Pickle Barrel

My family of 10 and I are regulars at this restaurant mainly because of the food, the efficiency and friendliness of the servers and the fairly calm atmosphere. Tonight was a major disappointment due to the complete lack of service, the lack of flow to the meal due to that and the long wait times between courses because our server disappeared and almost needed to be prompted to take our orders. The restaurant was not busy and our waitress appeared to only have one other table. It was almost as if she was hiding as we actually had to ask for her and look for her. We ordered our drinks and appetizers first but she did not ask about ordering our main course at the time. It wasn’t until we finished our starters that we started looking for her because she did not come back for us to order our mains so they would be ready when we finished the appetizers. It’s a good thing our group is very accommodating and laid back because we didn’t finish dinner for almost 3 hours. She was kind enough to bring us dessert plates, forks and a lighter for the birthday cake we brought but then disappeared again. The dishes were never cleared and we were trying to eat dessert on a table full of dirty dishes from both our appetizers and dinners. We were totally unimpressed. We had a reservation so there is no excuse for assigning our table to someone who was not able to deal with that number. And we go out often enough that it’s usually a very straightforward ordering process. I tipped the lowest possible amount because I had to whereas I would normally tip 25%. I hope you take this review seriously and speak to this young lady, ( about late twenties, thirty, long blond hair - still don’t know her name because she never introduced herself) about your expectations for level of service and communication and provide her with mentorship or you will start losing customers.

December 8, 2024 on Google

Ifty was the best server! We had a Retirees group of 20 and everyone's order was on point and everyone had a wonderful time.

November 19, 2024 on Google

Service was good and it wasn’t busy when we arrived. I booked for 4 people and requested booth was fulfilled. The coffee was fresh but wish there’s more than 1 staff in the morning as one gets overwhelming, I had to flag her twice to get a coffee refill.. not her mistake just plan Staffing better. We all ordered Lobster benny and although it was good I wish there’s more of the lobster meat. The benny came with a choice of either tater or salad, wish it was both on the menu like other restaurants we go to. Overall it’s really a pleasant experience. We will be back.

November 1, 2024 on Google

We dropped in here for lunch. We didn’t have a reservation. This is the nicest Pickle Barrel we’ve ever been to. There is lots of seating, booths, comfortable chairs, high ceilings, artistic light fixtures. There is a beautiful flower mural on one wall and an abstract mural on another wall. The hostess seated us at a booth. The menu used to be a book back in the day with way too many options but now the menu is a normal size menu with less options but still enough. My husband ordered the hot beef with fries $20 and I ordered a tuna melt with fries $19. They both came on a bun. The hot beef was more stacked. The server brought us a plate of pickles at the beginning to go with sandwiches. She brought a butter knife and it was hard to cut the sandwiches. We made a mess of cutting out sandwiches in half. I did ask for a steak knife afterwards. The tuna melt could have been between bread instead of a bun. I liked the music. It was a good mixture of songs. It’s worth a try.

October 20, 2024 on Google

Love pickle barrel. Too bad they closed the restaurant in Markville mall. The southwest chicken Cesar salad wasn't on their menu but they still made for me, NICE. My wife got the tuna salad or something and said that it's good. Our server was really good. She kept coming and asking how we are doing or need something. It was happy hour when we got there so It's not busy.

October 19, 2024 on Google

We had a great time celebrating a birthday dinner at Pickle Barrel. With a large party, our waitress was attentive and very friendly. The food, however, was not that great. I tried the smothered chicken with side shrimp. The chicken breast was slightly burnt, and the shrimp lacked seasoning. Although service and presentation was top notch, I wasn't impressed with my meal.

October 4, 2024 on Google

Absolutely beautiful restaurant! Interior and decor is really well done. Large space, lots of seating. Nice staff, good service & AMAZING food! Truly enjoyed every bite. 100% recommend and will be returning:)

April 21, 2024 on Google

Update (Dec 2024): Kid's menu changed, salmon option is no longer offered, most items are $10.99-11.99. Service was almost non-existent. Our server took our order and came to check on us immediately after our food was dropped off, I didn' even get a bite in yet. Unfortunately, that was the one and only time we checked up on. We sat for a long time after we were finished eating before attempting to flag down our server. When he finally made his way to our table, we asked for the bill, and he asked what we wanted for our daughter's kids meal dessert, a choice of cookie or sundae. After dropping off the cookie and a box for my daughter's half burger left over, our server proceeded to take care of a large table that was celebrating a birthday, bringing out cake. However, he then continued to do other things, including making drinks for other diners, all while we were waiting for our bill. Even at the end, he never asked how our food or experience was, which did have issues, as my chicken cutlet was quite burnt. For a $100 simple meal for 2+kid, I expected better service than this. Food: The butternut squash soup of the day was odd with a heavy sprinkle of nutmeg. The caesar salad was dressed well and at a good portion. The mac and cheese poppers were tasty, but only 3 pieces. My chicken parmesan flavour was decent, unfortunately 1/3 of my chicken was quite burnt and very off-putting. My daughter got the burger Kid's meal, she enjoyed it. Original review: A good menu variety! Family friendly with a separate kids menu. Kids menu is ordered in 4 steps: beverage, main, side, and dessert. Most of the mains were $9.99 with the exception of the teriyaki salmon which was $13.99. It has a good variety suitable for brunch/lunch and dinner. We got the salmon with caesar salad side, a milk, and the chocolate sundae for our daughter, all her picks. The salmon was slightly overdone for my standards but the portion was huge, not a half portion, and much appreciated, especially as it's from the kid's meal. The teriyaki sauce came on the same and was immediately spilled/poured everywhere by excited little fingers. My daughter (3yo) even had to take home half the salmon and almost all the salad. Of course, she had room for half her sundae. It was served in a bowl about 3inches diameter but it was so shallow that everytime she scooped, ice cream would fall over the edge. It was a messy eat but a good value meal overall. Mains: 3.5/5: My husband tried the Pesto Feta Sirloin, cooked medium rare, and came with a side of beans. He added sauteed mushrooms and upgraded the potato side to loaded mashed potato. The cook was good, but the pesto sauce took away from the natural flavour of the meat instead of complement it. 5/5: I got the Lobster and Shrimp Linguine with white wine garlic cream sauce. It was cooked well, flavour was fantastic and there were large morsels of lobster and visible and unbroken claw meat. The shrimps were large and had that fresh, crisp bite. Starters: 5/5 shrimp and salad; 2/5 cream of broccoli Our steak and pasta dishes came with a starter, choice of soup, caesar, or mixed greens. We got a caesar and cream of broccoli. The caesar was well made, but the soup was disappointing. It tasted more like cream of mixed veggies, almost completely without any hint of broccoli, and heavy on potato or cornstarch to thicken. We also got a Coconut Crusted Shrimp, and confirmed the sweet Thai chili dipping sauce came on the side so our daughter could try it. It was crispy and sweet from the coconut, we all enjoyed! Service: 3.5/5 We arrived at 7pm and there were quite a number of other patrons including a large party table. The server was courteous, but service was slow. Each table appears to only have a set of 2 tableware, so when the food came my husband needed to wait to ask for another fork as my daughter was already eating. We also asked for extra napkins, knowing our daughter, but wasn't given any until the server saw the teriyaki sauce spill.

March 19, 2023 on Google