Jack Astor's Ancaster, Ontario
What we've ordered: Sweet Potato Fries, Smoky Jack's Burger, Chicken Club Sandwich, Vanilla Coke, Holy Smoke Burger, Gaucho Poutine, Caesar salad.
We visited Jack Astor's about a year and a half ago, it was a different experience then because we went to discuss getting another kitty so we weren't focused really on the meal or the service. We just couldn't wait to get our new kitten, Cairo. So we decided to visit Jack Astor's again, this time with a review in mind.
This restaurant has a tiny parking lot, so it's hard to tell if it'll be busy inside or not. We went on a busy Friday evening, and it turned out to be very busy but we were still seated quickly. I love that they write the time of arrival on the table, so you know they care about fast service. We were greeted with our waiter in a matter of minutes, also writing his name on our table, Jordan. This tells us that they are confident about not making many mistakes, especially when they offer a survey afterwards. We will never forget Jordan, he was super friendly, was excited by our meal choices and seemed genuinely interested in making our time great. When a waiter doesn't have to write down what you order and there are no errors with your meal, that's impressive. He even offered an upgrade on our meal in a way that didn't seem like just an up sell. Service in general at Jack Astor's was the perfect experience; you even get the door held for you.
The menu is somewhat hard to read because the font is too small and there are no pictures. We were surprised because Jack Astor's has so many very interesting meal choices, but most of them are not described well enough. The menu seems bland and once we found what we wanted to eat, we stopped looking at it. The selection though is great, you can get pretty much anything you want at Jack Astor's for a reasonable price and the upgrades to combos are unique to this restaurant.
The restaurant was very clean; especially noticeable were the clean picture frames everywhere. The hallway between tables was relatively small and there was a lot of foot traffic; looked like they had the entire staff working that Friday. I don't understand why having revealing clothing is a uniform in so many restaurants, the miniskirts were frighteningly short and left nothing to the imagination but the shirts had interesting sayings on them. All the Staff were very friendly though to everyone including other staff members and tables that weren't their responsibility. This restaurant has a fun environment, lots of televisions and fun chalkboard drawings. For being such a busy time it wasn't too loud in the restaurant, even though it was full of people.
The food that was presented to us, incredible! Like I mentioned before, they don't advertise enough how special their menu options are; even my Caesar salad was unique! They put some sort of seasonings on it that gives it a tangier taste and they use real bacon and fried onions on top, none of that was even mentioned on the menu. My Husband and I chose the same burger because it had absolutely everything you'd ever want on a hamburger. Served on a pretzel bun; a huge patty and a slab of pulled pork with fried onions and three, thick slices of cheese, this was the ultimate burger. The barbeque sauce they use was exciting and it literally surprised me when I took my first bite. Lucky for me, I even got two top buns! The poutine was unique and it had such a rich taste because of the feta cheese and the spices used. Our only complaints were that the plates were too small for such an epic meal and the poutine wasn't as warm as it could've been but everything had so much flavor, we were not disappointed.
Overall, Jack Astor's was a wonderful restaurant. We loved the service and the meal so much; we want to return at the earliest convenience. The incredible flavours have us wondering what other great food choices we have for next time. We openly complimented our server, Jordan on the incredibly fast and perfect service we received. Jack Astor's is doing everything right as a restaurant. Returning will pose a burning question; do you choose the meal you know you've enjoyed in the past, or a different option with new possibilities?
Price Range: $5.99-$24.99
Cleanliness: 10
Atmosphere: 9
Menu Selection: 7.5
Service: 10
Food Quality: 10
Overall Experience: 9.5
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