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Sauce Restaurant & Lounge
Categories: Restaurants Nightlife Bars Lounges Restaurants, Lounges [Edit]
1245 Wharf StVictoria, BC V8W 1T9
(250) 382-8662
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 11:30 am - 1 am
Sun 10 am - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Late Night, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
21 reviews for Sauce Restaurant & Lounge
Review Highlights
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"I sat at the bar and had great service from the bartenders." In 3 reviews -
"Although the main "thai pulled rib sandwich" takes the cake..." In 4 reviews -
"He suggested Sauce for their Sunday brunch." In 3 reviews
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21 reviews in English
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Review from Tara S.
3/30/2009
What, no reviews? Sauce is great, and it deserves more love!
Service on the night I visited was slow, but exceedingly friendly. The calamari appetizer was excellent, followed by very nice entrees.
What really blew me away, though, were the blueberry mojitos. Now, I'm not usually a mixed-drink girl. In fact, while I'm up here, I'm trying to get as much exposure to BC wines as possible, since they're crazy hard to get in the US, and why would you worry about them when you live in Oregon's awesome Willamette Valley, not too terribly far from Washington and California, too? Anyway...I had a point there. Oh, right: I really, really wanted a glass of BC wine, but when I tried my husband's mojito, I was hooked. We ordered a pitcher (they're on special Sunday and Tuesday nights, and they're exceedingly well-priced anyway.)
Atmosphere is dark and comfortable (great chairs!), humming with energy but not loud like a typical bar. Sauce does advertise itself as a bar, and as far I could see (not far, because those mojitos kept interfering), they have a wide selection of libations, both classic and creative. Sit by a window and watch downtown go by. -
Review from Beth C.
Victoria, BC
Updated - 3/23/2012
Frustrating: having a really disappointing and not inexpensive letdown of an experience at a restaurant.
More frustrating: having the owner leave a big impassioned note ending with "if I could ever convince you to give us another try, I'd love the opportunity to rectify this situation. My email address is ****@***********.com and I'd simply LOVE to hear from you." and asking you to give them another chance - then feeling bad, taking the time to email him, waiting 3 weeks and never hearing back.
What a waste of my time.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/7/2012
This place sucks. I'm so disappointed. I'd been in a few times for cocktails but never food, and… Read more »
Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 2/7/2012
Hi Beth; First of all, let me truly apologize for your… More » -
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Review from Joe J.
Victoria, BC
5/15/2012
It was about a month ago that we went here so I'll try and remember all the details. We had a groupon which helped out alot I think I paid about 40$ for a meal that would have been around $100.
First off the staff was awesome, very friendly and welcoming and it's a good thing I value service so much or I would have probably given them 2 stars.
We ordered Calamari as an appy and I am fairly certain if Mcdonalds served Calamari it would have been better it was rubbery, tasteless and greasy. For our meal my gf and I both had the 12oz New York (as it was the most expensive option with the groupon) and I can't say it was horrible but it was just ok my girlfriend likes hers medium and I like mine medium rare both of them wound up being between medium rare and medium.
So overall the experience was fun good atmosphere awesome staff but the food was striving to be average. I do have one expactation when I go for dinner and that is I will get something better than I can cook myself and this fell drastically short of that. -
Review from Frank S.
11/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
Folks in Victoria must be upside down... They give an awful Mexican place four and five stars but this restaurant only 2-3 stars. What gives?
We had lunch at Sauce and we really enjoyed it. The place is warm and inviting, the service fast and friendly, and the food was great. The kids ordered grilled cheese, which came with a soda and dessert. My wife had one of the rice bowls and I had the Thai beef sandwich. All dishes were tasty and reasonably priced. The server was attentive and we left with full stomachs and a smile on our faces.Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 12/5/2011
Hi Frank; I just wanted to take the time to thank you for… More » -
Review from Christian C.
Richmond, BC
12/19/2010
Is it a bar? Is it a restaurant? It does neither very well. The food was mediocre. The fish and chips was awful. There was no texture to the fish at all. The fish must have been frozen because it was soft and watery. The server kept boasting that the fish was really big, which it was, but I wasn't impressed. I also tried the steak sandwich and enjoyed that at least in comparison with the fish and chips. The steak was bland but OK. Everything else was too garlicy. The cooks seemed to enjoy tossing full heads of garlic into the deep-fryer. A full head of garlic came with the steak sandwich and the fries tasted like nothing but garlic.
Basically it's mediocre pub fare at downtown prices. I wasn't impressed. I had a lot of fun with my friends, but I can have fun with my friends anywhere. Next time it won't be at Sauce. -
Review from Ty C.
5/23/2011
NIGHTMARE ON WHARF STREET
I had nightmares after eating at this place. Over priced left-overs from the doggie bags left behind . Just weird and bad.Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 5/23/2011
Well we sure did something to upset Ty C. Hey man, for… More » -
Review from Graham T.
North Vancouver, BC
Great. My only complaint is I waited for a couple of minutes at the host(ess) station before being acknowledged. Once I was looked after everything went well. I sat at the bar and had great service from the bartenders. My steak and prawns came out perfectly cooked with a nice spicy sauce over garlic mash and grilled veg. The blue buck on tap was delicious. I shall return.
Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 12/5/2011
I'm so happy to read your overall review, but I must admit… More » -
Review from Shaun V.
4/29/2009
We stopped in for a drink on the way home from dinner. The place looked nice and there were a lot of people. Unfortunately it was a meat market with a bunch of loud obnoxious guys with too much hair gel.
If you end up here stick to the beer. This is the first time I've legitimately experienced watered down drinks. I normally get a beer but since Mojitos were featured on the menu I figured I would get one.
The waitress was nice, prompt, patience, and attractive. The waitress wanted to know if I wanted a double for a few bucks more. Oh great, one of those places...
I declined and so did my wife.
She brought us our drinks back and told us that they accidentally made a double for my wife but she didn't charge us. After tasting them we looked at each other and wondered if she meant double club soda? There was no taste to my drink but club soda. No mint, no lime, no rum. My wife's tasted just as bad.
Most places screw up the drinks by getting the mixture wrong. They just forgot to put anything in it I guess.
Skip it or get a beer. -
Review from Kelly K.
7/1/2009
Smooth, dark atmosphere, good location, creative menu and really good cocktails. I had an excellent espresso martini and a lovely glass of local wine to accompany halibut from their specials menu while my boyfriend had the pork.
The portions were a good size and the ingredients were clearly fresh and good, but they were very faint on the flavorings. A little more pizazz on the plate would have taken it from good to great.
Agree with Tara...the window seats are great for people watching in downtown.
It was pretty empty when we went in on a Sunday night. Hope it is usually busier. -
Review from John O.
Victoria, BC
10/8/2011
The Sauce Bread is the best better than ever before. Been a while since I have been here and everything is so much better than it was.
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Review from Dustin D.
Victoria, BC
Updated - 6/13/2011 8 Check-ins Here
Kudos to Sauce for taking online criticisms and acting on them in a constructive manner.
After my last brunch visit to Sauce, I wrote my review and noted the good (thai rib benny), the ok (classic benny) and the bad (the hashbrowns / potatoes). Within 2 hours of posting, I received a response from one of the owners who stated that he agreed that the potatoes were definitely needing some improvement and that he'd told his chef that they had until the next weekend to make them much better. Very impressive. He then invited us back for a complimentary brunch to review the improvements.
For total transparency and full disclosure, I should mention that I "know" one of the owners, as in, I went to the same high school as him 15+ years ago. We haven't kept in contact or been friends since or anything like that.
We arrived for brunch, were greeted and seated quickly at a nice window booth. I made a point of not mentioning that I was the return reviewer as I didn't want to receive biased service or attention.
For fair comparison, I ordered the thai rib benny again. It was pretty darn good again, however the potatoes were ten fold better than last time. Crispy outside, soft (but not mushy) inside, little bit of salt, rosemary and parsley I believe to finish it off, SO MUCH BETTER.
I sampled my wife's steak sandwich. The mushrooms were smoky and salty, I loved the full head of roasted garlic served with it. Overall a very respectable offering. My daughter's French toast was pretty good as well, served with syrup, fruit, whip cream and a cinnamon spread, she devoured the entire thing.
We decided to have a couple brunch time beverages before heading downtown. Perhaps I should have checked out the drink list before, I was quickly impressed with the selections. You can tell the guys here have been spending some time over at Clives for extra inspiration. My wife had a "pick me up", van gogh espresso vodka, baileys, irish cream, white cacao and vanilla coffee served cold, delicious. My Pimms cup was well balanced, well presented, very refreshing. I then asked for "an interesting caesar", the waitress smiled and said (I'm paraphrasing here) "do you really mean that? the last one someone ordered got sent back as it was a little too different for them" she went on to describe setting rosemary on fire in the glass and some other interesting techniques. I replied that I was game for anything and was interested to see what came. She came back with a rimless caesar with a slice of fire roasted red pepper speared across the top, it had a good dose of tequila in it and some aromatic salt/seasoning. It really reminded me of mexico and the fresh, sweet and smoky scent of the red pepper really added nicely to the drink. I quite enjoyed it and I'll have to go back to enjoy some more of their libations.
I finally told the waitress that I was the reviewer getting the complimentary brunch and that I fully expected to pay for my drinks. She came back and told me that Steve (owner) had left specific instructions that I was not to pay for anything under any circumstances, very impressive.
If I could offer 2 more things that could use an improvement; 1) The hollandaise could use some love, I get that you guys only do brunch once a week so it might not be as high priority as some other items, but it could take that benny from quite good to great. 2) when it's not that busy, some of the servers look a little lost. It didn't affect our service, but as a patron, it's something you might notice.
Any restaurant can survive the endless turnstile procession of summer tourists in a location like Sauce's. It takes one with care for standards and willingness to respond to issues quickly if you want the locals to help keep you alive during off season. I'm pretty confident you will see an upward trending of Sauce's ratings this year with the obvious care the owners are demonstrating.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/5/2011
This is based off a Sunday brunch experience and nothing else.
Location is prime. Interior is… Read more »
Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 6/5/2011
Hey Dustin; I really appreciate the feedback, and it's… More » -
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Review from David G.
5/23/2011
SUCH POTENTIAL...great location & ambiance, but food something to be desired. The appetizer of tomatoes & beets was ok. The tomatoes were like nothing special. Maybe I am just used to great tomatoes being from SO CAL. I had a baked stuffed chicken dish Chow something Valley, but it wasn't that great. It could have been a contender. I think I had better food at Butchardt Gardens.
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Review from Srta l.
11/17/2010
We went there just for the bar and the antipasto. It was a great environment, great service, and to best cheese, olives, ham, salad served in the antipasto. We went on Thursday night and had $2 off on wines.
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Review from Bryan M.
Victoria, BC
5/28/2011
My wife and I finally tried Sauce for the first time last night after living in Victoria for 3 years.
I think Ty C. must have been drunk when he wrote his review, because we found all the food very flavourful and very enjoyable.
My wife had the wrapped baked brie and Goat cheese & walnut salad. I had the Tomato & Golden beet Caprese salad and Wild Mushroom steak.
I agree with David G. that the tomatoes in the Caprese salad were bland because they were picked underripe. That salad should really only be made with fully vine-ripe tomatoes (Which I understand are hard to get in this part of the world at this time of the year). But the beets and dressing were good.
My only real complaint was that I had ordered my steak medium rare and I got it medium-well, but it was still quite tender.
The Brie was to die for, and both my wife and I agreed that was the best dish we ordered that night.
Service was good, the server always made sure our drinks were full. One of my pet peeves at a restaurant is when I have food and an empty beer glass for any length of time.
The restaurant has a fun, social atmosphere like an Earls or Milestones. Don't come here with the expectations of getting an intimate, quiet romantic dinner (Or at least don't post complaining you didn't get that)
Oh yeah, the prices are very reasonable, especially for a restaurant right in the Tourist trap of downtown.
We will definately come back to try other things on the menu.Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 5/28/2011
Thanks for checking us out Bryan. Your feedback on the… More » -
Review from Dave C.
Victoria, BC
4/30/2011
Sauce seems to have been doing an overhaul for the last few months and it's paying off. They have way more healthy and delicious choices (lots of gluten free options) and most importantly they make a killer Old Fashioned. I've never been disappointed with their service and I'm a big fan of their "plate" menu. Although the main "thai pulled rib sandwich" takes the cake for me.
If you haven't been within the last couple months, it's worth checking out again as there have been oodles of changes for the better at Sauce. -
Review from Barry A.
Victoria, BC
9/28/2011
Surprisingly awesome food and service!
Comment from Steven H. of Sauce Restaurant & Lounge 9/28/2011
What a wonderful review to read to get my morning going.… More » -
Review from Adelina W.
Richmond, BC
3/22/2010
Came here for a going away party and it was a good experience. They have the most amazing Sangria - you can order by the glass or as a pitcher. Service wasn't slow or fast. The only thing was the food took forever to arrive. I ordered steak and mushroom ravioli. The steak was a good medium rare - juicy and well seasoned. The mushroom ravioli was okay. The sauce was good though. I had a couple bites of my friend's burger and that was well seasoned, but a bit overcooked. The atmosphere was good.
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Review from Weirdie B.
Victoria, BC
4/24/2011
I was talking to a co-worker recently about good places to get brunch in Victoria without waiting in line for an hour. He suggested Sauce for their Sunday brunch. I'd never considered Sauce as a breakfast joint, so I checked out the menu online. Interesting choices? Check. Relatively inexpensive? Check. I was sold almost immediately. My partner and I walked over around 10:30 and were seated in an empty restaurant. This could have been a bad sign, but shortly after we arrived, tables started filling up. The waitress was friendly without being smothering, which is a plus. I ordered the Veggie benny with mushrooms and spinach ($11) and the man ordered the "Indecisive" benny ($12). With this option, you can choose to have two of any of their bennys, so he chose the Thai Rib and the Classic. Our meals came out quickly, along with portions of green onion, bacon bits, and sour cream on the side. Our meals weren't gigantic, which is a nice change from the usual offerings in Victoria, and when we left we didn't feel like we were about to explode. I wish I had remembered to ask for my eggs poached soft, as they came hard and the best part of a benny breakfast is dipping your hash browns in runny yolk. Other than that, the food was great and we'll definitely be going back.
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Review from Yena H.
8/30/2009
Great ambiance and lots of people on a Saturday night. I really liked their yam fries - the dipping sauce was top notch! The hamburger was better than average also. It's a great place to come with your friends and have fun after a night on the town.
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Review from Jamie D.
2/16/2010
Great atmosphere, on Wharf street.
The service and food were both great. I had the steak sandwich and I was expecting sliced up steak on some bread, but i was utterly surprised when I saw the opened faced sandwich with a nice Filet cut smothered in fresh mushrooms with a sauce to die for ( you could almost say it was a Filet Mignon on a piece of Texas toast) it was also served with a whole roasted garlic bulb that added excellent flavor to the steak... Yum! My girlfriend had a salad which was also excellent (cant remember the name, but something with Strawberries).
Pauline, our server was top notch... don't know her outside of our dinning experience, but she deserves the kudos!
The other thing i enjoyed about Sauce was that the owners are actively involved. They are helping the servers buss tables running food to the tables and much more.
Food was phenomenal, service was excellent, great place and atmosphere. :)
We enjoyed Sauce and will go back next time while visiting Victoria! -
Review from Dave S.
8/27/2009
Best steak sandwih I've ever had! A whole roasted garlic, sauteed mushrooms, perfect cut of meat on a nice piece of Italian bread...mmmm. Great service, atmosphere and drinks to compliment. Don't give 5 stars out easy, but this was one of the best meals I've ever had. I suspect it was the perfect sandwich for me and the rest of the food would be good, but not as fantastic as this sandwich.
