mcmenamins on the columbia

nothing spectacular about the food and way over priced for what you get. bad service too.

noisy, limited menu, beers are good.. okay, i get that that focus is on beer and burgers. but still, the place is so noisy that you can't hear yourself think at least on a saturday night. we went becuase it was on the water and i wanted to watch the sunset. the burgers were okay, but for anything else, the menu is really limited. this place seems to be popular with the 35 and under set, but since i am nearly in my dotage (50+) i guess i need to choose a quieter place to eat with more fresh, well prepared food.

i have dined here countless times...the view is the main draw, with the food a couple of steps above applebee's. some unique dishes; some unimaginative. a decent eatery with good atmosphere.

this restaurant was in walking distance to our hotel and we decided to try it for dinner. the waiting time was longer than they suggested (about half an hour rather than 15 minutes despite the fact that we didn’t specifically ask for sitting outside). finally we were seated. our waitress attended to us immediately and was very nice and respectful. but from the moment we sat down our dining experience (and all the tables around) was ruined by a table of five very intoxicated, loud and obnoxious adults sitting with an innocent toddler. this went on for a very long time without any attention by the witttress or the manager. as the drinking continued and one of the adults was literally passing out at the table i became alarmingly concerned about the safety of the child. i want to the front desk and told them about my concern. i was told “they would be leaving soon”. i emphasized again that my major concern was the safety of the child. i was told they would talk to the manager (who happened to be the bar tender as well). then i was told he will follow “the protocol”. i asked what their protocol was. they said the manager would come and speak to me. i saw him come to the door and then returned to the bar. instead our own waitress came and told me “the mom only had one drink and she would be driving”.i told her i saw them exchanging drinks and she couldn’t rely on what the had ordered. i also told her she didn’t have a breathalyzer to know for sure if she was able to drive the child safely. she didn’t have anything to say. i told her it seemed like they were not going to do the right thing so i was going to call the police myself and i did so. police said they would be sending someone. when i returned to the table, i saw our waitress at their tables and one of the guys staring at me. shortly after that guy, a lady (presumably his wife) and the child left and as they were passing by our table he murmured some insulting words i couldn’t completely figure out. i only heard the “freaking” part of it. the other three adults remained for a while and left later. it was obvious they were tipped of by our waitress. it was extremely disturbing to witness the bartender/manager would continue serve these very obviously intoxicated men alcohol and even when brought to his attention showed blatant disregard for the safety of the baby and even when i took the initiative to call the police they tipped these irresponsible drunken adults off to drive off before the police showed up.

but......the vegetarian patty with gluten-free bun was great.

what's happened?. i have loved going to mcmenamins on the columbia every since it opened. its burgers were always juicy and not over-cooked on the outside. it's fries were the old-fashioned double fried in grease and, while not exactly pc they were great! i ate there a couple of weeks ago and again night before last and it was a waste of money and time.

i was waited on quickly but sat for almost 45 minutes for my order to cook last night. i had asked very clearly...a plain and dry burger,, med-well and not charred on the outside. i got it...with dressing and vegetables on the bun and burned char black on outside..especially around the edges. the bun which used to be soft and moist even when done "plain" was dried out verging on stale side...there was nothing juicy about the burger to add a little moistness. fries both this time and last were kind of chopped up and tasted oven fried instead of "greasy". burger time before last was also not very good...not juicy and blackened outside. fries were also like overn fried. what a disappointment since i have to "wheedle" to get to go there because it takes at least an hour in and out. i know it's not a "fast-food" place but last night there weren't that many in there at 8:15.

i have had much better luck at the one on 162/4th in east vancouver. please don't change the way you were cooking your burgers and fries and maybe retrain your cooks.

thanks for listening...i hate to lose one more restaurant when we have few left that are (or were) any good.

hit and miss. have eaten here twice in two days and yesterday's classic reuben sandwich was spot on and very tasty. today's pulled pork sandwich was awful. lukewarm and the worst put-together sandwich i have eaten lately. lunch service was extra slow. quite possibly this was because they were fully booked at lunch and very understaffed. i am never ordering this sandwich again.

great location. not a large selection but good. had the 9th hole sandwich, pretty good. husband had fish & chips, it was alright. view is great and what we were looking for.

chicken mole sandwich?. went to this lovely location today for a business lunch. i ordered distractedly as we were talking. i like chicken mole, what could possibly go wrong?
my sandwich arrived. the bottom of the bun was plastered with jalepenos. the top of the chicken was splashed with salsa. has anyone at this restaurant even tasted mole???? so wrong. they should call that a chicken salsa sandwich. nothing whatever to do with mole. i might go back for beer but i doubt i'll order much food. the cream of spinach soup was good at least.

waste of time and money. walked in the other night for a quick bite and a beer. it was a few minutes after 9, and i thought i might grab some late night happy hour food. i guessed wrong, as usual the service was beyond terrible. i pulled up to the bar and noticed the other two people sitting there, waiting also. out came my phone and i started the timer, 11 minutes passed before the bartender even noticed i was even there. granted i understand that the two other guests at the bar had probably overloaded kitchen and bar, but 11 minutes for a simple greeting? i politely explained how long i had been waiting and he shortly told me how busy it was and he was sorry. ok a grand total of three guests at a bar designed to seat 25 means "busy"? it's time for this place to close down so a proper management company can take it over. epic fail again. rather than waste money,order food, and risk retaliation, i walked next door and had a drink-in-hand in under two minutes. this will be my last "review" of the place as i've decided to cure the insanity and never enter the door again.


-----16 may, 2012-----

waste of time. i've been going there for years (insanity i guess) and i must say that if you're looking for a nice place to look at, go. if you want service (at all) don't go. the food is typical of the other properties, ok on a good day. the service is also typical of the other properties, horrible/none. $5+ for a draft beer made on sight is a bit much too. also they charge tax on beer separately, anybody else do that? i keep going back because it is on the river and pretty to look at but i refrain from ordering any big ticket items. this place could be so much better. imho the only reason it's still open is the location and view.

lunch 7/11/2012. i have been a waiter and should have known better, but i ordered a regular burger with swiss cheese. when it came out, i knew what a mistake i made. it looked like it was two weeks old and was cold. one bite was all it took. the very nice waiter took it back and brought me another looking slightly better but not very warm with unmelted swiss cheese. i ate it since i was starving but resolved never to go back and never, ever order a burger. i understand that during rushed lunch hours some efficiency is called for in preparing dishes such as burgers, but that so called chief should never have released that "thing" on the consuming public.

thumbs down. we used to love going to mcmenamins. i'm sure if you drink beer, it is a good place for you to go. beautiful setting, right on the water. unfortunately, if you want food, it is horrible. it takes too long to get to you and when it arrives is poorly cooked. that said, it was so bad many years ago when i last went that we haven't been back. perhaps it has changed since then.

a beer on the deck with a sunset view over the river.... can't find that better anywhere in vancouver,

even the darker beers were pretty good, which are not typically my favorite. and look at that ruby ale on the left! the fact that they were able to brew a beer that color was impressive, but to provide it with any reasonably tasty flavor is a complete fea

going to be completely honest and write i absolutely love the food and the beer! brewed in house, there beer us perfect an playing around of golf! the staff are fun and the view of the columbia river... well see it for your self

friendly service and tasty salmon. great view of the river!