The Charlatan

We have been here many times.
Service is consistently good.
We come here for the relaxed and romantic ambiance.
Our favourite dishes are the bacon wrapped feta filled dates (this time some of the bacon was burned),
The cauliflower wings with the Dragon sauce (they used to make them in smaller pieces which we preferred) and we tried the tuna bites for the first time, which we really liked. All 3 dishes had been full of flavor:)

Went in for just a beer while family shopped around. Great service and good mix of taps
Place reminded me of my grandparents basement bar, which isn't a bad thing as everything was clean.
Looking now at some photos of food, I will probably go back to try it at some point.

Caesars and coffee were excellent. Eggs benny on biscuits were a nice change from the usual, and the side potatoes were tasty but not greasy. Cheery service.

Very solid food here. Came for brunch but instead got lunch. Had a Cajun chicken burger with poutine and was very happy with the quality. Chicken breast was large and not slipping out of the burger like a lot of places

Fries were great as well. Service was definitely below average, maybe our server was having a bad day but she seemed annoyed with us from the first minute, and we had to ask for EVERYTHING (coffee refill, water refill, utensils, etc.)

Would still try again despite the service

Classic for a reason. Solid food drink and service. Loved the room since Bukowski's. Go to local.

Met some friends here while I was in town. Was a bit disappointed they didn’t have the ingredients for the drink I wanted on the menu, but that’s ok, it happened. But, they also didn’t have the beer my girlfriend wanted either! So their menu wasn’t really accurate. We ordered the bacon wrapped dates to start. The flavour was great but one of them came not really cooked. So 2/3 dates were tasty. We also ordered the tuna stack. It was very disappointing seeing as all it really was, was guacamole with a few pieces of tuna and cucumber on top. My friends didn’t really care for their appies either. Wings were lame too. The server we had was also a bit bazaar. She would come and ask our friends if they needed anything and then leave before I could ask for another drink. It was like she couldn’t ask the whole table (4 of us) at once if we needed anything.

The vibes here are amazing. I would recommend this pub/bar to anyone looking for a chill place to have drinks with friends.

This place is convenient to enjoy the time. I like the service and employees of the Charlatan.

Girls night out we were waiting for a table at another restaurant, so stopped here for drinks. Berry and Earl Gray Iced Tea was good mocktail for the DD. Nice selection of cocktails.

The Charlatan is a main staple on Commercial, Dr.for years it's definitely a first stop on a bar hopping knight with friends for sure! Now the menu speaks for itself If you have to choice a appetizer you must try the cauliflower wings seasoned with dragon spice or lemon with black pepper it's so nice but it doesn't stop there with the dragon spice you have to try the wings it will make your mouth water and wanting more I could go on for ever you'll just have to check it out yourself! They of course have a excellent choice of local loggers and domestic beers to choice from! There special hard drinks list is no match for any other bar on Commercial Dr. So in conclusion if your looking for a place to chill with friends or have a birthday to celebrate make Charlatan you bar of choice, I highly recommend it!

Commercial drive institution. Ali the General Manager is an absolute legend, cocktails are delicious and the ambiance is just right?

Great place to meet friends and the vibe is.it's a vibe.

Had an awesome dinner this past Friday. The food was killer, especially the poutine. Great prices and service, will definitely be coming back.

Lyra, you made a frustrating night SO much better. Thank you for your kindness and your empathy. I am so genuinely glad to meet you and will return to sit in your section and hopefully meet more wonderful strangers. The wine you recommended was fantastic and I will tell many many people about the wonderful service I received from you. Cheers!

Great place. I mean it. But you need more staff on Saturdays. Or whenever you’re busy. Helps yourselves! Love

It's a great place to try multitude of cocktails and beer. The bartenders know their drinks. I recommend snake oil, it's a tasty one.

For food, it's a hit and miss. Their cauliflower wings with black dragon sauce is quite delicious, sometimes too citrusy. Try their wings, it's good. Can't go wrong with honey garlic.

The atmosphere is LOUD. You might have to shout a bit while having a conversation with friends, if you're looking for a silent time, this isn't it.

Overall, it's a great place to grab drinks and munch on some wings.weekends and nights tends to be quite busy.

Server Sarah is amazing!
Get that out there straight away.
Great food. My pics do it no justice. Very busy night but the front staff kept up with the flow. BIG shout out to the barman and manager for respectfully dealing with a large, drunken buffoon. Situation de-escalated and all went well.
Bring your date here, you won’t be disappointed.
My only grumble? Check out the decibel reading…we had to shout at each other for the entire meal to be heard.
Is this done to create quick customer turnover
TURN THE MUSIC DOWN.

August 28/22 came again. AMAZING food, good selection of beers, wines and drinks but holy hell we waited forever.
I’d suggest having a snack and a drink before you come because staff can’t seem to cope with the volume that management allows in.
Dropped a star I’m afraid.

Lovely staff who are helpful with recommendations for visitors. The Charlatan has a wonderful variety of beers and I'll recommend it to everyone who's around Commercial Broadway.

Good selections of different food and drinks. Really enjoyed the grilled Halloumi & Prosciutto salad. Nachos was good too. The Interior was kinda retro and classy. Service was good too. I would go again for sure.

Dog friendly patio what more do I need to say? Oh yeah great service and the food was awesome.

The waitress was so rude and customer service was terrible. Although We were there on the week day and restaurant was not much busy, it took ages to come and check on us and she was very entitled.

Place was really busy but our waitress was cassidy she’s an absolute gem.she was really hustling and took care us.

Mostly bad.
Where to start.
My husband never complains about bad food or service, but this time he was so disappointed in the meal, he complained.
His words "terrible, not edible, burned, potatoes and parsnips were like rocks, beef was terrible" he was hungry so he ate the yam and a bit of the beef.
.
My husband and I went to the charlatan on Saturday evening. We were pleasantly greeted and were given a table behind the hostess. We ordered drinks and food. The drinks were served. The food, including the appetizer, came all at once.
My salad was good. I asked to add grilled halloumi to the power bowl (an additional cost of 7.00 to the bill which I thought was a bit high for the amount given).
The bacon wrapped dates were very good, which was a relief because the brisket my husband ordered was disgusting. For any cook to let that plate out of the kitchen is shocking. The potatoes looked old and dried up, the parsnips were hard and burned. My husband described them "like rib bones".

I said, we should tell them that your meal is terrible. No one came around to ask us how everything was. We waited. And waited. And waited. Both our drinks were done, both waters were done. We sat talking with the disgusting brisket sitting there (I can't believe we didn't think to get a photo until after we left the restaurant).
Finally I said to the hostess (who was 2 feet behind us the whole time) "Do you know where our server is? All gasses are empty and we have finished eating for a while now, could you please send someone over"?

Turns out there was a shift change and we had been overlooked. The new server was apologetic and she said she would send the manager over about the terrible beef brisket that my husband was served.
We ordered another round of drinks. The manager came over and my husband explained how the food was burned. He said "I'll have to tell the chef to use fresh vegetables", how about I buy you a drink". We assumed it was a round of drinks.
Ended up he comped a 7.00 beer. The brisket was 29.00.
The brisket should have been taken off of the bill. Comping one drink for an inedible meal was a poor offer. I should have suggested that the brisket be taken off of the bill, but we aren't used to having such horrible food that we feel like we shouldn't pay for it.

Using the washroom was gross. The first door (the only washroom available) looked like someone had punched it. The bathroom itself seemed dark and grimey and the toilet was full. I decided to wait. I talked to a woman waiting and she said she was in the second washroom earlier and it wasn't flushing properly. We didn't hear anyone in the 3rd washroom and knocked a couple of times. She went to try the handle and one of the staff members came out. She pointed out that she didn't hear running water or the hand dryer.

We finished our drinks and left.
We will not be back.

Alicia was our waitress this afternoon, she was so rude and unprofessional. She wasn’t taking care of us and every time approached us excusing that I’m busy, being in the weekdays there weren’t many customers and it wasn’t too busy. There were 5 employees working at the same time.