Mario's BBQ — Restaurant in Mississauga

I'm writing this review solely about the appalling treatment my fiancé and I received from Jimmy (the owner), and an older female employee (who I believe is Jimmy's mother) at Mario's BBQ Hurontario location.

My fiancé's family has ordered from Mario's BBQ multiple times without issues, including a large order for 200+ people at their Creditview location. Encouraged by these experiences, we decided to cater our engagement party for around 35 guests from Mario's.

My fiancé was in contact with owner Jimmy through email, as he mentioned that's the best way to stay in contact with him. On November 5th, we confirmed a pickup day and time for November 24th at 7:30pm. After some discussion with my fiancé, we decided that it would be better to pick up the food the same day of our party instead of the night before. On November 15th, my fiancé e-mailed Jimmy to see if it was possible to change our pickup time to November 25th at 2:00pm. The next day, November 16th, Jimmy responded directly to her request with a simple "No problem".

Fast forward to November 24th at 7:30pm - We called the Hurontario location and tried paying over the phone but were rudely informed that it's only possible to do so in person. After we arrived, the rude lady at the register (who I believe is Jimmy’s mom), claimed we missed our pickup, despite showing her our email confirmation. She insisted it was a communication error, even though our exchanges were timestamped and in writing.

After showing her proof of our email conversation, she called Jimmy, who claimed our pickup was indeed on the 24th. The lady turned from rude and stand-offish, to downright disrespectful. Overwhelmed, my fiancé wanted to just take the food to avoid conflict. On the same hand, I didn't like the idea of any food going to waste so I was willing to take the food that night too.

I'm not one to ever ask for deals or haggle or even leave reviews for that matter, but I felt that we were being screwed over, so I told the lady "we're willing to take the food tonight, but since this was a mistake caused by you guys, maybe you can cut us some sort of deal. Otherwise, I'll pay you the full amount for the food but I want it fresh and ready for pickup tomorrow". The lady's reaction turned aggressive as she began mocking me for even suggesting a deal, almost as if I was there to steal from them. After she finally stopped, I paid for the order and confirmed tomorrow’s pickup.

The next day, the owner sent us a cryptic email that added to our worry. He told my fiancé that he would not be “releasing” our order until she called him. On the phone all he did was blame everything on a "communication error" and tried guilt-tripping us about wasted food, excusing his oversight due to a him having a lot of emails to go through—a very shocking excuse for a business owner.

I had a friend of mine pick up the order, and sent him a picture of the receipt. I asked him if he'd review the receipt with the staff at Mario's BBQ and make sure that nothing was missing because we've had some bad experience the last couple of days. He told me that the person handing him the food was very rude and standoffish and insisted that the entire order was there without double checking.

Turns out they did miss an entire tray of the grilled veggies, but I'm so done with dealing with these people that I don't even care about that anymore. The food tasted fine, but the customer service all around was horrible. I will never recommend this place ever again.

Also, maybe it's time to reevaluate your staff, Jimmy - your mother in particular. Read some...

Been going to Marios BBQ since the 90s when they had their first shop on Dundas with barely any room to walk in and place your order. They moved to another location with a sit down restaurant down the street but unfortunately had a fire and moved to where they are now, next door to the sketchy Mcds with druggies outside and since then they have been on the steady decline. Chicken and other food was superb back in the day with the smell of chicken firing on the grill and smoke exuding out the exhaust fans flooding the street with mouth watering Portuguese food & BBQ chicken aromas. However, in the last 5 years they have really, and I mean REALLY taken a dive! There is no passion in the food anymore, there are always new staff with even children running the counter now! The woman owner behind the counter can be warm and friendly one day, and cold and rude the next. The worst part now though is their chicken! You can really tell they have changed suppliers and are now offering a low grade quality chicken but their prices have gone up 20%! The wing/drum portion of the chicken is deformed and inedible (Talk about GMO) I seriously can't even eat it and have to discard it, and the overall nature of the chicken is extremely low grade both in taste and appearance that even my mother refuses to eat their chicken now. I used to tell everyone go to Marios, and being Portuguese myself, I have eaten at all the Portuguese chicken churrasqueiras all over Toronto but always recommended Marios for their outstanding food and hot sauce - but not anymore! Now it's a hit or miss type place. In the last five years they have focused all their attention and efforts on bottling and selling their hot sauce in grocery chains (which I will say to this day still tastes great that I often buy bottles for home to put on other foods like pizza and pasta) to opening more locations that they lost sight and interest in their actual food, the quality, and their customer service! Mario & Jimmy, bring back the delicious chicken you used to cook back from 10 years ago!! Your customers will pay more for quality. We understand prices and wages have gone up but the quality shouldn't have to suffer and neither should your customers! Bring back the passion for the food and the loyalty of your customers will always be there. Get out the sketchy crackhead plaza (which feels like I will be robbed at anytime walking to the door) and into a decent location. Had this been 10 yrs ago I would have given 10 stars! Seriously Marios BBQ, get your shit together! I think that when Jimmy took over the majority of the operation and responsibility of running the restaurant is when this place started to...

Here’s a lesson in business:

I ordered two chickens. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted them in one or two containers. I told her to do whatever was easiest for her. She opted for one container. Later, when I checked the bill, I noticed a $2 “carving fee.”

When I confronted her about not mentioning the fee upfront, she denied failing to disclose it and claimed, “That’s why I asked you.” However, she never explicitly mentioned that the one-container option came with an extra charge—she only asked about the container preference. When I pointed this out, she directed me to speak with her boss.

When her boss approached the counter, I explained the issue: his employee failed to mention the extra charge when presenting the container options. Instead of acknowledging this, he repeatedly insinuated that “everyone knows” about the $2 fee for two or more chickens. This dismissal completely ignored my point about the lack of transparency, as though it was my fault for not knowing an unposted policy.

To make matters worse, the chicken wasn’t even cut properly, and it ended up upsetting my stomach, lol.

It wasn’t about the $2—I could care less about the amount. While I was voicing my concern, the boss rudely opened the register to offer the $2 back, but I refused. I wasn’t looking for a refund; I just wanted them to acknowledge the lack of transparency and address it honestly, not try to “shoo” me away with money.

So, over a ridiculous $2 fee, paired with rude service, dishonesty, and disappointing food, you’ve just lost a...