Victoire Belgian Beer Bar & Bistro

Reviews 5

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Paul Cicotta

I wanted so hard to give Victoire high hopes when it came in as my new neighborhood Belgium beer bar. I made sure to get the all around experience including their Moules and Frites before writing my final review for this place, all while hoping it can pull through. I will never forget the time when the neighbors were in an uproar when Victoire was going to build a naked cherub statue on the corner of the street, it sure has come a long way since then. The outside, and inside are done amazingly well to reflect the theme of being in a Belgium Bar. The outside patio has this elaborate fireplace which guests, and bystanders all seem to gather around when I walk by everyday. The inside opens up like little corridors underneath a castle. The fireplace inside also adds to this cozy touch. A good majority of people I have talked to have said they returned for the cozy atmosphere, and amazingly good looking staff. Speaking of which I always see the servers on there A-Game, and consistently food is brought out at a good pace. The bartenders are also very knowledgeable at the different Belgium beer selections on tap. Unfortunately, its none of these qualities that can save the food here. BEER SELECTION: Start off by going for the paddle flights. You get your choice of 4 beers for $13.00. The beer selection is OUTSTANDING, and is single handily what saves this place. You get a WIDE array of beers to choose from. The Delirium Red is one of my favorites. It was soft, fruity, and had a hint of almond taste to it. Dont let the fruit thing scare you, this beer packed a PUNCH in alcohol concentration. Victory Golden Money, with hints of banana and lemon had you hanging for more. The Hoegaarden, was a Belgium wheat styled beer with a taste of orange and coriander. I can go on endlessly with this, I hope by now we get the idea which is GREAT TASTING BEERS!! Now the horrible flip-side to this, and the NUMBER one complaint from locals- Why are the Sizes of the Beer Cups All Different? Good question. I hated that one beer came in a mini brandy-wine glass, and another in a much larger one. It was like Goldy Locks and the Three Beers, which size is just right? Size does matter, and people notice!! MOULES AND FRITES: Best time to get this entree is on Monday Night when Victoire runs a $10 Mussel Special for ANY selection of mussels on there menu. I ordered the Belgium Style Mussels thinking this was a chance for me to see a dish with traditional Belgium ingredients. It was a shame that when I received the dish, most of the ingredients were NOT in the bowl. The mussels tasted tender, and fell right out of its shell. The broth that it was soaked in was honestly on the watery side. It looked like my mussels were racing in the swamp. I saw no sausage, or onions. I thought the sausage part is what made it Belgium Styled, apparently not in my case. The broth had a complete lack of seasoning, I wasnt getting any flavor. The pairing of the Fries is a BONUS, cause they tasted amazing. The Aioli sauces are a real treat to dunk your fries in. You can taste the fresh aroma of different herbs in the dips. SANDWICHES: My Braised Short Rib sandwich was a complete lack-luster of everything. For some reason at Victoire, the ingredients in the menu are described better than how they come out. There was nothing braised in wine about my short ribs. It was shriveled beef with bbq sauce. It was so dry, that they needed to just douse the whole thing with MORE bbq sauce. It also came inside a horrible flat roll to eat it with, which made for a really sloppy presentation on the plate. ENTREES: I went for the Grilled Eggplant Napolean. For some reason it tasted, and looked more like an Italian dish than a Belgium one. The eggplant, and red peppers were both extremely tender on the plate. The vodka sauce was thick, and you can taste the three cheese marinara mix in there. Again, I really did not see any highlighted Belgium ingredients. I did not see the portobello mushrooms, and squash integrated in this dish.

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Jessica Smith

My husband and I have been here several times. The atmosphere of the place is very nice with a real fireplace, dark wood panelling and a great ambiance. Their specialty - mussels and fries - are quite good. We have tried four different kinds and the classic is the best. The sauce they serve the mussels in is delicious! We did not particularly like their appetizers. The fries were good but the poutine was not. The gravy has an odd taste and was not enjoyable. The cooked Belgian endive had a bitterness that drowned out all other flavor - even the bacon. We didnt eat more than two bites. The pretzels and dip are edible but nothing interesting. Their desserts were wonderful! My husband loved the creme brulee and I got a dish with red wine soaked figs, apples and vanilla ice cream with a crumb topping. It was fantastic! Victoire has a wide selection of Belgian beers but we didnt find anything particularly unique. Most of the beer they served could be bought at Wegmans. TLDR: Mussels and fries and desserts are good. All else mediocre.

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Christy Michaelree

Food was great, lots of delicious beers and ciders to choose from, but the service is consistently sub par. We went to the bar for a couple drinks while waiting on a table and sat there about 5 minutes before the bartender acknowledged us. The bar was by no means crowded. After taking our orders he brought my drink over right away but came back multiple times to ask my husband what he wanted again. We could see that my husbands beer was ready but the bartender served several other customers before finally bringing it over. Once we were seated it took a while for the waitress to come by. We would order drinks and not see her for another 10 minutes. The food is good but it doesnt make up for the bad service.

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Jeff Sobel

Stopped in during Jazz Fest. Place was extremely busy but we were able to get to the bar quickly and get service. Bartender was attentive and seemed fairly knowledgeable. As an Untappd Verified Venue, the had an LCD TV with their tap list and a stream of Untappd check-ins. Unfortunately, the tap list on Untappd was out of date by a few days, per the bartender, which led to a little disappointment. Even the printed list wasnt current, but that was because they were turning over legs rapidly. Either way, staff knew what would be reasonable substitute and made solid suggestions. Great selection, well served. Stop by if youre in town.

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Adrienne Schleigh

Went here last night only to be blatantly ignored for 8 minutes. Bartender looked like she was too fantastic to be bothered with serving anyone. Apparently cleaning a few glasses was more important than acknowledging our existence...even though we were 3 feet from her. Very disappointed. I had read many comments about the crap service but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Do yourselves a favor and do a mulligan on your staffing. Im a recruiter and would gladly trade my services for some Belgian beer...and decent service.

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