Barberian's Steak House — Restaurant in Toronto

My friends and I like to do big dinner once or twice a year to catch up over some great food. I had high hopes for Barbarians but the whole experience was unexpectedly underwhelming.

The big win for the restaurant was that the steak was quite good. I had the Aged Rib Steak and it was cooked to a lovely medium rare. Tasted great. Far too expensive, but I get it with COVID inflation and it being a main dish. As well, the Henderson beer was tasty.

Sadly, everything else was a letdown. The Baked Potato side was one of the worst potatoes I've ever ever had. My starter, the French Onion Soup, was flavorless compared to others I've had in the city and the general presentation of everythihg was sloppy. My friends ordered the shrimp cocktail which oddly came on a metal plate and the rest of the sides we got were boring and very bland considering what we were expecting for both the price and recommendation (Onion Rings, Tartare etc).

That said, I'm not one to make a fuss about food, so it is what it is, but our table staff is what really made the night a mediocre for me. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than helping the tables in our area. We had empty cups and dishes on the table for far longer than they should have been there, all while waiting quite a long time for the food to arrive in general. Anytime details were asked for about the menu it was met with a look of "why are you asking me this?" and it just killed the whole experience every time he came by.

Naturally and expectedly, this restaurant also slapped our table of six with an automatic 18% tip, which to this day I'll never really understand. As I said, expected, but that usually means the service will be exceptional. This was not the case at all. You can't force people to tip if you're going to phone it in. That's not cool.

My last gripe is one that I have with a lot of places, so take it with a grain of salt, but absolutely knew that it would be the case here. No split bill. Fine, that happens. Thing is... the resultant that just charged us well over 1K for a meal won't even let us keep the recipt!!! They said we'd have to take a picture and sort it out on our own, because they don't allow for customers to take the itemized receipt. That is just straight up madness for a restaurant that could afford an updated POS system after one good week of sales. To top it off, the waiter hit us with the "were just old school here" as if that's a brag when it's at the detriment of customer experience.

I wish I had a better time because I was really hoping to, but outside of a great steak, there's not much I can praise from...

The service left much to be desired. Eric S., our waiter, largely ignored us throughout the dinner service, prioritizing other tables—even those seated after us. We weren’t even offered water until all the other patrons had been served. Thankfully, his colleagues, who brought our food, were far more attentive and accommodating. Their warm smiles and thoughtful service helped salvage an otherwise disappointing experience.

Food Review:

House pickels - It was interesting and it is acquire taste.

Oysters ($4.50 each, 5 pieces per person): Average. They didn’t stand out but felt like a splurge moment.

Lobster Bisque ($26): Far too sweet and lacked the savory depth expected. Not something I’d order again.

Garlic Bread ($6): Simple but good—warm and satisfying. Chocolate Mousse*($22.50): Delicious and enjoyable, one of the highlights of the meal.

32 oz Porterhouse Steak ($152): Underwhelming. The steak lacked seasoning and flavor, which was disappointing for a restaurant reputed to have some of the best steaks in Toronto. The accompanying "house" fries were, as others have said, burnt and cardboard-like in both taste and texture.

Eric S.’s service was non-existent. He hardly checked on us or asked how our meal was. When it came time to pay, he handed me the payment machine, and I noticed there was no option to leave a tip. When I asked about it, he claimed I "must have skipped it." Frankly, if I had skipped it, why would I bring it up? His colleagues were the real heroes of the evening, ensuring our glasses stayed full and suggesting dessert options. Out of respect for their efforts, I left a tip—but if it were based solely on Eric’s service, I wouldn’t have bothered. Perhaps he anticipated his shortcomings and skipped the tip option himself.

Eric S., you need to step up your service. Your colleagues saved the experience, but you’ve got work to do.

As for the restaurant itself, the decor is a nostalgic throwback, which I can appreciate. However, the layout is frustrating. A door stopper on the floor prevents proper exit, and patrons are not allowed to leave through the back. The setup feels unnecessarily inconvenient.

Overall, this experience fell short of expectations, especially given the restaurant’s reputation and...

Interesting experience tonight… I’ve lived in Toronto for about 20 years now and have been to almost every single steakhouse in the city. Harry’s and Jacob’s are my favorite ones, period. Love them. Absolutely amazing and perfect every time. Will keep going back! Surprisingly enough though, I never been to Berbarians on Elm St, I know, weird. They are known for their humongous wine list which is truly impressive and the great atmosphere which are both very very true! The wine list is definitely the best one I’ve seen in Toronto.

Sooo….., I really wanted to brag about finally visiting this awesome place and having a Christmas dinner there. But something happened. We witnessed a waiter accidentally dropping food on the floor, collecting it with his bare hands, fixing it up for a minute near the entrance to the kitchen and bringing it back to the table with a straight face (first-world problems, I know, I know).

We could not finish our meal after seeing this, asked for the bill and left. It is so so so unfortunate that a place of this caliber has no ethics, zero, absolutely none. Was this an honest mistake? Noop. It was a showcase of business culture. Sad. I don’t believe that this is a one-off incident. You either have this happening in your restaurant or you don’t.

PS - This happened to our meal, at our table. When we asked the waiter if it was the same dish he picked up from the floor, he first denied but after several seconds he admitted that indeed it was the same dish and it was a stupid mistake on his part. Although we insisted on paying, the manager insisted on covering our bill. We left our dinner midway without even finishing the wine and went home. I don’t think that it is possible to fix this kind of problem. It just should not happen, ever. 100% professionalism problem and very poor management.

Would I trust Berbarians ever again? Not a chance. Never. Will this incident make any changes in their policies, management or culture? Not a chance in my opinion. Not with their volumes. The restaurant will just keep deteriorating until they sell the building or slowly but surely hit the bottom.

“It matters the most how one behaves when no one can see you...