The Journal · The Brantford Club
Zander’s vs The Brantford Club: Twelve Chairs, Two Rooms
Zander’s Fire Grill & Brew Lounge is a grill and brew lounge at 190 King George Road in Brantford, open from noon most days by its own listing, with a bar and a calendar of live entertainment. The Brantford Club is a members’ house at 98 George Street, kept since 1898, where a party of twelve takes a room of the house with the menu settled before anyone sits down.
A good share of those who type Zander’s into a search box want the particulars, so here they are as its own site prints them: 190 King George Road, Brantford, Ontario N3R 5L3; telephone 519-304-7625; open noon to eleven Monday through Thursday, noon to one in the morning Friday and Saturday, and ten in the morning to eleven on Sunday, with brunch on Sunday from ten to two. Its site asks that reservations be made by phone and says plainly that it does not take them over social media. Some of the same searchers have twelve people to feed on one night and want to know which of two rooms in Brantford should take the table. This entry answers that, and it says early when the answer is the strip.
Can a group book a private room at The Brantford Club?
Yes. The Brantford Club’s own private dining page describes a private dinner as one of the house’s own rooms, set for your party, with a menu settled with the kitchen beforehand and service that belongs to your table alone, and it names the rooms that dine: the dining room, the Waterous Family Dining Room, the 98 George Room, and the Bateson Lounge. The house is an Italianate residence raised about 1855, standing before the City was incorporated in 1877, and its rooms have been keeping the city’s dinners since 1898. To ask for one, the Club’s page wants three things: the occasion, a preferred date, and roughly how many chairs. Send those to manager@thebrantfordclub.com, or phone 519-752-0931, and the reply comes from a person who can say how it is done, including anything the page does not settle. The room, the courses, and the hour are a conversation with the kitchen and your event coordinator, and no dollar figure is printed on the page. The Book the Club page adds that every event space carries complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi and conference technology, which the working table of twelve will want.
The Night That Belongs to King George Road
A Friday with the team, twelve people who want a bar within reach until one in the morning: that is Zander’s night, and and, on its own listing, it is built for it. The site describes itself as casual dining with family take-out specials, a kids’ menu, a drink menu, a Sunday brunch, and an event calendar that points to live entertainment through its Facebook events. Nobody has to plan a course. The table orders at nine, and the people who drift in late still get a plate. A grill and brew lounge on the King George Road strip is the right room whenever the dinner is the fun and the fun is the point. If the twelve want to talk over each other and leave at different times, drive north to 190 King George Road, phone ahead, and enjoy it. The Brantford Club has no quarrel with that evening and no better version of it to offer.
Ordering at the Table and Ordering Ahead
The difference between the two rooms shows up in when the menu is decided. At Zander’s the menu is a PDF on its own site, and the table reads it when the table sits; twelve people order twelve things, and the kitchen on King George Road cooks them as they come. At The Brantford Club the private dining page says the courses are chosen ahead, the table’s preferences are taken at booking, and the kitchen is told the party’s needs before the first plate is set. Executive chef Eric Wasylenky cooks a seasonal menu from a working lunch to full evening service, and the Club’s signature Churchill Pork Chops carry the name of the house’s most famous guest, who signed the Visitors’ Register on January 3, 1901, per the Club’s centennial history. For a host, the practical result is that at 98 George Street the allergies and the toast between the main and the dessert are arranged before the guests arrive. On the strip they are arranged by the server, at the table, at nine.
Zander’s vs The Brantford Club for a Table of Twelve
Zander’s vs The Brantford Club is a comparison of a grill and brew lounge on the north end of Brantford and a private members’ club downtown, and the rows below set them out on the eight things a host of twelve asks about first. Everything in the Zander’s column is taken from its own site; everything in the Club’s column is taken from the Club’s own pages.
| For twelve | Zander’s Fire Grill & Brew Lounge | The Brantford Club |
|---|---|---|
| Where it stands | 190 King George Road, Brantford, on the north-end strip | 98 George Street, downtown, with the Court House across the way |
| What it is | A grill and brew lounge, casual dining with take-out, on its own site | A private members’ club with its own dining rooms, since 1898 |
| Where you sit | Twelve seats on a public floor, arranged by phone | Twelve seats in a room of the house, held for your party |
| The floor | Shared with whoever came in tonight | The dining room, the Waterous Family Dining Room, the 98 George Room, or the Bateson Lounge |
| The sound of the room | A bar, a brew lounge, and live entertainment on its calendar | A door that closes; cellphones silenced by the Club’s own policy |
| The courses | Read at the table, ordered at the table | Settled with chef Eric Wasylenky before the date |
| Wearing | None published on its site | Pub casual; dining room smart casual |
| Getting a date | Call 519-304-7625; its site does not take reservations over social media | Email manager@thebrantfordclub.com with the occasion, a date, and a count |
The Room and the Door
A table of twelve on a public floor hears the whole floor. That is the pleasure of a brew lounge on a Saturday, and it is also why a retirement speech at Zander’s gets shouted. The Brantford Club’s rooms close. The private dining page promises no walk-through traffic and no second seating waiting for the table, and the Club’s policies page asks that all cellphones and electronic devices be silenced and used so as not to disturb other members and guests, with calls taken in a private area of the house. Put those two facts together and the person at the head of the table is heard at the foot of it. The rooms themselves are walked through in the Journal’s tour of the rooms at 98 George Street.
The strip and the street
King George Road and George Street are different roads at opposite ends of Brantford. King George Road is the commercial strip on the north side, where Zander’s sits at number 190. George Street is downtown, and The Brantford Club sits at number 98, beside the Court House square. Putting the wrong one into a map app sends you across the city.
Twelve chairs have been drawn up to a closed door at 98 George Street since the winter of 1898, and the street outside has never learned what was said.
Dress on King George Road and on George Street
Zander’s publishes no dress code on its site, and on the strip that is the answer: come as you left work. The Brantford Club publishes its code on the club policies page, and it is shorter than most people expect. The pub is casual, with ripped jeans and hats not permitted. The dining room is smart casual, with collarless t-shirts, shorts, ripped jeans, and hats not permitted. No jacket is required and no tie. For a host bringing twelve, the useful move is to put one line in the invitation, and the full working of the phrases is in the Club’s published policies.
Four questions, four answers
Does Zander’s take group reservations?
Zander’s site publishes no group-dining or private-room page. It lists a phone number, 519-304-7625, and states that reservations are not taken over social media, so the phone is the route its own listing gives for a table of twelve.
Is The Brantford Club a restaurant?
No. The Brantford Club is the city’s private business and social club at 98 George Street, kept since 1898, with its own dining rooms and a kitchen under executive chef Eric Wasylenky. A dinner there is a room of the house set for one party, with the menu planned beforehand.
How far apart are Zander’s and The Brantford Club?
Zander’s is at 190 King George Road on the north-end strip, and The Brantford Club is at 98 George Street downtown, across from the Court House. They are two different roads on opposite sides of Brantford.
Can a private dinner at The Brantford Club handle a speech or a toast?
Yes. The Club’s private dining page describes a room of the house with no walk-through traffic and no second seating, and its policies ask that phones be silenced. The run of the evening, including when the toast falls between courses, is settled with your event coordinator when the date is booked.
Sources: Zander’s own home page for its address, phone, hours, and reservation note, and its event calendar page; The Brantford Club’s private dining, Book the Club, and club policies pages; the Club’s centennial history for the Register. A host who has the room and now needs the evening to go well can read the Journal’s entry on how to work a room. The complete set of pairings is kept at the Club’s register of comparisons.
The Brantford Club, 98 George Street, Brantford, Ontario N3T 2Y4 · Open in Google Maps
If the twelve need a door
Twelve chairs on the strip need nothing from us. Twelve chairs behind a closed door, with the courses settled and the toast protected, start with an email, and the reply comes from a person who keeps the calendar.
manager@thebrantfordclub.com · 519-752-0931 · Private dining
