Great food Great timing Great service , very friendly. Little loud but didn't feel unwelcome. read more

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It's a local bar. Good burgers and nice servers. It's loud but there's live music. Kara was sweet and helpful. It has a strong local feel.

Somehow, I've forgotten about The Thistle since I've been back in town and it was time to rectify that with a revisit to this rebranded mainstay of New Glasgow's food and bar scene. I'm not sure when The Thistle rebranded as a "gastropub", but not too much seems to have changed with their menu or interior. Their food offerings certainly aren't the chef-driven, creative stylings of a true gastropub. That all said, I still appreciate that these guys are open seven days a week, and are actually open beyond 7-8:00pm, unlike many other places in town. I ordered the Farmhouse burger, a now-longtime fixture of The Thistle's menu, which harkens back to the Man vs Food days of food eating challenges and mash-ups of over-the-top (and belt) menus. Comprised of a 6oz patty, two chicken fingers, bacon and cheese, it's all your day's recommended calories in one meal - so efficient! My wife went with one of her go-to choices, the pulled pork sandwich. It wasn't too too busy for a weekend evening, with a wet spring day keeping some people home, so we got our food in good time. Gastropub moniker or no, pub burgers can be a bit hit or miss, depending on how much the cooks actually give a damn about their job, but my Farmhouse turned out quite well. The patty had a nice char and wasn't dry and overcooked, while the chicken fingers and bacon added some savoury crunch. I'd generally not a fan of BBQ sauces on burgers, as the cloying sweetness really isn't necessary, but the chipotle BBQ sauce had a good flavour. The cheese was good and melty, and the bun toasted - checking some more boxes in Burger 101. The fries were *incredibly* plentiful. Like Five Guys amounts of fries! They could cut back a good 20% and no one in their right mind should complain. They were on the oily side, however. I'm not sure if this is from the fryer not being up to temp after doing some orders, or just not having a proper double fry, but this was a missed opportunity for my mound of hand-cut spuds. My wife's pulled pork sandwich was a solid execution of what's now a very common sight on bar menus. Coleslaw and lettuce brought a little texture, while a large Caesar salad was shared between us (I shared fries too, I promise!). The Thistle may be trying to pull the wool over people's eyes with this rebranding, but this dependable bar is a town fixture for a reason. This meal was more hit than miss, and for that, I'll give them a star upgrade nearly 10 years (!!!) after I first reviewed them here. read more

FOOD (1/5): The food was bad, I ordered the farmhouse burger (which is bacon 2 chicken fingers and a beef patty with cheese and bbq sauce) and waffle fries following Murray.w's order thinking that it would be good I mean he is a elite yelper and it was only posted 3 months ago but I left disappointed we'll start off with the burger nice crispy bacon but sadly that was all that was all that I liked. the chicken was clearly fresh out of the freezer the skin was floating off and it made me feel like I was having kids frozen chicken fingers. Then the burger, dry and had no seasoning and they put way to much bbq sauce into had bled down into the bun and halfway through eating the buns where soggy. And the waffle fries, I was exited about this I had not had waffle fries in a while but left me in disappointment the crispness of it was left behind and WAY over salted. SERVICE (1/5): The server was nice but other than that the service was not good at all, when the servers were behind the bar they were so loud I could barely hear my family over the music and them talking and the biggest reason is the two burgers we ordered took 30-40 minutes to come to our table honestly the longest service I had in a while and there were like 4 other tables AMBIANCE (2.5/5): classic bar small they had a deck where you could eat outside but other than that pretty classic they could definitely do more to make it look better. OVERALL (1.5/5): Honestly was hoping for something better especially because we came here because Murray.W put a nice review but was not impressed at all read more

The Thistle Gastropub - The farmhouse burger - Pubs Near Me - New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

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Great little pub with a friendly owner and great staff. Good food with big serving sizes at very reasonable prices. Their wing nights on Thursdays are great. 50 cents a wing and they go great with an ice cold beer. They also offer wing deals on Sundays and they will let you watch whichever football game you want. (Provided availability) Live music every Thursday and Friday creates a cool atmosphere too. The only negative point about this place is that it is a bit rough later in the evenings once drinks start to flow but that's no different from any other bar in any other town in North America. read more

The Thistle Gastropub - Thursday wing night and beer - Pubs Near Me - New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

What a nice surprise. My husband and I were trying to escape the rain while on the motorcycle trip. There were no hotels at the 3 major chains in town so we had to stay a the Tara Inn (by the way...is not too bad). We needed a drink after driving in the rain and found The Thistle on Yelp. We split a salad and a burger. The salad was impressive, I would have expected the same old boring salad but it was very good, like something you would get at a high end restaurant. Burger was great too. The selection of burgers, salad and fries were more like a bistro than a bar. Owner was super nice and friendly. Would come back again. Came back another night and had the wings. Forget everything else I said. Get the wings they are REAL AND SPECTACULAR!!! read more

A small little pub tucked away from the main road but definitely a hidden gem! The food is delicious, the wings were crispy and the burgers were juicy. They also have a shuttle! Such a great idea. The staff were great and very attentive! Delicious! read more

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Been here many times. Over all this place has good that is ok and with good portion sizes. More times than not they will be out of regular menu items so have a stand by. Staff is nice. The most recent trip in, we waited over 40 minutes after ordering for our food. During this time the waitress didn't come to check on us for the first 30 minutes and when she did she left us with empty beverages. It appeared a large group came in all at once, but on the other hand it was raining and the patio was closed. Essentially they had half the seats available so I'm thinking they shouldn't have had so long of ticket times. If you are looking for a place to have a few drinks and have a bite to eat with the boys, it place will do. If you are looking to take the wife out for a nice meal, you may want to look elsewhere. read more

I've always had a great experience here at The Thistle. The servers are friendly, the food is good and the drinks are cold.

first to start off the guy or bouncer at the door was extremely rude. Couldn't even speak, just pointed at a sign in sheet. we hadn't been to the thistle since before covid started, so there was no need for ignorance. Once we signed in, we waited for at least 10 minutes to be seated, and it wasn't even busy. Once we got seated, the attitude in our waitress completely changed, she was friendly until we sat down. When we ordered we were friendly and said please and thank you, and she didn't even respond. I got fat shamed as well, since I'm not a skinny person. She was extremely rude. For example, my spouse asked for more napkins because they gave us 2, and she was like "K". Not even a sure sir, or anything. the ignorance exuding off of her was disgusting. I've served people before and I understand it's not always a nice job, but when we're nothing but friendly to you, there's no need to be ignorant. Since she gave terrible service, we didn't tip, because we felt it wasn't earned, and she didn't even tell us to have a good night. Literally rolled her eyes and walked away. read more

Always friendly staff. They allow us to order ahead as we are usually on a lunch break and they have the food ready or nearly ready for us upon arrival. I highly recommend the "Fat Darrel". read more

Just would like to say "thank you "to Sam Buckler and Thurman for their fantastic service! You two made the evening!! Thanks again.

Terrible food and awful slow service. Ordered a clubhouse and fries while having a couple beer. The sandwich was very unappealing and small, with very little chicken. I can usually never finish a full sandwich by myself at any other restaurant but this left me hungry. The fries were awful- greasy and soggy.. not cooked long enough or at too low of a temperature. The service was slow, having to wait at least 25 minutes before the waitress came back and offered me another drink. Have been to the thistle a few times and the service by all the waitresses is terrible - have only ever received good service from one male server who I do believe is one of the owners of the bar. On one occasion the police were even called to the bar and shut down the band that was playing, all around just a very unprofessional establishment. As I was still hungry, I left and went to The Dock, where I received amazing food and service. I will never go back to the thistle. read more

The thistle just introduced a customer shuttle. Fantastic spot. Great food. Great staff.

Went to the Thistle for the first time with a local friend of mine and I can't say enough good things about this place. Our waitress was fantastic and the food was even better, we started with the potchos which our waitress recommended and they were fantastic, a great take on classic Nachos. My companion ordered the four seasons salad and loved it, very fresh and delicious with an in house made vinaigrette. For my meal I ordered the farmhouse burger which our waitress said is a staple of the Thistle and it did not disappoint, who wouldn't love a burger with breaded chicken added?. All in all the place was great, good service, great food, hockey on the TV and cold beer. The only downfall would have been the small group of rowdy guys but it was a bar in the evening so what can you expect. 5 out of 5 for sure! read more

I'm disappointed. My friend and I just ordered a take-out lunch from this restaurant and were unable to eat most of it. My clubhouse sandwich was on soggy white bread and the meat was horrible. In past visits, the clubhouse was made with real chicken (or maybe turkey) but this was some kind of manufactured type meat that was tough and had a bad taste. My friend's chicken burger had the same fake meat on it. We ate a few of the soggy fries and threw the rest in the garbage. This was a waste of $35 and a disappointment. read more