Esca Gourmet Pizza + Bar — Restaurant in Ontario

My partner and I have been to ESCA a couple of times since moving to Cornwall and have had mostly positive experiences here. Our most recent visit came this past weekend, on June 19. As usual, we loved the food. In particular, the calamari and fish tacos were some of the best we have had in a long time! However, the service left a different impression. I would like to share my experience as I believe there are issues that could be improved upon to ensure the service level matches that of the food. When I called to make my reservation I was told there was a 90 minute limit and since my table was booked for 5:45, we would have to be done by 7:15. As someone with extensive experience in the restaurant industry as a maître de, I understand that, especially with the limited outdoor seating, there is a need to limit the time each group has at their table in order to maximize seating capacity. 90 minutes is tight for a nice dinner, but we figured it was definitely fair for a table of 2. When we arrived, we were reminded twice in the first 10 minutes that our table was rebooked for 7:15. I told our server we understood and we quickly ordered drinks and our first course. We wanted to wait to see how much food it would be before ordering a second course, and when we told our server that, she once again told us we had until 7:15. At this point we were beginning to feel rushed, before even getting our first course. We said we would order promptly and we did so. After eating both courses, it was 6:55, and thinking we had 20 minutes left before our 7:15 limit, we each ordered a negroni to cap the meal. After receiving our drinks, we were immediately informed that we would have to move because the table that was booked at ours for 7:15 had arrived early (at this point it was about 6:58). Confused, I said ok, not realizing that they were moving us to a table outside the patio area in the parking lot. We had three different staff come within a few minutes to tell us we had to move or leave, despite the fact that the 90 minute limit originally given to us was 15 minutes away still. The final nail in the coffin for me was when I was told by one of the servers that we could ‘move’ or we could ‘chug-a-lug’ our drinks. Again, had it been the end of our ‘allotted’ time slot, this would not have seemed as rude, but given that we were being kicked out of our seats and made to feel rushed out 15 minutes earlier than what was promised, I was extremely frustrated. We decided to go to the exile table and finish our drinks, as a negroni is not a drink I want to ‘chug’. In addition to this experience, the biggest issue I’ve had with ESCA in the past and up to this time is the overall lack of food/drink knowledge of the service staff. They never describe the food when they set it down and usually cannot answer specific questions about what is on the plate or about the wine list or drinks. This is unfortunate because the food is of very high quality and deserves to have a service staff that are at an equal caliber. We will most likely return to ESCA for the delicious food and hopefully the service is...

I visited Esca on a FEB Saturday night. It looked empty from outside but was actually quite busy. They have a nice setup where the front is more like a bar and seating for dinner is separated in the back.

The entire place was pretty chic and would not have looked out of place in downtown Toronto. In fact there were 27 really nice looking women (not that I was counting), at 2 separate birthday parties amongst the 30 or so patrons in the place when we arrived. These 27 women all seemed to be in the 25 or younger category and were all dressed very nice with short dresses or skirts and knee high boots or heels and exotic tattoos in exotic places etc etc etc... or so I was told by my Mom. Yes I was with my Mom... and my Wife, who may no longer be in the 25 age bracket, but is still quite the looker, and was the sole focus of my attention for the entire evening.

Okay, now that I have gotten myself into enough trouble, lets talk about the food.

They have a really nice craft beer selection including my local fav Rurban. The wine list (while not extensive) is also very good. My wife ordered a glass of Toasted Head which is always a winner and I ordered a Rurban 'Stop and goes' and it was spectacular! Craft Beer and wine are in the $6-8 range.

Esca probably has pasta and sandwiches on the menu but I only looked at the pizzas since I was distracted ... by ummm ... my beautiful wife. There are about 10 new wave pizzas on the menu that include descriptions like drizzled and infused and ingredients like arugula and prosciutto. All pizzas are thin crust and approximately 8 slices which are meant to be personal size, but I assume most people will take 2 slices home. Pizzas are in the $13-17 range.

We ordered a pizza each and shared amongst ourselves. All the pizzas were really good, with the JEDI being the overall favorite. Our waitress was beyond excellent and probably pushed this rating from a 4 star to a 5 star. We all agreed that our evening at Esca surpassed our expectations.

Oh and if you were a young handsome man looking for love in Cornwall, ON on this Feb Saturday night ... and you were not at Esca ... I can only assume you are...

It was easy to spot Esca from Normal traffic, which is a Big plus for me. I can't stand that some restaurants don't have huge signs or having lights on there signs saying there here, but this one had a big enough one to see from traffic. We were immediately greeted and offered a table no waiting which was great.

I've never been to this restaurant, so my expectations were kinda high. I was told great things about this place from my girlfriend and she was told by others that it had amazing food. They had multiple menu's for food, wine, and beer.

Yes, this place is handicap accessible. Not sure if they have handicap parking, we parked on the street. The service was great we had some laughs with our waitress plus she was more of the people kind of person that we like to run into. Unlike other restaurants where they are speaking off of a script and they sound monotone which is never fun.

The food was Amazing 👌 my girlfriend had a pizza not sure what kind she had and I ordered a Salmon that was battered and basically fell apart like it should. Before we had our actual dinner had some mussels with some garlic bread which was delicious.

The bathrooms needed to be mopped and that's all I can say about that. Bathrooms looked nice like they should 2 sinks if you we're wondering.

The bar area was brighter then the dining area, some T.V.'s and what it seemed like a lot of choices for alcohol. Which I couldn't partake in because I was the driver. They had this modern/New style atmosphere in the dining area. The waitresses and the bartenders looked like there running a great restaurant together as a team. As that I saw they all had smiles and so did every customer in the joint. So great work for them, I will be back to this place for a...