East Side Mario's — Restaurant in North Bay

sorry, had to edit this. went to dinner with the wife and in-laws. was not impressed. the wait staff, when we went in, appeared to be completely in the grasp of chaos and confusion. they just didn't seem to know where to put people, and there was quite a bit of confusion being directed towards one another until a manager showed up to direct them, something that shouldn't happen with experienced staff. once sorted out, it wasn't a very long wait for a table. so, when the waitress appeared, we ordered. first, I asked for soup, which she seemed taken aback to since she'd offered me salad. shouldn't have been an issue, but apparently it was. when I was served my soup, I was given a dirty spoon. dirty as in crusted food on it, so before she could run off, I asked for a clean spoon. again, apparently I asked for something odd, because eh was a bit shirty about it, and when she did bring me a spoon (again,. not particularly clean) she just dropped it on the table and ran off. so, I got to clean my own spoon. sigh the food was mediocre at best. the minestrone soup they're serving there these days is a decent canned soup. period. not up to par with what they used to serve. but, edible. I had past and meatballs. very bland sauce, over-cooked noodles and frozen meatballs. not particularly appetising, especially when it comes to the table luke-warm. at not time were we ever asked if we were enjoying anything, aside from taking the order and delivering the food, we were completely ignored. then came the bill. what a fiasco. my in-laws tried to pay with a pre-paid credit card they'd received as a gift. shouldn't have been a big deal. now, I knew what they were doing wrong, but chose to watch and see if they'd pick up on it. apparently, I was wrong. when inputting this type of card, you input the amount first, then hit credit. they kept, over and over, hitting gift card, not credit card. over, and over, and over. eventually, we got frustrated with this (as it was no loner funny) and just paid cash. disappointing. would we go back? no. the lighting is EXTREMLY obnoxious, to the point where you feel like you're in the center of a prison break. the LED floods they have everywhere in the restaurant just completely destroy the whole family atmosphere they used to have. it's literally so bright you'll regret not bringing sunglasses. sadly, this just shows up the so-so cleaning the tables get. ours was a bit sticky. sadly. so no, we won't...

I had the pleasure of having Valerie as my waitress tonight, February 4th. Although I only submitted four stars, it was not a reflection on her. Valerie has got to be hands down your best waitresses that I have seen yet (and I come in a lot). Right off the bat I felt like her friend and most importantly, I felt wanted and appreciated to be there. That’s not something that’s a “must” when going to a restaurant but its something that definitely improved my experience tonight. Not only was it her personality but its also the way she presented herself - she honestly looked like she loved her job and that was great to see as a customer. ESPECIALLY on a super bowl night. She didn’t even look stressed! Honestly, I was in the restaurant business and I can say from experience, Valerie deserves a raise. I cannot vouch enough for her… She was the best waitress I have probably ever had. Not probably, she is. Valerie, if you’re seeing this, you rock! She even had the cutest checks – she added her own little touch to them with cute stickers and smiley faces. Just proves she took the time and cares AND not to mention, she’s the first waitress that asked me if I had a scene card – no one else does. I can honestly write pages and pages about how awesome she was! However, I rated four stars because the pricing. I realize that we get unlimited soup, salad and bread therefore I sort of understand why my ravioli was $18.99 but I only had like 6 pieces of ravioli. For someone that perhaps didn’t like soup, bread, or salad that meal cost would be unbelievably ridiculous. I was still starving after. I can spend $18.99 at the grocery store and be able to serve a family. I think you should consider putting more ravioli in the dish. 6 pieces was extremely disappointing. Great experience, great waitress, great food (only a little too expensive). Overall deserved...

Just back from eating here....4 adults and 2 children that didn't eat as we had just come from the Northern Tykes indoor playground which BTW was excellent. I personally have never eaten East Side Mario's before but I assumed it would be like a Red Lobster or any of the other medium-quality chains in the area. My first impression was unfortunately bad. Drab, barren and colourless inside and the 'decor' was reminiscent of a school cafeteria. As well as very cold ( the kids both wore their outdoor jackets the whole time). The waitress was friendly when she sat us but from then on we had to ask twice for everything. One bun was provided and it took us 2 requests and 15 minutes to get another one....keep in mind we are 6 people even if the kids didn't eat, they still munched on a bun bit Another 20 minutes and apparently the 'chef' had to prepare another one which entailed another 20 minute wait and 2 more requests. It arrived 15 minutes after 1 side had been delivered. The salads ( which 2 of us ordered ) were lacking both ingredients and flavour and there was next to no dressing on the Caesar salad. The Canadian pizza was so bland that I would have much preferred if the chef had cooked a $4.00 Rising Crust one from No Frills. It would undoubtedly have been both faster and tastier. Keep in mind that we went at 3:00 in the afternoon and the restaurant was less than 1/2 full. All in all it was a TERRIBLE experience and I will NOT be going back there. If this is how the franchise presents itself, I will also not be going to one of their restaurants anywhere where we travel as well. NOT...