AGO Bistro — Restaurant in Toronto

I am truly saddened that I have to write a not so friendly review of this Bistro situated in one of my favourite galleries. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by a beautiful and kind girl who, in sync with my wishes, found a table in a gallery overlooking the Bistro's windows. When a young, ginger-haired server came, satisfaction dissipated quickly. I asked him to tell me more about the Woolwich Goat Cheese and Herb Quiche from their menu, and he responded, "Well, a Quiche is a Quiche.!" His response rubbed me the wrong way because I am a Croat, and my country is not into Quiche "business." But even if I were a Canadian connoisseur of the Quiche, I still deserve a better response. I did not get up and leave because I didn't want to be brushed in the "emotional" colour like women often are. Instead, I ordered the burger (my least favourite dish) and a beer (Mill St. Organic, 341ml). I first got my beer in a glass (containing certainly less than 341 ml of beer). Ten minutes later, the server brought me my burger in a bun on top of burnt, greasy fries. Ugh. I put aside the top of the bun and discovered burnt bacon topped with cheese on a charred burger, all topped with watercress and lots of mayonnaise. Double ugh. I was hungry, and since my burger was not cheap ($23 before tax), I ate parts of it. I was mid-meal when Mr. Ginger, the server, came and asked, "Are you still eating?" Yet again, I did not respond as I would in my country (not holding back the truth). Instead, I minced a dry yes. It seemed I was too slow for this server—he wanted me gone. I finished my meal with a stomach tied in a knot from humiliation and suppressed anger. Somehow, this experience stained my joy of visiting AGO today. And this is not easy to do since I have been AGO's faithful visitor and member...

To summarize: this is a trendy restaurant exuding a classy vibe befitting of its venue, but the menu overpromises and underdelivers. Service, however, is fantastic.

Dropped in for the Winterlicious menu. At $38, this would be considered to be more along the mid tier of restaurants. It basically equates to getting a dessert thrown in with your meal (as the most expensive combination of the prix fixe options, if ordered off their regular menu, would come out to be just about $38).

You'd hope to be getting a pretty decent meal for this price. I was able to try all three starters, of which at least two are offered on their regular menu. The squash salad was the star here and by far the best of any of their starters (and also the highlight of my meal). The mushroom salad was pretty good, but nothing too special. The flavour of the crostini was quite nice, but the bread was overtoasted leading to it being too crunchy and hard. As for the entrees, we found them rather lacking in flavour and just not satisfying. The desserts were ok but not particularly impressive either. You could very well walk out of here not quite feeling like you got your money's worth for the quality of the food.

Service was terrific. It did take me a rather long while to be greeted after I was seated and just to get some water, but after that, I think our server did an excellent job. All of the staff were quite excellent, courteous and helpful in many ways, with good attention to detail. Ambience is modern, chic, classy, so dress for the occasion (smart casual at the very least). It would be a good place for a special occasion or date, if not for the...

The staff are wonderful, and I have many great memories of celebrations and gatherings with family and friends at the AGO Bistro and Frank Restaurant (former name). It is fun to go for brunch, lunch, or dinner after a show, or before a workshop, and now, we have enjoyed the curated dinner series at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The food at the AGO Bistro is curated to correspond with the art exhibitions, for example the "Studio 54: Night Magic" exhibition, and there are weekly menu themes for dining at home (with delivery). I think the curated menu really sets the bistro apart from other places in the city, and draws new and returning clients into the bistro to experience new or familiar dishes. I really enjoyed the menu for the Frida Kahlo exhibit, along with the menu for the Yayoi Kusama exhibit. While thinking about these two experiences now, I am excited to experience the menus that the bistro will feature in the future when it is possible to experience the art in person again.

The AGO has always been a second home, and it is nice to be able to order takeout for dinner, frozen dishes like meat pies or macaroni, or a cookie delivery, for example—try it yourself! Rated with no less...