The atmosphere was very welcoming and cozy. I was a part of a party of 6 people and we were sat right away. Our waitress was great and very attentive. The hot food was good. Not great but it was good. The Tiramisu was very bland and tasteless. I have definitely had better. My family ordered the raspberry cheesecake and the double chocolate cake and they absolutely raved about it. read more

Barrel - Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Simcoe, Ontario

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The staff were very nice. We had a Caesar salad and a Mediterranean pizza. The pizza was a thin crust pie cooked perfectly. Loved it. The dressing on the salad not so much. We thought it was a bit flavorless. We would definitely eat here again. read more

Amazing Italian food, must eat restaurant. If you're in Simcoe check out this restaurant it's the best in Norfolk.

A short walk from the Best Western, you will find the Barrel Italian restaurant. The food was really good. I went there two nights in a row! Pasta one night and stone oven baked pizza the next. Both were excellent meals. The salads were good too. Thank you to the or servers who both popped over enough to make sure we were good too go. We enjoyed talking to them. The place can get really busy and I can see why. read more

Always great food . In all the years I have been eating at or from the Barrel Restaurant it is always great !!!!!!!

I have seen some people saying the food is hit or miss but, for the that I have never had an issue. You may want to have your servers advise the patrons that there was a recent change to the menu ie. charging $1.99 for a Caesar salad, where previously you hadn't. Also, your website does not reflect this change, this is misleading. The staff also argued with me when I showed them the menu I had looked at. I do understand that prices are increasing, and I don't have a problem, paying for more for a product. I would however, like the opportunity to make that choice, since a garden salad is still included. I am glad to see the restaurant as busy as it was but, it definitely is very loud when it's full. The server actually put a rather sour taste in my mouth and it may be awhile before I come back. read more

It's always amazing food what ever u get nerer disappoint I had the ravioli most had pasta

I ordered delivery and an hour and a half later, no food. I called back and was told its backed up. The manager offered no discount or even my 2 litre of pop for free. So much for customer service. Its been an hour and 45 mins and im still waiting for my food to arrive. read more

Great food, service and, atmosphere! Would definitely recommend for the whole family.

The food was great, service was fantastic. If you love the busy feel of a big family at the table, this is the place for you.

We ordered our pizza to go, and when we got home (5 mins later) it was stone cold, as if it sat in the restaurant for an hour before we picked it up. The ingredients were soggy and the dough was undercooked. We also had wings and they were almost burnt. I won't be ordering from them again. read more

This was one of the best Italian restaurants I've ever been to. Everything we ordered was absolutely awesome! It is a noisy place, so don't expect a quiet meal. But go here without hesitation!!! read more

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My partner and I celebrated my birthday in Simcoe county, Port Dover and Delhi and had a fabulous time. Our waitress, Kim, was wonderful. Our dinner cost us $150 with tip. I turned the BIG 70 and wore my birthday badge all day Thursday July 27. However, what disappointed me was that there wasn't an acknowledgement of my birthday with a small free dessert. We had lunch at Boston pizza that same day and were treated to a free dessert. Not impressed at all, despite the fact we travelled from Toronto to explore other small towns. read more

I ordered 2 pizzas. They got them made quickly, and the place has a good bustling vibe with nice decor and atmosphere, but the pizza is only average at best. I actually ate less than I normally would. Add the fact that their pizzas are expensive and you dont have a repeat customer. I guess they do have a local indie feel to them. Others people seem to like it so they must be doing something right, right? read more

This is funny! We were here last year (2013) for a hockey tournament, and I flagged this restaurant then because I thought it looked good! We actually got to try it this time, and it was definitely good! They handled our loud rambunctious group of about 20 fairly well. and the food was good. And the service was good too, very pleasant. We were trying to eat healthy, and there are a few choices, such as tasty salads. I got a Greek meal which in hindsight seems funny for an Italian restaurant, but that's what appealed to me at the time! It was very tasty. I would go back. read more

A nice Italian gem, run by Greek chef! :) highly recommended is the Flora's stuffed chicken and big enough for adult. The chicken Marsala is good too and is even bigger portion. As Desert we ordered the Premium of the day which was dark Chocolate cake; heavy but good. I would have preferred something a bit lighter and smoother. The staff was friendly except of one, I guess she did not have a good day or something. She was not really informative when I asked her for her recommendation. The is the only thing I could complain about. read more

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This restaurant is hit or miss. It serves Italian and Greek. Their pasta dishes are not always worth the price.

My family and I have been coming to the barrel for probably 20 years! Every time I come home to visit family we stop in for our annual dinner. The service is great and the food never disappoints. Most of the main dishes come with a starter choice of house salad, Cesar salad or home made minestrone soup. I highly recommend the soup - it's fresh and full of delicious veggies. The meals also come with fresh rolls and they often give a very generous amount. The pizza and baked spaghetti are very popular but leave room for dessert! They often have 6-8 different types of cakes and pie! They also have gluten free pasta and cake - which my mom says is delicious. read more

Barrel - White chocolate and berry vanilla cake - Italian Near Me - Simcoe, Ontario

First time I visited The Barrel, I was with my mum and dad. We have a good meal - good service, good atmosphere, food was better than OK. Second time, we waited 15mins for our drink orders to be taken then another 45 mins for our food... THEN our waitress dropped a plate of our food on the floor on the way to our table and we had to wait ANOTHER 30 mins for a new plate to be made (which our waitress thought was funny, for some reason). We were charged full price for our meals, despite waiting forever and it being less than mediocre. Will not be back. read more

Not sure what I just at but it tasted horrible. Cauliflower had a terrible chemical taste like it's used to clean toilets. Totally ruined my ok meal. Took almost 5 minutes to be received at the "please be seated" sign tho 5 people were within arms reach. Service was ok except the server took zero acceptance of the taste issue. Not sure what I invested. Hopefully I will not be getting up during the night. Fingers crossed that I didn't eat some cleaning product. read more

Reasonably good food. Tomato sauce is more than just a little acidic. The lasagna is pretty good (not even remotely as a good as my Italian mother-in-law's though). Mild wings are the best I've had, but they have become way over-priced. The "healthy" dishes sure seem to contain a lot of oil. Thank goodness for their fresh, fluffy buns, as they are good for absorbing that oily sensation in my mouth, and calming the acidity. The service is quite good, and the waitresses are polite. read more

When I ordered bruschetta I was expecting, well... bruschetta. What I received was more along the lines of wet bread with tomatoes. The texture was repulsive and the flavour was bland. This is unfortunate because aside from the terrible food, the customer service experience was excellent. The hostess and server were pleasant and enthusiastic, and the food and drinks came in an appropriate amount of time. Based on the experience with the food though, we will definitely not be returning. read more

Had a Chicken Pepernato.... Great sandwich- Decent pricing... Great staff - Great environment. My colleagues had a salmon dish and he was happy No complaints - Keep up the good work !! read more

Wow. So much food. Service was awesome! Food was tasty and HOT! Great spot! Will definitely come back again.

I wasn't sure what to expect after reading some reviews but we found nothing wrong with the food, prices or service, especially on a long weekend. We were seated right away, drink orders taken and delivered quickly afterwards. Appetizer/salads arrived shortly after that and were delicious. The mains came in good time and were more than enough and much better quality than a chain restaurant but with the same prices. The kids menu had more selection than a chain restaurant as well. We were too full to try the desserts. Good food, good service! read more

Wow, not sure what happened last year and the years before, cause I was here last week and it was great! I had the Linguini Pescatore - a "delightful combination of linguine, sauteed shrimp and scallops in a creamy garlic wine sauce." It was excellent. The only negative thing was the waitress wanted to seat us by the noisy waitress stand, even though the place was mostly empty. I explained that my girlfriend was partially deaf and we needed somewhere quiet and she moved up to a table by the window. If I'm ever back in Simcoe I'd go there again. read more

Good Fresh Italian food and some Greek options. Good service and always consistent quality food.

Always the best food! Love going here. One of my fav places to dine out! We recently moved to Simcoe and are so thrilled we don't have to leave town to get a decent dinning experience! read more

I don't understand the bad reviews on here. I've been going to the Barrel since 2005 and I pretty much tried the full menu. Food is fantastic. The service is superb and I highly recomend. Best to make reservations always busy. That alone speaks volumes. read more

Their delivery fees are absolutely outrageous, even admits the delivery guy. I ordered delivery twice and both times I was met with a slopped together, very tasteless meal. Angel hair pasta was rather bland and oily and their chicken quesadillas was soft (not toasted) and dripping a mess down my hands. Maybe no more delivery for the future but I'd still go to the restaurant. I hear their bakes spaghetti is outta this world!! read more

Always super friendly service whenever we go. The food is delicious- best wings in town! My only suggestion would be that more pasta dishes be available as a half order. read more

Such a great family restaurant! Their pizza and salad lunch special on weekdays is worth the trip.

Went for family dinner and was very disappointed. We were seated right away and brought our drinks. After that was horrible service. Our server took about 10 min to come take our order and left again before we could ask for more drinks. Another 15 min went by and our salads came...again she left without asking if we wanted more to drink. Finally our dinner arrived after another 20 min. The food was average with one of our dinners being cold. Once again we couldn't find our server. All in all was a very disappointing dinner and probably would not go back. read more

I'm more than a little puzzled by some of the other reviews. My three buddies and I traveled from New England and stayed in Simcoe on a hunting trip. We ate here one night and were so pleased we came back a second night. From the minute we walked in the door, the treatment we received from the hostess and servers made us feel completely at home. We were all impressed by the variety of choices on the menu. Every one very much enjoyed his meal. I had the lasagna and thought it was very good. The seafood linguini was a hit with another buddy. Someone else was very pleased with the veal scallopini. And the waitstaff both nights were very helpful, friendly and attentive to our needs. As far as we're concerned, the Barrel may very well be the best restaurant in town. We will definitely be back on our next trip. read more

I had been here before with my grandma and her boyfriend. I had a great visit then. Then I recently went with my boyfriend and I ordered a soap with alfrado, they gave me my soup before my appetizer so my boyfriend was left watching me eat. They had also brought no bun, so I assumed it didn't come with one. After I was finished they had brought my dinner, they brought a bun with that. I was very disappointed that they hasn't just asked what I wanted it with. They had just assumed. I know it's such a small this to be unplease about but I wasn't happy. read more

Went there last week and had an awesome meal. Service was wonderful. The food was excellent, the place was packed and yet we got our food quickly with a smile. The chicken tenders were the best I've ever eaten and my cousin had eggplant parm and had enough left over to take home for lunch. I'll be back when I return to the area. read more

My review is part review, part rebuttal to Patrick's review. First of all, all of the pastas dishes come with the choice of soup or salad to start (and a bigger portion than the side soup/salad that comes withheld sandwich). And the salad that he considers an appetizer would be considered a meal by most people. The food that he ordered is plenty to feed 2 people, and the prices are comparable to Boston pizza or East Side's... I have eaten at The Barrel for many years. The food is all fresh (no frozen processed foods) and always delicious. I have never been disappointed with the food. read more

Seems like a nice atmosphere inside but I was a little disappointed in the food. I ordered the baked penne with sausage. Being at a restaurant serving primarily Italian cuisine, I expected Italian sausage with my meal. What came in my meal was not Italian sausage, I'm not sure what it was. It wasn't Italian sausage as I know it. I also expected Italian bread but what came with my meal was a warm dinner roll. Again not what I would expect at an Italian restaurant. I am giving 2 stars for the quality and the fact the food seemed to take a while to come out. I waited about 30 minutes from the time I ate my soup till my dinner arrived. My waitress was nice and she did notice the pile of sausage type meat piled up on the side of the plate. I did appreciate the fact she recognized it by asking me about the sausage instead of ignoring it. Maybe its the type of sausage common here but its just not the Italian food I grew up with. read more

I went to this restaurant last night because I wanted baked spaghetti and my usual restaurant the hiway was closed, so my boyfriend and I decided on the barrel. The staff was nice and our seat had a great view of outside But aside from the things I don't go to a restaurant for I was unimpressed. I ordered the baked spaghetti, when it came out the sides we dry and it was burnt, but was still served to me. The cheese that was on it was very thin and you could barley taste it. At first I had liked the sauce but as I ate more of the dish I realized that there was way too much sauce and I couldn't find any of my pasta. My boyfriend then ordered the bushetta bread... Terrible idea. First he had to pay 2$ extra to get cheese on his bread then when it came it was literally just soggy bread with tomoates on top. It was as if they had just taken it out of the freezer microwaved it and then put tomoatoes on it. There was no olive oil on it AT ALL which is on all brushetta breads. We were extremely disappointed with both our meals. We could have went two doors down and get actual good food rather than burnt soggy crap. We will not be returning and I hope to God that they take brushetta bread off that menu. read more

Excellent service, our meal came quickly, very tasty food! A definite place to keep in mind. This is first time at this restaurant, and first time in Simcoe, will keep this restaurant in mind if we are ever in this area again. read more