Ave Maria Latin Cafe & groceries — Restaurant in Toronto

Lousy customer service. They published a job position and they made it very clear that they wanted applications to be on the phone, that is true; but I wanted to know if the offer was still open after 14 days so that I don’t waste my time applying for a job for nothing. Well, I called to ask and the lady who answered the phone was very rude. First off, she answered in Spanish without knowing if I spoke Spanish or not. That is certainly a Latin establishment, but this is Canada. English and French are the official languages of this country. Answering the phone in Spanish can be interpreted as an offensive attitude towards any Canadian or any English-speaking person. I started to explain the reason for my call and this lady interrupted me and asked me in a very rude way to email my resume or call later because they were too busy to talk to me and hung up the phone. So those who go there looking for work, bear this in mind so that you know what you are getting into and have an idea of the treatment you will get there.

Dear Sir or Madam, You obviously have no idea about customer service. Number 1 You were not polite to me. You hung up the phone on me. Number 2. The phone is for whatever a customer wants to call and you are there to SERVE, ergo your job is to answer any questions. And if you are so busy at the time of the call, you need to be professional enough to lead the phone conversation to an end without cutting the speaker or hanging the phone. In general your service is very poor; and guess what, I am Latin American too, with an extensive experience in traditional Latin American cuisine. I will go incognito to your restaurant and I will try your food and if it is not up to my expectations or if I am served any expired food (I read all your reviews and some of the clients have complained about this), I will write another review. But don't you worry. IF you ever surprise with a good treatment and the customer service all clients (even the poorest beggar) deserve, I will be professional and honest enough to change my review. Have yourself...

I cannot tell you how amazing the experience I had with your restaurant was, cause because there are no words to properly express myself, but I will do my best. From the first call to the delivery all the staff that I spoke to and dealt with were so friendly and accommodating. Everyone wanted to make sure I got exactly what I wanted from my order.

Then the food… OMG the food, was so good everyone loved it and were asking where I got it from so you defiantly helped me to impress my boss and the leaders in my department with the delicious food. And the de Chocolo great suggestion I had never had it before and it was my favorite item today.

Even the extra added step of the gracias and the smiley face on the boxes made my day.

I live at Church and Queen and wish you delivered that far, but alas…you do not so I will have to come in and visit you soon, I already feel like I know you.

I appreciate all you did to make my event...

I had a terrible experience at this restaurant. What they call an “arepa de choclo” is absolutely not an authentic arepa de choclo. It tasted awful and actually made me nauseous — I honestly don’t know if it was old or had been sitting in a fridge for too long. It was disgusting and puts Colombian cuisine in a very bad light here in Toronto.

The owner, who also serves the food, assured me the arepas were made with pure corn — but that couldn’t be further from the truth. What they serve is made with canned sweet corn and wheat flour. The dominant taste is that of overly salty canned food. It’s not an arepa — it’s a horrible, misleading excuse for one. A devilish little cake sold with lies.

I don’t know if what I was served was spoiled, but I seriously think Toronto Public Health should...