The Merchant Tavern

Merchant is one of my favourite restaurants, always amazing. But tonight was not a good experience. Extremely slow service for drinks and food.

Worth the trip if you’re in or near Saint John’s!
Fresh, unique flavour combos. Had the Fish & Chips and Montreal Smoked Meat.

We had trouble finding the The Merchant Tavern (city map had the incorrect location), and although we were nearly 30 minutes later than our reservation time, the staff went out of their way to find us a table in a crowded restaurant. We both had Pork Tenderloin and it was delicious. The server was also excellent. Great experience. I would highly recommend the restaurant.

Excellent food and service as always!

Noisy but in a good way so wouldn’t recommend for a for al business dinner.

The staff were wonderful and accommodated my request for a table, not a high chair. The food was very good. I was there early in the evening and it was getting very hectic and noisy. A great place to meet friends; not a good place if you want to have a quiet conversation. But I would most definitely go back — just early!

This restaurant is overpriced. When I asked for some bread for the table, it appeared on our bill as a $4.00 charge. A small Caesar salad is $17.00. A burger with fries is $25.00. When I asked for a refill on my coffee, J wasn’t told their would be a charge. Usually you can have a second cup at no charge, but no, my 2 coffee cost $8.00. If you are paying top prices for your food you should at least be given a little bread and a second coffee at no extra charge. Our server was very nice, and the food was well prepared and tasty but those little things are a big turnoff.

Friends birthday

Fantastic as always

We switch dinner locations for that evening that afternoon upon a referral from a local of St John's. Funky and cool place. Very busy and lots to look at. Kitchen is an open space so cooks and servers everywhere. We ordered the lane and mix seafood dishes. It was slow, about 45 min to come. Other then that everything was wonderful.

Food was great. Server explained the local food and helped us with the local ale choice.

We really enjoyed our experience at The Merchant. Will definitely be back again soon for another awesome meal!

The food was very good. The chicken sandwich was amazing.
The french fries and gravy were perfect.
The music was way too loud. We asked our sever if it could be turned down but it never was turned down. With the number of people there was alot of talking noise but the music on top of that made it hard to hear each other.
While the service was good our server was rushed off her feet and see forgot to bring my friends win and I couldnt get her attention to get more tartar sauce.
I would definitely recommend the food tho $109 for lunch for 3 people, with no alcohol, it was very expensive.

Our waitress was very pleasant and helpful assisting us to make our menu selections. We loved the ambiance despite a somewhat noisy environment because of the full house, high ceiling and hard surfaces. We enjoyed the fish soup, fish taco, linguine and rhubarb custard tart.

The food was excellent, the service was friendly and professional.

We found The Merchant Tavern a refreshing surprise and we intend to return. I must try the vinegar pie.

Amazing brunch and atmosphere.

Excellent food if you don’t mind waiting for it. Service for entree was especially slow. Don’t go if you’re in a rush.

After reading an article in a magazine on this restaurant I thought we would check it out. Truly disappointed by it. The food was very lack lustre in taste, prep and overall execution. There was literally a bunch of chopped garlic that looked thrown in to the dish but wasn’t stirred in. For the price points being charged would I wouldn’t recommend. I expect much more when paying 150$ for dinner for two. St John’s has much better options.

Food was remarkable, delicious and nice sized portions. Service was also really good

This was our second time eating at Merchant Tavern and it has yet to disappoint. The food is fantastic and you can never go wrong with any of their pasta dishes. Servers are quick, friendly and attentive. We will be back!

The appetizers we ordered were great (oysters and beef tartar), but the main dish (fish and chips) had a lot to improve. The fries were almost cold, and the fish was missing salt.

The casual atmosphere and professional staff make The Merchant Tavern my favourite place to take visitors to St. John's. The food is delectable, the wine list has something for every palate, and meals never feel rushed even when the room is full and bustling. I recommend it to anyone who asks where to eat downtown!

Really good experience. Food was pleasing, not outstanding but very good.

Great dining experience! Only negative is that this restaurant is very loud.

Our experience was great with the exception of the food being a little salty.

I thought it odd that the water glasses were small. Water given was lukewarm and we had to ask for ice. Server game with a small glass of ice. When I ordered ice tea given a slim glass with ice. So basically if you buy a beverage you get ice. It was Thursday lunch time - surely everyone an be given a big glass of ice water.

As a frequent traveler in the travel and hospitality industry, I look for interesting places with friendly staff and great cuisine with ingredients that are sourced locally that showcase local flavours. I chose the Merchant Tavern for this reason and I had dinner guests. The place was bustling with patrons but upon arrival, I looked forward to being seated in the ‘Vault’ (aptly named as the building was a bank before being converted into a restaurant) and the restaurant called me ahead of time to ask if I’d be ok with it, Loved it as it provided us the privacy to chat audibly with attentive service.

Try the chef’s recommendations, the local mussels and any dessert with Newfoundland berries (or Patridge berries). Exquisite!

My husband’s birthday. It was lovely, but he is a meat and potatoes man, so he felt there wasn’t enough on his plate.

I was expecting more from the food and the service, expected from the wine specialist who was on point. My dish was too salty and the server didn’t really pay attention to my boyfriend and I even if the restaurant wasn’t very busy.

Excellent food and great service. There’s something on the menu for everyone but the specials really are - especially the fresh seafood. A bit noisy bit lively and fun

Excellent service; unique dining experience and the food was amazing

What an absolutely fantastic experience! The food was simply delicious, the cocktails and wine matched beautifully, the service was professional and friendly, and we’re definitely going to visit again...next time for brunch! Thank you so much for a wonderful dinner!!

Another fantastic meal at the Merchant!

The server was rude and pushy. Reminded us three times that we needed to leave by 8pm for the next reservation. We felt rushed and our business was unwanted. $350 meal deserves better service. We did not have dessert or after drinks .. time was up.
We had a 5:45 reservation and waited a long time to get our appetizers.
It was embarrassing to take my visiting family from Ontario to experience this .

Scotch egg wrapped in crab cake was beautifully done.

Late Mother’s Day brunch. Eggs Benedict were INCREDIBLE. Servers were fabulous. We will be back

Went there for an early dinner, I can not recommend this place enough! We started with the beef tartare, it was amazing. I had the pork, it was cooked perfectly and the sides complemented the meat perfectly. The price was fair for the quality of the meal. It is a must when in St John’s!

Nice Mother’s Day brunch but need to consider more options for children, especially on these types of special occasions. My meal was delicious but the kids don’t enjoy anything too fancy..Server was fabulous!

We got there at opening and got a perfect table with outdoor and kitchen view. Love the open concept kitchen. The food was spot on and all the plates looked amazing.

Not disappointed! Bring the sister restaurant to Raymonds I had high expectations that were fully met ! Great food and service, a bit noisy when the place is full but to be expected . A sure bet!

Other reviews were mixed but we were willing to give it a go, as “overly spicy” and “too salty” can be subjective.

The evening started fine with tasty appetizers and great drinks. The mains were a little too salty (the chef should likely take that feedback as it’s mentioned on Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc).

It went downhill when my lobster meal was very over cooked and rubbery (at the table we agreed the other one was fine). I expressed this to the server and he took the meal away.

At bill time, I was charged $46 for the meal the server took away! After discussion with the waiter (and there was no management on site at 10:00 pm) he discounted the meal so I paid $23 for a meal that he agreed “was untouched” (it was indeed “touched” as I tasted it to discover the lobster was over cooked).

There are other spots in town - Fish Exchange, Exile and great little spots along Water Street.