Not sure what to say about this place. Got let go of because I was pregnant. Really thought the owners cared about their staff but obviously not. read more

This has to be one of the worst establishments I have been in. Customer service was deplorable. We were seated well before the end of their hoppy hour then waited 20 min to order. After trying to flag down our waitress and being told she would be right back our waitress came to our table 5 min after 6, then where told we were to late for their hoppy hour menu and she couldn't do anything about it. Then when my wife approached the waitress they were going to offer her one item at 50% off but not offer anyone else any sort of discount. Next it took over an hour for food to come out for those at the table that did order. The waitress stood with the other waitresses and bartenders and singled out our table and continued to make comments to the other staff about our table. This is the last time I will ever come to this pub and restaurant! If I could give less than one star I would! read more

We were given this restaurants name by a local, then backed it up with yelp reviews. We made a reservation (if you plan on going there you should make one too). Not in the center of town, clearly a more locals place and it was busy. Food, drinks and dessert were all amazing! Service was a little slow. We had to ask a couple of time for things before we actually got them. Would return and would recommend this restaurant to others especially those who want to get away from the touristy type places. read more

Spinnakers is one of my favourites... The outside patio upstairs is wonderful and the environment is always worth a visit. The pub fare upstairs (in particular the curry) is quite flavourful. Downstairs, the food is great. Service is exceptional- the last server I had actually anticipated needs or questions ahead of time. I like the farm to table menu items and the fact that they support local farms. Had one bad experience during the 20 years I've gone... Wrote the manager and was treated warmly. Not only did he respond to my concerns, he invited us back and took care of our next meal. I'm a lifer! read more

Enjoyable meal with where the food is fresh and delicious! Breakfast was served until 2 pm. Salmon Egg Bennie exceptional. Close to the water so easy for an after meal stroll! Great decor. read more

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Amazing. Great atmosphere. Delicious house brewed ginger pear cider. Best fish & chips I've ever had. Perfectly crisp (but not thick) beer battered halibut. House made malt vinegar. My daughter had the wild mushroom and beer pizza/ tasted like holiday stuffing!! Perfect comfort food. Everything is sourced locally. Everything made fresh. Excellent service. Yummo. read more

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Great food and atmosphere. Local farm to table food & their own craft beer. We came in on a cruise and checked out reviews before making a reservation there. We weren't disappointed. Also if you're up for a walk, it'll take you about 15 minutes from the city of Victoria. Highly recommend. read more

This is always a favorite stop when we are in Victoria. Great brews and delicious food. We walked here from the downtown harbor area. Such a lovely stroll. Sat outside on the patio. Scenery was great, but it got pretty chilly. The staff generously passed out blankets to help mitigate the wind. We sampled a few flights - beer and cider. Food items included pulled pork poutine, beet and goat cheese spinach salad, and a mouth watering burger. There were only two of us and this was way too much food, but we lingered, sipped, and took out time. The walk back along the waterfront footpath topped it all off. We will be back. read more

We went here on our Victoria biking trip because we heard it was the oldest pub in Victoria. We were so excited to celebrate our long bike ride with a drink! I ordered the cider flight and my mom ordered a beer flight. We both were disappointed. We didn't even love one of the samples. Another thing was it took forever for them to come for our drink orders and then forever for our food to arrive. I had the pulled pork which I did enjoy and the atmosphere was nice but we wouldn't go again. read more

The Pros: - Pulled pork nachos - so tasty. - The servers were friendly and welcoming. The Cons: - Some of the mussels we ordered were cold. We sent them back to get re-heated but some of them were still cold the second time around. If we return it'll be for the nachos - moreso than the mussels. read more

I really loved this place. It was homey and charming. I found the menu really diverse and delicious. Another bonus is it is away from the busy downtown, but close enough. It's also right near the water. Take a water taxi from downtown and have them drop you off nearby. read more

Great beer and good food in a cool setting. Taking the water taxi to Spinnakers was a fun experience. I only wish they had an online store. The tshirt that I wanted to bring home was unavailable in my size. Spinnakers, please sell merchandise online. Thank you! read more

I like this place and make it a regular stop - more so in the summer months. Have to agree with the other posters that the food can be hit and miss along with inconsistency with the service. Great atmosphere - personally I really prefer the 2nd floor balcony even on a cool day - with the heaters going I could sit there all afternoon enjoying the great daytime view or the lights at night. My boyfriend is much more of a beer connoisseur than I and he's the one that usually suggest coming here so the home brew must be good - personally I really like their Long Island Ice Teas probably one of the best places to get Long Islands. Good parking or an easy enjoyable walk from the downtown core. read more

I've been here many times at different times of the year. The service is sometimes very friendly and attentive, and sometimes it's too casual for my liking. But it's all good, and every place has it's off days! I have to say that staff were knowledgable about the menu and drinks every time I visited. The food on the menu in writing sounds amazing, mouth watering. Some things on the menu match it's description and some things need work, but overall it's a good effort. I know it's popular here and it deserves to be. Good beer, good food, great patio, nice water front location. It's a local hang out, and you sort of know what you will get when you come here, which is a good thing. This is a more sophisticated pub food menu in that many of the ingredients used are local. The dishes are creative and the waiters can figure out what drinks go best with what you pick to eat. They sell jellies and breads at the front. Ample parking. Good with kids. read more

Service was good, food was ok, nothing special Had the BBQ pulled pork, was really dry, good thing the beer was good to wash it down...lol read more

Yikes, this place was a mess! Went with a few out of town friends and my partner. My partner tried to order a Spinnakers beer and none were on tap. Friday night at a brewpub and none of your own beers are on tap? Um, what? Everyone ordered drinks and the waitress left for roughly 15 mins and then came back to ask us all again what we ordered because she forgot. When she finally brought our drinks, she gave my partner the wrong beer but insisted that's what he ordered...until another waitress came by and corrected her because the waitresses obviously mixed up each others drinks. We sat on the patio outside and it was nighttime. There were no lights or heaters on the patio so we sat in the freezing cold darkness until it was too much and we went inside. I ordered the vegetarian soup (a potato dill) and it was bland (couldn't taste any dill) and lukewarm. My friend ordered a tea and it too was lukewarm. Then when she ordered ANOTHER tea and asked for it specifically to be extra hot...it was still lukewarm. Then at the end of the night, as we were all finishing our drinks, we were obnoxiously told we had to leave by the bartender because it was the end of the night and he wanted to go home. He seriously said this to us. I think I actually laughed out loud because it was so ridiculous. First and last time I'll ever be going to Spinnakers. The prices are far too high to be treated like crap all night and to not have any of their own beer on tap. If you want to go to a brewpub in Victoria, just go to Canoe. read more

Came here with a group of colleagues and had a wonderful time at Spinnakers. The location and views from the restaurant are amazing. We ordered a bunch of appetizers. I started off however with a bowl of the seafood chowder (amazing west coast style). Then we shared a couple plates of the wings (nothing amazing), the charcuterie board (very nice presented serving). The highlight of the place is the beer however. I tested out a flight of beer. The flight was served as four smaller glasses of different styles of their beer. Each beer was delicious, different in its own right and that micro brew amazing flavour. If you are a beer- a holic this is a must stop for you. They even have a retail store in the back that fills growlers $25 approx and crowlers. We walked by the back entrance (the brew house) and carefully glanced in. Through the window there was an employee in the beer making an area of big steel containers and various tanks and interesting sights. The brewmasters invited us in and explained the process of mixing and making beer. Super cool to get a mini tour of their brew making operations. It's probably one of the only other places in North America (maybe Seattle) where they can have their huge metal silows for the beer outside the establishment. This is because the temperature is so mild in Victoria. After dinner we carried on upstairs for another pint and some gentlemans conversation. Overall the evening was quite enjoyable. read more

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Oh look spinnakers pub... I had irish stu here once. 17 bucks. It was the size of a tea cup had one piece of beef in it. Where do you get off? Dont be so full of yourselves. Embarrassing. read more

After being in Victoria for about a year, I decided to give Spinnakers a shot on my birthday after a recommendation from a friend. When I arrived, I was really taken by the warm and inviting atmosphere and the solid wood tables and chairs. Unfortunately, we had been seated right next to the wood fireplace which was really nice except for the fact that I felt like I was being baked about 10 minutes into us sitting down. No matter, we asked the server if there was anyway we could shield the fire a bit to which they replied they did not have anything to help other than not putting another log onto the fire. We ended up asking for a chair to place in front of the fire and someones coat to be draped on the back of the chair to try to reduce the radiant heat which helped substantially (note to everyone, unless you are brutally cold all the time, do not get seated in front of the fireplace). Now to the food and service. Including myself, there were 7 of us sharing 2 cheese platters, 2 pitchers of beer and our individual fare. My boyfriend and I chose the chicken and vegetable pot pie on suggestion from the server and the smoked salmon pizza which we shared. I found the cheese platter very satisfying with 6 varieties of cheese, if not a little small and my Chicken pot pie light and flaky with a rich but flavorless gravy. I was slightly confused of the fact that my Chicken pot pie was not in a pot (call me old fashioned but I'm under the impression chicken pot pie is served in a pot of some sort or at least a bowl....) but found the crust buttery and rich with an excellent chicken filling. However, if there was one word to define the smoke salmon pizza it would be ...... strange. The flavors on their own would likely have been quite tasty but smoke salmon with brie, onion, and raspberry together don't quite compliment each other as well as they should. I'm no food guru ( I admit to having very simple tastes) but my boyfriend who is a vast enjoyer of food labeled it the same way.... weird... The rest of our group seemed to find their food acceptable if not slightly boring but there were no other complaints. When we received our bill, I found the prices slightly higher than normal pub fare but as the restaurant is known for being a little more upscale than other pubs, we paid the bill with no hassles. A bonus of our night was strangely the little bakery on the way out of the restaurant. I ended up getting a bag of sponge toffee and a half off chocolate loaf with peanut butter cream cheese icing which was delicious! So to the nitty gritty. Pros: great bakery, decor, ambiance, nice cheeses with great flavours, great flakey crust on the pot pie, good beer and a great cocktail which was a liquored lemonad Cons: I wasn't too overly impressed with the service. Our server acted pained to be helping us. I understand serving is hard and it was a busy Saturday but the snarky attitude when we asked to move seats was uncalled for. Additionally, when we asked another server to not add a log to the fire until we had left he replied "there are ladies in the second level that are in coats" with a very condescending attitude. Look I have no desire to make others uncomfortable but we were roasting in front of the fire and could not get another seat and were about to leave after finishing our alcohol anyway, a little less attitude would have helped. Overall would I come back? For the bakery yes, the dining room no. The food was fine, but not noteworthy and the service left a bad taste in my mouth. Service can make the biggest difference and I just felt angry when I left. read more

I went to Spinnakers for lunch with a friend and ordered a standard burger with fries and a beer. The wait time was ridiculously long, and when the food actually arrived at the table the burger was raw. It took 15 minutes for our server to come back and ask how everything was. I asked if I could get a new burger and this guy looked me dead in the face and said, "You know it won't kill you right?" Are you F****** KIDDING ME?! You serve me a raw hamburger then give me attitude when I ask for a properly cooked one? I told him I didn't care if it would kill me or not I'd prefer my burger fully cooked. So he sulked away with the raw onr and 25 minutes later I get a new one. Even cooked, it was nothing to write home about. I will NEVER eat here again. If I could rate this 0 stars I would! read more

While we found most of downtown Victoria to be a tourist trap, we were pleased to find this pub in West Vic while going for a walk. On our first trip here, we had the beer and cheese sampling, which was well paired. We returned to Spinnakers before leaving Victoria, because it was one of the better offerings of the city. read more

This is a great place, you get nice beer, great service and awesome food, you don't feel like ripped off when you leave, lots of organic produce, local products, island meats, great place read more

Other than the nice view of the harbor in the back, the restaurant doesn't have a very memorable atmosphere. Our server brought us our drinks, but she wasn't very conversational. The Irish Stout and ESB were really tasty. read more

We visited Spinnakers on a beautiful spring evening. It was a bit windy but the view on the deck is so nice we decided the slight chill in the air was worth braving. Spinnakers has a great selection of craft brews. My girlfriend tried a tasting flight of four Spinnaker brews, all of which were very good and a great deal for $5. I had the Townsite brewery (located in Powell River) Belgium ale, which was excellent. We also had dinner here, the food is surprisingly good, especially for a brew pub. The only thing I would recommend is that they install some heat lamps on the deck. Most people stayed inside because of the cold which was a shame given the beautiful weather. read more

Spinnaker's was recommended to us by some locals so we gave it a try this weekend. It was an ok, fairly typical restaurant experience. The beer was cold and decent. We shared the poutine with pulled pork as well as the beet and goat cheese salad. The salad was very good. Service overall was average. read more

All around solid place, never had a bad experience here. Nice place to go in the winter when there's a storm, order yourself some bangers and mash or the rabbit and sit by the window. Im a fan of the open kitchen, it must suck for the cooks though because they have to keep things rated pg for the diners. read more

The service is great and the food is local, fresh, and absolutely delicious. Generously gave us beer samples before choosing one as a pitcher! So far my favourite items on the menu are the scotty ale and anything with the flavourful pulled pork! read more

I've been going to Spinnakers since I was in high school. It's like a Victoria tradition. Over the years, I've been impressed with how the beer continues to evolve and change - some of the latest Christmas Ales have been off the hook. The addition of the informal upstairs was a major leap and it looks like the expansion of the business to include a couple of liquor stores means I can get that delicious beer anytime. Keep it up, Spinnakers! read more

Ordered the nut brown beer, was a little skunky. Next ordered clam chowder. Not good. Potatoes had turned into mush, probably use same pot to keep the soup going? Not much actual seafood in the chowder, and it had a bit of a smokey flavor...or was that some burnt ingredients from the aforementioned pot. read more

We were recommended to try this place so while we were on our mini-moon we checked it out. So disappointed. It might have been a one off but we left feeling it wasn't worth it. It was the only bad meal we had during our week long trip in Victoria. They were out of a few items on the menu for one. Were forgotten about by our waitress more than once, which at first we thought was an oops but the second time around it was more "come on, really?!". Food was sub par. We aren't picky eaters at all, but paying for a meal we expect some effort. Wouldn't return or recommend. There are a lot of other wonderful restaurants with great views & amazing food. read more

ok so few of us had very different opinions of this place. well first of all the 2nd floor is not wheelchair accessible and that's where the prettiest patio is. the service was very friendly and quick. the food is where our opinions split. the veg daily made pie was amazing and super yummy. however the mushroom trencher sandwich was served on a very dry bread and had no special taste to it. the beet and feta cheese salad was good though. my fave part is the beer selection and its deliciousness. as I understood they made it right there so that makes it double amazing. and yeah pretty view from the 2nd floor patio. read more

The beer might be decent, but the food is bland and uninspired. The service is also substandard, like many establishments in Victoria.

Really nice staff, nice atmosphere and the cider flight is great. Don't expect the wings during Happy Hour because every time we've gone, within the first half hour, they have never been available. Wings seem to be available other times because we've been told there really good, maybe they need to make more or take them off the Happy Hour menu. read more

Great beer is only a short 20 mins walk away from downtown. Tucked away in quiet West Victoria, you'll find some of the best brews in Western Canada. While the menu was quite inventive, stick with the basics--Highland Bound Beef Burger is a classic done well with the most amazing Kannebec fries in town. For drinks, go for the $5 flight of four beers. My favourites include the ESB, Nut Brown Ale, and the spiced Christmas brew (when in season) which will put you in mood immediately for the holidays. read more

Spinnakers is a wonderful casual restaurant located on the water with a beautiful view from the patio. Every dish is prepared in house with local ingredients. Everything was fresh and delicious. The beer menu is extensive and has something for every beer drinker. Dessert was the best part of the meal. The chocolate cake and truffles were amazing. 10/10 would recommend to someone looking for a quiet restaurant in Victoria. read more

Spinnakers (heavily) advertises themselves as Canada's oldest brewpub. As a food & beer enthusiast, Spinnakers was my first stop in Victoria after checking into the hotel. My review for them is all the more negative because once you are there, the menu includes the MANY caveats that it's the oldest because (1) it was purpose built, (2) it's located in west Canada, and (3) oldest in the modern era. Oldest in the modern era?! Really...what a gimmick. There isn't really anything more special about this place than the other brewpubs located in downtown Victoria, save the harbour view which comes with the stinky smell of rotting seaweed. We had: - Melted goat cheese with spices appetizer: Quite good. The goat cheese is tangy & creamy with a lot of spices like garlic & paprika added in. - Summer tomato, zucchini, bread salad: Average salad. The greens were fresh, but there was far too little tomato & zucchini compared to the bread. The salad definitely needed more cheese (I used the appetizer to make it better). - Bangers & Smash: A substantial dish. I tried the mashed potatoes which seemed low on flavor but maybe better when mixed with everything else. - Beers: We ordered 3 different pints, and they were all pretty good. Not more extraordinary than other good beers, and certainly less exciting because they are in fact the place was built in 1984 and there is nothing old or historic about them. read more

Halibut and chips was delicious! Yummy tartar sauce. Yucky coleslaw. Since we stayed in the heritage house overnight we got a free beer flight and four free amazing handmade truffles and delicious full breakfast the next morning. WOW! We also tried the cider flight. Great stuff, super nice restaurant and brewpub and the heritage house was lovely. One server was a bag but the other was very friendly. Great location in walking distance to the city. Recommend! read more

We travel from Kingston WA to Victoria BC via the "Black-Ball" about twice a year. There are about five "Go To's" .... And Spinnakers is one we never miss. The decor, the staff, the food, the beer, and desserts are first class. The view is awesome and free. Great mix of locals and tourists. Always something special people go there for. Breakfasts are unique if not quirky but always good. Stay at the Delta Victoria and walk your pampered "Butt" over for breakfast or lunch...then walk it off going back. Ample parking lot--but we leave our car at the Hotel. read more

We were at a local brewery when the women there had recommended this place as we were visiting for Christmas and didn't know where to go for dinner. This place could not have been more perfect. it was very easy to find from the downtown centre with lots of parking. We headed upstairs to the pub area and were able to get a spot by the fireplace with a great view of the bay. The patio looked amazing for the summer and they had little blankets set up for those brave enough to challenge the cold. It was romantic and cozy for a brewpub. With real wood fireplaces, amazing view and pool tables also. The food was excellent. With a great selection of craft beers it was hard to make a decision. We ordered the beer cheese fondu starter; excellent. The main course was local mussels and clams, and mushroom risotto; Excellent. Downstairs is a little shop where you can buy their in house made beer and merchandise. They also had little treats and cheeses. Can't wait to visit Victoria again and this will definitely be a stop. read more

We love this location. Our favorite in Victoria. The breakfast that you get with a booked room was delicious and impressive. Beer is very good and inexpensive. The staff are usually helpful and friendly, some exceptions have applied. Mostly a 5 star experience. We come here more and more often. read more