Toast To Coast Brunch Bar — Restaurant in Richmond

I’ve been a loyal, regular customer for years.

A few weeks ago, on a weekend, I was on my way to the restaurant and called, as usual, to ask their staff to put my name & number on the waitlist sheet for me. The Asian guy – kudos to his excellent customer service – was glad to help. On the morning of Saturday, November 16, I was already in the car, heading towards the restaurant, and called to ask their server of the same service but was denied.

When I asked the manager why I was no longer able to receive the same service, she gave me a bunch of different excuses and kept changing her stories, or reasons in this case. Initially, she said if she put my name down for me, then she’d have to do the same for everyone else who walked in. I understood that mindset, but the truth is, every other walk-in person could have called, just like I was doing, did and had done in the past. No one said the walk-ins were not allowed to call. The fact that I always called demonstrated a much stronger intention of my patronage.

She probably didn’t think she was going to win this argument, so she changed her story, or reason, to something else: a new ownership that recently took place merely within the past few weeks, though I was just there, on another weekend, less than a month ago. This new ownership came up with this new rule: no longer putting a customer’s name/number on the waitlist sheet. I remained consistent with my position as I honestly saw zero correlation between a sudden new ownership (lousy excuse by the way) and this manager’s unwillingness (or laziness, I don’t know) to retain a regular customer. At this point, she started accusing me of yelling at her, when the truth was, the background noises at the restaurant were ridiculously loud to the point where I could even barely hear myself on the phone. I was not trying to shout at her.

Anyway, I apologized for the misunderstanding. It happens. She then tried, for the third time, to throw another lame reason at me: due to some regulation she made up pertaining to the BC laws, so she was unable to put my name and number down on the waitlist. At this point, I was convinced that there is no such vocabulary called “customer service” in this manager’s dictionary. She had just lost me as a regular customer, but perhaps she or the owners do not care about customer loyalty.

To be brutally honest, had the manager told me, in plain language, that she simply did not want to do anything for me for whatever reason, I might have respected that more. No need to come up with different versions of the reasons to justify the unwillingness (or laziness, again, I don’t know). I really don’t appreciate being spoken to like I was stupid. I also know that whoever that reads this review may not take my comment kindly and may retaliate, but at the end of the day, it is your business and up to you to decide whether you’d like to improve how you treat a...

My partner and I went to Toast to Coast after passing by a few times. We went on an early Sunday morning (9:30), almost no wait time, and do know on weekdays they required reservations. We got seated almost immediately, served with menu, staff was friendly in regards to what they would recommend. Food came relatively fast considering how busy they were. I can only foresee the later you go the busier they get, and longer wait time.

We order: Peach Ice Tea Matcha Latte Avocado toast (half order plus 2 blocks of hash browns) Korean Benny

Drinks were fair, nothing surprising. Avocado is nice and fresh, topped with chopped grape tomatoes and little sprouts. Nice flavour, but on the salty side. Korean Benny is a crossover from traditional Benny and Korean beef with kimchi, very salty, and I need to drown myself afterwards with some ice tea. Hash brown is shredded potatoes made blocks, very crispy but too much salt on top as well.

The amdiance is overly warm, but not a lot of tables caused the wait time to be longer than usual restaurants. Slightly crowded with tables being so close to each other, outdoor seating is available but probably not during winter and wet days. But definitely very noisy, and there is a seating time of 90 minutes. As long as you don't order second round, you shouldn't be exceeding the time. As per some reviews, staff will notify when seating time is up and your food will be packed as to go for you.

My partner and I don't mind spending money on good food, but Toast to Coast isn't worth the price to be very exact. High price and both portion plus quality don't match. Given the location, there are other options providing higher quality and more...

Where do I even start with Toast to Coast?!

The food is excellent. Not only in most importantly quality and quantity but also in presentation! Nearly every time a main dish is brought to our table there is an audible "oooh" or "ahhh" that can be heard. Dishes are prepared beautifully and they taste amazing. I have yet to have something from here that I did not enjoy.

I haven't had too many of their drinks as I'm not a huge coffee person but I did try the Iced Butterscotch Latte. Definitely one of my favorite drinks to get there!

Service is great as well! On busier days you may find it takes a bit longer to get the food out but personally I still found the wait to always be good relative to the amount of people that are in the restaurant. Staff is friendly, willing to answer questions about their dishes and generally very approachable.

The atmosphere of the place is awesome too! The decor is beautifully done with lots of what appears to be fake plants. Provides a nice cozy feel to the place with all the greenery. They do play music over the speakers and when the place is full it can get a bit loud but honestly I think this is the vibe that they want. Music is generally played likely from a Spotify list and contains mostly 2010 and on hits from your mainstream artists. The bathrooms are also kept very clean!

This place does fill up fairly quickly on weekends and usually has a waitlist. I would recommend going earlier unless you are okay with waiting. Lots of great places to walk around while you wait and you will be texted when you should head back to the restaurant.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Steveston! Great food paired with...