The Huron Club — Restaurant in Collingwood

Well, I don't typically leave reviews but this is one experience I think I need to share. We had reservations at The Huron Club to celebrate someone's birthday dinner. There were 6 of us. First, we were seated and sat there for 15-20 mins before being waited on. The actual owner/manager was the first person to come and wait on us, not a waitress/waiter. He softly laughed/joked with us that he forgot about us - which in fact he was the front person that seated us. First strike! Then after asking is if we would like some drinks, he said the waitress will be right with us. So, we finally order our drinks and some appy's. All was good. One person ordered a Manhattan. We waited and waited. When the drink came, something was not right. After calling the waitress over, the person mentioned the drink was not right colour and taste. She looked in awe and couldn't assist. The person at our table finally said, let me speak to your bartender. Once the bartender came over, we explained to her this is not how you make the drink. She nodded and explained she was sorry. Understood and apology accepted. It gets better when the manager then comes over and apologizes, stating his main bartender did not show up and back-up was someone they pulled in off the floor - are you kidding me? Strike #2. We then receive and eat our appy's in enjoyment. Hoping things will get better. Food is good so far. We then place our full order for food and wine. We received the food in fairly good time, no complaints there. Everyone enjoys there food and time is passing. Could be worse! Now, 20 minutes have passed and we haven't seen anyone at our table, waitress cannot be found. Dirty dishes all over the table and food to be packed up. Finally, the waitress shows up and takes our dessert order. A few treats were ordered, two Spanish/Irish coffees and a single coffee. First, the reg coffee comes with no cream and sugar on side. Second, both, yes I said BOTH the Spanish and Irish coffee show up with salt instead of sugar rimmed on each glass. Seriously, we are not at McDonald's people...Needless to say, was a big let down. So, the manager comes over and apologizes. I understand, things happen, and your number 1 bartender is not on shift. OK. So new ones are made and are drank with ease. All good, I guess. Still in a little awe that we are sitting inside the Huron Club - expected much more!!! Everyone at the table has finished and now we ask for the bill. Of course we are thinking/expecting the bill should reflect our fairly poor service. Nope, every single thing was accounted! Not one single item taken off the bill, no Manhattan, coffees, etc. Wow. Strike #3. This night is certainly not what we had hoped. After all this, and a very frustrated crew, we go back to the manager to discuss the bill. He ends up so generously taking $25 off an almost $400 total bill....whoopee. Well, what an end to one long and frustrating night! I can honestly say that all 6 of us commented to each other we will never be back as this was one experience I never want to repeat. I expected so much more and have heard great things about this establishment. Others beware, don't waste your hard earned dollars as there are many better places to eat in Collingwood. The attitude and behaviour of the management is clearly visible in how they handled this night. Stay Away!

Signed ~ One very...

Three years ago, my girlfriend and I tried out this place, and back then I was disappointed by the lobster mac and cheese. Let's face it, mac and cheese has a tendency to be somewhat on the bland side at most places you might visit, and if you think that the addition of any shellfish is going to jazz up the flavor in any way, that's just lazy cooking, folks, and just another weak excuse to unjustifiably jack up the prices on your menu.

Exploitive? Oh, you betcha.

Of course, it only stands to reason that they would want to fleece their clientelle with substandard fare while located beside a high-end Italian restaurant like Azzurra Tratoria, that prices it's menu appropriately.

Since then, The Huron Club had closed it's doors for a period of time, and only recently reopened for business. It's unclear to me why this was, but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt in guessing it was either due to some kind of technical reno, or perhaps ownership was changing hands, leading to a makeover of the entire menu.

If there's anything we learned today in giving the place a second chance, it's that looks are deceiving, and even thought the exterior appears upscale, there's just no teaching an old dog new tricks.

Especially when they're still up to their old tricks.

With prices fairly comparable to that of their neighbors, the $20 burger I ordered tasted great for a $10 burger, containing two patties flat enough that they screamed prepackaged and previously frozen. And, even though my fries looked hand-cut, they were no different than what I've ordered at South Street Burger Co. or Five Guys Burgers And Fries.

To make matters worse, though the place was dead, it took for ever for our food to arrive. The restaurant itself felt like they'd shut off all the heat to save money, yet they kept the ceiling fans running, I'm guessing to deter customers so as to give the staff more reason to stand around and socialize. And for the most part, the main dining area was devoid of any staff, which would've made a dine-and-dash stupidly easy to pull off.

If I can make a suggestion, the next time you happen to be visiting the slopes of Collingwood and are looking to drop $50 to $60 for lunch, go to Azzurra Tratoria.

At least then paying a tip will be...

We had a reservation for 6 for dinner. The Huron Club came highly recommended. Well our experience was pathetic. First of all we were seated and waited 20 minutes until the manager finally came over and apologized for forgetting us. Our server came over and stumbled through the specials and took our drink order. The wine came , the beer came. and we waited. Finally the manhattan came. It looked weak. Didn't taste right but who could complain, we didn't see our server for awhile. Finally we made our order. Our appetizers came in good time and were delicious. Our dinners came nice and hot and tasted good. But we didn't see our server to remove our plates or ask for desserts for forever. Finally another staff member came and cleared our plates. We ordered a spanish coffee ,and irish coffee and a coffee with Brandy on the side. The coffee came...no brandy ...no cream and sugar...no specialty coffees. The brandy came in a shot glass not a brandy snifter. The specialty coffees came with salt on the glass not sugar. We asked for them to be replaced and the manager said their bartender didn't show up so a waitress was making drinks. We mentioned the Manhattan. He mentioned that the manhattan was made with the wrong ingredients.The coffees were replaced. The service was subpar. At one point the manager came over and accused my father of being rude to the server. When the bill came nothing was done to reflect the poor service. When I got up and discussed the situation with the owner. He first said " well he drank the manhattan so it couldn't of been that bad. " I said that wasn't the issue so he begrudgingly took it off. Then he said rather rudely" what else do you want off?" In the end he took off 24.00 off the bill. He was rude, blamed his server even though it was his poor management that made our night less enjoyable. I wouldn't recommend going here. If you are unhappy with anything the manager is a pill and refuses to take any responsibility for his own failures. The food is great. The staff is managing under a jerk to work for. I wish we had read the reviews before we went because he has had quite a few...