.

Party of 20, booked in advance - not ready for...

Party of 20, booked in advance - not ready for us, seating scattered - service exceptionally slow, arrived at 6:30 eating dinner at 9:40 - 1 server for our group, said they ran out of beer, took over 40 min's to serve the dinner ( we were not all eating at the same time) -some of the meals had to be returned for heating-up or re-cooking, waitress tried desperately to make up for the rudeness of the owners. What was meant to be a happy occasion turned out to be a very unpleasant experience. None of our party will return and certainly recommend that no one else waste their time or money at this establishment if you expect fine dining and good service... no offer was made to rectify this situation. SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT!

I used to be a frequent customer of the lowville...

I used to be a frequent customer of the lowville bistro,but the last time I brought friends there for dinner we were treated quite rudely and as if we were a bother. The prior time I went to the lowville bistro was in march of 2006 and I visited three times in one month and was treated especially well and enjoyed it quite a bit more. The food is always great but the service has gone downhill.