Black Angus Steakhouse — Restaurant in Toronto

My friends and I, a party of 10 people came in for dinner yesterday with a reservation at around 6 - 6:30. Our server Brittney and the cocktails were both great, as were the entrees, but everything from there is down hill.

Our order took half an hour to arrive, 4 of our 6 steaks, a pasta dish and a rack of lamb were overcooked, and our 2 lobster tails were both cold in the centre. We reordered our food and it took 50 minutes to arrive.

While waiting, the busser came by to clear some of the plates off of our table, and took a plate our friend wasn't done with. When we asked the busser for the plate back, he rolled his eyes, walked back over and slammed it down at our friends end of the table... 3 chairs away from her, and then left.

After waiting so long for our food to be remade, some of us didn't want it anymore. When we told the busser a simple "no thank you", the busser rolled his eyes at us again.

Their manager then came over to speak with us and apologized for the bussers' behaviour and for the food taking so long but beyond that was incredibly dismissive. She offered to take all of the food that was sent back off of our bills (obviously) but that was it. She simply said "you ate it so you will be charged for it" even with food that was overcooked but eaten anyways because we had waited so long and we were hungry. One of our friends was more insistent and the manager took one bottle of wine off of her bill, and that was it, when the rest of us had cocktails, apps and entrees as well. Nothing else was even so much as offered to us. No dessert, no coffee, no drinks, nothing else to try and make our experience there end on a good note, after we had spent between $100-$200 per person, before the tip.

We felt the issue was the kitchen not being on the ball at all and of being judged by the manager because we were all in our mid to late 20s, as opposed to a group of rich folks wearing suits and jewels. We were not disruptive and we were just there to have a good time over dinner together, and we were very let down.

Every single one of us has worked in restaurants recently, and some of us currently do, so we can all relate to having to deal with a difficult night, or with upset guests who have had a less than ideal experience, and while all of us can and tried to be understanding with a small mistake here or there, what we had to deal with was beyond that. We all tipped Brittney well because nothing that we had to deal with was her fault, she was incredibly enthusiastic and happy to serve us from the start and incredibly apologetic after we brought up the issues that we were having. She tried to do her best when she didn't have the support of either the back of house staff, her busser and support staff, or her manager.

To sum it up, Black Angus proved to be a steakhouse that could not properly cook $50-$70 steaks in a timely fashion, with a rude busser who has an attitude problem and dismissive manager who doesn't care to try and fix a problem that our table had or to try and improve our bad experience in a restaurant that is clearly trying to look more high-end on the outside when the quality on the inside is less than sub-par.

That being said, none of us will be visiting Black...

Attention ownership of Black Angus Steakhouse and Executive Chef:

Let me begin by saying.... I travel the world for professional purposes. That said.... We consider ourselves seasoned foodies. I gave Black Angus a 2 star for several reasons and non of them were for Bad service... in fact, had I rate service only on its own based on our server “Richard” who works during lunch hours... I would rate it 5star! I also will praise the extensive regional wine list ... and this deserves a 4star! I also want to state... it was a celebration lunch for my wife and I...our anniversary.

Now... let’s get to the root cause of our un-impressed experience.

1. we sat in a booth... which we requested. The Fruit flies constantly storming around the area were not welcomed guests.

2. the humidity in the restaurant didn’t make for a comfortable setting... since the temperature outside was 27 Celsius in toronto.

3. I ordered the Arctic Char.... it was over cooked. I’ll give the cooks praise for attempting to mask their mistake with their mango -tropical salsa. The only thing positive was the Rapini and Asperagus... “al dente” which is how it’s supposed to be done.

4. finally.... the famous filet mingnon. Prior to ordering this... I spoke in length with the server explaining my experiences of hit and miss all over toronto when it came to this cut of beef. I explained... that this cut is often masked by cuts of beef used in stews and or lesser quality grade dishes. I told him... this ahead of time, because I know the difference between good quality and bad quality cuts of meat especially when it came to this specific dish (filet mingnon). Unsurprisingly... to my fear, the filet mingnon was atrocious. It was overcooked, it was “stringy” like the cuts of beef used for stews and improperly plated. I won’t go into any further critique about this dish... I’m sure you get the point. Hire new cooks or retrain your staff in the kitchen.

Would I go to this restaurant again? The answer is yes... only for a cocktail or glass of wine.

On a final note: my tastes and experiences come from being trained at the culinary institute of America in Hyde Park - New York.

If you want to be a premium steak house... charging 40$ and up on cuts of meat that are to be premium... please provide the quality. Otherwise... you may be disappointed with future customers who know a good steak house from a less appealing one.

Best of luck to the...

We have never been at the old location but picked the new renovated location for our anniversary dinner. I’m pretty sure the official opening is to come as there were a few wrinkles that needed to be ironed out - wine and dessert menus were printed on paper, only one red wine available by the glass, waiters bringing dishes to the wrong table. Not a big deal.

Decor looks great and the service was fine. My two main gripes are with the food itself.

First, while this may have been an issue just with the one appetizer dish we ordered, the prices seemed a bit much for what we got. We shared the grilled scallops appetizer, a $24 dish. Granted they were tasty, but for that amount I expected more than two scallops. Even though they tasted great and were cooked with bacon, $12 per scallop is a bit much for this type of restaurant in my opinion. Perhaps the other appetizer options were a more reasonable deal.

However the biggest gripe I have is with my steak. I ordered the boneless rib eye for $50. I ordered it medium - it was served to me well done. Note, I did NOT send it back or ask for a new one because frankly I was starving and my wife was ready to eat her meal (which was cooked perfectly). I did notify the server just to offer feedback to the kitchen , and the owner did offer us free dessert as an apology. Having said that, as a steakhouse I think it is a crucial to cook the steak to order. It is certainly possible my over cooked steak was a one off for the restaurant. Other patrons who also ordered the rib eye looked to have had theirs cooked to order from what I could tell from a distance. My wife’s filet mignon was cooked perfectly however. For 3$ for sauce, they should offer a bit more as well (perhaps I used more sauce than usual because of the cook of my steak).

Overall, I’m a bit torn whether to come back or recommend it. When we first sat down we discussed whether we would return here with our family. The decor is beautiful but not stuffy. By the end, mainly because of the cook of my steak, I’m a bit nervous. Yes I could have sent it back, And I’m sure they would have cooked me a new steak but then the rest of my party would be eating while I waited for my order a bit longer. I would like to see this restaurant succeed and am hopeful what I experienced was just a one...