Proof Kitchen + Lounge

Food was horrible the lamb shank had very bad smell coming from it, cesar salad was so salty, when I made reservation the manager said there capacitie was 150 but there already full but when I got there so many seats where available ordered a virgin cocktail for my son, thank God my wife tasted it before my son could drink it, and it had alcohol. The manage was notified by the server the food came out bad all the manager said was too bad you guys didn't like the lamb and walked away. AVOID THIS PLACE. I WILL RATHER HAVE MACDONALD. HORRIBLE FOOD AND SERVICE!

I love how you reply to the review but cannot reply to my email or calls.

Went here for Christmas Day and ordered the Christmas turkey dinner. The turkey was so dry and hard we sent it back. The server offered us a piece of chicken in its place which came out after the rest of the meal was eaten. Disappointing experience, mediocre to poor food.

Update - managed reached out on OpenTable on 12/29 asking for feedback on what could have been done better, which I provided.
He never replied again.

We stopped in for a mid-afternoon drink and bite to eat while visiting from Goderich. Really great space with lots of seating options for large groups or a single couple like us. We were greeted and served by Janine who was fabulous! Super friendly and very attentive. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with her and will go back again sometime - because of her. The food was top notch too. Excellent spot.

We have gone to proof several times in the past and always had an excellent time. This time though things were a bit short of perfect. Two things were particularly disappointing.
Firstly, we were at a larger table (there were 8 of us) and the server wouldn't come around the table to serve drinks/food to those of us on the back of the table. Instead we were forced to pass items to the people along the back edge of the table. At one point, another server helped with the main course and he did come around the table and served us in the correct way so we knew it was just the server not making an effort.
The second issue was that the 24 oz. Bone In Ribeye steak had a lot of gristle and was served cool. I've had some wonderful steaks at Proof in the past but this one was clearly below average. Sadly the server didn't ask how things were until I was half way thru it, so I didn't bother to mention it.
We may go back for a cheaper snack but definitely won't take our friends until we see the food and service quality improve.

Went for the breakfast buffet. Food was limited in terms of options, not on top of filling up. Watched a server take a muffin off a plate, look at it and put it back on the muffin tray. Was loud and dirty. Will not be returning.

I normally love proof and my wife and I have had many date nights here; enough that we were greeted with a, "welcome back! " from our favorite server who was working the bar. We got there with 10 minutes to spare for happy hour and asked if we still had enough time the stewardess assured us it was all good and took us to our table. We waited 20 minutes without anyone coming by. Two servers looked over our way and went back to tending their other tables. The final straw was watching people who came in well after us get served before us. So we walked out. One of the servers who ignored us was chatting up the bartender and having a grand old time. They watched us go, without paying us any mind. That will be our last date night at proof.

(2021) I came here for dinner and ordered the vegan pot pie. Let me preface by saying that I regularly eat vegan food. The crust was incredibly crispy and good, but it's downhill from there. I know the menu lays out that it includes vegetables and jackfruit (a common vegan protein substitute), but I'm surprised that there was no protein like lentils or barley to make the dish feel more substantial. I would've even appreciated potatoes in there. It just felt like boiled veggies with a pastry overtop. And the meal was way too salty. No real flavour to the dish and it was like the salt was trying to mask the lack of flavour. My partner also noted that the duck he had was also too salty.

2023 EDIT: Worst catering experience ever. We submitted an online order 3 days in advance and pre-paid. Showed up for pickup and they literally had no idea we placed an order. Like they checked their email in front of us and our order was still marked as Unread. They apologized and refunded us, but it was still unacceptable. Just take down the system if you're not going to bother checking.

Fine dining at a reasonable price. Cocktails and appetizers are great. Service and ambience is excellent.

This place is great! Ate here twice during my stay and both dishes where excellent. I had the burger and the poke bowl. Really lovely staff who offer great service and know there stuff- they make some mean drinks! You won’t regret coming here.

This restaurant is located inside the Delta Hotel, close to downtown Waterloo. Finding the restaurant was easy and there was a good amount of parking for the restaurant above ground that was also free. The restaurant is clearly visible on the left once you enter the building. You are immediately greeted by a server and depending on whether you have a reservation and depending on the weather you can choose where to seat; the patio, bar, high table or dining area. The restaurant seemed to be well spaced out there was plenty of seating space. The seats themselves despite being very comfortable looked a little aged. The menus were simple to understand and the ordering process was quick and smooth with the waiter attending to us promptly. The food and drinks did not disappoint, they came out the kitchen relatively fast and hot. The food was flavourful and everything tasted fresh and well seasoned. I noticed the waiters clean and turn tables quickly and efficiently with team members helping each other out. It looked like a well oiled machine. In all, our time here was enjoyable, I would recommend and go back again.

Cider brined chicken supreme was sublime. Best item on the menu so far.

Parking is a bit of a schmozzle with the construction.

Service was friendly and attentive. My wife and I had a great dinner out without the kids.

Great lunch menu.had the Bacon Benedict. Friendly servers. Our meals came out in a timely fashion. Very enjoyable.
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Local cuisine that is elegant and delicious but still fairly affordable. Their seasonal cocktails are interesting and fun (big fan of the Meredith Palmer - hope to see that one come back)! The staff are very friendly and the atmosphere is casual yet upscale. Highly recommend for a nice lunch or dinner!

Truffle burger was really good except it was well done and no one asks how you want your patties. Great service.

Breakfast was quick and easy, though I was quite disappointed with the vastly reduced grab and go options only due to covid, understandable in the grand scheme of things.

What an amazing place! Proof is my go to recommendation and I’ve had so many great experiences here. However, I recently had a poor experience with a lamb chop that was much too fatty. But when I mentioned it to the waitress and manager they were incredibly accommodating and handled the issue with such care and understanding. The staff, food and atmosphere here are on another level - this place is a must try!

Beef carpaccio and duck breast if you’re here for menu recommendations

Was very impressed. Excellent quality of food for the price. Much better menu than many upscale chains with comparable prices.

Proof was a wonderful, quiet place to celebrate our anniversary. The server was friendly and attentive. There's a good selection of menu items and hearty in size. I would recommend it.

We held our wedding recipe at the beginning of September here. Laura, went out of her way to exceed our expectations; she was responsive and helped us customize a dining experience that blew our guests away. We had custom cocktails created and a huge menu of food options. The food itself, as usual, did not disappoint. It's one of our favourite local restaurants and I look forward to continue dining there.

Proof is easily the best food and experience in Waterloo Region. We have been on the patio twice in last two months and the atmosphere is amazing. The service we have had (Riz and then George) was very welcoming. Great attitudes and helpful with suggestions. The shining star here of course is the food. Great options and lots of creativity on the menu.

Enjoyed one of the finest steaks I ever had, and while the price was steep, it truly is a fine dining experience and would highly recommend the chef's special along with local beer.

My meal was nice, but not much choice for my wife with food restrictions. The vinaigrette on the everyday salad burned her mouth.

Was quite disappointed with our experience. I don't typically leave negative reviews, but also don't want others to have the same experience we did.
The food isn't as great as I expected. Calamari was extra chewy, and not your typical calamari. Fries came out under cooked. Pickerel was delicious. Mediterranean chicken wasn't great. Steak bowl, was a plate with a small serving of steak, which tasted good, next to a salad which was mediocre, not what was expected. Chocolate ganache for dessert was described as having berries, came out as just a slice of ganache, not as described at all.
Very underwhelmed.

I’ve been here a couple times in the past and have had fine experiences… this time, terrible. Horrible service from a young server during a seemingly quiet night (not very busy) … zero quality checks done at any point during our meal (this was a very rare case where we actually did not tip our server because it was that bad…. I’ve been in serving and I’m familiar with the steps involved). “Smokeshow” cocktail was pretty bad, though that one could be very subjective. Tofu wraps (app for $15) was a relatively flavourless dish with three tiny pieces of tofu on a bed of lettuce; and the “Beyond Burger” (which we often eat) was actually a BLEND of the BB with some sort of chickpea or bean concoction… absolutely inedible and was not listed accurately on the menu. A complete disappointment for a date night with my husband. The one star is for their Mac and cheese being delicious.

Proof satisfied all my personal criteria for service excellence. The waiter was engaged without being cumbersome, the food was excellent and the choices and price of alcoholic beverages were on point. Ill definitely return in the future.

Love the ambiance! Great place to grab drinks. Bun cha noodle bowl was amazing. Will definitely be back to try other items on the menu.

What a delight! The food and service were amazing.i personally found the ingredients and dishes being served were extremely unique and you won't find them anywhere else. You definitely have to visit them each season as they constantly are updating the menu. We let the waiter lead the way and boy did we have an amazing time. Can't wait to go again.

Always a great experience here.

Their mains are top notch and the desserts are some of the tastiest I've had at a restaurant.

We've also recently decided to stop drinking alcohol and they even had some tasty non-alcoholic drinks options. My wife and I were pleasantly surprised.

We sat outside, cause that's all we can do, now. Proof had a number of large umbrellas and a tent top. There were some tables more out into a garden, with less weather protection. It actually rained, people out in the garden had to move under the balconies of the hotel.
We had an excellent table under the tent and were not affected by the rain. Fairly private too.
The waitress was good. She took our orders promptly and came back often at the start of our visit. My partner was undecided on what she wanted to eat. Later, I think the waitress came by little to much, and disturbed our conversation. That's personal for us, others might like the entertainment.
Our drinks and appetizers arrived quickly, so did our mains!
For a somewhat (as advertised) upscale restaurant the portions were generous.
The appetizer, "Street Food" had lots of fries which I found a little dry. Some drizzle of sauce but not enough for me. I asked for a side of mayonnaise, the waitress brought some, a small portion. A little stingy in my estimation. Later I asked for mayonnaise for my burger platter. She brought more, two small portions, still not enough for my tastes.
We were satisfied with our visit, we would go again!

Lovely place to have a meal with the family. They have good options for vegetarian and vegan diners, which made it an ideal place for our family's special evening out.

Excellent and friendly service and good food. The steaks are done very well and come with perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables. I recommend the Watermelon Blitz especially for a hot summer day. The patio is built very enclosed despite it being right beside a busy street with cars zipping by. Pleasant atmosphere, but the food could use slightly less salt overall.

My girlfriend and I went for dinner, everything was great. The patio is beautiful and very clean, our server was amazing and funny and the food was awesome, 10/10. Can't wait to go back! Thanks!