Review Union Street Grill - Courtenay

Quaint little place with excellent food and service. I went there for a rendezvous with my partner and a family member who I hadn't seen in over 20 years. We appreciated the fact that they weren't trying to rush us out. I ordered Thai Prawn salad, simply delicious. My partner ordered pork ribs for an appy and fish and chips; I tried one rib (that's all he'd share with me, lol) and it was scrumptious. Definitely will be going back there next time in Courtenay. 😋

It was one of those spur-of-the-moment road trips when my wife and I decided to drive 90 minutes from Nanaimo to Courtenay to visit the Union Street Grill and Grotto. Our purpose: The Walnut Mushroom Burger. A vegetarian burger made with roasted walnuts, mushrooms & garbanzos, topped with sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, & garlic herb mayo. As vegans, the mayo had to go. My wife added avocado slices. When it came time to order, I told the server that I wanted what my wife had but I wanted the yam fries not the regular ones. Both upgrades were extra in costs. This burger is not the normal burger making the rounds in other restaurants as a vegan burger, it is advertised as a vegetarian burger so some modifications may be needed to achieve what you may be used to at other venues. My wife added the avocado slices, something we have both done in other restaurants, but somehow I did not get that option and neither was I charged for it. But, it does make a difference, so consider it when ordering. It's a burger, so I would like to see a vegan cheese and mayo option as well. As far as the bun, we never enquired but we were told the meal was vegan Ok. Other remarks. We arrived later in the evening and the restaurant looked full. We were quickly greeted and seated at a table for two in a corner. It was a little tight, but otherwise ok. My wife was disappointed in one of the community washrooms because there was water on the sink counter and she had no place for her purse. She put it on top of the paper towel dispenser and after grabbing some paper towels to wipe up the water, her purse fell in the floor. In this day and age we're all concerned about germs and these washrooms are used by all genders, so a hook or two may be helpful. The overall experience was enjoyable and the staff friendly. My only complaint was the $7.00 charge for two sodas, though I guess we could have sat there longer and drank more. Would we return - absolutely. We're vegan, so the choices are limited, but they do have a gluten free menu.

Reviewing for service, food, and establishment. So first off the waitress we had was really quiet, not a big deal she was polite and went out of her way to grab my child some toys and such. Now the establishment is very hipster but it was for the most part lacking. The tables were sticky, it looked like they have never deep cleaned it or kept up with it in general, and that was in the children's area. They had throw pillows on the bench that were worn out and floppy, the benches were literal benches you would sit on when taking your shoes off and I was very confused on why they had an "order here" sign when there should have been waitresses taking orders. Also behind that "order here" area there was seldom any waitress. I thought the food had might have been pretty great considering we waited a half an hour for it, but we were let down! I ordered the chicken pasta and instead of a garlic cream sauce it was garlic water, my daughter's chicken parmesan was also watery. Now she loves pasta but she literally gagged and spit it out, and now onto the best one! My boyfriends chicken burger and Ceasar salad! The burger looked alright but the salad? It was literally 5 long pieces of iceberg lettuce with big long crutons, and I tell you now the lettuce was warm and the ends were already wilted and discolored. Honestly it was not worth the 53$ that we spent!!

We were here around 430 on a Saturday. The front staff seemed more interested in talking to each other than serving our table. THere was only 2 other small tables with people at them so it wasn't busy. Took 20 minutes for someone finally to come get our order. The Food was good and came with great sides. Kids menu was also good and reasonable priced.

Been coming here for a long time. Nice to see it's still open. Came from Alberta to visit. Our meals came on time and were hot and delicious. Service was good. No complaints here.

Nice little lunch stop; food was good! Service took a while and so did the food.

The food was tasty and flavourful, and the staff friendly. Order took quite a long time due to a large party. All In all OK. However, I ordered the tuna burger and have never had such a small portion of fish in my life. I would gladly have paid a few more dollars to see to proper sized portion served. The bun was less than 50% filled. Tasty, but we left hungry and finished our meal elsewhere.

My family and I (three adults, two kids) came here for an early dinner on a Sunday around 4:30 pm. It was nice and quiet and we had our order taken and food served promptly. I got the mushroom walnut burger and it was the best veggie burger I've ever eaten. It looked, smelled and tasted incredible! I will easily travel down island to eat here many more times. There was at least four other dishes on the menu I wanted to try and that's rare for me having dietary restrictions! Which by the way... They cater too! Vegan, gluten free... Eat here!