Baldwins Restaurant

This restaurant has a good concept based on locally sourced food, however the execution was underwhelming.
I happened upon Baldwin’s after a Unilocal elite event in the area. A few of us Unilocalers felt like going for a nightcap and Baldwin’s was the closest pub to get our fix. This restaurant is located on a nice strip of wellington near the Aurora GO station. Walking into the restaurant on a Thursday night the place was pretty quiet with only a few people sitting in the bar area, we were seated promptly.
The menu is a concise bar style menu and doesn’t really live up to the steakhouse label on the front of the restaurant. I opted for the turkey sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries (no extra charge for sweet potato fries, most places usually charge for this substitution which makes no sense). My sandwich was a fair size, but overall wasn’t great. The turkey was piled on pretty generously but unfortunately it was dry, the cranberry mayo was virtually unidentifiable but the multigrain bread was quite delicious. The sweet potato fries were very crispy and nicely fried, one of the better sweet potato fries I have had. The fries were served with a jerk mayo which was WAY too salty, it was unpalatable. We did alert our waiter about the saltiness and he was quick to bring us chipotle mayo instead, the chipotle mayo was much better.
This place only has a few big name beers on tap, nothing in the way of craft beer. They did have Rickard’s which will do in a pinch (I tried the Rickard’s oakhouse which wasn’t great). The service was okay; our waiter did check up on us often and was quick to rectify the dreadful jerk mayo dip. This restaurant is probably a 2.5 star but I will bump them up to a 3 because they do source their food locally, when we inquired about this the waiter said most of the produce and meat comes from nearby Cookstown and that everything is made from scratch, this is always nice to see.

Baldwins Restaurant is really a pub and a restaurant.
Opens till 12 am Monday to Wednesday and it was perfect for a bunch of us to drop by for a post Unilocal Elite Event After Party.
Local Craft selection definitely lacking. the closest one can get here maybe Creemore, Rickard’s and Granville Island.
At least I got the Rickard’s Oakhouse Ale which is great for the cold weather! While my friend enjoyed their Murphy or Gin Tonic with tons of Gin!
I don’t expect much whenever I eat at a pub, so no exception here! Banger and Mash ($ 11) was not bad. Maybe because I was hungry and with all the boozes I drank. +0.5 star for splitting my order into 2 portion for sharing without requesting!
The other items I tried Truffle Mac & Cheese, Pulled Beef Poutine and Sweet Potato Fries were all so so. Good only if you have a drink or 2 or more… since you might ended up drinking more beers because they are all so salty!
Baldwins is a decent neighbourhood pub. Great location right across from Go Station and with ample parking!

Date/​Time: Performed after GTA Unilocal’s Hair Affair Elite Event.
Location: Outside of Baldwins Entrance, while Drinkin & Smokin.
ABBAS Signature Move[5-star WooHoo]:
Zero-​G Backward Pike[on to the ground] to…
Forward Tuck & Roll w/​Drink-​in-​Hand then…
Sticks the Landing w/​No-​splash (Drink[Gin])
Olympics Caliber! See-​it-​to-​believe-​it.
— — — — — — — — -
Station House is only half [2.5’d] of the story…
As it is the more pubby half of the whole Baldwins.
It was late{after 10:00pm} when I arrived to Baldwins.
Last of the customers of the upscale half was leaving.
I peeked to the other side known as Station House.
Low-​and-​behold, Famed group of Elite Unilocalers appear.
Loud-​and-​proud to an otherwise quiet midweek evening.
The scene is all fine-​and-​dandy, plenty of Tv (sports).
Patio out front seems good for People/Train[GO] watching.
Decent enough pub for session drinking, chilling.
Probably a late night, service was not too well-​polished.
Food was Hit-&-Miss + wished local (OCB) brews were on tap.

Recently they have hired an amazing chef who is bringing a taste of the Caribean to the restaurant. New menu. Great Patio and great servers

I was at Baldwins this Friday for lunch with my colleagues (a group of 12) and was totally disappointed.
We walked in at 12:41 and our food did not come until a little after 1:30. At one point while waiting I turned around and looked, I realized that 6 other tables did not have their food either (some were there before us!) So when the food finally came after waiting for almost an hour, I was not impressed with my food. I ordered the daily special Fish and Chips — the outside of the fish was hard like rock so half way through I ate only the inside because it was so gross and the fries on the side were all soggy, not hot fresh. My friend ordered the mussel and she said it was not even warm. Our server was rude too and she was not happy when we did not tip her well (personally I tip server based on the service I receive, I don’t go by the standard rule.)
To me, Baldwins deserves one star. The only reason I gave 2 is because of the nice patio and it did not take long for our drinks to come. Also, my other colleagues who ordered the flatbread sandwish (or maybe it was a wrap sandwish) said they liked their food. So just to be fair…

Nice spot for lunch. Huge portions, good service.

It’s the number of good bars that make Aurora God’s country but Baldwin’s is maybe the best of the best. An intimate size, friendly & attractive staff (except for the owner Doug :), live music, quality décor based on local history and a nice patio; it’s all good. And even better? There’s a quality restaurant attached!