Einstein's Cafe — Restaurant in Guelph

I really wanted to like this place, I have never been and I was excited because of the reviews. Unfortunately, the customer service was not great. The server was very rude from the get go. They came up to us at the door and gave us a seat right next to the door, we asked if there were any other tables (as we have never been before and we didn’t know if there was more space than the main room, I still don’t know if there is lol) and she said “Nope that’s it” in a standoffish tone. We said alright now worries, just wondering. We sat down and noticed there were no drinks listed on the menu or a drink list. When she came back for our drink order we asked if there was a drink menu. From there she, very irritably, went behind a table and grabbed a chalkboard wine list (only bottles) off the wall and then she went off to get the beer menu. 10 minutes later comes with a very large chalkboard menu and holds it, we’re obviously annoying her as she’s making it very clear. We both ordered a beer and she grumpily says “So you’re both ordering beers, why did you make me grab the wine list?!” We said we didn’t know it was right there and we didn’t want to get a bottle of wine. The beer menu wasn’t even in the room and we have never been before”, We starting to feel so sorry and so anxious at this point to piss her off. We order the food without and issue, she was just annoyed with us. Food was good!! I work in the service industry and know that it is stressful and sometimes long days, but that was seriously the worst customer service I have ever had. I wanted to leave cash and just leave without the food because I was anxious for her to come back.

Food was good but...

Services 2/10 Food 7/10 Portion sizes 10/10 Patio 10/10

I couldn't believe how rude our server was to us (and to other guests). We waited too long to have our order taken, and asked another server to grab our waitress. She arrived and said "what, are you in a rush?" When we stayed that we were just ready to order she said "you reservation was a really for six but you showed up early". This was not the case, we had adjusted our reservation hours ago. Even if that had been the case, that's not how you handle that.

We were on the patio (which was great) but we then had the opportunity to hear her unpleasantly bark at other potential patrons saying that they had no tables available. One couple walked up and asked to see the menu, and rudely said to them (3 times) that there were no tables. The couples still wanted to look at the menu as they live nearby and may be back another night. She was so short with them and treated this request as extremely inconvenient. The couple walked away shocked (but laughing) about how rude she had been to them.

The table next to us was also taken aback when - seconds after being handed menus - they were asked if they were in a rush. They even asked the server why she asked them that question when they felt they had not given indication that they were in a rush. She offered an explanation that I did not hear.

There serverice was enough to ensure that we will not be...

Came here for a friend's birthday, I think there was about 15 of us, so we got the front end section of the restaurant. Wait staff are super friendly. We had the cornbread, which in my opinion was just okay. We also ordered the tapas spread, which was a trio of different types of humus dips and spreads, my favourite was the roasted red pepper humus. I also ordered their special that evening which was the butter chicken and came with a soup or salad. I opted for the daily soup special which was the roasted red pepper with tomato. It came out pipping hot and you could taste the little purred chunks of tomato, it was really quite yummy.

Since we were a large group service was a bit slow, but I didn't mind since all of us were chatting. My butter chicken was alright. Serving size was massive, felt like it was served on a 15" plate size. I got one huge chicken breast that was marinated in the curry sauce, a large portion of white rice, and some sauteed zucchini, carrots, and some fresh spinach.

In my opinion, I think the butter chicken tasted more like a Thai chicken to me. The curry that they used was yellow and had hints of coconut milk in it, whereas butter chicken I have eaten before was more of a red/orange colour, and you can taste that masala flavour. The dish wasn't bad, but just threw me off because I was expecting something else. But overall, a really great...