Bier Markt — Restaurant in Toronto

If you want to feel discriminated against - THIS IS THE PLACE!

Myself and six female friends (all professional women in our mid thirties) went out to celebrate our friends birthday at a nearby restaurant on July 16th, 2022. After dinner, birthday girl requested to go to Bier Mrkt, so we walked over. Time was about 10:00pm and the patio had enough empty tables, so we went in. Hostess was not at the hostess stand, and we only saw bar staff. Restaurant inside didn’t seem busy, but the area where the band was playing had a good number of customers enjoying the show. We waited and a man from establishment showed up, and ushered us back to the hostess stand. No problem, we went back and waited for a table. Not even a minute passed by, the man notified us that restaurant was short staffed and couldn’t serve us. That was a strange sentence to hear coming from a restaurant employee, turning away customers. I was a little stunned to hear that, but my group wasn’t fussy and we went next door. On our short walk there I saw the same man from Bier Markt walking fast, and thought oh maybe he has a table for us, but instead he hurried off back to his post. Friends went into the restaurant and the server was absolutely lovely and got us a table. The comment from her threw me off - she said: “You don’t seem drunk at all. He just told me not to seat you” (something along those lines). No one in our party was exhibiting any signs of intoxication and it was evident to the server because she decided to ignore what the Bier Markt employee said. (We went to the sister restaurant of Bier Markt).

Never have I been exposed to this type of treatment at any restaurant. I reached out to the general manager to understand WHY we were treated this way and received no reply. Customer service is just unbelievable.

If I could give zero...

🦋Tucked away on a quieter street in Toronto, Biermarkt is situated on Esplanade. There are various bars and restaurants right beside Biermarkt reminding us that Toronto has so much to offer.

We are greeted by a large patio decorated in red and black. There are the usual patio tables, including high tables, couches, and umbrellas, to keep us hidden in the shade (a great plus on hot days).

The inside is super large and uniquely designed, looking like a bar/tavern mixed with a renaissance type of feel. No matter what, there are a lot of tables and bar seats, and wait times are low to minimum (if dining inside). On the outside, the most we had to wait is 8 minutes.

We started our experience with a flight of beer(Ontario craft), which hit the spot. If you’ve had a flight, you know that these can perfectly suit your tastebuds - it did for us!

The first time we went was in the evening and we sat inside. We ordered the Margherita Flatbread, and it was delicious! The crust was crispy and soft on the inside. The flavors complicated each other, and we enjoyed splitting the appetizer. We went a second time within a week and got the chicken flatbread and also the cheesecake and thought it was great and super delicious .

🦋Now, we waited to mention our server for a reason. Tara, who we met the first time, was amazing, super happy, and a great conversationalist. We enjoyed asking her questions to uncover the beauty that’s inside of her. She was happy and we are super glad to have an experience like this.

Thank you, Tara and Biermarkt, for providing us the space to continue our happiness.

This is our experience....

I’m giving this restaurant one star specifically due to the conduct of the manager during our recent happy hour visit.

A friend from our group arrived early to scope out the atmosphere and prices. While he may not present in the most conventional way — he’s long struggled with ADHD and wardrobe choices — that does not excuse what followed. We were seated by a kind hostess, and our server took our food and drink orders without issue.

However, the manager soon sat a few seats away from us, watching us closely and creating an unmistakably tense atmosphere. When I asked what was going on, I was told the manager assumed our friend might be “displaced” and wanted to check in — a deeply unsettling stereotype to project, especially in a diverse city like Toronto.

Instead of approaching us respectfully, the manager chose to glare and use the hostess to do the questioning — a passive and inappropriate way to handle the situation. We had ordered food and drinks, which we paid for but left unfinished due to the discomfort. No apology or explanation was offered by the manager.

To be clear: the hostess and server were lovely and tried to smooth things over. But the manager’s actions reflected poor judgment and a lack of training in basic hospitality and human respect.

I don’t write long reviews, but this experience warrants it. Whether this was rooted in appearance, assumptions, or something else, it was handled completely inappropriately for a corporate establishment. I hope this serves as a wake-up call for better training...