Solstice Restaurant & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Mississauga

I posted a review on Solstice restaurant on December 28. I have shown that review below. I received a response from the restaurant that I have also shown below. I feel I need to revisit the comments made in the response from the restaurant and that is as follows:

“I would like to address the comments made in the response from Solstice. Your assumption that you feel you have the right to address our budgetary concerns is quite presumptuous. It was not a case of budgetary concerns but merely a statement that your pricing for luncheon specials is over the top, along with the price of your wines. The pomposity of the statement speaks volumes of your reaction to constructive criticism.

In the ideal scenario, management should have addressed our initial comments re the wine pricing instead of putting that on the server to explain.

Just for the record, yes, the server asked if our meals were okay. Mention was made that the sauce was very thin and the response from the chef was that this was a natural reduction and that’s how it comes out. So replacing the initial meal would have been exactly the same.

You are correct, we would never entertain returning again since our expectations do not match your service or business."

The initial review:

“This is my second time here for lunch. Went on a Wednesday for the half price wine special. Mine was reasonable at $22.50 half price but my friend wanted a Pinot Grigio and the only bottle they would offer was $65, hence 32.50 half price. Having said that, their house wine Pinot was offered by the bottle at $40 but for some reason that wasn't included in their advertised half price option. Not cool.

Secondly our meal. So the luncheon special was penne chicken with Alfredo sauce. It was like a soup. Looked gross, but tasted ok. Also $21.95. Hardly a "special". Would certainly not recommend.”

The restaurant’s response:

“Hi Anna, Thank you for your visit yesterday. And thank you for taking advantage of our Half-Priced Wine Wednesday.

Our Wine Wednesday’s have become one of our most popular days of the week. We are able to offer our guests an opportunity to enjoy a bottle or two that they would not normally order. Our wine list is ever changing as we source wines from around the world. The half price only applies to wines from our bottle selection not our house wines. Just like any business, we reserve the right to choose what is offered under a 'sale'.

We are very surprised that you both left us a 1-star review.

It is a very rare occurrence for us to receive your kind of rating. We use our reviews and feedback as a tool to continue to strengthen our business and provide better guest experiences. We always strive to exceed our guests’ expectations.

In doing this, we have procedures and steps in place to ensure guest satisfaction. One of those steps is quality check from the server a few moments after any meal is served. This is to ensure the customer is happy and enjoying their meal and experience. Looking into this, the procedure was followed. Your server followed up with you both. She was informed that dish tasted great but not impressed with the presentation. We never want a guest to leave unhappy with their meal. She offered to have the dish remade but her offer to rectify the concern was declined.

We are not able to understand why you both would provide feedback on food that you both didn’t order. It is difficult for us to use that as constructive feedback and properly rectify issues. You decided to leave unhappy and provide a negative review instead. We pride ourselves in our food quality, selection, pricing, and service that has been well received and enjoyed by many of our guests over the past 18 years.

It's unfortunate our business and services do not fit your budgets and expectations. It is also unfortunate and very sorry we will no longer be sharing our hospitality with you both.

Happy New...

I'm honestly very disappointed because Solstice is a very nice restaurant with good food and a nice ambiance, but unfortunately the only thing that has me shaken up was the waitress which ruined my outlook on the whole resturant.

The first impression a customer gets from its establishment is its workers, in this case waitress. Which is why im a firm believer in hiring good staff who enjoy what they do instead of people who dont have their heart in it. She was very cold to us and on top of that approached a situation very inappropriately when it could have been handled maturely without harassment.

We were greeted by a nice hostess who then directed us to our waitress. I been to many restaurants before and I've never been so uncomfortable with a waitress as being in the customer service industry myself but I felt extremely cold and taken aback all night.

First, she was not friendly, did not come by often, she had a tone, and had a crazy uncaring attitude. I even told my partner midway that I didn't feel comfortable and that is surprising for me because I usually don't feel this way. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt because maybe she was having a rough day.

Second, we were at the restaurant for two hours with only being given our apps n mains. Our main itself took more than 30 mins to arrive while we were debating on leaving. ( because firstly your waiter doesn't have an approachable kind attitude then secondly your food is taking beyond 30 mins to arrive which is ridiculous being a high end restaurant.) Altogether, we felt isolated and unattended to for the majority of the night.

Lastly, we were trying to get ahold of the waitress because we were frustrated and everything took a long time and just would rather have our desserts packed. We had to ask another gentleman to do this as our waitress was mainly MIA!!

Now when it came to paying, her attitude switched she suddenly started complimenting and engaging with us, but by that time it was too late because the service was not there what so ever all night, therefore , there was no reason to tip. Tips are for showing appreciation for good service and there was no service or nothing to appreciate by this waitress what so ever.

On our way out, at our car, the waitress followed us and confronted us regarding her service and tried to talk down on us and "educate" us about her job. This is harassment and this could have been approached in a million different other ways. Chasing us to our car is not only ridiculous and disrespectful but also gives off psychotic behavior.

To demand a tip is insane for service that was not even half of what my standard is, which is why we did not tip. If gratuity is mandatory it should have been said like most resturants do. But it is not and I am not obligated to tip when I don't even feel a common sense of respect between myself and a waiter. This is entitlement, u get what you give.

I was so shaken up and taken aback by being chased and confronted I did not handle this situation the way I wanted. I was scared the waitress could possibly take a further step and I did not want to be in such an altercation. I offered her a tip regardless because I felt harassed and disrespected and I just wanted her gone therefore in that moment I was willing. To add on I always tip, we never had a problem like this before. I love showing appreciation for someone's hard work and providing a tip, so this was the first time... so there's an obviously a valid reason it was against me this time around.

Please hire better. People go to resturants for the service as much as we go for the food. If I just wanted food I would have ate at home. Disturbed and very very disappointed. How can...

Celebrated our annual pre-Christmas dinner last week along with 10 other family members. Upon arriving we were greeted with a friendly face and made to feel very welcome. The atmosphere was very clean and inviting!. It wasn't untill we received our food that things took a very sour turn. 4 out of the 11 meals were cold upon arriving to the table 2 of them being the most expensive item on the menu wich is the New York steak( $35.95 ) I personally ordered the steak along with 4 tiger shrimp for $16.96 and a ice tea. My steak was cold and bland my shrimp were NOT tiger shrimp at all and were just warmed in a sea of butter and garnished with a branch of parsley. No one came back to the table to check on how anything was, untill someone went to complain to the server that our meals were cold. When she came to the table the only option given was "i'll have them make you a new one "  to only one person and without even hearing them out just left the table.  I had been sitting there for so long that I ate some of the food on my plate out of sheer hunger. When my sister in law went to speak to the manager to get some attention she was brushed off very rudely and not listened to in the slightest she was also told that the cameras were being checked which implied that we were all lying about our food being cold! Because he insisted that the food came right out. No drinks got refilled and i didn't even have a fork or napkin so I used the napkin out of the bread basket and took someone's salad fork to eat what little I could stomach of the cold bloody meat on my plate. And still no one came back to the table not even the server. My cousin then went and found the manager and began to speak to him in a calm manner and all I could see from the table was him waving his arms around so I went over and stood in on the conversation in wich he was saying he could give us desert on the house and that's all he could do his hands were tied. At that point I interrupted and said I was not paying for a cold meal I did not eat or enjoy he then told me "that's bot what i was told" again implying that i was lying and when I mentioned the steak his response was " Well we're not a steak house ... so you shouldn't come here for steak". But you have the nerve to charge me $36 ?!? So i simply said I wasn't paying for it and he insisted I pay for the shrimp and I refused. He then reluctantly said he was going to comp us our cold meals even though he was going to lose money ... Very unprofessional and tactless. This was utterly the WORST dining experience of my life I have never EVER written a bad review, i feel its better to just not go back, But felt compelled to share because of how disrespected I, along with the rest of my family were made to feel. Lastly my Brother in law just wanted to speak to the manager to clear the air and calm the situation down and was told he could just get his meal comped instead. Because the manager was hiding in the corner by the bar unable to have a normal conversation with a patron. Or maybe its because we were the only "ethnic " table in the place that he couldn't deal with us anymore.  We were forced to pay for gratuity and were told its a house policy and that they couldn't take the charge off. 4 meals got comped not including drinks apps or gratuity. I payed $3.95 for a ice filled glass of ice tea without refills. I would give this place a negative star rating if i could. The Manager was very unpleasant to deal with and needs to take a class in how to speak to people of ALL races and genders and maybe throw in class on customer service/relations while you're at it! Will not...