Victoria's Gastropub

This restaurant used to be our go-to spot for special occasions like Valentines Day and birthdays. We have celebrated here numerous times because I thought Victoria's had it all: excellent food, good service, and romantic atmosphere.

Things have changed.

We visited Victoria's to meet up with cousins who were traveling through. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon between 1:30 and 2pm, a bit late for brunch. I thought the in-between hour might mean less of a crowd. Nope. The parking lot was packed when we drove up.

Inside, there were several parties waiting ahead of us, but we were seated fairly quickly. The service after that was oh-so-slow, though. Our waiter (I didn't get his name) was extremely friendly. He told us he was new to Victoria's, so this may have been one of the reasons our meal progressed in slo-mo. After placing our drink order, I would guess it was a good ten minutes before we received the drinks. The food was easily another 20 minutes later. But this wasn't the biggest issue.

Victoria's has become LOUD. Where the atmosphere used to be more of a warm, romantic place for a quiet meal and intimate conversation, these days you literally have to shout across the table to be heard. We experienced the same phenomenon the last time we ate there, and now I see it was not a fluke. Music is not the cause. It is very loud laughter and conversations happening all around the place. The bar area is constantly packed with people making a whole lot of noise.

I expect this decibel level at a sports bar, but I thought Victoria's was a much classier sort of place. I no longer think so.

The food at Victoria's is still better than most chain restaurants in the area. I ordered fish and chips ($16) and received 3 small nuggets of deep-fried, crispy-battered cod. The fish was flaky and white, moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The fries were better than average, although too skinny for my liking. The amount of food was sadly small. I could easily eat my entire meal, where I used to have to bring half home. The price has remained the same while the portion size has dramatically declined.

My hubby's burger looked very good--juicy and cooked to the medium temperature he requested. My cousins were both very happy with their meals: Caesar salad and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.

Sorry no photos of any of our food. I was focusing on socializing and didn't want to whip my phone out to document the meal. You can find photos, menus, and info about Victoria's here: victoriagastropub.com.

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