Symposium Cafe Restaurant Guelph — Restaurant in Guelph

Absolutely horrible experience...will never go back. My friend and I both ordered the BLT with side Caesar salad The sandwich had two small pieces of bacon, lettuce and the tomatoes were not edible. The tomatoes were white in colour and hard as a rock. We brought our disappointment to the manager's attention who responded that "that is the way they get the tomatoes""He took our plates and said he would show the kitchen staff. When he returned he advised us that the tomatoes had now been separated in the kitchen. Not sure what this meant ...but obviously this did not address our concern over paying almost $20.00 for a sandwich which was not edible. Imagine our astonishment when we got the bill and the manager did not take the cost of the sandwich off the bill. When I talked to him about not taking the sandwich off the bill...he basically said "too bad" and didn't care that we were really unhappy. I have never written a poor review before but couldn't believe the lack of customer service. I will be letting all my friends and family know to never go to this restaurant. For the sake of a $20.00 bill this manager could of and should of handled this situation so differently and we would have left on a positive note. There is a lot of competition with restaurants in Guelph. I will be spending my money in a establishment the serves not only great food...but am made feel that I am a valued customer. Perhaps a course in customer service would benefit this manager so this restaurant does not lose more customers in...

Went out on a Friday evening for their fish & chips special. Beer was great, food was fantastic... Once we finally got it. Took absolutely WAY too long, very nearly an hour after ordering. Our server explicitly avoided our table, after my first inquiry into what was taking so long. It seemed he deliberately took the long way around and avoided eye contact, so as not to have to deal with us. Finally, the host/manager came to speak to us and we were told they "cleaned the fryers earlier in the day and FORGOT to turn them back on". ( Seriously?? On the day your special is FRIED fish and chips? ) Nevermind that there were other tables being served fish, that had come in after us - which the guy denied and tried to explain away that only one fryer was running, they had ordered before us , blah blah blah.

To their credit, when it did arrive, the food was fresh, hot, and delicious; and we were advised our meal would be 50% off for the trouble.

Service was sorely lacking on this visit, to be honest. We were not the only ones upset, as the family of four behind us up and left after a dispute with the server and host (the details of which I missed exactly), and proclaimed they would likely never return, most certainly not to this location.

I would not say this is the typical Symposium experience, as I've had much better luck with the Waterloo location. So maybe try that...

From dessert to dinner, fantastic.

Symposium is probably my favourite place to eat in Guelph.

Though known for their dessert cakes in particular (and with good reason), I've had a variety of dishes there and been blown away every time. From steak to pasta and whatever else in between, Symposium can't seem to do wrong for me.

It's a slightly fancier place, but not so fancy that you're expected to be dressy. The atmosphere is nice and yet relaxed, with a slightly more "bar" atmosphere on one side (where they have some TV's and are playing major sports games) and more of a nice restaurant feel on the other. The two feel quite separate and yet it works very. Kudos to them for pulling this off.

With this slightly higher standard, the prices are a bit higher than what you might pay at a Kelsey's or a Montana's, but I wouldn't say it's overpriced, and I'm always happy to pay for what I get there. There are daily deals that seem fairly consistent and worthwhile.

Selection is full without being overwhelming, and they have a variety of wines that they recommend with different dishes. I can't comment on their beer selection.

Service has always been fantastic and kind, although a few meals of mine have taken a bit longer to receive on busier nights. Aside from this, however, I have nothing negative to say about Symposium. I highly...