The Cranberry Arms - Nanaimo

Awful food, honestly all you can say about this place. The food tasted like microwave food, Safe yourself some trouble and money and go to walmart, I am 100% sure they server the same food in the freezer there.

We stopped in for a light supper.Ordered the chili special and the cranny coins. The chili and garlic toast were delicious, however it did not say on the menu how spicy it was. I love spicy chili but some may not. It was flavorful with a great consistency. The cranny coins are potato slices prepared like nachos, chicken drizzled with bbq sauce, ranch and amazingly full of bacon and cheese.. simply delicious. These chefs take pride in their work. Great value. The chili was $3.50 and the potatoes $7. We had two chili's one potato dish and 4 beers for $33. Amazing.

Open room with wood floor & tables. Friendly, quick bar service. Very large meal portions. Both had burgers--good except cold buns cooled off meat. Adequate salads. Tricky to find if not from local area but handy on way to or from nearby ferry terminal.

Second visit or third visit..not again. Ceasar drink was flat tasting. The sandwich was dry and bland..my husbands food was very greasy and unappetizing. Just not worth it. Prices seemed high for pub fare.

A local coupon company had a discount coupon available for the Cranberry Arms Pub, just a couple of kilometres from our home, and we decided to try it.We arrived on a Friday evening about 6pm to a mostly-empty pub, which never actually filled up but gradually held a number more 'regulars' who were enjoying themselves in the light and bright pub (yes - there are lots of lovely big windows and we enjoyed the sun streaming in).Although it has a pool table and a couple of big-screen TVs, along with a covered outside deck, it has a nice ambience, and wasn't too loud. (As an historic pub, it does, however, retain a hint of that old stale cigarette smell.)We took a quiet table, and our server was quick, efficient, and friendly, and our food and drink was on the table in quick order, and nicely presented.We had hoped, perhaps, to 'discover' a place close to home that we'd be pleased to come to more often, but the food just didn't quite live up to our hopes: my hubby's Caesar Burger on a toasted bun was pretty good, but the chicken was overcooked and the hand-cut fries were far too salty; my soup-and-sandwich special offered an absolutely delicious homemade turkey soup, but the chicken, avocado, and tomato sandwich was on a slightly dry plain wholewheat sandwich bread (a hearty multigrain or peasant loaf would be much more suitable) with too little aioli for any real flavour.All in all, our outing was okay and we will give it one more try - another food choice might be more successful? It certainly is on the right road - a little more attention, not just to the menu (which is good), but to food quality would improve things a lot.