herongate barn theatre

The concept itself is novel for people from Asia. A theatre and a restaurant combined? Both equally good? And that too in a Barn? Unheard of! When invited by my sister in law, I too wondered what awaited? As imagined, the Herongate Barn theatre is reached at the end of a long winding village road and inspite of a GPS shrieking at us we lost the way twice. But once there it was amazing. What had we come to? A farm, a restaurant or a theatre? All three it seemed.Since the business of food took priority let me too talk of a sumptuously laid out Dinner. There is a bar tucked away into two corners for those who are thirsty. Non alcoholic beverages flow from tables and taps in unlimited quantity. For anything with a certain amount of alcohol, you have to pass out dollars. Considering that Beer and Water cost nearly the same in Canada, I wonder why this is so, but on to the food.There is but one drawback to the wonderful food. A long queue. The food is served by what seems to be the family through one window in the barn which seat the 100 odd guests. Makes it a bit time-consuming specially as you want to get up from the table and go refresh your plate a few times. The Salad bar fortunately is placed separately so it is always a good idea to start nibbling on this while you wait for a gap at the serving window. And while there, load up if you do not want your hunger to catch up with your satiety. The smiling lady along with her able assistants make sure that no one goes hungry. There is a certain point where your mind refuses to listen to your stomach which is trying to tell you that you have had enough. The food here is a torture to all functional minds. Stomachs and palettes, march on. Having eaten more than your fill, you are ushered out and up a dozen steps, each of which reminds you that you should have eaten less. And lo and behold, there lies the rustic theatre, with great acoustics, straight out of the 1800's. One can visualise the Late Queen Victoria enjoying a play in just such a surrounding.Plays come and Go. Some are good, some indifferent, some bad. But the critics in Herongate try to make sure that the plays which come their way are all vetted for their entertainment and artistic value. So it was a laugh riot.Herongate is a Unique experience. Not to be missed. And if you keep an eagle eye out, there are discounts and deals to be had which make the experience enjoyable and affordable.

Herongate always puts on a good spread. They have a variety of food with soups, salads, entrees of beef, poultry and fish (usually), plus plenty of desserts. What more could you ask for? Even if you eat in a stable, it's great fun.Theatre productions are often English farces which, of course, are entertaining. Now, about the jokes in between! They're a bit tarnished but, by then everyone's in a good mood so they don't really matter.

The dinner was excellent with a wonderful atmosphere. The show was good and got a laugh from it. We all need to see a good live show and enjoy it.

What an amazing place to take your friends, family or just a great evening out with that special someone. We were greeted at the door by very friendly staff, which take you to your seat in the dining room....unique, quaint and cozy. We enjoyed a fabulous home cooked meal, and a great bottle of wine....in the fall they also serve a lovely hot apple cider....delicious!! During the dinner downstairs, they have lovely piano playing while you eat dinner and before you head upstairs to the theatre, a mc comes on and plays the guitar. Once we headed up to the theatre, we were taken to our reserved seats, which use to be the hayloft of the century old dairy farm. During the show, my husband and I couldn't control our laughter, Chris Cole, one of the actors, was just hysterical on stage....we loved our evening out and can't wait for the next show. So glad we found Herongate!

The atmosphere in the bottom of the barn is wonderful. The meal is one of the best I have had in a long time. The salad bar that you start off with puts other salad bars to shame. Tons of selection and everything is home made. Pasta salads, bean salads and they were all delicious. Reasonable prices for drinks. Water, coffee and tea were part of the buffet. Dinner was amazing. A proper Sunday roast feel. I would give 5 stars for the dinner. My gripe is with the show. After dinner you go upstairs into the barn/theatre. The show is rather dated for a young crowd. We left half-way through. It would make a great gift for baby bloomers or older. Somewhere to take your parents. It's too bad you just can't go for lunch or dinner though. Yum!

Went to Sunday brunch and the show with friends as we have done many times. They offer salad, soup, and the standard fish, chicken, ribs or roast beef accompanied by potatoes and vegetables and of course dessert. The food is very good and you can go back for seconds if you want. The show is really the highlight. The venue is small so everyone can easily see the stage and every show has been very funny. Seats are not overly comfortable but you can put up with a little discomfort as the shows are highly entertaining. We will be returning in the fall for sure.

Funny, funny play. Runs until July 6th. Great evening out... No charge for parking.As always food is good home cooking and be sure to try their home baked bread.You won't be disappointed and if you are, you left your funny bone at home!

This was my second visit and I had a better experience. If there was a rating between "average" and "very good", I would have used it. I agree with others that the seating is not the most comfortable but it is a barn and not a fancy restaurant. What made a difference this time was that we didn't have the worst seat in the house. There are some tables for two that are very small and in heavy traffic areas. We "won" a free ticket so, basically, we got in for half price. I think that most of the people were in the same boat. Check their website for deals or coupons.It was still a very slow, very long line up for the dinner as it is sold as a buffet but it's really soup kitchen style service. The food, however, was good with a fair selection of meats and desserts. The dinner room entertainer was the same old fella as the first time I went with the same old jokes and songs but that was fine. As I mentioned in my earlier review, the theatre is upstairs and quite a challenge for anyone with mobility issues to get to. Leg room in the theatre is not ample and I found the seats just a bit low to the ground but for viewing there isn't a bad seat in the house. We saw The Love List and it was hilarious. The actor who plays "Bill" stole the show. We found the rest of the casting a bit questionable but overall, quite an enjoyable play.

Upon arriving at the Herongate Barn Theatre property, you will be impressed with how well kept the buildings are and easy access to the barn. There's so much to see when you enter tHe barn because they have maintained many of the unique features of the barn from the stalls the cows previously occupied to the pieces of artifacts found throughout the building. What's so cool about this venue is how they repurposed the stalls to provide table seating for their incredible buffet. The stalls still have the names of the animals who previously inhabited the stalls years ago. No worries about cleanliness as this quaint setting is well maintained at all times. My friends & I enjoyed two Sunday matinee lunch/performances at the Herongate Barn Theatre. The variety of food is terrific & of course, self-created salads with many choices for ingredients, piping hot home cooked entrees to choose from & numerous desserts to top off your meal. There is always a mini-song/comedy routine near the end of the lunch in preparation for the play upstairs in what I am guessing was the hay loft before the theatre conversion took place. The actors are incredibly talented & well-rehearsed. We thoroughly enjoyed our outing to this theatre in the rough.

This was my first visit to Herongate in over 30 years. The place is almost unchanged, and still an enjoyable evening of entertainment. The chairs are not the most comfortable, but the staff and entertainment are worth it. Taking a short walk in the intermission helped my pregnant wife be comfortable enough to the end of the show. The food was not bad and my only minor complaint would be a lack of choices for lower starch vegetables for anyone trying to eat a bit healthier. I did have a little concern after reading some of the reviews here. As long as you have expectations that meet a theatre in a barn with a farm feel rather than modern, it's worth the visit. The wait for food in the line was maybe 5 minutes or so when the line was the longest. He small and uncomfortable theatre seats are about the same as if you went to an average movie theatre. Neither issue is bad enough to skip on the experience.

The food was okay, seating was not great. The chairs are plastic school type. The setting is really different as it's litterely in a barn. The entertainment during dinner is dated but always good. The show itself is always good and I would consider this to be a good night out.

The shows are usually good but the food is simply average- I dislike having to line up to get my dinner. Several folks had trouble climbing the very steep stairs to get up to the theatre. The theatre was also quite drafty - several people put their coats on.

This was our first time to the Theatre and although a fabulous date, not a place I would visit again. We had tickets for the show only (Groupon @ $15 each ticket) and decided to stay for dinner as the lady on the phone said it was a great deal. Dinner was $35 each and a buffet style we were told. When we arrived- 6:20pm the line up for the dinner was the entire length of the dining room so we had salad to start - twice! As we waited for the dinner line to shorten. By 7pm we decided to line up. It took 30 min to get to the servers! Waiting in line amongst the eating guests, wait staff and guests with full plates making their way through the line to their tables. I didn't like looking into everyones tables eating and standing over them. It was a disappointment, and in the end no desserts were left and we finished our meals just before the show was to begin. I can not believe I had to stand for 30 min to get any food!The row we were assigned had VERY small seats and I felt up close and personal with the man beside me and in front, not to mention it being low to the floor so my knees were bent high and no way to stretch out. I had no where to go and the play started just after 8 and ended just before 11pm - a good 20 min could have been cut from the play. The couple beside us left during intermission as it was not comfortable for them to stay.The view of the show was great, and sound and lighting good too. The play was good and overall enjoyable so for that reason alone if you like theatre it is a nice option but you must request proper large seats or you will hate the experience. It looked like the front rows were larger and more comfortable. This was a nice date with my husband to spend time together and thankfully giggle over the cost, coziness and oh wells of the evening. That is the only positive.

We are so sorry that you didn't enjoy your evening out with us and can assure you that your comments are the exception and not the rule! We work very hard to give our valued customers a great, value packed evening in a very unique facility. it can be a challenge to regulate the temperature in the theatre but we continue to improve the customer experience and we invite you to try us out again! We offer 5 or 6 different shows every year. thanks, Steve

We visited the theatre several times and found the food to be mediocre at best, ok but not to inviting or tasteful , the theatre itself could do with a cleanup and the performers were tip top new seats in the theatre would be greatly appreciated