Big River Restaurant

Have you ever ate somewhere and checked the reviews on the restaurant after? One sentence. BF says, "don't take Joey's, Cactus Club or Boston Pizza for granted, I asked if you wanted to go there."

I am not really the type to eat pub food and Big River Restaurant is probably the closest place to a pub I have been to all year. I was surprised the restaurant is well lit, spacious and empty (which I totally prefer!). The tables are greasy and kind of dirty but I assume it is a given for a pub.

BREWHOUSE WINGS, FRANK'S RED HOT AND SALT N' PEPPER ($11.95). The wings are overly deep fried, crunchy, dry and hard. Starting with the frank's red hot sauce, the wings actually taste spicy which I appreciate, considering that some restaurants never serve spicy wings despite being labelled as spicy, so props for Big River. Also, the wings are patchy and could have been tossed longer with the hot sauce. For the salt n' pepper, the wings do not taste salty and has a stronger peppery taste which I prefer. Although the purpose should have been salty and peppery which BF wanted and was pretty annoyed. But hey, there is one good thing… "the vegetables taste fresh and really tasty ommmg", to which BF responds "that's not what I pay for" and the wings are "so hard you can kill someone with them". LOL to think we wanted to order the wings platter too, good thing we did not!

BIG RIVER CLASSIC BURGER, OUR "GOURMET BURGER" WITH ALL THE FIXIN', PLUS CRISPY BACON AND CHEDDAR CHEESE ($12.50). The bun is somewhat burnt but cold, the beef patty also tastes burnt and a bit too salty, and the bacon tastes soft which I like. The burger tastes too salty and is not very yummy.. every burger is yummy so I am confused why this sucks.  Some more lettuce would have been nice too. This is one of the worst burgers I ever had. BUT I do like the soft bacon and this would suck even more for people who like crispy bacon.

CREAMY VEGETABLE SOUP ($1.00 SUBSTITUTE INSTEAD OF FRIES). The soup has a hearty rich beef broth taste and BF likes it. TURKEY CLUB, TOASTED AND LAYERED WITH WHITE BREAD, CRANBERRY MAYONNAISE, CRISPY BACON, TOMATOES, TURKEY AND LETTUCE ($10.95). This photo looks prettttty good, not going to lie. However, unfortunately the fries are over deep fried and tastes crunchy as well as hollow. Although I do appreciate the server asking garlic is okay with the fries, the fries should have been tossed with garlic rather than topped.. since the loose minced garlic did nothing for the fries. Moving to the sandwich, the bread is lightly toasted and could have been toasted longer. Also, the bacon tastes soft which we both prefer but would be sad news for those who like crispy bacon. The only issue with the sandwich is that the mayonnaise is too heavy and overwhelms the sandwich, leaving soggy bread.

GRAVY ($1.00). Personal complaint, BF does not even eat fries but always gets gravy and never uses it. Who does that? The gravy tastes bland, simple and has a slight but not really there beef taste. Ehh.. it could improve.

POSITIVES
- Attentive service for a pub
- Friendly server
- 10% off if you fill out a comment card (woop woop saved $3.00)

NEGATIVES
- Wings and burgers are a staple for a pub
- Food is not good

LITTLE THINGS

- Not a lot of very good reviews on Urbanspoon, now I know why

- After 9:45pm only appetizers, salads, burgers and sandwiches are available. I kind of wanted the seafood linguini and tacos, but good thing they were not available! Those would have cost more than the burger as well as sandwich and may not have tasted good #cheapasian

Food: 1.5/5

Service: 4/5