Rideau Speakeasy @ Arden

This place is kind of a scam. We booked for our friend’s birthday with mandatory per person charge and percentage tip fee. No server was waiting on us the entire time after our initial order was placed, however when we didn’t reach our per person minimum we still got charged the full per person fee. We wanted to order more but couldn’t ! A girl in our group actually broke a glass from accidentally hitting it on the way to the bathroom since no one came to collect our empty cocktail glasses after so long. In addition, we ordered ceviche and dip- apps with chip dips. The chips were so light, they kept breaking in the dip. We asked for spoons multiple times so we could actually eat the food but was ignored. I ended up walking out of the speakeasy myself to 1. Ask for spoons and 2. Bus our empty cocktail glasses as no one was coming and I wanted to avoid another glass from being broken. The bar is not big and maybe holds 3 groups. The “manager” and the bartenders were actively ignoring us the entire night. The manager quoted our “contractual agreement” for reasons why we had to pay the 20 percent $600+ service fee and additional $200 we were due per person as we couldn’t meet our minimum since no one came by to ask throughout the 2 hour booking if we wanted additional items. When questioned about this, the manager (?) couldn’t even give us cocktails to make up the “ minimum“ as he said there are other people waiting for our booth. I’m sorry but if we are obligated to pay 20 percent service fee on $25 cocktails and expensive appetizers, I don’t expect to be begging for utensils, bussing my own table, and waving down servers in a tiny bar that wasn’t particularly busy. To make matters worse, the manager (???) made no effort to rectify the situation by offering us at bare minimum a glass of wine, or removing an item off the bill, but instead demanding we pay the $200 we couldn’t make up due to “contractual agreement”. I will say the one cocktail we did get was amazing and the magician was cool, but the terrible service and manager really killed the rest of the night when we were trying to celebrate our friend.

There’s a buried review calling this place a scam and I couldn’t agree more. Was there from our reservation time at 10:30 to about 12:15am and magician Scotty Syme Jr. did not come to us once, nor did he perform for the entire crowd at. Place is small and cramp with no tables for eating despite having a food menu. We were not addressed by the magician at all, would not want to use race but sitting ignored for 2 hours it makes you think. We ordered oysters and wagyu sliders, after about 40 minutes of sitting around the sliders came, we were shocked ant the size to time it took ratio. After about an hour still no oysters. Eventually a waiter comes over with a caviar on cream cheese and a piece of toast the size of a dime. They tell us they are out of oysters so this was a comped alternative valued much higher than what we ordered. I personally am not a fan of cream cheese and was surprised it took an hour and 45 minutes (with no magic or acknowledgement) for them to tell us we would be provided an alternative. In the end the total bill did not add up, I told the bartender and he could not understand that we should not have been charged. Overall I just wanted to leave and didn’t mind paying the extra to do so. He made a sly remark about “over priced food” and “definitely wanting to give back the $20 mistake if it was warranted” because he “totally understands.” Overall we left feeling belittled and upset and wouldn’t want others to go through the same.

This place is a must go. Magician Jeff Black is absolutely AMAZING, so so entertaining. I can’t stop laughing, truly so enjoyable. He is so good. drinks are fab, vibes are good, love it. Thank you all!

It was really nice being inside the hidden gem loved our espresso martins while enjoying the magic show

The best! The magic was amazing, and Kane was absolutely phenomenal. We had the best night!

This place was so much fun 🤩 and they have a really good expresso martini 🥰

Stepping into the dimly lit embrace of Rideau, I was immediately transported through time and space by the haunting melodies that filled the air.

Excellent cocktails + great show = wonderful evening with friends !