East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Clarington

I made a reservation for our large group for an early dinner (3:30 arrive time). We were one of two tables when we arrived. There was only napkins in each spot no cutlery or plates. When cutlery did come some was dirty (also some of the plates under the soup bowls were dirty). When we got there we were given bread but half the loaves were to hard to cut yet alone eat. We had one server for our large group (anywhere else we have always had two servers for the group size) so it made it hard on her to get drinks and refill drinks especially having other tables as well when it got closer to 4:30. Not all of us were asked if we wanted soup or salad those who specifically asked for soup got it but bowls were placed for salads but there was barely any dressing. We asked for a refill on soups and salads with extra dressing but when they finally arrived our meals were already there. (I recognize this isn’t an issue on our server alone but management should have helped her or not given her other tables to set as well). The pasta itself was good.

The bathrooms are absolutely disgusting. We used 2 stalls the 1 toilet kept running and didn’t flush every time and the tiles and wall were covered in grim, the other wouldn’t flush at all. Out of the 2 sinks one was spraying even when turned off. The soap dispenser is broken but instead of have a pump liquid soap they took the bag out of the dispenser so you have to hold it while pushing up to release the foam. I would highly recommend an entire renovation and better training in cleaning as the amount of grim and general uncleanliness in the bathroom really makes me question what your kitchen looks like.

When we were finished we sat waiting for bills but again because our server was overloaded I had to find her and ask. When I went to the servers station another server saw me but continued to complain about on of her tables very rudely. I’m not saying that other table should behave that way but your servers shouldn’t be gossiping about guesting especially infront of other guests. When we tried to pay we were told you only have one debit terminal this made it difficult to process our table in a timely manner considering others were waiting as well. Every restaurant of your size has multiple get more machines so your turn over...

Ordered mother's day dinner for pick up to avoid another day of cooking. And they got it wrong. No biggie. I ordered the family dinner with garden salad, family cheesecake special & a 4 pack of pop.

Only 2 pieces of cheesecake melted and upside down in the bag. Remember I picked up the order so it wasn't the driver and there was only 2 slices when the website says serve 6-8!? The garden salad came with ceaser dressing. Again, simple mistakes I wasn't willing to drive back for it. So I called. Only to be told I could only have a store credit that was valid for 90 days?

We don't eat out often, we can't afford to so I ask for a credit back on my debt card..... "sorry thats not our policy- you can go back to the store they might but I doubt it" then he says they are busy its mothers day. 😳

I pack up the melted 2 slices of cheesecake and ceaser dressing and head back to Bowmanville East Sides. Show the manager the melted cheesecake and wrong dressing. Also explain how ridiculous there return policy is and how rude the call was. She says isnt responsible for the call centre & will replace the cheesecake with 4 slices, nobody knows how many slices? This takes about 5 min to figure out. Even though the website says serves 6-8, she was arguing with me rather then over compensate for the error and for putting me out and missing dinner with my kids. No biggie...I literally am standing there for 15 min...it took 15 more min while my kids (teens) are eating the dinner without their mom. The cheesecake was i thought was melting in the container for 8 of those min before she came back to put it in the bag. I asked another server but I was ignored. When I asked to have a look at the cheesecake before she bagged it, she proceeded to roll her eyes and tell me its kept in the fridge. "Well not for the last 8-10 min and forgive me for checking my order!"

Needless to say she forgot the dressing and threw in a full size bottle because I couldn't get the words salad dressing out of my mouth before I was in tears. Call it a bad day, but kindness is free. It doesn't take much.

Glad I didn't take the credit, I won't be going back. My kids wanted the cheesecake or I would have just let it go.

Happy...

Normally I have had great service but this week I had a terrible experience. I Arrived to have dinner with my family. Instead of a friendly greeting, the server scowled at us and we were told the restaurant was closing "at 9pm SHARP, so did we want to stay or not! She seemed very annoyed that we had even entered the restaurant for some reason. We agreed 45 minutes would be enough time for a quick bite to eat and were seated at a booth. We quickly chose our menu items and were ready to order since she had stressed multiple times the closing time was approaching at 9. That was the last time we saw the server. She continued to serve multiple tables in our area and completely ignored us. Never looked in our direction or asked if we were ready to order. After an obnoxious amount of time passed without even a drink order being placed, we chose to leave as it was apparent she was annoyed by our presence and was deliberately dragging out the order process. I explained that we would not be staying after being completely ignored. She rolled her eyes and grumbled something about her being the only server, ripped items off the table then stomped off. Unacceptable. A pleasant demeanor goes a long way! I have eaten here many times in the past and never experienced such poor customer service. I have never felt so unwelcome and I refuse to spend my money where myself and my family were treated so poorly. Maybe the restaurant needs to consider their staffing numbers because perhaps this server was stressed and taking it out...