PGSS Inc. Thomson House — Restaurant in Montreal

First off, this is NOT a student dormitory! It is a kind of private club for graduate students. It is a beautiful historic building that was donated to McGill's Post Graduate Student Society (PGSS). Many academic conferences and special events also take place here. For the last 25 years, through the good graces of the PGSS, I've been lucky enough to exhibit the artwork of the artists I've represented. This art is on all four floors of this magnificent building - over 100 paintings. The ground floor contains a restaurant with four separate rooms. The next floor up, through the main entrance, has a beautifully wood paneled bar and lovely comfortable sitting rooms. The third floor is a ballroom in which the conferences and special events are held. The top floor consists of meeting rooms and the administration offices. While it is really only open to its members, someone who comes to the building with the intent to just see the artwork, is not likely to be refused entry unless there is a special event that makes such a visit not possible. I am obviously partial to the place but genuinely think that for anyone who is interested in architecture and art, the opportunity to see it would...

We had a very disappointing experience today with one of the waiters. I had booked a table in advance for 15 people to have lunch, as we were celebrating some undergraduate students who were leaving the lab. When we arrived, the tables were set separately, even though the restaurant was completely empty. We politely asked if it was possible to rearrange them, but the waiter immediately refused in a very unapproachable manner. The worst part happened when one of my students approached her to ask something. Before he could even speak, she shouted “NO, THE FINAL ANSWER IS NO!.” We didn’t even know what he was going to say. This was especially upsetting because the student did not say anything at all. The lack of professionalism and empathy shown toward him was shocking. I was not the only one who noticed this behavior. Several of us, including postdocs and PhD students, were very disturbed by the way she handled the situation. It reflected zero professionalism and no respect toward the student and myself.. I would strongly encourage the management to address this with their staff and provide proper training on how to handle clients...

Super cool place to study and hang out, really like it's vibe and the staff is all chill and nice. Food is relatively well priced and they've got some pretty healthy options (and they're also decent, keep in mind I only order salads). That being said, they really need a new way to order lol, you basically spend 30 minutes eyeing the server (because you can't order food at the bar and the restaurant downstairs closes fairly early) and then they give you the menu and you spend another 30 minutes eyeing them again until you finally get your order submitted -- this applies 99% of the time, asked from one dude who is like omnipresent and knows exactly when I wanna order, that dudes amazing.

TLDR: I mean for a school restaurant it's cool, but ordering takes time. Wish there was a way they could make the process easier. Perfect spot to spend hours studying and hopefully you get the menu sometime in...