I rarely write reviews unless exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. I was excited to go into Simonholt today having looked at the menu online. I ordered a beer and some takeout. The beer was good, server charming. When I got home, the side of coleslaw was mixed in with the sticky ribs (!!not even a separate container) and the ribs were so black and charred and crunchy (ouch), they perforated my tongue! Also, they mixed up my order with another patron, so if it hadn't been that I used the loo before leaving, I would have gone home with the wrong order. This was a Tuesday evening (4:30 ish), so not busy - in fact I don't recall seeing any tables occupied. JEEEEZ guys, what a let down! read more

Basically a pub. Stick with the burgers Wrong dish brought, reordered ... partner finished his meal before replacement meal arrived. Offered a free dessert... seriously ? Menu never changes. Decor sldo. eeds a reboot read more

Went with a group of women for dinner. I ordered the Thai bowl (which was relatively tasteless) and a beer. When it came time to pay an 18% tax was added bring the bill to $45 for that and a beer. Tip was calculated on the taxes as well!!!! Last time I'll ever go to that restaurant!! read more

I've been a regular to this restaurant for years and it's painful to see how far downhill this restaurant has gone. This used to be a place where people gathered, laughed and enjoyed good food and great company. I've loved it here. I've been going there for several years and have gotten to know many of the staff very well so I get a lot of the inside information as to what happens behind the scenes. The problems with this place are many so I'll just try and mention the highlights, or lowlights. First, the owners, William and Claire could care less about this place. They are completely absent owners who put zero effort into owning this restaurant. The cut back on budgets for food and staff and now even lock the thermostat so the fans are always on blowing cold air........in the fall and winter??? They treat the staff like garbage which is why there are so many staff changes over the last year. They are intentionally trying to run this place at a loss as a tax write off. Unreal. The original owners are still around and I often wonder if they care either. All they care about is collecting their salary , having a few free drinks, where no tip is left for whoever serves them, and putting down the staff. They bring no value whatsoever and fire staff that all the regulars love. Too bad those individuals were doing such a great job. The TV's are 20 years old and there's always one that will never work properly, guaranteed. AC on year round and a menu that never changes. Ever. Save your money and go to a different place. Simon Holt will never change until there is new ownership that actually care about the restaurant and the people who frequent there. It's pathetic. read more

Overpriced and the usual mediocre pub style food. There is nothi g exciting in the menue

Stopped here on the way thru town because of the positive reviews. First impression was it's a place struggling with an identity. The open portion of the restaurant has no feel, no character and has family restaurant written all over it. The bar area is nice, the liquor bottles are lit up and it has a more high end feel. The rest of the lounge says "sports bar." Hi top tables and lots of tv's. The food was good, not great. They were out of wings so I went with a chicken salad. Not overly big but tasty. Service was very good especially considering she was managing many tables at once. read more

Great restaurant! Soups are always good , Friday beef dip best in town and this month they offer a lobster roll with tons of lobster sooo good ! read more

Went a couple of Friday nights ago on our way from the ferry to Campbell River, we stopped by Simon Holt for the first time in many years. Place was moderately busy, wine was good price, but the bartender was incredibly slow and inattentive. She walked by us numerous times without acknowledging our presence. After we ordered, she tended to a dozen other tasks before bringing us our wine 10 minutes later. Trying to pay was another chore. Good luck to this place with bar service like that. There are dozens of other places to go in mid-island and CR where the bartenders make you feel special for coming by to spend your hard earned money. read more

Editing my review from 4 to 3 stars: gone back twice since the last review. Both times the wait staff have been rude, dismissive and completely inattentive. Food is still not bad - the breakfast burrito is quite good, but most other brunch dishes really lack flavour. Come on Simonholt, North Nanaimo really needs a quality, trendy American-style restaurant/lounge - and you have all the right building blocks to do it. --------- After frequenting Simonholt a number of times by now, it's definitely one of the most consistent and solid restaurants in North Nanaimo. Nothing will blow your socks off, but all the food is generally good, prices are reasonable, and service usually delivers. My favourite is the deconstructed fish tacos, and their burgers are pretty decent. They have a couple of good in-house cocktails, but could DEFINITELY use a few others. We all love slushi drinks, but maybe add a few more unique cocktail recipes to make yourself a better night-spot. Also, a couple of other "small-bite" options would really help with groups. Simonholt has definite potential to be a day-to-late-night restaurant, but could use a few more "lounge" touches... read more

Consistently a pleasant place for relaxing over lunch. Fridays noon....BEEF DIP ‼. Very good indeed. Admit that draws me back for repeats. Service has always been fine. Great spot for small groups. Of course I'll repeat. read more

We walked in to Simonholt just hoping for a cool place to sit on the hottest day of the year. We came in and not only was it, to our relief, well air-conditioned, but it was "cool" too. It's a huge space, and I was worried our server might lose us in all this restaurant, but FINALLY, FINALLY, in the north end of Nanaimo, I am pleased to announce, there exists a waitstaff you don't feel like you if you sent them away, they'd never ever be back. Our water glasses never went dry. And we were very thankful on such a blazing day and with our spicy food selections. We ordered an appetizer, I forget what they named it, but it was a set of three romaine lettuce leaves, each filled with barbequed pulled pork, orange slices, and a chipotle aioli. Very refreshing on a cool evening. We ordered off the "Bowls" portion of the menu. There are two sizes to order from, and was glad because I did have an ice cream a few hours earlier and wasn't completely famished, but I even so had trouble finishing my small noodle bowl. Mine was the West Coast Hotpot, filled with noodles, calamari, salmon, halibut, prawns, bay shrimp, and these wonderful little shrimp wonton for a little delightful crunch. It was all placed in a coconut red curry. What I liked about it, was that all the seafood wasn't cheated to the top leaving me with a bowl of naked noodles at the bottom. Seafood teemed throughout, and it was perfectly spicy. Hubby had a large "Firebreathing Dragon" bowl, filled with barley-studded rice, steak (not just the tough, leftover cut from the steak menu, either), three colors of bell peppers, onion, cilantro, and cashews. It was beautiful to look at from across the table, and he was pleased that his bowl had plenty of the goodies all mixed throughout as well. Ordered a bellini, not my usual order, but it was the Saturday night drink special, and it was delicious and fresh tasting, and not like it just came from a slurpee machine a la Cactus Club. The meal prices were very appropriate, and we didn't feel like we were held at gunpoint and robbed blind, like we do every time we walk into the Keg. The restaurant was trendy, great art on the walls, and the staff was well-dressed (i.e. not falling out of their tops) but only thing was that some of the decor was a bit "remodeled White Spot" looking. If they'd brought me a BC burger, I wouldn't have been surprised. There were a few too many big screen TV's around the main dining area showing the Frame Channel, which at times was distracting. They weren't necessary, but I can see where, if the Canucks ever made the Stanley Cup finals where they might come in handy. A girl can hope. (The bar area had four TV's showing the baseball and the football games, and they were great for the bar patrons.) They had plenty of patio space to sit outside, and apparently a great roof patio with ocean view. I took the rest of my noodles home in a non-styrofoam box, too. That was cool. read more

Big modern restaurant with a big sports bar area and booths in the restaurant which seems a little too open to me-not bad, just different and strange. TVs everywhere which play sports in the bar area and show nice scenes in the dining area except when a Canucks game is on and then all TVs show it. I had the West Coast hotpot which was very creative, tasty and full of seafood. I ordered the large and could barely finish it-small is plenty. Others ordered different "bowls" and all were tasty. Service was excellent and special on jugs of beer because of Canucks game. Good value in Naniamo. read more

Prime Rib was about as tender as a sirloin. It was okay for the price point though, and others were pleased with their meals. considering the price point I'll probably go again. read more

My lettuce wrapped food spilled out everywhere and the taste was mediocre. Food wasn't great and it's way overpriced.

Enjoyed a date night with my husband here tonight and had a lovely girl named Marquite ?? ( sorry not sure of spelling of you name I apologize ) look after us, you were so attentive and always smiling, thank you . Our meal was awesome, the appetizer zucchini bruschetta ( OMG loved ) and then my hubby had the cod and shrimp which he thought was delicious and I had the Thai noodle bowl . We go here often and have yet to have a meal that we haven't enjoyed . We will be back for date night read more

Great little gem in north Nanaimo! In a town filled to the top with franchise restaurants, Simon Holt outshines them all! Staff are amazing and accommodating, the food is fresh and well prepared and the environment is modern and warm. They have live entertainment every week and a great upstairs patio. There's no other place quite like it in Nanaimo and it deserves all the accolades it gets! I'll be back again, and again, and again... read more

Went to this restaurant after work one night for a staff party and was welcomed by a friendly server with a nice smile. Seated us and quickly took our order. Food was great , and service was really nice. Good value for the food and will be going back soon. read more

I went to nanaimo for the weekend and visited this restaurant for my birthday, and it was my first time and my last time. My friend told me about this new restaurant in Nanaimo and how good the food was. For what the food was, it was totally overpriced. Not even that, the food was just OK. My chicken pot pie came out cold. My boy friend ordered the grilled fish tacos that came out as crispy. The service was absolutely horrid, I had to ask for an extra set of cutlery 5 times. Our server was extremely rude and also extremely lucky we even left a good tip because we felt bad. Better of sticking to Cactus Club or something read more

Very modern and warm atmosphere. Our B&B recommended this restaurant because I am gluten free and following the FOD-MAP diet. They make everything from scratch and easily accommodated my allergies! AND the food was so delicious we went twice during our visit to Nanaimo. I recommend the seafood hot-pot. We also had the fire breathing dragon dish and the fish tacos. We loved all of it. The service was great! We felt welcomed and were treated to a special creme brûlée dessert (we were on our honeymoon). Off the beaten path and highly recommended!! read more

We took my Mom here tonight for a belated Mother's Day dinner. Great food and service - we had an issue with our order and I was extremely impressed at how quickly and professionally it was resolved - great job Simon Holt! read more

I'm glad we finally got an opportunity to try this restaurant as I have heard mixed reviews about it and I wanted to see for myself.....Overall, food was OK but a tad overpriced for what it was. I had a steak salad and while the ingredients were fresh, I just wish I had more steak for what I paid....Service was friendly and efficient, drinks OK, but I would probably not go out of my way to dine here again. I bit pricey for what is was.... read more

Dont order steak too bad!! And you need to come here if ur full the service is to slow!!!

Very disappointed. We took our admin girl and her husband out for a nice dinner to say thank you for her hard work and the main dishes were terrible. Her husband is a chef and I thought that it would be a great place to take them. The appetizers were good - truffle fries and nachos but the main courses were terrible. We had Short Ribs, Tuna, Steak Frites and Prime Rib. Everything was too salty and the vegetables - Brussels sprouts braised with balsamic were burnt and ugly. The potatoes whipped potatoes were stiff and lukewarm. The food was just terrible! I will never go back again! read more

How come there isn't a zero star option. If there was, this place would get it. First, remember that advice about a 24 hr cool down before confronting someone, well it's out there. I waited over a week on this place and the pain hasn't gone away. Story... My wife and I plan an evening out. We go in, order a drink and appy and dinner. Just as the appy comes a woman stands up and begins to talk about tea reading over the speaker system. We're like, you're kidding we have to listen to this? It seems the restaurant is doing so poorly they thought about creating event nights to draw people in. At this point I say to the waitress, you know, had we been told at the door that an event was going on we wouldn't have come in. She says, would you like to speak to the manager. I say, to late now but you can pass on my comments. Next thing you know a young defensive looking lady shows up and asks, Is there a problem? Don't you love when a manager starts the conversation like that when you both know exactly what the problem is. So now I'm not pulling any punches. I tell her the same thing I told the waitress. She apologizes and defends herself by saying it's posted. And I repeat myself by saying that's not good enough. I came here to enjoy a nice dinner with my wife and now it's spoiled by the regret of coming in the first place and I have to pay for the displeasure of eating in this environment. That's three times now I'm stating my case and I'm not getting anything coming back from this person that is clearly not manager material. The food, oh ya the food, wasn't eatable. God it was bad. Anyhow, it ends with the manger saying we didn't have to pay for dinner. Her last comment, "Just eat and get out". Wow, holy shit! Wow!!! At this point we hadn't even gotten our meals. So that was a painful meal, not wanting to eat, not wanting to be there, and berated by the manager. We left 10 for the wine and 10 for the waitress. Then days later I read the reviews on this place and thought, well that makes perfect sense. read more

Sooooooooooo good. For two vegetarians, this place was delicious. They were amazing and substituted tofu for us into our dishes; best tofu I've ever had. Great atmosphere. Great service. Would go again. read more

I was expecting more. I ate here about 4 months ago and the food was okay, but the service was very slow. It would be completely understandable if busy, but there were only a few tables around. It was just a dull experience. The restaurant atmosphere and decor was very generic and lacked any character. I hate giving negative reviews but I cant find any reason why I'd recommend this place unless you call a few hours before so they have time to kill and prepare the chicken for your Chicken Parmesan. read more

Great atmosphere, unfortunately we hit a waitress on 2 separate bad days...

Tried a few times now while in Nanaimo. I just don't get it menu too big no direction nice building exterior but thats where it ends. interior lacks any imagination, kind of like a half finished whitespot with weird cloth things hanging from ceiling and said good enough food ok but never tastes the same so you don't know what to get. Guy with longish grey hair sitting at bar getting drunk I guess was owner as he went behind bar. was so rude to staff unacceptable. Don't imagine will be around much longer. Suggest you try across the parking lot at Jar for lunch way better food. read more

Dry ribs were average at best. Not that tasty. Martini not well made mojito terrible - used syrup, did not muddle mint Service good and entertainment fun read more

Big place - much bigger than I expected. Unfortunately, not much to contain the sound, so it was LOUD in there. I felt the wait staff were a little unprofessional. The men were strutting around the restaurant like they were the hottest thing on earth. The women weren't much better. The food was alright, though I feel they are shooting a little too hard at "gourmet". There was nothing really "normal" - everything had some little oddity that would make you go "mmm, that sounds good, except for the [whatever]". That being said, the food WAS good. My major complaint about this place is the price. It is horribly overpriced for what you get. I'm sure the property taxes on a place that size don't come cheap. But don't worry, they pass the savings on to you. Ultimately, this place has potential to be great, if it would just lose it's pretentiousness. Find a chef that isn't trying to be Gordon Ramsay, reduce your price to something reasonable, and train your staff to have their 'weekend exploit' conversations in the back. read more

Last night we had my wifes Xmas party at the restaurant. It was the worst restaurant food Ive ever had in my life! Firstly we were seated in an area where there was loud music playing, and the restaurant was so loud from others we couldn't even do speeches or draws, cause nobody could here. That's fine, it was busy. Then there was the dinner. We were told ahead of time we could only choose one of three dinners, chicken, beef, or seafood pasta, and only two desserts, rice pudding or banana bread cake. Its a restaurant, no a catering company! Why only 3 items? If I make a reservation for my large family, they don't tell me I can only have certain things?? The pasta dish was a good serving of pasta, a piece of fish, and garlic toast. Exactly what you would expect. Second was a chicken dinner. It was a small breast of chicken on top of some big hashbrown thing, and that's it! No veggies at all. Third was the beef. It was two small chunks of beef, about three bites each, about 20 dough ball things the size of a large jellybeans, and three lima beans, with some gravy over it. What the ???? It said it came with vegetables! The desserts were even worse. Nobody ate the rice pudding, cause it tasted like lumpy rice in a bowl with some apricot sauce on top. The banana thing was just as bad. It was like eating a rock hard piece of warm banana bread. I have never not finished my desserts, and I couldn't even stomach it all. There was no coffee offered to anyone after dinner either. Also noticed the waitress didnt ask how our dinner was, as if they knew? This was an office party of about 30 people, and everyone was commenting on the poor food we received. I know they wont be booking parties there again, and a lot of individuals we be staying clear as well, including me. Shame on you for cheaping out on our food, and ruining a nice gathering. Make sure you know exactly what your getting for your money if you plan on booking a large group here. Better more, go elsewhere. read more

What a awesome place to eat. Gabrielle was so friendly. They even brought me one clam to try thanks to the accommodating chef. Definitely a must to eat at place read more

Simon Holt is my go to place when I don't know where to go. The service is always excellent and so is the food. (usually) I say usually because the last time I was there the garlic mashed potatoes were way too garlicy...but I mentioned it merely in passing as the server took my plate and I had left them...she brought us a complimentary and incredibly yummy creme brulee! That is how you treat customer feedback! Try the Edamame! read more

Went for a friends 60th birthday party last night. Sat outside on open top deck. This had been planned and reserved for at least 6 weeks. We seated we had to ask for umbellas to be put up for shade. There was no cutlery or condiments on the tables. We had to ask for menus, water, cutlery, salt and pepper. Dinner took quite a long time to come but wouldn't have minded if it was good. I had fish and chips. The chips were luke warm so I asked the waitress to please bring me some hot fries. She brought another plate of fries, left my fish on the cold fries and the second fries came from the same batch. The person beside me had Rib Eye steak. When it arrived I thought to myself I wouldn't buy something that looked like that in a discount bin. She had to leave 3/4 of the steak as it was all fat and the steak cost $33.00. It looked disgusting. One person order a seafood dish and it came without seafood. The seafood was brought to her to put on her dinner about 20 minutes after the original meal had been served. The bills were totally mixed up and on the 3rd attempt I got the correct bill. The person with the steak said she was not paying for it and the waitress said "you ate most of it". Very bad attitude and believe me she did not eat the steak. I wasn't expecting anything to be taken off my bill as my problems was with french fries but I did expect an apology. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. It is amazing how one bad meal can ruin it for their business and ruined my anticipation of a lovely meal out. read more

food was of poor quality , service not up to par had to asked for a wine list(which in itself is no big deal but at the prices one would expect better service). visited Sept. 2nd 2018 read more

Most friendly and accommodating sports bar I've been too. We were looking for somewhere to chill and watch the Scotties. They put it on for us when we asked. We sat at the bar and the owner struck up a friendly conversation with us. Food and service was fabulous. read more

I was looking forward to going as I have been before for lunch a few times and had enjoyed it. This time it was for a work function and a group. We had been asked to pre order, so I did. I ordered the mac and cheese. I arrived at the time agreed and was show to our group. Ordered a drink which took over 10 minutes to arrive. I'm assuming that our boss had ordered appetizers for the table as some started to arrive about 10 minutes after that. The wings were tasty. The calamari was also. The truffle fries were crispy but the truffle oil was synthetic. You can tell by the aftertaste, which leaves the palate tasting chemicals.. I am a retired high end chef and have worked with real truffle oil and truffles. I have made truffle oil. We then waited and waited for our meals. Meals that were preordered. Meals started to arrive 1 1/2 hours after we got there. Very poor service and poor kitchen organization. After waiting this long my mac and cheese, I was even more disappointed. The sauce looked like soup, thin and not coating the noodles. I stirred the crumble that was on top into the noodles. the crumble was very dark and fine.. looked like burnt bread crumbs. I took a bite and all I could taste was garlic, no cheese, no bacon. The pasta itself was tasteless and the sauce was running off it. The flavourless cheese was stuck to the bottom of the bowl. When the waitress asked me how my meal was I told her it was bland and flavourless and she said "It shouldn't be with the bacon" I couldn't taste nor find bacon anywhere. It was a disappointing meal from a place I had previously enjoyed. Between the wait times and the poor food, i doubt I'll go back anytime soon read more