The Olde School - Brant

Beautiful restaurant inside the service was excellent. Food was top notch portions were perfect I would recommend this place to anyone. Gus and Melanie made this visit all the worth while… Thank you and to all the staff!

We have had dinner at this restaurant three times this year and the first two times we were well received by the owner, had Lenny as a very hospitable server and were fairly satisfied with the meals, we stuck with tried and true, the prime rib, lamb, salmon, and filet mignon. The French onion soup is always a winner.However, this past weekend we were part of a 22 person family function on a Tuesday evening. This time the meals were just average, sometimes below. It was as if the preparation was rushed, the plating was amateurish, the vegetables, over done, the meats were unseasoned.I ordered veal medallions with Oscar sauce; I asked the server how it was cooked and she said medium. My husband and I ordered oysters and I asked if they were fresh and she assured us they were, another appetizer was the escargot with mushroom caps and cheese.My plate was wrong and when I asked the server, she took it to the chef who tried to convince me that veal medallions are supposed to look like schnitzel; the Oscar seafood sauce was terrible as the seafood was sawdust dry, both the meal and the sauce were inedible. The oysters were served lukewarm and poorly shucked, we both got a few pieces of shell and I only had one; the escargot was way over cooked and rubbery. Had anyone asked us, we would have been honest, but no one came around after we were served, to check on the food.When the server came to ask if we wanted dessert, I asked her to remove my meal from the invoice, she could see it was untouched. At that point, she offered to bring out a prime rib, but by then, everyone had already eaten and quite frankly, nothing I saw looked appetizing.I ended up getting sick that evening. The atmosphere is quaint and charming; the owner has been kind to us, but this male server and the foods this week were questionable. The quality has been inconsistent. We would have expressed our dissatisfaction via the tip, but it was already included in the bill, which we found off-putting, and presumptuous considering our experience.If this restaurant wants to be in the “fine dining” lane, it needs to prepare succulent dishes presented artistically, you can’t have servers with a chip on their shoulder; adding the tip to the invoice means you should be absolutely sure you did everything right, and when you don’t, that is short-sighted and arrogant.Will we return? I don’t think so, but there is opportunity for improvement if the management accepts constructive criticism and applies it.

By fluke discovered this quasi out of the way restaurant, and glad I did. Had a delicious dinner and the decor is wild. The restaurant is a blast from the past it is certainly old school but that works in its favour. If you are looking for hip, modern decor all in white and uncomfortable chairs, with an oh so trendy menu, then this isn 't the place for you. But if you like grand older decor, and a menu where you actually know what the ingredients are, then you 'll enjoy. I imagine this is the Special Occasion restaurant in the Brantford/Paris area birthday, anniversary, etc, but it made a nice average Tuesday night dinner very above average.

I had an incredible experience at this restaurant. The service was exceptional, with Lenny even going above and beyond by giving us a tour and history of the school house. The food was excellent, and it's rare to find a restaurant with both high-quality food and service like this nowadays. If you are in or near SW Ontario, I highly recommend stopping in. The nostalgic atmosphere is truly unique.

The dining experience at this restaurant is truly amazing! It feels like being transported to a different time and place. The steak I ordered was hands down the best I've ever had, and the value for the price is unbeatable. Overall, a remarkable experience.