Spencer's at the Waterfront

What started out as a terrible experience - - was resolved by the manager and fortunately did not completely ruin a birthday celebration. My one watch out about this location is the lack of parking on site. It shares a public lot with the city of Burlington and the evening we were there, it took us almost 30 minutes to find street parking. Beautiful views and overall an enjoyable venue, just some misses on service and what looks to be a new but limited menu which we weren’t fussy about.

I enjoyed the view and the food when it was available. (I was here for brunch). However, there were long lines to wait for food and a majority of the time trays were empty/or the food was cold. Perhaps a re-evaluation in the number of staff would be helpful as well. I waited quite a long time for waffles (only one waffle maker semi worked - waffle was only 3/4 cooked) as there was only one chef for the omlette, crepe, and waffle stations. If there was less waiting and a fully stocked buffet a majority of the time I would come back. Otherwise, once is good enough.

Great service. Our waitress was excellent. Nice table against the window. Will be back!

A little pricey but excellent service, food and ambiance.

Great location right by the water. Really nice staff and the food was amazing!! We were celebrating our anniversary and they brought us two glasses of complimentary champagne which was really nice. Would definitely come back here.

food was excellent! maybe I came too hungry. needed more bread with main.

What a lovely afternoon! Enjoyed a delicious lunch on the patio overlooking the lake. A sweltering day but in the shade plus a gentle breeze off the lake, this was the perfect spot.

My wife and I had a great time at this restaurant. Food was amazing, the service was exceptional and the ambiance fantastic. We go every year to celebrate our anniversary, this is our third year, and we will definitely continue the tradition, thanks!

Been here multiple time, new decor, new menu, great food. Everything was perfect.

Bel endroit avec superbe vue. Menu quand même limité et carte des vins mince un peu! Qualité de nourriture bonne!!

Lovely lunch, great setting, wonderful server.
Just found the lobster roll at $24 could have been filled up more! I'm used to Maine lobster rolls for the same price.

nice view.
love to have the free flow of alcohol LOL and the food was great too.
this is a good place to catch up with friends.

This was our second visit and the service was night and day. Fabulous first time, poor-fair second time. The server barely was around. The food was good. The bloody ceasar was watered down. Really disappointed. Would like to go again but am apprehensive.

Everything was exceptional. Only thing: when my friend went to front to pay, she knew I had already given a cash tip to the waiter, a husky man (forgot his name). My friend said when she told him the tip had already been given, he specified the tip amount (which he should not have disclosed) and suggested she give more of a tip. He got "ticked off" when my friend then asked how to skip the "tip" portion on the visa machine and turned right away and left her to rip out her copy and the restaurant copy from the visa machine on her own. (Please don't tell me he was busy and had to leave right on the spot). This was unprofessional. He received a fair tip for a buffet; we don't have to tip if it's a buffet setting anyways. He should consider himself lucky. This soured our experience in the end.

It was our first visit, my birthday, which I indicated on the reservation. I don’t know why that was relevant though. It is overpriced for what you get. Disappointing at first glance to see all the food squished in a corner. Website listed leg of lamb which was not part of the choices. Food wasn’t coming out fast enough, the couple of times we went up, food was depleted and cold. Also there weren’t the necessary spices, for example hot sauces etc for the oysters.
Probably the best option were the crepes....I don’t need to pay $55 per person for that. Mimosa, first one great, the second was a glass of orange juice.
In general there was lots of confusion and people going back and forth aimlessly. Should run it differently; 2 or 3 seatings, period. Although our waitress was sweet, we hardly saw her.

We really enjoyed the Brunch at Spencer's on Sunday morning, the server and service was exceptional.

I would say my only issue was the Crab legs were still frozen, the meat was frozen where you were actually chewing on ice.

Otherwise, the remaining meal in itself was very very good.

Thank you

2 of the dinner specials sold out. For a 715 reservation seemed odd. Also dessert I wanted was sold out too.

Pasta shrimp scallops dinner was 98% pasta. Scallops were the size of peas.

We accidentally booked high top seats which were no good to us with senior people. However the service had no intention to change table and indicated that we should be have instead of using OpenTable . We sat there for 10min without service until we waved someone over to order. Waited another 15 min and no warm bread service and eventually we had the manager Paul over. Ended up we were able to switch a decent table with feet on the ground. We are vegetarian with special needs. Didn’t impress with the pasta. Hope vegetarian foods can go beyond just mushroom..... overall it is okay. But not sure we would recommend to friends.

Fabulous setting. Joey M our waitress was brilliant. Quick and attentive. Don’t order lobster, waste of money. Other than that a very pleasant evening. It was our 51st anniversary and a little bit of a disappointment regarding the food.

We were seated at a lovely private spot with a fantastic water view. Our server was amazing and the food was top-notch!

My 1st time in the patio and loved it. Great view of the boardwalk and the lake. The staff was great and the ambiance wonderful. Last but not least meal was delicious. Will go back for sure

We took friends for dinner on Thursday's corkage fee free night. We brought 2 different types of red wine. We have never brought wine to a restaurant before. Immediately showing thr wine to our waiter Robert he was enthusiastic. He ensured that the right wine glass accompanied every bottle. He service was thoughtful and his manner engaging. The 2 front-of-the-house managers stopped by a few times and we found the one mngr (a teacher), to be extremely professional yet warm. Can't say enough about the service! Food was also fantastic!

We had a lovely lunch inside because it was raining. The service was excellent. I had the cheeses burger which really tasted like a steak. It was so juicy and tasty. My friends had salads which they enjoyed. I had a wonderful white sangria which came in a huge glass. The woman who created the recipe for the sangria came out to ask if there was anything I'd change and I said "No, it was perfect." I wish there were a few more options on the menu for me since I have several food restrictions and would prefer more plant-based, gluten-free options (other than salad) but it's likely quite fine for most people. I'd highly recommend this restaurant.

We were there for a birthday celebration and they made use all feel very special. Our server was very attentive. She brought a blanket for our daughter after she mentioned she was a bit chilly.

Very good food, attentive and friendly service, and a beautiful view of Lake Ontario. Everything was lovely.

I made a reservation, arrived on time and was told we could have a table at the window. A couple walked in after me, had no reservation and were seated immediately while my party was made to wait almost 10 min. There were managers in plain view chatting away & completely ignoring us. I asked the hostess if we just go in to find a table & she I formed us we had to wait for one of the managers. Around the 10 min mark, I suggested to my friend z’we go elsewhere since they seemed too busy to acknowledge us. The hostess immediately went over & informed the group of managers. A very irritated older woman finally came to seat us & when I saw that our table by the window had been given to the couple without reservation, I printed that out and she Informed me that they are acquaintances. When I took a quick peek at the balcony she became very confrontational and said ‘’Do you have something to say? ‘ at this pint she was blocking me from sitting at a table. I responded ‘I already said it and now I was only trying to look at the patio.’ She adopted a very angry tone and repeated her question. I responded ‘I only wanted to look at the balcony and now, can we sit down?’ She repeated a third time her question yet another time to which I responded ni would like to sit down now and do not want to talk to you. May we sit??’ She finally allowed us to sit down.

I most definitely feel highly disrespected and it was made clear that I am a worthless nobody who is lucky she allowed me to stay and spend my money at Spencer’s, I have a clinic in Burlington and wee see 100s of patients each week. I’m often asked for recommendations to nice restaurants for special occasions and have always included Spencer’s. Not only will I not recommend your restaurant, I will freely share how I was treated upon arrival.

Great evening at Spencer's! If you have an option to select Robert G.'s table - do so, he's great. Wonderful recommendations and impeccable service.

I ordered the 12oz Ribeye and what a terrible cut, especially at a $50 price tag. It seemed like a steak I could have picked up from metro. Buy legit dry aged cuts. Will be going elsewhere when I feel like a nice steak and a fun night out

Food was significantly better than I recall from previous trips. They should tell you right away that they are Farm to Table. We didn’t learn this until late in the dinner when having small talk with the server. Don’t assume people know. Loved it!

Great evening with a colleague visiting from Italy. Perfect setting by Lake Ontario. Awesome food and service!

Food good but service very slow, not willing to accommodate any substitutions or changes due to allergies. Overpriced. Air conditioning inside made it too cold inside.

Servers fantastic!
Fire alarm pulled in error during our brunch.
Disorganized with policies and procedures. Poor management behaviour during the fire alarm. Abrupt and rude.
Otherwise, beautiful restaurant!

Originally going to Spencer’s I loved it! Since then, I’ve been several times over 3 years and can say for a restaurant at that calibre I’m unimpressed with the menu, and the specials, which are almost identical each time I dine here, I’m now always wanting more, it would be nice to see more of a change to this place, until that I doubt I will be coming back! ( Also the oysters had many shards of shell in them and the mignonette served had barely any shallots ☹️)

Food was good. They took us to our table outside on the patio right away. The service was outstanding

Well the menu online was different from when we got there because it was the first night with the new menu. I was going to order the duck and it wasn’t on the menu anymore. There wasn’t much on there that interested me but it was still good.

Excellent meal as always. Service was decent. Love their steak tartare. Would return.

Too salty and steak is over cooked.

We started out our dinner with two glasses of champagne (we mentioned it was our 10 year anniversary) So that was VERY nice! Unfortunately, our waitress in particular was not attentive. No one came by us often to ask if we needed refills, or if we wanted to order dessert. The chairs on the patio are VERY uncomfortable and I dont recommend sitting on them for very long. With that said, the staff was very friendly, the ambiance was beautiful, the food was good, (minus our burnt crabcakes and missing items from the menu).

Had a mix up with our order - but they handled the resolution perfectly, so no complaints. Thanks for that.