Everything here was great. Definitely will be going back. The only feedback I have was our food was warm not hot. We had a table of 7. Everything came out together but it was warm. read more

I come to Brantford often and this is my go-to location. Love bringing my clients here. The staff is awesome and the food is out of this world. I'm a vegetarian and it can be hard to find great options. But their veggie burger is one of my favorite. Definitely a must try read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Brantford - Awesome Burgers - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Brantford, Ontario

Good afternoon Went with friends today to Symposium in Brantford. Very dissappointed in the service and food. patio was very busy so they had to eat inside., no problem but all the attention was put into serving the patio. We waited forever for our drinks, then forever to take our order and forever to get a meal. How long does it take for pasta and sandwiches ?? From out of town unfortunately would not recommend this restaurant and will not go back. p.s the washrooms need a makeover and a good cleaning read more

DONT GET THE SPINACH DIP!!! Tastes like watered down spinach and plastic cheese. They also put carrots in it???? To top it off they gave me a set of silverware and the napkin around it was dirty lol read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Brantford - Spinach dip - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Brantford, Ontario

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Sorry, but a bad experience here. Tuesday night, not busy, waited over an hour for entree. Shrimp fettuccine was awful, gluey sauce, not sautéed as described in the menu, a sliver at best of,garlic bread . No glass of water, no napkins, had to get my own fork, no cheese offered for the pasta. Was told by my waitress there were only two waitresses for the whole place, and no manager that night. Told the waitress all of the above who got a 50% reduction on the price of the entree. I tipped her a more than decent amount anyway, as none of the,above was her fault. Finally,I must have been seated in the Twilight Zone,as 15 minutes before I left, a,couple,who,arrived,a,half hour after me departed read more

So...I give it a 4 out of 10! All the chair backs were sooo dirty I didn't wanna touch them. They should have the upholstery cleaned regularly. I ordered their orange strawberry banana juice...it was warm, no strawberry and tasted like it was made with a green banana. I had the bacon cheddar omelette which was very good but my "from the freezer" home-fries were overcooked and cold. Hubby liked his burger but again, fries were overcooked or cooked and reheated. Daughter (2yrs old) took one bite of her supposed Mac n Cheese (off the kids menu) and wouldn't eat anymore! It was just oil, garlic and parmesan on noodles. Won't be returning anytime soon!! read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Brantford - Mac n Cheese off the kids menu...not kid friendly! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Brantford, Ontario

We were on our way to Rochester NY and took the shortcut through Ontario. One thing about Canadian highways is that you have to drive a little off them to find restaurants. In any case, we stumbled on this. It was very good! I had the fish and chips and my mom had a bowl of some kind (with noodles and other things). We did notice that Canadian waitstaff are rather relaxed about service compared to Americans. That can be good or bad -- good because it's pleasant, but when you're not used to it, you wonder what happened to your person. They were all very friendly though. I'd recommend it -- it's attached to the Comfort Inn. read more

In the past week, I've been here three times. The first time, I sat at the bar and ordered Catfish. The second time, I sat in a booth and ordered the Pesto salmon. Today, I had the 3-Egg Breakfast. The food and service are excellent. They have cute, intelligent bartenders, which is something to be said for Brantford. Brantford needs more cute bartenders and waitresses. The decor is very European, with Renaissance paintings on all the walls. There is a seating area on the far side of the bar with sofas, chairs, and coffee tables. All of the booths and chairs are padded. The dining area has a dessert case. There are daily food & drink specials. Thursday is "date night" where two can dine for $40. I will definitely be back. read more

Been there several times for late breakfasts, late lunches with my with my other half. Excellent prices, breakfast/lunch items are solid, breakfast is what I prefer, though their burgers are good, too. only suggestion would be that they should give a bit more hash browns with the breakfasts. 3 or 4 types of Benedict to choose from and the eggs have always been poached just right. I like it better than Angels, much less greasy. Had the 5 dollar Burger and 5 dollar beer special, the other day. Burger was juicy. Good, fast brunch/lunch. Onion soup for 5 bucks was great on a rainy day. read more

I don't like to give negative reviews, especially when it may be only one thing or one person that soured the experience, but here it was so many things: from the get go, 3 of us were sat and given one menu (so we had to ask for more), the waitress came over immediately to take our order when we had barely looked at the menus or ordered drinks, the food took VERY long to come -- the waitress did apologize, but we had to ask twice afterwards if it was coming soon. When it did, it was all room temperature. I asked for extra sauce on my meal and I'd hate to see 'regular' sauce, because it barely coated the rice. My friend who had fish & chips didn't enjoy it for the lack of fish that was inside all the crust. Once our plates were done, we didn't see our waitress for almost 10 minutes to clear our plates from the table. Overall, not a pleasant experience. read more

We stopped on a bus tour and told the waitresses we had a limited time for lunch, said she would rush it, but obviously doesn't understand the word. The food was good, but the service was extremely slow. Only three or four tables were being used and our waitress was overwhelmed. The food wasn't worth the wait. read more

Went in at 10am for breakfast. It was very quiet with only a few other tables with patrons. Breakfast took over an hour to get and was small portions and lack lustre. The main thing we were annoyed at was both our meals "came" with coffee or tea. We both had a coffee and our waitress came by and refilled our cups without asking. This was fine until after we paid our bill noticed 4 coffees had been added at $1.90 each. Over all pretty mediocre breakfast that wasn't worth the wait or cost. We won't be going back. read more

Great food, great atmosphere, excellent café mocha, however it was like sitting in the refrigerator. Maybe because the restaurant was almost empty and there was no body in there, the temperature was very very very cold. read more

Terrible service. Our waitress dropped our food off and forgot about us. Waited 45 mins for the bill then eventually went and asked for it. Then had to wait for our server to pay it! Should have saved $35 and walked out. No one would of noticed. Next time I'll go to the restaurant across the street, the food and service is better. read more

Just moved to Brantford from the East Coast and was looking for a nice place to take a couple who helped me moved, including one semi-picky eater (pescetarian). Used Yelp & Urbanspoon to read through some reviews, and come up with five menus from Brantford and Cambridge for her to look at, and based on menu alone she selected Symposium in Brantford. I was extremely skeptical upon arriving, which usually makes for a bad dining experience if I go in with a negative mindset. It had all the warning signs I've seen before of a place trying to be upscale, where the food doesn't quite live up to the price. Daily discount specials, somewhat confused decor/ambiance, maybe 4 tables of customers in a fairly large restaurant (although it was late Sunday). The waitress was also not very knowledgeable about the menu, food or drink wise, although was extremely pleasant and helpful otherwise. They were also out of the first entree I asked for, and a few varieties of the wine on their list (no Shiraz at all) we inquired about. They do have quite an extensive wine and drink list though so a few missing from day to day is excusable. All that being said.... we all thought the food was great!! We started with a bruschetta which was very tasty and well prepared. Then for entrees, I had the cracked pepper glazed chicken. It came with two whole flattened chicken breasts, which I know can easily be dried out by improper cooking, but were still extremely moist, and the sauce was delicious. It came with a side of vegetables which were cooked and seasoned perfectly (same for the other two entrees), and a rice pilaf, which was the only let down on the plate (looked and tasted like chicken broth rice from a box). Our pescetarian had the broiled haddock fillets, which they had trouble keeping in one piece while preparing (they brought the other two entrees to the table first and apologized that there first attempt had fallen apart and were firing another, but the second piece they ended up bringing was also in pieces) but tasted amazing, both the dijon/parm breading, and the fish itself. The sides were roasted potatoes, which were cooked very well, but lacked seasoning, and the vegetables. Our 3rd diner had a mid-rare new york steak, again with roasted potatoes and vegetables, which he said was cooked very well (slightly more towards the rare side though), but the quality of the cut of meat was a little lacking. Then there was dessert. Oh my god the dessert. It happened to be 2 for 1 slice of cake night, and there was at least 8 different ones to choose from. I had a fudge brownie cheesecake, and the other two were a Bailey's mousse cheesecake, and gigantic slice of carrot cake (I also got a slice of the carrot cake to take home since with the 2 for 1 deal we got a free fourth slice). They were all amazing. Aside from the food, the atmosphere is fairly nice although the decor is a little confused. It's trying to be upscale, but there is one TV behind the bar which is quite visible from the dining room, and about halfway through our meal someone who I assume works there (or perhaps the owner), grabbed the remote, and turned on the hockey game (which I wasn't opposed to, but doesn't really seem to fit with the theme of the restaurant), but with no sound at least. The dining area is pretty clean, but a lot of the fixtures and decor higher up the walls and on the ceiling were very dusty. The cutlery and dishes were a little cheap as well. Lastly the staff were very friendly and helpful without being overbearing. I can easily these few negatives for the quality of the food though. I had no issues at all with the bill which came to around $130 for the three of us including tip, although the only drinks were one beer, one glass of wine, one tea, and one coffee so be prepared if you like to keep the alcohol flowing. All in all I had a difficult time deciding between 4 or 5 stars, but with the minor issues, and comparing it to other restaurants I would consider 5 stars, I had settle on 4. I would still highly recommend it however, and will definitely visit again. read more

Food was horrible. I ordered a steak that reminded me more of ground beef, the veggies we're either over cooked or under cooked, my boyfriend couldn't eat his meal either but do not remember what he ordered. However, the staff were very friendly and accommodating. read more

Nice place for breakfast. Fast service and friendly staff. Good standard breakfast and nice atmosphere.

Great food, just took forever to get it. All fairness I did go during fathers day, that could be why. Want to go back again and see if i have a better experience the second time around. read more

I don't like it, rather go down the road to papa Johns. Or I just get delivered from them, they need to work on portioning

My wife and I have eaten at this restaurant in the past (over a year ago) and the food was good. But recently we went for lunch and were sorely disappointed. The food was not fresh, it was cold, and did not taste good. And when it was brought to the attention of a manager he told us that he would take care of us next time! There won't be a next time! It was a waste of $40. read more

i have went to symposium a couple times, first time was decent, so went again with my husband on Date night, they say $40 for a fixed menu, 2 apps, 2 entree, dessert to share, portion sizes on the smaller side, my husband had to order another app to be filled. i'm vegetarian, so we asked if they would remove the meat, they said they couldn't since they come in pre-made. staff asked manager if we could substitute for anything vegetarian. was advised no. so we decided to leave. will never go back, read more

We took our family on Father's Day to this restaurant. We were a party of 9 and had made reservations ahead of time. When we arrive our table was not ready and had to wait about 10 or 15 minutes. We were then seated and waited another half an hour before we even had a waitress come over and ask if we wanted anything to drink. Then another 20 minutes before she took our food order. Other tables were coming in after us and getting their food. My stepmother happens to be diabetic and I was worried about her not eating. I had to approach a waitress and ask for the manager so that we could get our food. If you have larger parties be prepared for a wait. I would not recommend this restaurant. read more

It was an afternoon on the weekend and my wife and I wanted to take out our two young kids for lunch. They were excited to go to a sit-down restaurant. When we arrived, the place wasn't that busy and we were promptly greeted and seated. There was food on the bench, but that wasn't the biggest problem. We sat at the table for 15 minutes with not one person coming to our table. The people sitting right next to us were helped several times by their waitress and I saw that she saw us but she still didn't come over. I had enough and we got up to leave and as we were walking out, the young lady who was greeting people said she hoped we enjoyed our meal. I laughed and said I wish I had a meal to enjoy. I told her that I would never step foot in this place again. read more

My mother and daughter had lunch at Symposium Cafe. Food was alright but felt the place was over priced.

Was there for Father's day breakfast. We were happy to see that there was not a line up, and we're told that an inside table would be 3-7 minutes. Not bad considering the day we were there. While we were waiting someone wandered out to the waiting area and complained that it took 30 minutes to get their food. Some of the other people coming out seemed disgruntled as well. While we waited various tables of four came in and were seated. We had five and it was apparent that they were geared for parties of four, and did not have much flexibility for parties larger than that. Another party came in with a reservation for the dining room that they could not fulfill. We waited about 25 minutes and then after considering all the other issues apparent, we left without every being seated. Not a good experience. Not sure if this was an off day or if the underestimated the Father's day crowd, but it put us off for sure. read more