Turtle Jack's Upper James

My 2nd time coming here. Only came back due to the location being chosen for a work Christmas gathering. First time was for my gfs birthday years ago because the Keg was closed. Food was crap, waitress was clueless and the stuck-up bartender just made things worse by being insulting and ignorant. I even paid for the meal after being told no charge just to know I'd never be back. This time a week ago the place seemed very disorganized but the new look seemed promising, early assumption. Waitress was nice but you usually don't tell customers it wasn't your night to work, almost like an early excuse for the food. Drinks took an average of 10 minutes where at one point we were going to order 2 at a time but we were just looking forward to some decent food. The apps literally looked like a child put them together and you could tell by the dips hard top that they were probably already made and sitting in a fridge just like food looked and tasted like it was microwaved. Steak looked decent until I got half way through it and couldn't even cut it. At that point I smelled it and it smelled like rotten eggs and even had a co-worker smell it and he confirmed. Mashed potatoes were microwaved and vegetables were definitely from frozen. I was told the steak wouldn't be charged and it was. There was even an added beer to my bill which was a slap in the face because other guys were missing ones on their bill. I had stomach issues for the next 2 days. The owner should save his email requests and help the kitchen staff and waiters/waitresses or retire. Won't be back, I DON'T RECOMMEND! The only commending you'll get from me is somehow being clever enough to keep my review off thus far, that's okay. We tell every person we encounter not to come here Good Luck!

This was a great change of scenery. The fish tacos were delicious. It only comes with two tacos but they had big pieces of fish and were fresh, juicy and plenty of flavour (I added jalapeño). The bang bang shrimp was great. We only did apps this evening. We’ve been to Turtle Jack’s many times in the past but this was a nice refresher. Everything these days is pricier no matter where you go. Enjoyed our night out in a nice atmosphere that was comfortable, semi casual and not crowded/hectic.

Came here on a date with my partner. I got the fish and chips, and he got the baby back ribs. On my end, the fish was melting in my mouth, the slaw was nice and dilly, the fries were crispy! The portion size was super filling and I think it was worth the price! For my partner, the ribs he got were perfectly cooked and the meat was practically falling off the bones, and he said the mashed potatoes were some of the best he's ever had! When it came to service, our server Maddie was really attentive and sweet, and made our experience all the better! The fellow, who brought out our food (who I didn't catch the name of unfortunately) was also a real funny guy! Overall, we're very pleased with this experience and we'll definitely be coming back (:

Today, myself and my teen attended this location for lunch. Haven’t been here in a few years as we are out of town, It was on a whim as we were just across the street but I am so happy we did! Had the chicken wrap starters and the turkey sandwich between us. OMG - food was great. The raspberry mojitos - I have never had anything that tasted as good as these did, I can’t even find words to describe how good they were And honestly, the main reason I am writing this review is because of our service and our server. She was very quick to get to our patio table (we were in at about 2 if it helps to give her thanks - don’t know where I put my receipt as I know sometimes the names are on them - I think she was one of the bar ee’s as I complemented her on the drink she she said thanks as she made it!), my son got iced tea, before it was empty she was back out there will another for him, I honestly don’t think I can even remember the last time I had service like I did here. Food was hot and supper quick. We will be back, maybe even date night travel here. Just awesome. Thanks for the great experience.

Tastey food. Service was a little slow for the number of people in the restaurant. Prices are expectedly high for a chain location. The serving size was very good. We would go there again.

Première fois à Hamilton! La barmaid a un énorme charisme et très accueillante. Je reviendrai!

Recently my son and I visited the location on Upper James. We ordered the nachos and dip as well as chicken wings. The service was excellent, the atmosphere was relaxing and the food was excellent. Strongly recommended.

At restaurant at 5: 15. Not very busy. Hostess tried to put us at table beside the kitchen. Last place a customer wants to sit. Had to ask for a different table. Not impressed. She didn’t seem very happy with my request.

Went for the 1st time with my X wife last Saturday, Never been before. I got the bacon cheese burger, it was fantastic, my x had the chicken penne, I tried it, it was awesome and her grandson had pizza and fries that he really seemed to enjoy. I wasn't cheap but you get what you pay for and the servings were great.

Server did a great job keeping up and covering for a coworker that called in sick. I had to laugh when I found out the “sick” coworker was actually at the beach!

Run, don’t walk to Turtle Jack’s! I think this place has been overshadowed by the restaurant next-door (The Keg) which is a shame. Turtle Jack’s, food, service, and atmosphere are outstanding. I had the blackened Basa taco and wow, just amazing! My company had the Bison meatloaf, wraps and burger, all were well received! Also don’t leave without trying the Lake Rousseau Butter Tart!

Friendly service. Daily happy hour specials and weekend specials. They make a great Ceasar! The food is a little pricey but the flavour is good. Nice date spot or place to watch a game at the bar.

HORRIBLE! Save Your Money!
Before I describe the food I'd like to say that the only reason that I gave 2 stars is because our waitress was fantastic. I believe her name was Maddie. If it was not for the great service I definitely would rate our experience with only one star as I can't rate lower than that.
I don't mind paying any price for a purchase as long as I feel I'm getting value for what I spend. Luckily my kids treated us as a late mother's Day dinner. So I'll mention some of the outrageous prices first. Just a few examples are: the non-alcoholic raspberry lemonade $7.45,18oz beer {not even a full pint $10, a bottle of wine roughly $50 {certainly not the atmosphere for a $50 bottle} They do advertise on day where the bottle is ½price. Which kinda shows you how much they're trying to gouge you the rest of the week. Anyway, on to the food. Appetizer -Nachos. Taste really good, nothing special about them for the price they charged. Now on to the food. I must say that I am using the term food loosely.
1st son had a burger with a very small side salad. On special so the price was fair and he said that it tasted really good. The problem was that the plate had a puddle, not a bit shiny, but an actual puddle of grease.
2nd son had the ribs and wing combo. Very expensive, but he did enjoy it.
Husband - New York chicken with instant potatoes, yep fake spuds. If you charge almost $30 for a plate of food at least use real potatoes.
Now mine. I have chicken parmesan at pretty much every place we go so without looking at the menu that was my order. Afterall they used to have an amazing chicken Parm. Not anymore! The pasta was a broad egg noodle mixed in a tomato sauce. There must have been a shortage on sauce though because they were quite dry. Now the best part of this whole fiasco the chicken. Bear in mind that they charge at least $10 more than other places. You'd expect a chicken breast hand breaded with tomato sauce and, if course cheese. Well, if you expected that, like I did, you'd be sorely mistaken. They were 2 chicken cutlets that weren't even hand breaded. Chicken cutlets! Like the cheapest kind you buy in the frozen section of No-frills. The cutlets were covered in the thin factory breading that goes mushy.
For the first time ever I sent a meal back. Honestly it was disgusting. I exchanged it for the Bison meatloaf. At least the gravy, on the boxed potatoes, was tasty.
Seriously, save your money, $300+ bill, and spend it on food that isn't premade from the discount grocery store.
NO, DEFINITELY NOT, would I ever recommend this place to a friend.

UPDATE: The manager of this location reached out to me and she is a very friendly person who realized the issue is not okay and offered to make the issue right. Will definitely return and I'm glad the staff actually care about the issues at hand.

So we came yesterday for mother's Day and ofc we expected it to be busy but we didn't get our food until 1.5 later after being told several times it would be 5 more minutes. I felt bad cause our server gave us 2 free rounds plus our food for free which was beyond nice of him, but we still had to pay $60 for the first round of drinks and we gave our bartender a nice tip as we knew it wasn't his fault. I am in no way blaming him but clearly management should've done something as I also saw multiple people waiting for their food in the lobby and I heard the kitchen was way behind. My dad also didn't get his food as our server forgot to put it in so I guess it got lost with the rest of our order, but overall not a great experience as management should've said something instead of our server and the least they could've done was told us the wait time or turn us away. My mom also told me that this happens all the time now when she comes. Either the service is slow no matter what time of the day, or someone forgot to put an order in which results in cold or late food. Either way I don't think we will be back anytime soon which sucks as we love the food and Graham is one of the best servers there. I hope they can change this as I would love to come back but def not anytime soon

My order was canceled suddenly with no reason why from my skip the dishes order. I was ordering for my girlfriend and that ruined my entire surprise.