Ethel’s Lounge

Great atmosphere and service, and the food is satisfactory. The walls are covered in vintage memorabilia. Lovely Tex mex cuisine. We will definitely be returning. Try their Shirley temple with or without alcohol as the non alcoholic one is the best I’ve had.
Pro tip: if your only ID is your health card, don’t bother ordering alcohol as it is against restaurant policy for them to serve you.

Pretty good food, staff was nice. Probably won’t make it a regular place though. Not good enough for me to crave it.

Overall I would give it a decent rating, the food is good and the beer selection is fine, however the place could be a little cleaner and the staff would do better if they lost the attitude. It is convenient since I work uptown and there is lots of parking and specials available. However there are many choices in the area where customers are appreciated more.

Good food. Good patio. Good staff. I’ve been here many times and usually leave satisfied. Laid back and casual. Good portions — cheap prices. They make a good Caesar.

A few friends and I went on a Wednesday for their wing night. I don’t think I’ll go back for that. It was 1.5lbs of wings which came out to be only 8 wings for 8.49. Usually at other wing places 1lb should be 9 – 10 wings. So basically at Ethel’s I paid $ 1.00/wing. Not a wing special to me. The wings are baked which are good but there was barely any flavour or sauce on the wings. This made them less than satisfactory. I’m sure Ethel’s is good for other things but not for wings.
There are better options for wings in the area.

A good lounge for lunch but it’s pretty run-​down. Not sure what all the fuss is about!

This is my favourite bar in the universe. True uptown realness. Great food, atmosphere and people.

I have been looking forward to checking Ethel’s out, since I moved here last year. After hearing the owner on CBC last week, my husband and I decided to finally stop in tonight, just for a drink or two, maybe some dessert. We were really impressed by the décor, and went and sat on the patio. The bar was pretty empty, but there were quite a few people on the patio. We talked to a girl cleaning a table and asked if we could sit down — so someone knew we were there. About 20 mins later with no service I went to the bar to ask for a drink. The same girl who had been cleaning said there was a server outside and was quite pleasant. The server came up and said «oh, I’ll come in a bit.» Since we had already waited 20 minutes I asked to order from her now. She didn’t want to take my order, since she wouldn’t know where we were sitting. I explained, twice, and since we were right by the door it shouldn’t have been hard! Finally — drinks. Beer was flat and margarita was tasteless. Very disappointing after such a long wait. We finished our drinks and tried to get our server to bring our bill… But she was sitting at the table next to us. Finally, we got the bartender to let us pay (she was quite helpful!). We did not tip. As we left, we heard the server say «AND no tip». No. You didn’t do anything!!! There is casual service — and then there is plain rude.

Really good place to hang out at for a couple hours with a few beers. Bring a date here if she or he is on the chill side. The staff are cool and laid back, and it’s fun to look at all the old posters, lights, and random decorations. Their patio is an awesome place to be in the summer.
The best thing to order EVER is the pulled pork nachos. It’s a massive plate of cheesy BBQ saucy deliciousness. The one time our server set the huge plate of nachos on our table and shouted, «Are you guys ready for some nachos!!!» My SO looked at each other like, «YEAH!!!» in unison, haha. Just trust me on this one. Beer and pulled pork nachos go hand in hand, my friends.
The only thing I would advise against is their Taco Tuesdays deal. I’m really not a huge fan. They’re just not *good* tacos, so expect the price ($ 2) to reflect the quality.
They also only accept cash or credit as payment, no debit. Get with the times! :P

Great place to eat. I would come again, as a student on budget

Ethel’s has become my «go-​to» bar ever since Caesar Martini’s closed. Love their tex-​mex menu (items are alacart, so you can order sides separately). They smoke their meat on site (unfortunately Glen the owner’s a little set in his ways, so the ribs are still dry as h — ).
Regarding the comment that they only accept cash — not true. They accept credit and have an ATM on site.
Home-​made soups are awesome!
Wings are every Wednesday and every full moon (their full moon wingding). Their wings are awesome! Baked, not fried and not breaded. — ⁴⁄₅ stars!
****Amending my review (Feb 2016)
They only have I think 1 member from the kitchen crew when I gave that review still working there. The menu isn’t nearly as good now. I used to love their breakfasts — nope, they always mess them up now. Their wings, while still baked, are a train wreck. They simply can’t seem to cook them properly (me, I think they have the oven too hot). I’ve even tried ordering them well done, to try to not get pink wings — nope, burnt on the outside, still pink on the inside.
Sorry, pink chicken meat is just a bad thing (unless it’s pink because it’s been smoked).
I was a regular here for years… sad to say I won’t be going back. With the change in management and kitchen staff, there’s really no reason to go here anymore.

I heard a lot of sketchy stories about this place and from the outside it kind of looked like it too. After my friend convinced me that its actually good and not sketchy, I went there for there famous taco Tuesdays. They have cheap food and you get quite a but for what you pay and the quality of it too. There tacos on tuesdays are pretty good for only 2 dollars but arent the best. You should be prepared they only accept cash.

Heads up… According to our server, a designated driver is not something they support

Don’t come to Ethel’s if you’re looking for bubbly staff who are enthusiastic to give you a run-​down of the day’s specials. DO come to Ethel’s if you want to have some pretty great food in a laid back environment. Tacos, burgers, pulled pork, and any of their tex-​mex offerings are fabulous.
I’d say their one big flaw is the lack of a deep-​fryer. It’s kind of a let-​down when you have an excellent burger and are served potato chips on the side instead. But I still give them 5-​stars because this is probably the greatest restaurant/​bar in KW. There’s something about this place that is really special.

Really enjoyed this restaurant. Tuesday is taco night, you get 4 tacos for $ 2. You have to buy a drink with it, but thats a give-​in anyhow.

It is the best in Waterloo region

I quite enjoy this place, which is located on the main strip in Waterloo. While it is no fancy establishment, it has over the years become the go-​to spot for mid-​afternoon lunch dates with many friends. They do a great job of being able to accomodate large groups of people both inside and outside.
While my preference is to be outside on their patio, I have had many a good evenings inside Ethel’s as well. It has your classic old style diner feel to it.
This place has daily specials (Friday excluded) and my favourite of their daily specials is Taco Tuesday where you can get 4 beef tacos with salsa or sour cream for only $ 2.00 with any drink purchase. When living in Waterloo it used to be a tradition to go here for these oh so delicious tacos.
Ethel’s also makes a pretty mean Club House sandwich that is served with carrots pickles and some nice kettle cooked chips! Another favourite of my crew is the Porkadilla wrap which is essentially pulled pork wrapped in flour tortillas.
I do recommend checking this place out. Just don’t go in expecting a classy place and you’ll come out satisfied!

I’d skip it.
I mean, it’s okay and they are said to have the best antojitos in the city but the place is too dirty for me and no matter how often I have stopped in, I’ve always preferred the other bars along King St. to this one.
They have a big dark patio in their parking lot, and the inside is small and grungy at best.
I feel like a bit of a jerk giving this place a bad review after all these great ones but for me, this bar just isn’t my thing.

Ethel’s is a great place to stop by no matter what your age. The vintage posters lining the walls of concerts taking place around the city are incredible — artists playing university shows LONG before they were famous (Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, etc.etc.etc).
GET the Porkadilla — a cheese quesadilla jammed with amazing pulled pork. It is the one of the best things my mouth has ever tasted. Really. They have deals here for every day of the week, for example Mondays are 3.99 burgers with purchase of a drink, and Tuesdays are 4 tacos for 2 bucks. You get the idea.
They don’t have a deep fryer, which will shock people who are expecting «bar» food. All their sandwiches come with chips instead. Wings are baked. No big loss :)

I love the burgers from this place, they really can’t be beat. they have that great homemade taste and I highly recommend you get the «Sriracha» to put on the burger if you like it spicy.
Note, they don’t serve fries, but provide chips.
Mondays is cheap burger day by the way
Tuesdays is Taco Tuesdays…