Birthday RUINED. My family and I headed up to Big White for a traditional trip of family fun - as we have done for the last 5 years. As part of our tradition, we planned on having a nice dinner in the village... so we made reservations well in advance at The Bullwheel (formerly Santos) for eight people. Disappointment started the moment we walked in the door. Our server had been instructed to break the group up into two separate tables... much to our dismay, and we would have to wait to be seated. It's the start of the season though, so we are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. After some voicing of our concern, the server did her best to correct the situation and moved some people to make room for us. One of the groups that they moved ended up kneeling on the floor because there weren't enough chairs for them to be seated. We were mortified but tried our best to suck it up and make the best of the situation because it was a birthday celebration and we had all come up to make this happen. We put in our drink and appies order as soon as we sat because we wanted to get things moving. After waiting for 30 minutes, and after repeated attempts to get the attention of the staff (who were clearly being overworked), we were finally served our drink orders ... still no water on the table, and no sign of an apology. Half of the drinks never came, and of those that did arrive most were wrong - two of us were served what was supposed to be a "whiskey sour", but was actually lemonade and bar rye... when these drinks arrived we were told, extremely curtly, not to order this kind of a drink because they take too long to make. Seriously, a whiskey sour takes too long to make. Fortunately we were able to put in our order for mains - assuming the appetizers must be on their way since the server had finally found our table again. The disappointment was growing. By now it's been close to an hour and a half, the remainder of our drinks and water for the table still haven't arrived - we've finished the second round of drinks that came to half the people who ordered them, and those without them have sucked it up and we have resorted to drinking draft beer in water glasses because it's the only thing that's made it's way to our table. One appetizer out of eight also finally made it to the table - there was just one problem, no one from our table ordered it. We made an attempt to find out how long the appetizers would take - apparently this was a mistake. The owner and manager of the restaurant decided this would be the perfect time to launch into a verbal attack of our group - focused on the girls because (apparently) we had made a grave error by "complaining". When we asked about our food and drink orders, the manager and owner joined forces to reply... "What do you want me to do about it?" (while he glared at us), "I'm the owner, what's your problem... can't you see we're busy?", "Maybe you should go to Snow Shoe Sams, we don't serve your kind in here" (yes, "our kind"... does that mean families?), when we told her that we had made a reservation for my family on my birthday she replied "Well, I didn't take your ***ing reservation". Now I'm crying. My sister and my girlfriend are crying. I've never been made to feel like that. It's now that I realize we aren't the only ones - there is a line up of people at the bar to lodge complaints and who want to leave, the band that was seated by us doesn't even want to play because they still haven't received their food. People are angry, upset, and the owner and manager have taken the stance that anyone lucky enough to walk into this place should bow at their feet and take what they're given. These people are tyrant, rude, and sad. Finally, after overpaying for our drinks because we were tired of trying to explain that half the drinks they wanted to charge us for never came, we made our exit out of this hell hole of a restaurant. The manager and owner at this point were trying to guilt us into staying because "the food is just about to land on the table" (it's been an hour and forty-five minutes now, and for obvious reasons our appetites are more than spoiled). We walked out to insults from the owner - a nice cherry on top of our night. I wish there was a way I could give less than one star - I'm not sure what that star would be for, maybe the fact that this wasn't a bomb cratered building in Aleppo serving halal gives them the right to claim that one star. I'm not sure whether or not I wouldn't prefer the latter after this experience. Awful beyond belief. A dehumanizing experience that left me hungry, angry, and feeling robbed. read more

We arrived to the restaurant, 15 min ahead of our reserved time, to find that we did not have a reserved table for our group. No worries, or so we thought, they would make it right... the first two tables they offered us were apart and not even in the same place (as if a group of 8 would prefer to be separated). However, and to the only credit that can be given, they made things right by eventually consolidating two tables so that our group could sit together. Not without significant effort to make this happen on our part. Service. Still early, we ordered drinks and appetizers - the place was busy but by no means overwhelmed. Impatience grew at around the 20-25 minute mark as we awaited a serving of tap brew and off the rack drinks. That said, and since we were there for a birthday function planned well in advance, we felt it only right to give the benefit of the doubt... we could sit this out. Appetizers had been ordered, as well as our mains, interaction with the non-existent server wouldn't be as big a problem as it could be now. Wrong. One hour into our now trepidation panged wait time, we had no sight of a server in sight and it was becoming more obvious that we were not alone in the effort to find some sign of life or service in this establishment. An hour and a half in, and now with at least two girls crying from the berating and vulgar comments from staff towards not just our group but others (including the band who had been booked to play that night), we had yet to receive our appetizers (let alone the main courses ordered at the same time) and were waiting at an empty table for some kind of life to emerge from the staff who seemed to be waiting in the wings for more important people to show up. At this point, and beyond being both beleaguered by the caluous attitude of the owner / head waitress, and unpleasantly dismissed by the same, multiple people around us have begun complaining vocally about the terrible service. Broken, we decided to give up - to ask for the bill for our drinks and leave. This is where it gets really ugly. The owner, as well as the head server, chose to launch into a vocal tirade about how "we shouldn't have chosen their restaurant", and how they "don't serve our kind, and maybe we should go to [other local restaurant], because they might be able to accommodate us. Never mind the fact that we had waiting patiently and politely for service for an hour and a half, this was now a class issue. Apparently we were not of appropriate caste to enjoy the company of their elitist staff. I apologize. Apparently a group of 35-40 year old, well behaved, adults - are not the key demographic this restaurant is in business to serve. Paying our bill. Now, aggravated by our decision to leave, the owner launched into a verbal tirade of our group about leaving. We paid for the small about of service we had received. No attempt was made to be apologetic or to make things right. We were simply victims of circumstance - and not worthy of the establishment. So, to summarize (and in short), if you're looking for a place to enjoy a meal and social activity while at Big White Resort, go ANYWHERE but the Bullwheel, I long for the days of Santos... this place is a very sad and abandoned place where service and moral values have died. Not family friendly. Not people friendly. Ignorant, unprofessional, and rude. The most unfortunate part about this experience is that I can't give this restaurant 0 stars, as 1 is the lowest option that Yelp allows. read more

Went here for a family dinner while renting a condo at Big White during our Christmas break. We were very disappointed. First off the service was very slow. We waited over 10 minutes before we finally waived down someone (who appeared to be the manager) and asked for a drink menu. Once the waitress finally showed up to take our orders we found her to be quite rude, ie. we asked if she had tried the soup of the day and if it was good, to which she replied, 'Why do you try it and tell me?' When the food finally started coming out it was very staggered by at least 7 minutes between the children's dinners and the adults. The food was also very subpar, the Meat Lover's Pizza (which came highly recommended by the waitress) had a very soggy crust and very sparse toppings. The hamburgers were undercooked and the bison burger was extremely dry. What's worse is that the restaurant was not even full, I could somewhat understand if the servers were running around trying to keep up with the busy night. The one plus was a very nice bottle of wine, but other than that I was very dissatisfied with the service and food quality for the money spent. Would definitely not go again or recommend. read more