Tall Trees — Restaurant in District Municipality of Muskoka

Our group has been dining at Tall Trees restaurant for twenty plus years when it was under previous ownership/management. Last night on a Saturday we managed to secure a 6pm reservation. When we arrived we were seated and our waitress took our drink selections and we were told that if we wanted the Prime Rib we would need to place the order immediately as there were just a few servings left. Two from our group committed to ordering the prime rib but we asked that it be held as we wanted to enjoy our drinks and then appetizers. The waitress informed us that she couldn't do that and appeared very inflexible when one of the persons in our party indicated all she had to do was tell the chef to put the order on hold. She insisted that she couldn't and when a person in our party asked her to ask the chef she stormed of saying, "yes Sir!" She was visibly upset and when she came back through our room she ignored us and avoided eye contact. This continued for another 15 minutes as she served the group in an adjoining room and we still hadn't received our drink orders. I approached the manager/owner and discussed the waitress' behaviour. I was informed that she was very upset so I suggested that we have a change in server. When I discussed with the owner why it was so difficult to just have the prime rib dinners put on hold and that we felt like we were being rushed through our dining experience she told me that they normally don't hold the prime rib because people change their minds and it goes to waste. I indicated that the two people in our group had ordered it and committed to eating it. I also found it quite unusual that the restaurant had run out of Prime Rib at 6pm which is an early reservation. She indicated to me that Prime Rib is expensive and they don't want it to go to waste and that it was unusual for them to get that many orders of Prime Rib. That being said she didn't apologize for her staff's unprofessional behaviour or that we were being rushed through dinner. Our meals finally arrived and quite honestly it was Much Ado about Nothing! The boneless braised beef short rib was overdone and dry and the steak was overdone too. We spent over 600.00 on our meal and in all my years it was the poorest dining experience I've ever had in all my years of dining at this restaurant. The owner did change our server however our group felt that we were treated poorly and that from the very beginning we were treated like a herd of cattle, pressured to order and leave asap. The owner/manager didn't apologize and appeared to support the unprofessional behaviour of her staff. This definitely is not the restaurant it used to be and I wouldn't recommend dining here whether local or as a tourist. Two...

Went to Tall Trees this past Saturday night. 5* for the food, 1* for the service.

Our visit started by arriving for our reservation and we can only assume we were forgotten by the person who greeted us at the door as we stood there on our own for a long time. After being seated in a rear room things seemed to be going okay. We ordered our food and drinks and we were once again forgotten as our server spent her time engaging with the table behind us. Luckily there was a water jug on the window-sill beside us as refills on any drinks, water, beer or wine were never offered. No checks on our meals. The main downfall was the large table behind us who was very loud, carrying on with inappropriate and rude conversations. We rearranged our table settings to sit closer to each other in order to try to have some dinner conversation.

As our plates were being cleared, I asked if it was possible to have our dessert at another table, which without even checking, the server responded, that wouldn't be possible as they were a full house that night. She then suggested she might be able to but it would be a 30 minute wait while they reset the table. At this time, there was 4 empty tables seen on my walk to the washroom. As I was returning from the washroom, I find my partner who had been told to grab my purse as he was directed to another table, still dirty and stained from the previous meal.

After having to ask about the daily dessert special, to which, I don't even know if there's any left was the response, she disappeared for a long time again. Upon her return we asked if the amazing tart was plain, we were told it was a plain tart served with vanilla ice cream. The tart arrived and as soon as we cut into it, raisins came swimming out, my partner hates raisins, which is why we asked. Had we been properly informed, we would have picked one of the other desserts from the menu. Finally we were offered our bill, we paid and we left to head back to our hotel frustrated that a restaurant that had been so highly recommended for our special occasion left us very disappointed.

Our food was great, but poor planning for placement of a reservation near a large and loud table, curt and neutral responses combined with long wait times for any attention from our server while she chatted up and joked around with other tables left much...

We booked last minute on the 30th for the 31st, unaware they had a New Years Menu. Last table available. We showed up for our reservation at 5pm, got to our table and realized they had a set menu for the night. We let our server know, apologized, and said we were looking for drinks and a few apps. After realizing it wasn't an option to get any other food than what was on the menu, we felt bad and decided we would have a couple of drinks and then leave. It was very clear our server was unhappy, after a few moments the owner came to our table. She explained to us that it is a set menu and encouraged us to order. She then explained the cancellation fee was typically $100 ($50/ea), but since we are good customers and we have been in there several times, she was willing to work with us. We explained we would get a couple of drinks and then leave. She said they had turned down several customers in order to fill the reservations, she wanted a compromise for us having that table. We asked her what compromise she was looking for and she said she would be willing to do $50 cancellation fee instead of the full $100 - even though we admitted to an honest mistake and apologized, and were still willing to spend money on drinks. We decided we would rather not spend any money there if this was the treatment we get on top of paying a cancellation fee. When we were leaving, the hostess said she would call around to some of the people they turned away to see if they could fill the reservation. The owner explained she wouldn't charge us if she could fill the table. We got a call within 10 minutes to say it had been filled.

All of this was done in front of other customers. We were made to feel like we were less than and left feeling quite embarrassed. We have been here several times and for a few special occasions, my husbands business has purchased gift cards for his employees since we loved this restaurant so much, and every opportunity we gave them praise and a recommendation for their food quality and service.

We will not be back because of our experience...