Review 1909 Kitchen - Vancouver Island

Beautiful spot by the water to enjoy a nice dinner. If you want to dine at the 1909 (which is a quiet, family style dining restaurant) it’s best to make reservations beforehand. Walk-ins do not get seated here; they get seated on the other side of the establishment which is more of a bar area with loud music and TVs to watch sports. There wasn’t a huge selection of vegetarian options, which makes sense since this is primarily a seafood restaurant. But we did enjoy two vegetarian pizzas — the Wild Mushrooms and classic Margherita. The drinks were also quite good. The ambience and location of this place is what really make this an enjoyable experience. If you eat meat or seafood, you’ll find plenty on the menu to enjoy. We’ll be back to dine here when we’re visiting Tofino again.

We had a reservation and wanted to change it. Called twice around 5:15pm (they open at 5) and there was no answer. This seems to be the norm after reading some previous reviews. We ended up walking there and speaking to someone. We got the Grass Fed Beef Burger ($24). The description says “butter lettuce” which would be expected of a burger at that price point. It came with soggy shredded iceberg lettuce. The beef patty was not bad though. Also got the Wild Mushrooms pizza ($25). It tasted like there was absolutely no seasoning on it. Service was meh. Was checked on once after the first bites and that was it. We had to ask for a box to pack our food even though we were clearly finished and sitting there waiting. After that, we waited about 10 minutes and no one came by to check/offer the bill. We had to flag another server down. Tons of staff walking around, but they all seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Would avoid this place. Overpriced, underseasoned. And don’t respond to me with “this is an exception” - as it clearly is not judging from the recent reviews. Maybe it’s time for you guys to take the constructive reviews seriously.

The breakfast here was so good. I was impressed by the eggs benny. The eggs benedict is by far the best one I had in Canada. Well done breakfast chef ;) Such a nice view from the restaurant and great location - so close to the water! Staff has been very nice and friendly. A nice breakfast to brighten your day!

Fire roasted pizza is great. Thin crust is reminiscent of pizza in Napoli. Seafood was enjoyed by the others (party of 6) and if you get the spicy versions it is spicy! New Chef and his Sous arrived from the Fairmont Banff in late May. They are really adding some great choices and presentation is first class. Meal included appies, dessert, and wine. Our server, Mackenzie, was very busy, however, was spectacular! June 7, 2022

Ordered for take out tonight and was pretty disappointed. Tonight was our first wedding anniversary and we were looking forward to bringing home some great pizza to enjoy together. Pizzas were burnt and were cold by the time we got home (6 minutes away from the kitchen). Not great quality for the price we paid. We were planning to dine in later this week but not sure about that now. Guess it makes for a memorable anniversary dinner. Edit: thank you for your reply. We did actually reach out by telephone several times that night but there was no answer. We also emailed and don’t believe we heard anything back. By looking at past reviews it does not appear that our experience was the exception to the rule. I encourage you to take this feedback to consider other ways to improve quality and customer service. Thank you.

I loathe eating at hotel restaurants because I always feel like I am missing out on something awesome (because hotel restaurants so rarely are). Today I couldn’t find anything off site that made me say OH so we headed to 1909. It was SO GOOD, our server was wonderful and the view of the harbour was spectacular. I love being wrong. Also, the veggie breakfast sandwich is delish!

Let me start with… I don’t know why these guys even have a phone number… they don’t even pick the phone up. I called at least 8 times and ended up walking there. I was promptly told that they are too busy to answer the phone … not a big deal… get seated at the bar as there are no other tables available. Then I notice that there are 4 employees at the bar, one of which is likely a new employee as he kneels down with two other servers, and get given an envelop as a “sign up bonus”. Overall the food itself was good, and fairly priced well. It’s the overall experience that ruins the overall effort that was put into the food. Update : went to 1909 for breakfast. After ringing the bell and waiting for several minutes (over 5 minutes ) someone finally came to seat us. Breakfast was amazing. While I understand that there is a labour shortage in the region, this really takes away from the overall experience. Kudos to the team in the kitchen!

Great spot for brunch in Tofino. The food was fresh and tasty, but giving 3 stars because we didn't feel welcome in the restaurant. Our server didn't seem like she wanted to be there.