Went on a Saturday evening and there was only one other party inside and a couple parties on their outside patio. I thought it would've been a lot busier considering the great experience we had. We started off with the Kettle Cheese Dip. Amazing! The bread was almost better then the dip! I have their burger which was good but the portion of the cheese dip filled me up to finish the rest of my meal. Service was great! read more

Kettle Drums Restaurant & Bar - Cheese Dip - Italian Near Me - Peterborough, Ontario

A beautiful restaurant on the edge of the old downtown area in Peterborough. They have a large indoor space as well as a large patio, and big parking lot. I ate on the patio for lunch. I had the salad and pizza lunch special. I loved that you could pick any salad and any pizza for the same price rather than limiting it to the cheaper or more basic choices. I had the peach salad and the pear pizza. Both were delicious. I literally wiped my plate clean! Excellent service as well. Highly recommend this place! read more

Kettle Drums Restaurant & Bar - Peach salad. Delicious! - Italian Near Me - Peterborough, Ontario

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The waitress told us that we have to wait 30 minutes as we had not done reservation. But so many tables were free. Then she said we could sit at the bar. And we did. When we ordered northern lite IPA beer, they were out of it and this was at 7:00pm when it is the prime time for customers. The tables they offered were left empty. Finally they asked us to move to the table. Suddenly the behavior of the waitress became very polite. We ordered wood fired portobello mushroom and it was really good. The ravioli presentation was excellent. I did not try it but those in my group who tried really liked it. It looks like a family owned restaurant and hopefully we will not have this kind of experience where they don't welcome outsiders not residing in Peterborough. read more

Unlike many of the restaurants in downtown Peterborough that only have street parking, this Kettle Drums actually (and luckily for us) featured a substantial parking lot. We parked and entered the restaurant just as it was starting to rain outside. (Fun fact: The restaurant was built out of an old automotive repair shop.) The interior of Kettle Drums had low lighting and was a very modern and upscale casual styled restaurant with a fireplace near the entrance, a bar, and some nice Canadian-style artwork on the wall. Our server, Tim (I believe that was his name), helped us to the menus and our drinks as we got settled in. He was very friendly and accommodating throughout our entire stay there (which further made it such a positive experience). There were a lot of selections on the menu. As we were here during a late lunch, there weren't many customers dining in -- it was past two o'clock in the afternoon. The food arrived in a reasonable time. The Crispy Duck Wings were presented on a wooden board with a slice of orange and a cup of rootbeer sesame dip (that very adorably fit right into the hole of the wooden platter). The rootbeer sesame dip actually tasted like hoisin sauce to me. There were eight duck wings in total on the platter and I was impressed with this portion. We could have shared this with two or three more people and still thoroughly had enough. The Crispy Duck Wings were indeed very crispy! I have had duck wings at NextDoor in Markham but hadn't ever seen these on any menu prior to that. The meat on the duck wings were as tender as they could be and quite tasty. They weren't over-salted or too heavily seasoned either. Yum. The Lunch Sandwiches were only served until 5 p.m. so I'm glad that we did make it here for lunch. Each sandwich was served with a choice of soup, hand cut fries, sweet potato kettle chips, or the house salad. Upon hearing from Tim that their soup of the day was a jalapeno and cheese one, I was very curious and interested to try it. My Asparagus Panini had five year aged cheddar, double creme brie, shaved apple, grilled asparagus, and red onion jam on panini bread. This was actually really good! At first look, I didn't expect the panini to be served on whole grain bread and it appeared like it would be overtoasted and dry. However, I was proved wrong and the entire sandwich was very well grilled. The ingredients all combined together into a sweet yet savory and very juicy sandwich. I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed it. The jalapeno and cheese soup was a first for me. It was very well done too. It was very creamy and the jalapeno were finely chopped into little bits into the soup. At first, one sip might not bring the spiciness to attention but after swallowing the soup, you will feel the heat creep up in the back of your throat. It was a great soup! The Prime Rib Au Jus Sandwich had shaved Prime Rib, red onion jam, arugula, and horseradish aioli on ciabatta bread. The house salad came with really fresh greens and a light dressing that was very yummy. The Prime Rib Au Jus Sandwich came with a dipping sauce on the side for the sandwich. The prime rib meat in this sandwich was really substantial and tasted great. It was a little sweet from the red onion jam too and overall was another a great tasting sandwich. I was so satisfied and happy with the food at Kettle Drums. No wonder they garnered such high reviews online! read more

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We came across this awesome place during a trip to the Kawarthas. Do stop in and try -- the food (and service) is great! Has both indoor and outdoor seating. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. Our server was very knowledgeable and helpful. Hubby had the mussels (which came with the most divine bread for dipping). I had the charcuterie plate (some of which I shared). It came with some proscuitto and a pate, plus bocconcino cheese skewers and the most amazing bellavinto merlot cheese. Add some bread crisps and an orange compote and OMG -- was fab! Main course - hubby had the salmon pasta and I had the small beet salad. Salmon was in chunks with asparagus in the pasta and the noodles are homemade. Came with garlic bread. The beet salad came with beets, arugula, nuts, goat cheese and this wonderful warm citrus mustard dressing. BTW, servings are generous, so keep in mind. The small salad was plenty for me. We enjoyed with some rose and wine wines. Really lovely lunch. Note -- the price range I identified per person was without alcohol. If you are looking for a quality, wonderful meal - do try out Kettle Drums. We came for lunch and so not all items are offered, but would come back here and enjoy again. Cheers! read more

You'll love the atmosphere, modern but cozy, food is fantastic we had Mac & cheese, roast beef sandwich, beet salad with turkey burger and the grill cheese. All delicious. Thanks to Jesse who served us, see you soon! read more

Kettle Drums Restaurant & Bar - Happy patrons! We'll be back! - Italian Near Me - Peterborough, Ontario

Solid food and ok beers. Nice and friendly service. The poutine was absolutely outstanding, the steak wasn't. Some beers were not available, guess that can happen. Altogether a good address for dinner in Peterborough. read more

After a couple of attempts to get into Kettle Drums this last summer, we finally made it on Monday, and had a terrific lunch. The patios are closed for the season but the one on alongside the creek opposite The Only patio looks like it would be a great spot in the summer. Kettle Drums' opening in the Hunter St. Cafe District in downtown Peterborough this was much anticipated, partly because the owners, Reggie & Cam, are well-liked local restauranteurs, and also because this is their first upscale establishment. Early word-of-mouth reviews were mixed, especially focusing on poor service, which may have been due to the restaurant being at maximum capacity from the start. We arrived a little later than the daily lunch crowd, so it was pretty quiet. We were greeted immediately upon walking in. Our server was very friendly. My husband grilled him (in a nice way) about menu items. He said he'd been working there from Day 1 and clearly had tried most of the menu items so he could make good suggestions. The other server was obviously new, but she seemed to have a good rapport with customers. On our server's suggestion, we split the Vecchio pizza, and also tried one of the daily sandwich specials. Everything was delicious! The tender beef sandwich had house made garlic aioli. The egg bread was nice and fresh, as was the salad with cute little carrot curls and balsamic vinaigrette. The pizza is definitely enough on its own for two people or a good sharing size for three or four. The thin crust was light and crisp on the edges with a little chew in the centre. The Vecchio has gorgonzola cream sauce, house made sausage (not greasy at all), thin sliced red onion, and sliced potatoes. The potato was great, adding nice texture (if it sounds strange, just think of a French Alsatian tart with potato, onion, bacon & cheese). As a tip-out to Reggie & Cam's first endeavour, Reggie's Hot Grill chip truck, there is a Reggie's Burger on the menu. Some have scoffed, but I saw one go by our table. It's not rolled up in wax paper and handed over in a brown paper bag, like the original. It was laid out nicely on a plate with fresh toppings and salad on the side. There is also a selection of house made pasta on the menu, among other things. The draught beer selection is fine and the atmosphere is casual, contemporary gastro-pub. Hard to believe it was once an automotive repair shop! The prices are at the top end for the upscale pub category, so folks will expect food and service to be consistently top notch. As a side note, they have really nice napkins. Big, soft, absorbent paper napkins. It's a small detail that I personally really appreciate. read more

Had another great meal here last night! Glad we made reservations because the place was full. I used the send message feature to make my reservation on Yelp and got a confirmation phone call within minutes from the KD staff!! Highly recommend the Apple and Fennel salad, availability in half and full portions. ( see pic ). One of the specials was a house ground 7 oz burger with lettuce cheese curds with gravy and potato chips. This one is messy good, ( roll up your sleeves). Side of fries in a heated stainless cup ( keeps fries hot ) nice touch! Other orders were the goat cheese pesto grilled chicken pizza, perfectly done and no leftovers! Chicken Caesar salads also first rate with nice crisp romaine. Chicken nuggets for my fussy granddaughter were not a hit but she loved her fries ;-). Service was a little off, had to ask for ketchup for fries 3 different times even though we asked that it show up at the same time as the meal :-(. Totally disappointed this time.. servers not very friendly and inattentive. Fries were bottom of basket had to ask for a plate for my wife's pizza because server didn't come back as promised Burger was not as goods previous, and was dry and over cooked..... will have to think hard about coming back again read more

Kettle Drums Restaurant & Bar - APPLE fennel salad, I already dug into when I took this pic so it was not as " pretty" as it came to the table. - Italian Near Me - Peterborough, Ontario

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Was in town to hang out with my nieces and had lunch at Kettle Drums because they had gluten-free stuff I could eat (according to Yelp). There is really cheap parking a half-block away, if the restaurant lot is full. I like a/c, so we sat inside, but there is a really nice patio outside alongside a little stream and partially shaded. The staff were really friendly and provided great service. My nieces were given kids menus and crayons to pass the time before their food arrived, which didn't take long at all. They had Mac & Cheese that made me wish I had ordered it (there was a gf penne option available). I had a homemade root beer and really good chicken on a bun with a beet salad that was way better than I expected. We were in and out with lots of time to spare before our movie and the price was really great (compared to what it would have been in Toronto). We left with doggie bags for the nieces because the portions were so generous and happy all round. Will definitely return any time I'm visiting and will suggest to family that we have our next family member birthday dinner there. read more

Great staff and good food. The maple bacon wrapped pork tenderloins were amazing. The roast beef with yorkshire pudding was OK. We started with the bruchetta was great and is highly recommended. read more

Kettle Drums Restaurant & Bar - Bruchetta - Italian Near Me - Peterborough, Ontario

We had fish and chips and it wasn't good at all..they could obviously see they were overcooked but served them to us anyway..we are not people that complain so we ate what we could..wont go back. read more

Cavelle was an amazing waitress. She was attentive, friendly, and when one of my friends spilled her drink on the table, she reacted very calmly, made her a new one, and eased our anxiety throughout the night. The food was good and we enjoyed our time at the restaurant. We were there pretty much right up until they closed and never once did we feel rushed. They were short staffed and she was waiting all of the tables that night and did a great job at it. read more

Food is very good, along with the service. Although the only problem I had was with the mussels. They tasted very bad, and had a very strong fishy odour to them. I would definitely come back but not for the mussels. read more

Beautiful atmosphere within this restaurant, I would recommend this place for anyone that wants a fancy surrounding. The quality of the food is very good, but it takes a long time to actually get to you (I wasn't in a rush). The quantity was also lacking and left me wanting more, especially for the price. All in all a good restaurant. read more

The food was great!!! Full of flavor but terrible service. We waited for a very long time for the food to arrive. My meal was COLD when it finally arrived. Two of the people at our table were served their meals but they waited for our meals to come before they ate. Our meals took so long to come that their meals were cold too and our meals came very cold. Butter wouldn't even melt. Not sure if the waiter forgot to order our meals or if you forgot to pick them up once they were prepared. We ordered dessert and it came practically burnt with the juice around the apples bubbling it was extremely hot. Our meals went from one extreme to the other... it's too bad as I was looking forward to this restaurant and had high hopes for it. The chef does a great job, the food was terrific but very cold and then extremely hot. I do have to say it was the wait staff that was the problem. I would not recommend this restaurant. Also as a side note they were only four tables in the restaurant when we were there. It was not busy!! read more

OMG...best meal I have had in forever! Great atmosphere with two patios to choose from. Food was awesome, drinks as well. Decent prices and great staff were icing on the cake. Definitely try the beet salad! My compliments to the chef on everything!!!! I can't wait to go back and try more menu options. read more

The Food here is amazing! The Kitchen Manager/Chef is Flawless in the Kitchen! I highly recommended coming here for some delicious food and drink read more

Just had my first meal at KD. It was absolutely fantastic! Not to mention the attentive service; thanks Sophie! We'll be back!

I had heard such great things.... I was disappointed. Food was average, nothing special and rather expensive for quality and quantity. Atmosphere is nice and service is ok. read more

This place was great! My mom and I went out to eat here after my move to Ontario, and both of us left satisfied. They have a good range of pasta, burgers, pizza and a daily special, plus steaks and beer. The staff was very polite and attentive as well. My mom and I split a pizza and had a pint apiece, which was filling and not expensive. We're taking my dad there next week when they visit. read more

The service was good. The specials were tasty. The menu was pretty average. It is solid dining.

Great food, very nice, attentive staff. Had the portobello burger and the roasted beet salad, as well as the house made wild berry cheesecake. Nice atmosphere. Another veg option in these capable hands would be greatly appreciated. read more

Great traditional pub on a strip of bars and restaurants. Sort of small inside but a nice deck outside.

Not a great location on the corner. Wait staff was pretty cold. Food okay but not worth the price. Better places on Hunter IMHO

Ate hear on a Wednesday night in the summer when they had the barbecue out in the deck going. Being from North Carolina about had to educate them that barbecue is a noun and something you eat and not a verb that describes a method of cooking. They had a nice selection of beer to select from. Had the grilled salmon with grilled vegetables (peppers and onions as one and asparagus as the other). Happy to report that everything was properly seasoned with salt. The fish was cooked perfectly. The food tasted great. There were lots of interesting things on the menu. Will definitely visit again on another visit. read more

Good food, good beer, nice atmosphere, large patio. A great place to enjoy a good meal and time.

Took my young family here to eat after visiting peterborough lift locks. The place was quaint. I had a salmon sandwich, which was very good, cooked perfectly, not dry at all. The pastas which the wife and kids had, they all seemed to enjoy it. 1. (3/5) Service was hectic. Albeit friendly. The missed providing a child menu. Considering the kids were 2 and 4... kind of important. Though they did speak of it, after we didn't know what to order for the kids. Kids had some pasta dishes. 2. (3/5) Again, the service was friendly, but absent minded... Overall, I would go back, but hopefully their staff is a little more attentive. Food: 5/5 Atmosphere: 4/5 Service: 3/5 Overall: 4/5. read more

Would love to review the food but we didn't actually eat. Came in early in the afternoon today. My daughter and I were soaked from walking in the rain to the restaurant. Looked forward to warming up and having a great lunch. We stood there for 5 minutes and no one acknowledged us. There was 1 person sitting at the bar and 2 tables. The waitress spent the whole time chatting with one of the tables not about the restaurant. Clearly she was in no hurry to serve us so we went to 180 instead and had a fabulous lunch. Will not be back. read more

Love that they offer a variety of gluten free options and took my allergy serious. However, the cheese and bacon burger was overdone and missing the cheese and bacon! 5 of us had the same thing ( I was the only one missing the toppings) and all the burgers were dry. I'll still go back and try the other gluten free options but wouldn't get the burger again. For my first visit, wasn't impressed. ( also, miracle whip is NOT mayo...just sayin. Don't say you have mayo when you have salad dressing.) read more

I came here on the advice of a guy I met at dr. J's, Tony (tall red head) told me to come try it out with my parents while they were in town helping me move. It was great, good service from a server that for the life of me I can't remember her name. The kitchen was a bit slow and we could hear most of their conversation, if we didn't have a good sense of humour about it, it may have been offensive. But other then that, great food! and great service. read more

Poor service and cold food. Overall I would highly recommend that nobody eat here. Even though it was a long weekend and the staff said they were bogged down which the business didn't seem to suggest, food was horrible. Again, nobody should eat there...Ever. read more

I've been here before and the service and food has been great. This time we sat for over 30 minutes before we even got a menu or was asked for our drink order. Eventually we ordered and after our waitress barely even made eye contact, she brought our food, and at no point did she ever check on us from that point on. Our food arrived over an hour after we arrived. I had to hunt our server down to get a takeout container. Hopefully the horrible service doesn't continue or I won't be going back. read more

Loved loved loved this place! Excellent service, food was generous and scrumptious. The server/kitchen was flexible with a simple pizza order for my 4 year old and they were kid friendly, yet the atmosphere was a little more sophisticated than a typical 'family' restaurant. The patio is shaded and set back from the road. We ordered a piedmont and plain cheese pizza, chicken fingers and a wild salmon sandwich. My favorite Spanish beer (Estrella Dam) was on tap. Fries are OUT OF THIS WORLD! (Skinny, skin on). We live in a restaurant laden neighborhood in Toronto and this might be our cottage drive home staple. Service is fast, accurate and impeccable. read more

As seniors we tend to eat out around 3 p.m. Thus looking after 2 meals. We would really like to apologize to to staff and management for disrupting and interrupting their quiet time. Arrived at 3 and stood at the please wait to be seated sign for 3 minutes only to be told to sit any where, anywhere was appropriate as we were the only ones there. Our menus were dropped off within 2 minutes and 12 minutes later the server asked if we were having any problems reading the menu ( maybe she felt we didn't graduate grade school) I suggested she take our drink order - upon delivering our drinks she wanted our food order? She was told to come back why the hurry? Wife ordered fish and chips fish was perch and very bony fries left a lot to be desired, I ordered steak and it was well aged, cooked to my satisfaction and quite tasty. However the fries sucked I tried them in gravy that had some kind of funny taste like javex finally I soaked them in vinegar and that made them passible. All in all we won't go back! read more

What an unexpected wonderful evening @ Kettle Drums. Our waitress, Kate, recommended the perfect bottle of wine. She really knew what she was talking about. The beet salad and calamari we had for apps were beyond fab. My husband devoured the panko crusted meatloaf, even eating all the veggies on his plate. I ordered the popular Piedmont pizza only to find they were out of the merlot infused Figs. Cam, the owner, quickly found an alternative, adding sweet and delicious black garlic, which went perfectly with the smoked bacon and pine nuts. The house made gelato were to die for; so flavourful and refreshing. The service was excellent and all the staff really seemed to care. We can't wait to go back read more

The food was cold, yet took an unbelievably long time to come out. The vegetables were undercooked. The service we received was very slow, and generally poor. I've eaten there on numerous occasions, as my friends seem to enjoy the place, and have never generally left impressed. It has always been "meh" at best in my opinion. It has a nice atmosphere, and a crafty menu. If only they good make the food, as good as it should be. read more