Tommy's — Restaurant in Ontario

Having spent over four years at Queen's University, one can feel like they've experienced everything that Kingston had to offer. From busting it down with the boys at the local nightclubs to showing off my post-prime athleticism for the beautiful ladies at Gord Downie Pier (to no avail), I've pretty much tried it all.

That is until I decided to walk into Tommy's for the first time.

It's not that I never knew it existed -- in fact -- it's really quite difficult to miss the front sign's unmistakable neon glow in passing. But despite its warm and welcoming pull, I guess the inner Chad in me thought I could just keep on getting by on Buds and McPicks.

Fortunately, exams and early-stage cirrhosis can really put things into perspective! I finally realized that the college diet was simply unsustainable, and I needed a change. So on the day before my final test, I took a break from my daily Buzzfeed quiz attempts to scroll through my social media feeds with one goal in mind: to find the most succulent set of meals and give them a try.

Luckily for me, renowned campus foodie, @passthekimchi, had just recently promoted her interview with the owner of Tommy's himself (his name is Tommy). Apparently he had this really cool charity Christmas dinner coming up, and Lord knows I needed a holiday miracle for the big day tomorrow, so, naturally, I planned to start my morning there.

Thus began the best decision I've made in university since I attached straps to my AirPods.

Upon entry, I was immediately greeted by the gentle aroma of freshly-fried bacon. While this had put me in a near-comatose euphoric state, I can vaguely remember following that scent like a cartoon character does pie (until a server told me I couldn't enter the kitchen, but was kind enough to seat me at the bar seat closest to the window before taking my drink order).

From there, I was able to get a good glance at the rest of the establishment's interior, and it's safe to say I was more than impressed. Classic rock'n'punk memorabilia coated the walls to create a vintage vibe that would have put the Hard Rock Cafe to shame. This was further emphasized by the restaurant's background music, which sounded like it was made by every cool dad at every family BBQ ever.

At the table behind me sat the most adorable mum and daughter drawing together on the restaurant's complimentary colouring page. You should have seen how much fun this kid was having while they waited for their food; she pretty much had a giggle akin to that of any protagonist on Disney+. And it was at this moment that I realized this was truly a family-friendly environment (despite what other unelaborated reviews may say).

Anyway, within minutes, my server returned with the iced-coffee I asked for -- chilled with a perfect hint of french vanilla. And I was already famished with all the crispy pig particles that had infiltrated my nostrils by this point, so you already know I was quick to order.

The rest, as they say, was History 101. I'll let the food speak for itself in the images below, but I'll most certainly be back for more (and likely a...

After the first rude encounter with staff members we gave them the benefit of the doubt (passive aggressive comments towards one of the members at our table repeatedly).

We always cut them slack as well for the 20-30 minute wait time to be seated as well - understanding there is a "labour shortage" as the owner put it in a response to someone who left a review here with a very similar experience.

It is when these events are recurring almost every-time we have went that we decided that this place, that was once a regular stop that we brought everyone we knew to, was no longer an acceptable place to eat. It is a game of roulette of whether the staff will treat us with kindness or unwarranted disrespect.

Today after waiting in the sun for 20 minutes the server came out and attended to a group that arrived after us and seated them right away. It is an honest mistake though and we didn't bother to even mention it. After another 15 minutes, the heat began to get to the group and so we took 2 steps forward to stand under the umbrella. When the server came out - not only did he walk by without acknowledging us but he chose a group that he knew was behind in line once again. After being told even by that group that we had been waiting for significantly longer he told us that because we stood under the umbrella that violated the line and he would be seating the group that came more recently first for that reason.

If the problem was truly related to waiting in a specific way the onus is on the restaurant to manage the process of waiting, ensuring there is a way (or even employee tasked to keep track of where you can stand). A single nebulous message on a sign saying "wait to be seated" is not enough to warrant such strict and extreme response. You would think a "please stand here next time" would be enough but instead ignoring the entire group and aggressively suggesting that they should have read the sign after they have been waiting outside for nearly 40 minutes? This simply indicates that the staff have no empathy or care at all about their customers.

It's a shame because we loved this place and have turned so many blind eyes to bad encounters because of the good experiences in the past. But recurring bad experiences are too much to overlook. I hope the management takes this seriously, we have heard other bad things recently going around about this place and our own bad experiences have changed our look on Tommy's. Will not be...

If I could give Tommy’s Diner 0 stars I definitely would. We chose Tommy’s for date night this evening, and what a mistake that was. We walked in, music was so loud could barely hear my partner across the table. We seated ourselves, and before we even got a waitress to greet us, there was a blonde waitress taking shots with the table beside us (so unprofessional). We ordered almost right away, got two appetizers and the brisket dip entrees for the both of us. Our appetizers were taking an awfully long time, but we just thought they might be busy in the back even though there was only 4 tables in the entire restaurant. We had our two appetizers and our two entrees come out at the same time. The appetizers were cold, and I asked our server why it all came out at once and she stated that “we are short staffed, have deliveries going out, and prepping for school program.” I’m not entirely sure why that’s my fault, and why we shouldn’t be getting good service considering there was 3 servers, and 3 guys in the back. We ate our appetizers, and by the time we started on our entrees they were cold and the brisket was so salty that neither my partner or I could finish even half out sandwich. When we told the server that came by to get our plates, she goes “oh that’s too bad, sorry about that. Are you ready for you bill?”

I’ve never been to a restaurant that is this unprofessional, there was a server taking shots with a table of guys, and behind the bar. A cook vaping in the back on his e-cigarette, and another cook that came out and was having a beer at the bar and the servers taking selfies with our food under the heat lamp.

If you want good food, good service, and a good atmosphere to be in, look elsewhere. Will not be returning to...