Originally, I had planned to have brunch with my husband at The Train Station Pub but I hadn’t made reservations and the place was packed. I definitely want to review that place so I’ll make reservations and go again in the near future. Being that it was already nearly 1pm, we decided to move on and go somewhere nearby with easy parking, and that is how we ended up at Boston Pizza.
I’d never been to this specific BP location before so here are some things of note:
- Parking is sufficient as it has its own dedicated parking lot and we were able to park fairly near to the entrance.
- There are no stairs to deal with.
- There are three washrooms. One is indicated for men, one for women, and one is specifically designated for those who require wheelchair accessibility. I used the one indicated for women and it had three *regular* sized stalls and one large one that would also accommodate a wheelchair. I used one of the *regular* stalls and it was perfectly adequate.
- The host attempted to seat us in a booth, in the restaurant section, but I found it uncomfortable so we switched to a table-and-chairs set up. The chairs did not have arms so there was no hip-pinching going on. The host made no issue of this at all and gladly let us select another table.
- In the lounge area (as opposed to the restaurant area where we chose to sit), the chairs are those extra tall chairs that can be difficult for some people, depending on mobility or other needs.
- We were seated immediately but, if you did find yourself having to wait and need to sit down, there are padded benches located near the entrance.
- The service was adequate but not especially friendly. The server didn’t smile much and seemed to avoid making eye contact. She did, however, check in with us after our first few bites to ask how our food was and came back again later to refill our waters. When we were ready to go she was quick with the bill and brought a debit/credit machine to our table so that we could pay right there.
- If you happen to be a sports fan (I’m not, but to each their own!) you can watch on one of the few big screen TVs placed strategically around the place.
To start, I ordered a Spicy Caesar, which had the addition of horseradish and spicy pickled beans.
Note: it did have seasoning around the rim but I ran the lime around the edge in order to stir that salty goodness into my drink. I’m not someone who usually takes pictures of my food so I need to get into the habit of not adjusting my food and drinks before I photograph them.
The Caesar was just okay. I expected the heat to come from the addition of the horseradish, which tends to have a nice flavour, but it was more of a one-note black pepper spice. It was the kind of heat that kept hitting the back of my throat in a certain spot and making me want to cough. Should I visit a BP again in the future and decide to have a Caesar I will stick with the regular version.
I should also add that it was a toss up between a Caesar and a special that BP has right now…Unicorn Lemonade! They add a magical kind of lemon verbena tea to lemonade and it changes colours to make a pretty purple-swirled concoction. I admit I wish I’d ordered that instead, given that my Caesar wasn’t especially great.
I don’t frequent Boston Pizza all that often but the only other time I’ve been there in the last 3 or so years I had an individual Spicy Perogy Pizza and I quite enjoyed that so I decided to order it again.
It was also okay, but it was not as good as the one I had at a different location. It’s hard for me to pinpoint the difference exactly except to say that I think it might have been sitting under the heat lamp for a little while, maybe while they were waiting for my husband’s meal to finish cooking. The pizza crust didn’t seem as fresh and soft as I remembered it being the last time I had it. Instead, it seemed a little chewy and the green onions were a bit dry.
Chain restaurants are not usually my first choice but they serve a purpose in that they are often convenient. That said, given that I had a better experience at a different Kelowna BP location, if I was craving some BP I probably wouldn’t return to this location. In terms of accessibility for people with mobility and/or size issues, though, this BP can certainly accommodate a variety of needs.
