mill street brew pub

i keep going back but i don't know why. i go tomillst probably once every couple of months with friends and/or family. it's hit and miss. i usually stick to the nachos since the rest of the food has not been very great, but even those tend to be dry once the first layer of toppings are picked off.

the service is usually kind of meh, but last week was terrible. our waitress came out straight up high. she dropped her payment machine, stumbled around, and came out on the patio going, "so... you're on the patio... it's nice out here... yeahhhh....". it was so awkward and i would be horrified if i wasn't with my husband who found it hilarious (in a sad way). the bathroom was filthy. there was no toilet paper, all the seats were dirty. i informed the girls at the front who said, "oh.. ummm.. okaaaay".

it sucks because it's such a nice building and has the potential, but the slow/bad service, mediocre food, and often long wait dampens the experience.

may 14-13. to whom it may concern,

i was in on the evening of may 14 this week to try to catch some of the sens game.
i had been in with a group sometime last summer and swore i would never go back.
my friends managed to convince me to visitmillst. again for some drinks.

this time we sat at the bar. pete was taking care of us. he was awesome! very down to earth, entertaining and efficient. we didn't end up taking a table that we were wait-listed on because we were content with the great service pete was able to provide!

we will be back for pete!


-----01 may, 2012-----

if i wanted to have a 4 hour dinner i would go to beckta!. i did not enjoy my experience at all...
we had a 5pm reservation. the hostess had us going around in circles because she was clueless to what was going on and didn't know where our table was. please note it wasn't even busy yet.
i don't even like beer and the wine choices could have been much better.
i tried the french onion soup....it was ok but not hot enough, and the cheese could've been melted more. i went for the sunday special prime rib dinner, server said he hadn't heard anything bad about it...liar!
meat was medium rare on one side(how i asked for it) and well done on the other side...it looked like they pan seared it on the one-side. 5 people at our table ordered and they were all the same, nobody was happy. the meat was so tough...i couldn't eat it. the yorkshire pudding was barely edible...also tough. service was slow, ordering took forever, drinks took forever, no quality checks and food was awful! when i asked for a spoon i was given a dirty spoon. when i asked for a clean one....it was like i was being a pain. what's wrong with expecting clean cutlery? i would never recommend this place and i will never be back!
if you want a good prime rib....try lieutenant's pub!

great experience. my wife and i visited themillst. brew pub on a saturday afternoon a couple weeks ago. one of the best kept secrets about this place is how easy it is to get too by using the bike paths! we took our bikes all the way down and they had plenty of bike racks for us to park. (note to pedestrians, there is a path under the bridge, don’t try and cross the parkway!)

the location itself is very nice. one of the patios overlooks the ottawa river. the inside makes you feel like you’re in an old mill. very nice art hung everywhere with pictures from ottawa’s days as a logging town (you really must take a second to look around). the wood floors are nice and the open brick walls contribute to the rusticmillfeeling.

as soon as we walked in the door we were greeted with a smile by a young hostess who did inform us that there would be a short wait. she took our name and we headed to the bar. after a short wait a hostess came over took us and our drinks over to our table.

our server was a gentleman by the name of ryan, i don’t usually remember our waiters name but the service was so exceptional that i had to write it down for this short review. he was very courteous and quite funny. he was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and offered several suggestions for beer.

the food was good, but i think the food and the kitchen would benefit from a smaller, more focused menu. it just seems like that there is a lot to choose from and it’s hard to make everything fantastic when there are so many different items. the highlight of course was the beer! from the classic tank house to the ottawa-only brewed portage ale, all the beers we tried were home runs.

i really enjoyed our trip tomillst. brew pub and we have returned many times since and will continue to go back as long as they keep the beer cold and the service friendly.

my take on my first visit to themillstreet brew pub is that they have a couple of bugs to work out, which often comes with territory of creating something new. once the trendiness wears off and it settles into a nice comfortable groove, i believemillstreet will find a steady stream of locals comfortable in it's historic walls.

really not worth it!. we went for a friend's 50th birthday. granted there were 10 of us so waiting a bit is a reality on a saturday at 6:00pm. but almost two hours to get a table then having to sit at two separate tables in different sections with different servers was a bit much. when we mentioned something we were told this is the table and if we don't want it we can wait longer for another table to sit all of us together or go. it was not my decision. we stayed.

the beer is overpriced when a pint is over $10. i don't care if it is a micro brewery spending $40 for three pints with tip is highway robbery and nothing else. the scotch (chivas regal) is overpriced at $20.00 for a 2 oz shot while a bottle at the lcbo costs just over $45.00 for 26 oz...the mark up on that is a little ridiculous. then there is the wine. $15.00 for a 9oz. glass of merlot when the entire bottle is about that price at the lcbo...there's mark up then there is just plain greedy.

when we finally got our separate tables the waitress we had took a drink order for me and ignored the other four people at the table then was annoyed when she brought my drink and surprise surprise the other four people at the table wanted a drink. when she finally appeared ten minutes later and slammed the drinks on the table spilling the overpriced brew without an apology she begrudgingly took our order for dinner.

the menu is pedestrian at best for a pub of...well let's just say its own reputation. the table ordered a variety of food from the fish & chips to the steak to the flatbread and finally a burger. three out of the five dishes arrived after over a 1/2 hour wait then ten minutes later the other two dishes arrived. my friend said the burger was just ok. the burger was half the size of the burnt bun it was served on with cold fries. the steak i had was just ok. not really any flavour and a bit salty but it was at least cooked to a good medium-rare but not a vegetable to be had just a few mushrooms and some fried onions. the flat bread was very good and the fish & chips were reported to be good as well. i had to go to the bar and retrieve the one peppermillin the entire place and was told that it could not stay at the table because it was the only one they had. so it was promptly snatched back by the manager and returned to the bar to sit idle and not to be touched by any other service staff at all. believe me i watched.

did i mention we still had not seen our original server? the food was delivered sporadically by other service staff and trying to get a drink...well we really just gave up entirely. when the table was finished we had to ask for the plates to be cleared and still no sign of our original server.

finally we had had enough. we had arrived at 5:30pm and it was now pushing onto 9:00pm. then we had to go find the server to get the bills which she had to do again because she put the wrong drinks and food on the wrong bills depsite asking from the beginning who was on what bill and writing it down!!!

we had just finished a mediocre at best dinner with some of the worst service i have ever had drinking overpriced beer and wine. even the diviest pub at least acknowledges that you are spending money at their establishment and thanks you for it. at themillst. brew pub it is as if the management and staff deigned to allow us to dine there and we should have been thanking them for privilege of entry into their precious establishment.

the only thing i can say is i've been there. i will never go again. not that anyone from management will bother to call to discuss the experience as they really did not seem to have any interest to do so while we were there. i did try and i left a comment card…nothing!

good times!!. great times atmillstreet! as good as the toronto airport location if not better. we were served by guillaume and he recommended themillstreet cobblestone stout to me. if you're a fan of this kind of beer, you definitely want get a six-pack from their adjoining store before heading out!

great beer, great food!. i went tomillstreet tonight for the first time. it was my first time but my friend is somewhat of a regular. after my experience tonight i can see why he keeps on going back.
the building is stunning and you can't beat the location - i can't wait until the warm weather returns and the patios are open!
we had the carnitas as an appetizer and they were delicious! for my main i had the tikka masala which i loved and my friend (a creature of habit) had the duck sandwich with fries.
to drink we each ordered flights which was the perfect way to sample one of their many beers on tap! my favorite was the portage - exclusive to ottawa!
all in all it was a great first experience! there was also a private event going on upstairs and we ended up seeing defense minister peter mackay on our way out! pretty cool!
i'm looking forward to my next visit!

my wife and i brought my parents here for canada day. they were in town visiting and we were planning on walking to parliament hill for fireworks after some food and a few drinks. unfortunately, our entire experience atmillstreet was a let down. our initial interaction with our server wasn't great: he was in a rush and had no patience to recommend beers or talk us through the menu. we ordered a few small dishes, hoping that it wouldn't take long for the food to arrive. 

we waited for 1.5 hours... after which we spoke with our server, who asked the manager to come chat with us. the manager explained that the order/chit system had malfunctioned and our meals would be made in an expedited fashion. he offered to buy us a round of drinks in the meantime, and we informed him that if our food wasn't served in 30 minutes, we would need to leave. during the next little while, we watched many other patrons who had arrived after us receive their meals.

after another 30 minutes--2 hours total--waiting for our food (which, again, were all small plate appetizers), we asked for our bill. we got an uber home and ordered in from a local pizza place. we didn't make it to the hill, and for all intents and purposes, our evening was ruined. overall very disappointed in our first visit tomillstreet.

my family along with two of our friends attended themillstreet brew pub on saturday, july 16.  from start to finish it was probably the worse dining experience i ever had.  we called and were advised that they didn't take reservations. nevertheless we decided to take a chance and when we arrived at the pub, we asked if we could sit near the water.  we were told that wasn't possible because they didn't have a waiter/waitress for that section.  however, we noticed that there was only one table of six people in there that night with plenty of empty tables.

we all ordered drinks and then ordered our meals and that's where it started to really go downhill fast.  we waited over an  hour for simple meals like fish and chips and wings.  no one came to our table to explain the delay.  the place wasn't even that busy.  in the meantime, we had different servers come and replenish our drinks.  when we asked them what was happening with our meal, they advised that they didn't know.  finally, our original waitress came back and advised that there had been a problem with the deep fryer and she hadn't been informed.  an hour later we received our meal - probably the worse fish and chips i have ever had - the chips were cold and the fish, when you cut into the hard coating, oozed oil.  i ate it, because by this time i was starving.  my son ordered mild wings and when he received his order, they were extra spicy and he couldn't eat them.  he reordered his wings - took about 15 minutes and when he received them half looked like they weren't cooked and the other half were burnt.  

the waitress said that the manager would be coming over to speak to us but later she advised that he had told her to handle it.  a 30% discount was applied to our bill.  

when my friend tried to talk to the manager about the service we received, he made the comment that he wasn't even aware of the situation - but who authorized the 30% discount then? 

we had just finished a two week tour of the east coast and everywhere we went, the service was great and the food was fantastic.  only atmillstreet pub did we experience rudeness, ineptness and a total disrespect for the customer.

we won't be going back there and will be telling our friends to definitely find another restaurant!!!

always a great time atmillstreet. good
food, great beer, awesome service and ambiance. my fiancé attended their annual robbie burns dinner and it was amazing! a 5 course meal / beer pairing for $70. with scot in my ancestry, i was excited to try food from the homeland. smoked salmon, chicken soup, scotched egg, beef tenderloin and haggis, and sweet and spice vanilla ice cream for dessert, each pair perfectly with different beers. not only that, the brewmaster gives a speech and explains each beer you are drinking as they come out. it was really cool. i lovemillstreet on any given day, but i would highly suggest attending one of their sit down dinners, it's pretty sweet.

i had already heard bad reviews about the food before i visited themillstreet brew pub. i have to say that the reviews were fairly accurate. it's not that the food was bad, it was just not memorable. i had the fish and chips. the portion was large and very reasonably priced. it was good, but again nothing to write home about.the atmosphere and location, on the other hand, are great. it's the perfect spot to hang out in a casual environment and the views are pretty.

went to themillstreet brew pub for lunch on a monday...monday's special is their angus burger for $5!!! great value and very, very delicious yukon gold fries! got a flight of beer and felt relaxed and ready to tackle my afternoon! couldn't get a seat by the river-view because of many reservations but overall i was very pleased!

i have had several good meals atmillstreet. we biked here today along the river pathway. it's a gorgeous setting, especially the patio. i love the smoked trout salad: lettuce, pears, dried apricots, pistachio crumble and a light "green goddess" dressing. this is my kind of meal, and it's great - light and fresh and savoury - but i wish it came with bread as it's a lot of greens and fish and something is needed to balance it all out. the organic lager is my favourite beer atmillstreet. they also make their own root beer. it's definitely worth trying! 

the service is ok, pleasant enough. i would have appreciated a water since it was quite warm and we had been biking, but it was never offered and when i remembered to ask for it the server was nowhere in sight.

will not return. last saturday my husband and i decided to go out for bunch. we lovemillst. in toronto and decided to try the one here. i was having a hard time of lunch or breakfast (let’s face it brunch is hard sometimes!) and we decided to get a charcuterie plate first. we told the waitress we would like it as an appetizer and our eggs benedict served after. we were slowly enjoying our food as the charcuterie was large when our eggs benedict arrive. my husband was not impressed, as we specifically requested this not to happen. when we told the gentleman who came out he offered to put it in the warmer for us. uh, no. when our server came by and asked how it was we told her we were very unhappy they came early, and she said she was sorry the kitchen was not busy and it came out quicker than she anticipated. fine – putting all that aside we dig in. i found that the pulled pork was not amazing, and didn’t have as much flavour as i’m used to. without the bacon, and the fact that it was on toast it was all mushy and had no texture. the part to dig into my eggs came and they were hard. it was really disappointing, as my favourite part is when you cut and it oozes and covers everything. the server came back and after two bites, i knew i would not eat it. i told her i didn’t want it and would each the rest of our charcuterie plate. she said she could get me a new one, but i wasn’t in love the first time, and didn’t think the second time would yield different results. after all of this, she apologized again and didn’t charge us for my breakfast. good notes: the view it’s stunning! really beautiful building, lots of history on their menu and you could see parts of the brewery from the inside.

won't be back soon. we went tomillst brew pub last night because of their beautiful patio. we waited at the bar for about 40 minutes or more for a table outside, which was ok, we chose to wait. when we finally got out there and ordered our food, we were of course very hungry by then. the waitress was pleasant enough, but didn't seem very happy. the food was timely enough in arriving. i had the vegetarian flatbread which was ok but have had much better, although i was satisfied enough with it. my husband ordered chicken schnitzel and was extremely disappointed! he ate most of it because he was so hungry, as we had waited so long. i tasted it and agreed, it was terrible. the cabbage and pasta that came with it were also terrible. i actually had to ask what it was because we couldn't tell by the taste. we had ordered another round of beers and kept waiting. finally when we were done (trying to) eat, the drinks still had not arrived so we decided to leave. the waitress was on her way over with the beer but was all too happy for us to leave and take the beer back. i agree with most of the reviews here. beautiful patio, great beer. service is hit and miss. food mediocre at best. overpriced for what you get. i guess you pay for the patio, which is pretty, but crowded and loud, like most of the patios in the market anyway. no reason to return.