Little South Bistro — Restaurant in Mississauga

After seeing some impressive reviews and photos, I decided to visit Little South in Mississauga with friends for a birthday dinner. We made a reservation for a group of four (three adults and one child). Here’s a breakdown of our experience:

Ambiance

The ambiance was inviting, though the washrooms could use some improvements. It’s clear they’ve put effort into creating a nice atmosphere, but certain details seem to have been overlooked.

Food

We ordered the unlimited seafood thali, which was unfortunately disappointing. While the appam and parotta were fresh and made to order, the curries seemed as though they had been prepared earlier in the day. Three of the curries tasted off, as if they had started to spoil. The crab curry was particularly inconsistent—one darker version was flavorful, while another lighter version felt hastily prepared. Worse yet, the crab curry didn’t arrive with the rest of our meal. After multiple requests, it finally came in two separate portions, adding an unnecessary 20-minute delay. The fried fish was also served cold, which further dampened our enthusiasm for the meal.

We also ordered mac and cheese for the child in our group, but it was very disappointing. It tasted more like plain pasta in milk than an actual mac and cheese. After voicing our concerns, a staff member, likely the manager, came over and insisted on explaining how they make mac and cheese. Rather than offering a replacement, he made it seem like we were wrong about our own expectations for the dish, which felt dismissive and frustrating. When we asked for chicken strips as an alternative, he claimed they were out, and to our surprise, brought the same returned mac and cheese back to our table. There was no apology or attempt to accommodate, which left a bad taste in our mouths literally and figuratively.

Service

Customer service left much to be desired. Staff seemed tense and uncomfortable interacting with customers, and communication appeared strained. The staff lacked the warmth and attentiveness that would have made the experience enjoyable. It seemed like management hadn’t created a supportive environment for the team, as no one smiled, and everyone appeared stressed.

Final Thoughts

This experience was disappointing overall. While I may have picked the wrong dish for dinner, that’s no excuse for serving subpar food. Little South could benefit from addressing both the quality of their dishes and the training of their staff. Customer service and food quality need to improve for guests to feel welcome and valued. I hope management takes feedback seriously to create a better dining experience for...

Absolutely pathetic management forced us to leave the restaurant after a 45+ minute wait (despite our reservation that was made a day before). What made things worse was families with little children being made to starve in line for more than 20 minutes: some of them - just like us - with reservations.

Although you cater to a niche audience, it would be appreciated if you don't take that audience for granted. This isn't the only restaurant (especially one that offers Kerala buffets) in this neighbourhood.

We had a reservation for 3 at 2 PM. Walked into the fully crowded restaurant at 1:58 PM and waited for 10 mins until someone who seemed like a manager came by to check if we had a reservation. The "manager's" list of reservations was written on a few pieces of paper, which made it hard for him to track, and led him to forget about us and our reservation within 10 mins. Those who had no reservations simply waited at the front door and weren't told by the management that there was a long lineup of people who had already reserved their tables.

Several people in line were complaining about having a reservation but not being seated despite a 30 minute wait. We gave it a while due to the high quality of food during our last visit, but decided it wasn't worth it after 45+ mins of waiting and after seeing families with little children come after us without being seated. It's important for the management to remember that the restaurant's growth is equally dependent on strong customer service as it is on good food. It's unacceptable to keep children (from families who have made reservations) starving because of an inability and lack of staff to manage customers. The concept of having just one manager/employee for a crowd as much as Easter Sunday's reeks of improper planning and management.

While I recognize the difficulty it takes to manage a large crowd of hungry customers, this is something that should've been planned for when the Easter weekend promotions were launched, especially given this restaurant's multi-year expertise in this business. It is baffling to have customers with reservations walk out of your restaurant because they weren't seated even after a 45 minute wait.

Although my review won't do anything to mar the legacy of your business, I hope your team can accept this criticsm as constructive and that it helps your senior management open their eyes to see the flaws within your team's organization...

April 2025: We went for a special occasion lunch buffet, a family member got a reservation for all of us.

Pros -The food was good, that's why I gave it at least 2 stars

Cons Everything else was a bad experience unfortunately: a) We arrived 15 minutes before the reservation, we called ahead from the parking lot and were told "our table was being cleaned" so we entered expecting to be seated shortly after. b) Upon entering, there was no one was at the entrance, instead there were groups of guests who had walked in, and were waiting. It was disorganized and crowded. c) After waiting a bit, we walked into the restaurant and found someone who was in charge, we were told again "The table is being cleaned". So we continued to wait. d) The next 40 minutes consisted of just waiting and being told the table is almost ready, repeatedly. e) We finally were seated about an hour after arriving. (40 minutes after the appointment was scheduled). I should add they tried to offer us some bad seating near the entrance about 10 minutes before we were seated. f) They have surely taken in more guests than they can handle, the buffet lines were very long. There were a few buffet items that we had to wait to have re-filled. g) The plates were clean but were wet and smelled of dish soap. h) After the entire fiasco described above, were were (albeit politely) asked to leave just about 1 hour 15 minutes into dining, since there were more guests waiting. This was very unreasonable given the missing items and long buffet queue.

Again, the food was good so that's the only reason I want to be fair and not give it a one star. But the remaining experience was unfortunately terrible.

We have gone to several other buffets on special occasions, they have all had a table either immediately ready, or available within minutes. Clearly the management should have carefully scheduled reservations and turned away walk-ins. I get the impression they were only focused on maximizing the number of people they can get in, at any cost to customer experience.

Perhaps non-buffet days are good since they have so many good reviews, but unfortunately for me: I had one of the worst restaurant experiences in a very long time. They've...