Black Beans

POORLY MANAGED RESTAURANT — VERY UNPROFESSIONAL — Good food if they have any left!!!
We are staying at the Waddell and were recommended to go to Black Bean as it is their «sister restaurant». We dined at the Waddell Friday evening and the service and food were lovely. Given this, we made a reservation at Black Beans (in person) for 8pm. When we arrived we were seated at the very front of the restaurant in a nook-​like area. This could be very sweet for some however, my husband is 6 feet, 220lbs; the window was shut and it was stuffy and warm. My chair seat was dirty and had some sort of a spill on it. I told the greeter and she replaced it with a small armless chair with a hard seat — something you would find at «the kids’ table» at a family gathering. Of course we asked to move which we did easily to another, much more comfortable table. We both ordered a cocktail. We were happy. But not for long.
The horrible night just got started. Just wait. We first ordered ½ dozen oysters but sadly they ran out. So, we ordered our mains and were offered a choice of side vegetables. My husband ordered spinach for his side. Ok, so they ran out of spinach, too. No spinach for him. We could live with that. Then we asked for a wine list — we were not given one at first seating. They brought a wine list. We chose our wine. Waitress returns with a different bottle of wine and says: «sorry, we are all out of that wine but we have this (can’t remember name of the wine) instead; my colleague recommended it, he said it the closest wine to the one you ordered, and he knows his wines.» I’m thinking I don’t want a wine ‘close to’ what I ordered, I want what I ordered. I calmly request to see the wine list again. I chose another wine. Waitress returns and you guessed it, they were alllllllllll out! Exhale. We decide on a third!!! bottle and three times a charm — they had it in stock. All the while we never saw a manager or person in charge come to our table to apologize and make things right.
We sat without a piece of food (no bread) and waited at least an hour. Our food was delivered at 9:20pm (remember our reservation was at 8:00pm). When it did. It was very good.
We were not offered a complementary dessert, cocktail, wine, NOTHING to make up for this «Jerry Springer» of a dinner experience. We paid for everything, including their bad service. NEVER AGAIN.

Have had several meals at Black Beans when in town. The food was fine the last visit, but the food took forever to come. This time, there were perhaps 4 other customers, we didn’t order appetizers, but the food took at least 45 minutes to get to the table and the vegetables were cold. The southern chicken was very dry. Just too expensive for the quality and service. Lots of other yummy places to eat in Port Hope.

Best restaurant east of Toronto, bar none!

Poor service, overpriced food of medium quality.
I have been in Black Beans a few times, usually to have a drink at the Bar, which is very well stocked, and the atmosphere is ‘upscale’. This is the first, and last time I will have a meal there, however.
We were a party of 4 on a Saturday night, 7PM. No more than 15 tables, mostly 2 and 4’s. 3 wait staff. It took 30 minutes to place our order, and 15 minutes to even get staff to come to the table. After ordering, we waited almost 45 minutes for the food. The wait staff seemed to be busy, with all 3 at once cleaning up a table after it left, but no one there to serve the people still present.
The food was not bad — the Mexicali appetizer tortilla chips were delicious. The steak and mushroom Mac and Cheese main my wife tells me was good. My daughter ordered the striploin, $ 35 and the size of a hockey puck, with ordinary bland mashed potatoes as a side. I ordered the ‘California Double stack burger ($ 19) which came as 2 patties on top of each other n an egg bun the size of a softball, and was almost higher than my water glass. It was impossible to eat it that way, so 1 patty must be jettisoned. (I asked, the only other burger, a single, is a veggie burger). The burger itself was bland — so bland I had to look to see if there were indeed any garnishes, and finding there were, had to have my wife taste it to see if I might be getting a cold, and was unable to taste. The burger was awful. The fries were over salted, but good.
The worst part of the meal was my sons ‘Southern Fried chicken Sandwich’ which was 6 or 7 inches high, an utterly ridiculous serving and physically impossible to eat (Not just for him — any adult. It was thicker than 2 fists stacked on each other, and except for the tasteless egg bun, incompressible). It was nothing but a deep fried whole chicken breast (and dry, at that) on a huge egg bun, for $ 18.
If you want tapas with a martini, go there. If you want artisanal beers, why not. Do not bring a family there, the menu is limited, without safe alternatives (no single patty burger, no safe pizza or pasta options, no plain chicken dish). Be prepared to wait forever for food that doesn’t make sense. We did not stay for dessert. It’s only because I took my family there that I didn’t walk out after being there for more than 1 hour 15 minutes with no food, and that I didn’t speak to the manager or voice my concerns that night. Drink there, eat somewhere else.

Had a group dinner here last night.
It’s a funny place for a few reasons:
1. Despite being a steakhouse, there are only a few steaks on the menu.
2. The menu has a Santa Fe feel with an odd design and words like cantina and amigos. Also, they love jalapenos.
3. I ordered an americano and it was slightly larger than an espresso.
I went with the jalapeño theme so I ordered the jalapeño caesar salad which was a neat twist. There was a subtle heat which worked. I went with the shrimp el barco which also had a large jalapeño component. Tasty. Third, I ordered the jalapeño mac and cheese which was surprisingly good.
The service was in the style of small town and I found her quite humorous and quick.
All in all, it’s a fun place in a small town with limited dining options. especially if you like jalapenos.

We have visited Black Beans twice in the last year. The food was above-​average both times but the service was sub-​optimal during our most recent visit. The lag between order and delivery of beverages was 20 mins even though the restaurant was less than 50% full. The time lapse between the end of the first course and the appearance of our entrees was equally extended. To pass the time, we began wagering on the whereabouts of our waitperson…
The good news is the southwestern inspired salad, jalapeño mac n cheese, and tacos del dia were all tasty. Disappointing was the size of the «dinner» salad (although the smoked chicken was flawless). Additionally, a southwestern meal without chips and salsa felt incomplete, and we highly recommend that the restaurant management tackle this void.

I had dinner with my SO and some other close friends here. And I was really disappointed in the poor service we received at the end of the night.
The food was okay, a bit over priced for the quality. However, the waiting service is what has stopped me from returning.
Throughout the night our drinks went un-​topped and we only saw our waitress once. That’s fine, we understand it was a busy night.
When it was time to pay the waitress brought our check to the table. In order to leave a good tip I had to ask her to keep ~$ 5 and bring the remanding $ 5 back to the table so that I could give the $ 5 to someone else (who I owed for coffee earlier in the day) at the table who was going to drop $ 20 on the table as tip when we left.
When the waitress brought my change back it was a pile of nickles and dimes. Not loonies or toonies, just 4 quarters and nickles and dimes. Now I’m presuming that the waitress thought that she was only going to receive the $ 5 tip, got pissed off, and brought me $ 5 in 3 quarters, nickles and dimes.
When she dropped the change off she put it on the table, avoided eye contact and walked away and disappeared.
I waited for her to return to the table to ask if there was a misunderstanding or if they were short on change (in that case I would have split bills differently if they were so short). But she never returned. After 10 minutes our guests were pretty shocked at the pile of change, but said not to worry about the $ 4 as they didn’t want to fill the bottom of her clutch purse with it. I apologized profusely and we left.
I have not returned to this restaurant.

Black beans excels in the realm of beef! Solid but reasonable wine list could use a few more upper end wines but otherwise no complaints. Great bartender knows how to make a serious cocktail and service was top notch.

This is our go to place for dinner when in Port Hope. Steaks are fantastic, caesar salad to die for. It is however a big treat, can get expensive with wine and dinner.

Yes! Love Black Bean! Been here 5 times in the past year. Tried numerous things on the menu. All yummy! Bartender is awesome– can mix anything.
Would def return. It’s a little pricey so waiting for a celebration.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, $ 20 burger. Where’d you come from? I’m baffled yet again… there are more than two people to have the nerve to put a $ 20 burger on the menu, and then, of course, three of us at our table have the nerve to order the damn thing.
At first I cowered in the shadow of it’s six inch tower and girth of the onion ring inclusion. I almost tossed the ring aside, but I left it on… crunched it down and got down & dirty. It was bloodier and more rare than most would assume when it was a burger that was ordered without the question of the cooking request.
While Port Hope is shiny, bright, adorable, welcoming out there… this place takes the opposite cue and gets oddly moody inside with track lighting and gawdy wine portraits. But I’m not surprised as I can’t get the image out of my mind of the turquoise ring, silver link chain necklace on the tan chest of the open button collar, silver haired Maybe I’m The Most Interesting Man In Port Hope owner who stopped by to ask about our meal. Thanks for stopping by and I didn’t have the nerve to tell you in person but I’ll tell you here: I was out to dinner with my girlfriend’s mom, and I had to potentially embarrass myself as the loud, abrasive American who curtly catches the server to say «hey, what’s up with the food?» after a twenty minute delay. Thankfully, she was happy about it. But damn I don’t wish that on another man. Honestly, if I were dining alone for whatever reason in Port Hope, I would’ve struck up the conversation then & there… so, really, I’m sorry it’s being drummed up on Unilocal.
Let’s get real about these prices. Rent cannot be that expensive in Port Hope for a business owner. There were a few empty storefronts. There is not another steakhouse situation in town. All around, the prices are fleecing patrons of Port Hope who are likely looking for a quaint getaway or visiting family. And now that I’ve met either the owner or manager of this place, along with the likelihood of the underpaid, over stressed staff… it’s a dark, moody symbol of the rich betraying their guests and staff for an attempt at opulence. For the money… you can experience Black Hoof. Every corner of the menu was overpriced.
At first I was giving this place the benefit of the doubt because the food was good for 3 stars… but after I really stepped back to think about how this all shook down, it’s not worth recommending, even if it’s the only show in town.
*Neurotic note to dining compadres (read: aforementioned girlfriend’s mom & co.), you’re terrific dining companions and make every moment worth it.

Port Hope is an adorable town. Cute as a button. A great place to visit if you’re looking to escape the city for an afternoon. This being said, this place is OK, but not the greatest.
It’s really lounge-​y and dark inside which seems strange for this quaint strip, and the steak is really expensive for being Alberta beef. There are so many family-​run farms around Port Hope. What gives? This being said, I came here in a group of five and it could have been a bit of an awkward meal, but griping about the above facts brought us together. So thanks?
Gripes aside, the Bloody Caesar was fabulous, the burger looked divine; piled about 5-​inches high including an interior onion ring, and my short rib fettucini really hit the spot.
I’ll try the other places in Port Hope before returning to BBS&L, but that doesn’t mean you won’t stay in the rotation, as I think there are about four restaurants in town.
PEPPER POINTS out her mom is funnier than your mom. This has nothing to do with the restaurant.

I was doing some work in town… Port Hope is a great little gem — there are some awesome little restaurants in this cute spot on the water.
we opted for tapas… poutine, the crab dip, salad, and another dish — everything was super tasty, great service and a really nice wine assortment.
highly recommended.
enjoy.

The food is elegant and perfectly prepared. All of the dishes I have tried have a tremendous balance and flavour. They have a dessert chef (Sara) who creates unique and wonderful desserts. I just tried a pumpkin cheesecake that could be in any five star restaraunt in the world.
Wes the award winning bartender can make any drink that you desire and hundreds that you have never heard of. And may even sing for you!
Deborah and the rest of the wait staff are attentive but not overwhelming and freindly without being too causal. The whole place is comfortably elegant. If you meet Bob the owner at the bar you will see why the Black Bean is so special. This is a dont miss. The more expereinced you are with great food the more you will appreciate the atmoshoere, service, and the food.