Greystones Restaurant and Lounge — Restaurant in Orangeville

Had dinner at Greystones on Sunday night (October 5th) for a family members birthday and what I want to highlight here is the terrible service that we experienced from the onset of our dinner experience. After hearing amazing reviews of this restaurant from friends, I am sad to say that the service truly brings down the overall experience of this fine-dining restaurant.

We arrived in small groups (10 of us total), and being one of the first people there, I was hoping that our server would share their name and offer to check in frequently until all others arrived. Once we were all seated, we did not see the server again for about 15 minutes. When they came back, again, no offer of their name, a quick mention of specials for the evening, and then an abrupt ask for us to put our ENTIRE order in so the kitchen could plan accordingly. I'm sure I don't need to explain how rushed this made us feel...

After order was placed, over 45 minutes passed without seeing our server ONCE. I had to get up, find a different server and ask about our appetizers (which I will add, one of the apps was a simple loaf of bread with butter...). Almost 30 seconds later the second server returned with our apps... cold. Said they got caught up with others meals..

It wouldn't be a proper review without highlighting the positives as well. The food tasted tremendous, kudos to the chefs. Some highlights: the steaks, filet mignons, butternut squash soup, polpo, and tuna tartar.

Final note on service... we were celebrating a birthday (legitimately) and we let our first server know this at the start of the evening. We even reminded them (twice) throughout the night. We were hoping that there would be a slice of cake or small dessert that would arrive at the table with a candle, but nothing. My mother went as far as to ask our server for a small dessert with a candle to celebrate... the servers response: "Did you order anything for dessert? Well, if you do, I'd be happy to go get a candle for it."

On principle alone, a restaurant charging as much as they do (bill was easily over $1K) should not hesitate at the thought of bringing out a small celebratory dessert... I mean, come on, you can get a Billie Miner Pie at the Keg if you LIE about your birthday!

Greystones, please step up your service. The amazing taste of your food cannot compete with the bad taste that this type of service leaves in...

Hmmm, Greystones...well maybe my hopes were too high for what markets itself as a high end, haute cuisine restaurant. It wasn't a terrible experience but it wasn't exceptional, which is what I would expect for the price point. Especially in Orangeville, this isn't Toronto. Atmosphere is nice though.

For starters I had the baguette with hummus, already an odd combination but I thought why not I love hummus. The hummus itself was average, and the half baguette tasted like a frozen baguette from zehrs, and for 7$ I was expecting at least some presentation. My partner had the tuna tartar which was ok but mostly tasted of soy sauce as it was drenched in it but at least it looked pretty.

For the main course I had some peppercorn steak pasta, which tasted decent, but the steak was pretty chewy and the sauce was pretty much a soup. It wasn't bad but not 34$ good. My partners 51$ steak was pretty good. Can't complain too much about it.

Dessert was a cheesecake with a blueberry compot and, granted this part is my fault, it's burnt. Which to be fair it says in the title of the dish. But well it didn't taste good, the cheesecake was dry and grainy. I love cheesecake, so me not finishing it is pretty shocking 😅. My partners crème Brûlè was good.

Drinks were also pretty expensive 16$ a pop. So we ended the night at 200$ for the 2 of us. Which is what I expected, just expected better quality. Oh and the debit machine defaults to 18% minimum tip... Ludicrous.

Now on to the service. The waitresses prowl around the tables which makes it feel like you are being watched. Our table wobbles and I had to shove my foot under it to stop it. Which again, as a high end establishment this shouldn't even be a possibility.

And the biggest reason I'm only giving a two star, we were talked and the waitress just plops the bill on the table, we were both still finishing our coffee. If this had been the only time I would have been slightly annoyed but let it pass. But then, she comes by 5 min later, while we are still drinking our coffee, and interrupts us again mid conversation with the debit machine for us to pat and get out. Rushing patrons out of your restaurant is not classy.

Anyways. Thanks for reading this wall of text. I get it's Orangeville and maybe my expectations were too high, but there are a few other much better lower priced...

Hey Greystone, let's clear something up: "high-end" doesn't just mean high prices. It has to mean amazing service too. Otherwise, honestly, it's just too easy for you guys. My husband and I popped into your lounge for a quick lunch. I got the tuna tartare, he got the omelette, and we each had a drink – a cocktail for him, a glass of wine for me. (Side note: if the menu says Prosecco, you must have Prosecco. Don't say "Oh, we have Cava, it's the same but it's Spanish". No, it's not the same. Prosecco is Prosecco.)

Now, we pretty much inhaled our food, probably in about 10 minutes. But we were still chilling, half our drinks still there. That's when the waiter swoops in with the dessert menu, saying, "Coffee, tea?" Seriously? You have to actually look at your customers! We're still sipping our cocktails, why would we want tea or coffee?

He comes back two minutes later, we tell him no dessert. Two minutes after that, he drops the check on the table. What? We're already annoyed, but we figure we'll ask for the machine when we're ready. Well, guess what? Two more minutes go by, and he's heading back our way with the machine in hand. That's when my husband lost it. He blurted out, "CAN WE HAVE A MINUTE PLEASE?!" The poor guy looked totally flustered and darted back.

Look, we just dropped $120 on two dishes and two drinks. Can we seriously not get at least 30 minutes to ourselves? Bringing the check when we're still actively drinking and have only been sitting for 20 minutes is beyond rude and unprofessional. This is like, basic waiter training 101, even for a casual spot. I expect your staff to know better. We literally felt like we were being kicked out, and that's just not OK.

High prices and cool design do not make great hospitality. You must have service to match the...