Tauro Restaurant — Restaurant in Ontario

If only words could describe how awful my experience here was. They make reservations on a sheet of paper with no host / Maître D' at the door so the waiters are frantically trying to serve and seat people while fumbling reservations.

The menu online hasn't been updated since the stone age and as such, many things we wanted to eat were unavailable.

The atmosphere is cold and the music is so low you can hear the conversations at the tables on each side of us. It makes you feel as if you're intruding on them.

Appetizers took over an hour to be served: the carpaccio was stone cold as if it was pre-cut the morning of during mise en place and taken out of the fridge every time an order came in, the dumplings were most likely store bought and tasted of nothing, the sambuca shrimps were surprisingly quite nice.

Main courses took another hour to be served, 2 filet mignon's medium rare. One was medium "raw" and the other barely over rare. We asked to hold the veg, the kitchen insisted it be served with. One was sent back and the chef / owner scoffed at the idea of removing it from the bill (the same one that was cut down the middle and returned and not touched)

We decided to stop the bleeding and avoid dessert. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...

I understand mistakes happen, I understand retaining staff is difficult and I understand bad nights happen but this was a symphony of disasters and missteps.

They suggested I try to call before leaving a review as some form of damage control, but hearing the chef / owner loudly bad mouth our table axed that option.

Ashley the waitress was wonderful!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor and avoid this place at all costs. Your palate and wallet will graciously thank you!

Tauro? More like Bull!

Edit: Following the owner's response and in the spirit of honesty and transparency, I'd like to offer a few final clarifications.

First, the server did not, as you claimed, "offer two glasses of wine" that are not typically served by the glass. After apologizing profusely for the over-an-hour wait for our appetizers—and given that the wine list appeared to be curated by someone with little understanding of how to build a proper one—I specifically asked for and paid for two of the only semi-decent options worth drinking.

As with most things in life, balance is key. If the music is too loud, you feel like you're at a rock concert; too low, and you're in a city library. In this case, all that was missing were the books. The lighting was also so harsh and uneven that any sense of warmth or coziness was nonexistent. These issues, like several others mentioned earlier, might be simply resolved by having a Maître D’ present on the floor.

Next, I never claimed to have spoken directly to the chef. Given how long the meal took, I can only imagine the outcome had he left the kitchen. What I actually said was: “He scoffed at the idea of removing the raw steak that was received and sent back.” Our table was positioned near the kitchen entrance coupled with only a handful of guests remaining at that late hour, and the music so low, we clearly overheard the comment. Furthermore, when I asked our lovely waitress for the bill, she kindly asked for a few minutes to prepare it, as she was attempting to have said steak taken off — so it was certainly not removed immediately.

Lastly, a 6 oz. filet should take approximately 8–10 minutes to cook. Including resting time, flashing, plating, and service, you're looking at a maximum of 18–20 minutes. We waited over an hour. Flow and timing are critical in F&B: serve too quickly and the guest feels rushed; serve too slowly, and you end up with the unfortunate experience we had on what should have been a celebratory Father’s Day supper.

I'm encouraged to hear that you value feedback—and that even feedback as critical, direct and honest as mine was received with humility and a genuine desire to improve. If the $200+ spent that evening contributes to making the establishment better, then I consider it money well spent.

Best of luck...

Have you heard the saying that everything goes wrong at the same time? That was our first visit to Tauro. We decided to try again, as I don't like leaving poor reviews unless it's truly deserved.

Our 2nd visit was like night and day! The atmosphere was calm, quiet, and relaxing. The temperature and music were perfect, setting the mood for a nice meal. Service was efficient and not rushed. Trisha was very pleasant and managed our table perfectly. The food was awesome! I'm so happy we decided to return for another try. Can't wait for patio season to try various appetizers because it was difficult to pick only 1 last night. Prices are fair for the economic disaster we are living.

My husband made an online reservation and received a confirmation email. Upon arrival, we were told the online booking system wasn't working. The couple in front of us were told the same. We were placed at the entrance, so I was cold the entire time. Everyone walking in passed by us. Not the romantic atmosphere we were looking for as a Valentines date. We were given our menu, and then after a while, we were given the special menu. We ordered, and the appetizers arrived in a timely manner. We had to pour our own wine. The water glasses weren't refilled until we asked. Our main course took about 25 minutes after we finished our appetizers. The orders were incorrect. She left my main and I waited for my husband's, thus, my was cold by the time his arrived. The couple before us received their meal after us. The couple beside us didn't receive their appetizers, but only their main course. The ladies' restroom didn't have anything to dry my hands with. I ordered the filet mignon. There wasn't a peppercorn gravy on the menu, but it covered my steak. If it was on the menu, I would have asked for it to be on the side. It was overly salty. The vegetables were good. Perfectly cooked. The orzo was out of place for the meal. Why add it to the plate? All in all, I was very disappointed as our neighbors were. They said so on their way out. Not the romantic, delicious Valentine meal we were looking forward to. Disappointed. A lovely waitress took my name and number. I'm hoping that I receive a call from the owner/chef as promised. I did feel for the lovely young gentleman who greeted us. He was literally thrown into host position as she quit. He was very polite, apologetic, and doing his best. Over $100 a head, I expect better, especially since we skipped dessert just because we felt bad for people waiting to be seated. Hopefully, this was just a bad night, and the restaurant is successful, but it won't be...

Honestly me and my valentine were very excited about coming here for St. Valentine’s day, we booked over two weeks in advance and they called us twice to change the time and to confirm. They changed our reservation time to 8pm and even then the place was busy. Prices were reasonable especially given the tax holiday but I’m not sure if I would go back and give it another shot sometime, who knows. We got there at 7:45 (19h45) and we were not served our main course until 9:22 (21h22) - that’s almost an 1hour and 40minutes!! Not to mention how long dessert would take. There were also annoying flickering lights, even the table beside us found the lights going on and off bothersome. The music was 100% all just weird strange covers of popular songs. As for the parking, good luck finding a spot, every man for himself.. We had high expectations for this place and unfortunately it was not even close to our standards, thanks for ruining our Valentine’s Day Tauro. $255 for two people for the cheaper courses (I gave a $15 tip, the service was terrible, she gave my partner regular sangria instead of the sparkling she ordered.. made sure to charge her for it though.) I don’t blame the staff, just poor management. Also they were out of most items. We are by no means difficult customers!The “medium” steak leaves much to be desired, excessively fatty and seared in a rush. Plus there were rowdy guests, I thought this was a restaurant, not a bar, you can’t have drunk patrons yelling and nobody cares even when I tell multiple people. Incredibly disappointing, so unfortunate considering its prime location...