East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Ontario

Generally I don’t review unless it was a great experience, but “Jasmine”, who wanted to be mentioned ,insisted I scan the code to leave a review as there was some kind of competition going on. My husband and I came in, a rare dinner out these days and asked for a booth (generally a hint that it’s a date night) and were seated beside a table of 20+ teenagers and parents, I would assume a team of some sort. I have been a waitress for many years as well as a chef for many years so I know how hard these jobs can be and I know how important certain aspects are. Our waitress was doing pretty good, aside from so sugar for the tea and coming to the table beside us and not even looking over to check her section as I tried to get her attention so my tea was cold by the time I got my sugar. The teapot lid also didn’t close properly so it was cooling faster than usual. When our meals came my husbands pasta was undercooked and the chicken parm was all coating and so overcooked and dry it was barely edible !! (And that has to be extreme for my husband, he is not picky)much more than el dents, and mine had raw onions in it. I would assume they should have been pan fried first, but completely raw. Both dishes had mushrooms on the menu, but we got 4 thin slices between us. Then our waitress disappeared, came back to ask if we wanted drink refills which she then forgot and dissappeared for another 20 minutes. I think staff was downsizing as she was getting drinks and taking new tables in another area, but really? We have been done eating for 20 minutes! We were looking forward to the dessert trio but just got the bill and still waited about 7 minutes for her to go find the card machine. Would you not bring that with you and save yourself a trip? Mind you she spent the whole time empty handed, which anyone in the business knows you never have your hands empty. Our table still had EVERYTHING on it when we paid the bill!! Oh, and I’m pretty sure this restaurant does well, they may want to invest in some new toilets, or at least new seats so you don’t have to try to wipe them just to find out they are that old and stained and most of them actually mounted crooked!!

Hope you win the contest Jasmine because you didn’t win and...

Went in for dinner with my girlfriend, and waited around at the front for about 5~ minutes with no sign of any front of house staff, until an older gentleman seated us, who I assume is the manager and/or owner. A hostess came by our table soon after that, giving us drinks and menus no problem, food came quickly and was as delightful as it is when we usually go, but it unfortunately went downhill from here. Our hostess left on our table for the entire meal: my empty salad bowl, my girlfriend’s empty water cup (which she left after bringing her a new water), and both of her empty salad bowls. Keep in mind, it’s about 3:30 in the afternoon and we’re one of maybe 6-7 tables MAXIMUM, and there were at least 2 other hostesses working. When bringing us our bill, I informed our hostess we’d like to pay with gift card, but since my girlfriend was in the washroom that she could bring the machine around when she was back at our table. Not long after my girlfriend returned, and I watched our hostess walk right by us without so much as a word. My girlfriend and I continued our conversation for about another 10 or so minutes before the same gentleman that seated us brought over the machine so we could pay, seeming a bit apologetic that we hadn’t been able to pay yet. In the process of setting the machine for us to pay with gift card, he automatically selected an 18% tip which we had no say in deciding, and when asked about the discrepancy in our bills he kind of just changed the subject. (We did not know it was a tip) Needless to say that the service we got was not deserving of the $10+, 18% tip we were tricked into giving our hostess who barely checked on us. Despite being regulars and always enjoying our time at east sides, this experience soured our experience and means we will not be visiting this location again. We’ve been to many of their other locations who don’t sneakily force gratuity on their loyal customers (which is entirely illegal, so I’ll be reporting this to the correct authorities, as the tip was not stated anywhere on our printed bill!), and will not be going back to this location. A shame, because it’s the closest one to my house and the one that we frequented within the last 6 months, with no issues...

2:15pm “Hey”, was her greeting “Table for 2”, I responded. “Sure”, was her reply. She showed us to our booth and then she sat down at a table and chilled with a male coworker. 2:22pm “Want a drink?”. Yes I’ll take a Caesar and my lil one will take the cotton candy drink. I’d also like… SHE WALKS OFF WITHOUT A WORD. Drinks were brought out promptly. I requested my appetizer. Approx 2:35pm Gentleman quickly slid the appetizers off the tray and said nothing ..slid the plates off the tray and hurried away. Not sure the hurry…the place was dead empty. 5 mins later he brought the entrees. Waitress popped up and asked if all was well. Before I could ask for more soup she was gone again. I had to wait forever. Found it kind of frustrating. I ordered endless soup. It’s hard to get endless soup when the waitress thinks her serving time has ended. She never came back for approx 25 mins. Staff is not receptive, perceptive or welcoming. “You want cheese on it.” She asked when serving my daughter’s pasta. “There!” She exclaimed as she brashly extruded the cheese from the handheld grater before scurrying off.

The food was acceptable. The chef(s) did well. Seasoned nicely…you can taste some love in the food. But the marinade on the chicken was clearly out of a pouch or something. For the price…it will do.

I ordered all you can eat soup but the waitress never came back so I only had one bowl until 3:23pm, she came back to ask if we were ok. I asked for a soup. It’s only a cup or two at a time. Broth mostly. A quick supplement.

3:37 I’m done waiting for the opportunity to ask for more soup. I am waiting for the bill. 3:47 and I am watching the waitress walk by and by.

3:55 she brought more soup and dropped off the bill I requested. Almost 20 mins later in a restaurant with less than 5 patrons.

I took a pic of the leaning tower of plates as they patiently waited to be escorted off of the table for over an hour. There was no clearing of the table. There was no…..service.

And the little service obtained was….scarce. I waited 20 mins for my bill. I...