Beerbistro restaurant and bar — Restaurant in Toronto

Back in the '00s (a.k.a. the aughts or noughties) I spent every Friday after work at this place. My colleagues and friends would slowly straggle in after they finished work. Dayna Guy was the bar manager and she treated us extremely well. In return we treated her well and all the staff at the "bistro" with generous tips. I spent thousands of dollars there every year. In the rest of my lifetime I don't think I will spend in any other single drinking establishment what I have spent at the BeerBistro.

We had not been back for many years (read pandemic). So when one of the regulars who had moved to Calgary told us he was coming back to the Toronto office for business meetings we decided to all meet up at the bistro like old times. On November 29th, 2024 we had about 16 folks show up at various times. We stayed in the bar area just as we always did. It was not busy at all. Back in the day it was elbow to elbow. Being there brought back a bunch of great memories.

Dayna and the old guard are no longer there. The servers serving us didn't know our history. When the current server brought me my bill, she quickly punched a bunch of buttons on the credit card machine screen and asked me just to tap my card. I thought it odd that the machine did not prompt me to confirm the amount nor did it ask me for a tip. I was 3 beers happy, and distracted and having a good time so I tapped. Then I asked her "What about the tip?" ... "Oh it's already in there," she said and went off to collect payment from my other friends. Then I checked my bill I saw that, without my consent, she added a 20% "tip" to the after tax amount on my bill!

Then I overheard one of my friends questioning her about what the tip amount was. She revealed that it was 20% and that the establishment charges a 20% tip to "groups". Now remember, we did not make a reservation, nor were we sitting at a single table, nor did we arrive or leave together. Merely by association we were a group and she was entitled to a 20% tip on the food and on the tax!

In any other business, when you buy in bulk, you get a discount. Why is it that the restaurant industry thinks that it's appropriate to charge a premium disguised as a "tip" when you come with 8 people or more? I steered 16 of my friends to this place and we were slapped with an outrageous 20% "tip".

It's not a tip if you charge me for it! A tip is meant to be voluntary, as in, the client should chose whether to give a tip and how much that tip should be.

How is 20% justified? The service was not exceptional. Mistakes were made. There were delays. The food was not "great" by any stretch of the imagination.

In January 2022 the minimum wage applicable to service workers was increase to the standard minimum wage. Before that time it was understood that a tip was to help service workers make up that gap. Today there is no gap. And BTW the standard tip for meh service is 15%. We got meh service.

And why is a "tip" more worthy when serving a group of 8 or more? What if the 16 of us had sat at 4 different tables of 4 people each and ordered that exact same items? Is that somehow less of a burden on the servers and the kitchen than when 16 people stand around drinking together and talking to each other? I don't think so.

Our server claimed that the restaurant is pocketing some of that tip... she even told us to watch the CBC Marketplace episode titled "Tipped off: Exposing where your tips really go".

We won't be back to the BeerBistro any time soon... pandemic or...

After a long day's work, I visited Beer Bistro, one of my favourite restaurants, on May 24th, 2024, to unwind. Unfortunately, the waitress assigned to my table frequently coughed during the service: Rachel S. coughed over my appetizer during one interaction when I asked her to bring over some bread (the waitress covered her mouth with her right hand), and, during another interaction, she coughed multiple times in my direction while I was eating my main course, without covering her mouth.

I intended to bring a portion of my appetizer home and received a take out container from Rachel S. but decided against bringing home my leftover portion after she coughed over it. When it came time to paying the bill, with great discomfort, I told Rachel S. that I no longer wished to take the remaining portion of my appetizer home, explained to her the reason behind my decision, and asked for this portion to be deducted from my bill. After I said my piece, Rachel S. replied that she is “a smoker”, that she always covers her mouth, that her mother tells her the only way to get rid of her cough is to stop smoking, and that her cough is "not real". Rachel S. only apologized slightly when I repeated that I was really hoping to take the remaining portion of my appetizer home, and, then, she proceeded to tell me that she would need to take away the remaining portion of my appetizer if I wanted to be refunded for this portion. I obviously did not mind her taking away the remaining portion of my appetizer since I had no intention of eating any more of the appetizer, but I was disappointed that she did not take full accountability for her actions or offer to make up for my experience beyond simply refunding me a portion of my appetizer. In fact, by the waitress’ response, it made me think that she thought that I should be totally accepting of her coughing over/around my food simply because her cough was triggered by smoking. Nevertheless, my meal came to over $50, and, for the sake of civility, I still tipped Rachel S., although I developed a cough shortly afterwards (I am immuno-compromised). Also, while Rachel S. did refund me for the portion of the appetizer I could not eat, I think it will be some time before I return to this establishment.

To avoid spreading (or to avoid the risk of spreading) germs to customers, my recommendation for Rachel S. would be to wear a mask and/or to cough into her sleeve—not in her hands—and while turning away from the customers’ food. As well, a genuine apology and an appreciation for customer loyalty can go a long way in repairing a customer's perception, following a...

We came here in a group of 8 for a birthday, had a reservation and emailed in advance to ask about a birthday dish for the birthday individual. Great food and beers, service was really bad.

FOOD: Overall good - my group ordered a variety of different dishes from the tacos and burgers. Burgers weren’t too liked on our table - although the patty was great and it came with a tasty salad and fries, the burger was small and there weren’t many toppings. The burger bread wasn’t great quality - it was more like a slider. The fish tacos were amazing - really tasty, loaded with toppings - highly recommend!!! Fries to share as an appetizer was also super worth it. Beers were phenomenal.

SERVICE: Even to order food, it’s so hard to make eye contact - we literally had to call them by standing. Servers are not attentive and felt rude.

It was someone’s birthday and we’d emailed in advance to ensure there was a complimentary bday dish/dessert. As our group started coming in, one of us asked a staff member on the side about the bday dish, who rudely responded with, “i don’t know what you’re talking about go talk to the blond server. I work at the bar.” Went to the server she pointed to and asked again to which she said “we don’t do that here.” she said rudely, “I’ve been working here 9 years and never done this so” and turned to walk away. i pulled up the email where the restaurant confirmed there is something for birthdays and she said “let’s go talk to the manager then because we don’t do this here.” The manager confirmed its fine.

Then, the blond lady was no longer our server? For some reason, we had a new server who had no idea about the bday. I had to ask 3 more times about when it’s coming out and chose the bday dessert from the menu, only for them to come out with a different one. At that point there was no surprise and it was getting stressful for me because of how often I got up to talk to servers since they hardly make eye contact or check in on the table.

ATMOSPHERE: beautiful! The restaurant has nice seating and...