Boston Pizza Grandview Highway

I've never had a good experience with Boston Pizza before, and I don't know if it was because I wasn't expecting much or because I ordered the right thing, but I actually had a good experience at the Boston Pizza on Grandview Highway.

A couple of my old co-workers got together and went to Boston Pizza to grab a bite to eat.  I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was nice to get together with them finally. 

We started off with a couple of appies that turned out pretty tasty, including some potato skins and some sort of Thai Chicken.  Actually not too bad, and would have been awesome with a couple of cold ones, but I was driving.

I knew that my Baked 7 Cheese Ravioli was an epic fail during the last time I was at Boston Pizza, so I steered clear of any pasta they wanted for $16.  Anyway, they had some sort of special that was floating around $10, so I ordered the Taco Pasta. 

I know what you're thinking, is this the same Peter that so vehemently ripped apart the Boston Pizza (Coquitlam) in a scathing review?  Yep, I tore a strip out of them, but I guess in this case, the price matched the taste and quality so there was nothing to be bitter about.  The pasta was actually cooked al dente, the green onions were freshly cut, the garlic toast wasn't bone-dry, and the strange combination of Tex-Mexican and Italian actually worked. 

There were some other dishes ordered, and the concensus was good all around, but in combination to some appies and my own dish, I was pretty content.  The service here was good, and the staff were friendly and attentive.  Would I go back?  Probably, if I was in the area.

Boston Pizza - Coquitlam

Boston Pizza - pasta out of a can. Welcome to the world's worst pasta.  You can't get much worse that Boston Pizza when it comes to pasta, and their pizza isn't all that great either.  When I say worst, I mean dine in.  Chef Boyardee and Kraft Dinner can probably take the title of worst pasta in the world, but as far as dine is concerned, this award goes to Boston Pizza.  

I went there a few times in high school and college, but back then, I really had no idea what good eating was all about.  Back then, I thought that because I was eating in a restaurant (any restaurant) with some friends, we were high-rollers. 

 

Let's start off with what I ordered.  The Baked Seven Cheese Ravioli, but it only tasted like three.  Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan (probably Kraft) and who knows what else they claim there was in it.  Must have been the cheapest cheeses known to man, no smoked Asiago or Balderson's 6 yr aged cheddar here.   The cheap cheeses aside, let's get down to the ravioli.  I really had nothing crappier to compare it to at the time, but a few months later, I tried Chef Boyardee's canned beef ravioli for the very first time and I found the connection.  I am not exagerating when I say that they tasted exactly the same to me.  I was shocked because to me, the Chef Boyardee is desperation food, when I'm just too lazy to pack a lunch.  If it goes ding in the microwave after two minutes, that was my meal.  Anyway, for $0.98 a can, it's not a bad deal, but plated for $15.89???  Either this dish is really that bad, or the kitchen ran out of the real stuff and cracked open a can of Chef Boyardee and suffed it in.

My friend had the ribs and they were boiled for about 20 minutes with a little BBQ sauce. 

 

Doesn't this just look classy? 

I can't tell you how badly I felt ripped off.  There are no words to describe my  anger in the fact that I handed over $15.89 (even more expensive than say, Anton's - which has inredibly good pasta) for them to open a can of ravioli and pass it off as grourmet pasta.  Yes, the words on the menu actually says "Gourmet Pasta" but it wasn't even close. Of course, I have no one to blame but myself for believing it, but it really is false advertisement at the same time.  Boston Pizza is ripping people off by the masses, and to me, it's an act of God (an evil, malevolent God) that's keeping this place in business.

Boston Pizza really needs to close it's doors.

Boston Pizza - Kelowna

We were up in Kelowna a couple of years ago during May long weekend for a car show, and after the show, ended up at Boston Pizza for dinner.  Let's just say the only reason I went to Boston Pizza is because everyone else in the group decided to go.  I don't usually go because the food sucks so bad, especially the pizza.   

My caesar was this watered down thing you see in the picture.  The bean, the olive and the salt and pepper ring tasted good though.

My friends ordered a variety of pasta dishes and pizza, I steered clear and tried their sirloin salad.  Moxie's has a sirloin salad that's out of this world and at the time, I was just fixated on it and couldn't get it out of my head.  I thought what the hell, I'll give Boston Pizza's version a whirl.  It was the wrong decision.  I should have just bailed on my friends and gone to McDonald's.  The steak was flavourless, the garlic toast was good, but the salad itself came with a poor choice of dressing.

I remember the service being pretty good here, the food got to us pretty quickly and they were able to accomodate our large group pretty easily so I'll give them points for that, but that's about it.  I probably go to Kelowna once a year, but if my friends ever want to take me to Boston Pizza again, I'm going to have to decline.....or just starve.