Boom at Eglinton — Restaurant in Toronto

If only I could give zero stars. This place is such a disaster. During the pandemic we went a couple times to go sit on the patio and were turned away as they were too busy to clean the tables or there were too many flies, rain was expected, excuse after excuse. Called every time beforehand to check if the patio was open multiple times but no one answered. When we got there and complained that no one answers the phone upon arrival (they were open for takeout only), they retorted very rudely that they're very busy. Went again today after months to give it another shot around 2:30pm as their website explicitly says their hours are 7am to 4pm, but were turned away as they apparently decided to close at 2pm nowadays and just haven't bothered to update their website. My mom is elderly and has trouble walking and I live far away, so every time we get turned away, it's much more than just a simple disappointment, it's a waste of time and is tiring particularly for my mom. We love brunch, but have only managed to actually eat there once. Will definitely never return. Every time we've gotten turned away, we have ended up at Pickle Barrel, which is great, so I would highly recommend that place over Boom any day. Not sure if it's the staff or the owner, but i hope they get their act together and stop blaming the pandemic for their poor service.

Update: The owner has replied and has lied. We went twice last year and both times the patio was closed due to flies and potential rain. Also, we showed up at 2:30pm recently and were turned away, when the hours posted on their website were until 4pm. However in the owner's response they say they are open till 3pm when the waitress told us they were closed at 2:30pm and advised that they were only open until 2pm. Make up your minds. Is it 2pm? 3pm? 4pm? So chaotic. Don't waste your time...

We have been going here for many years. Prices keep raising and food has gotten worse. We had a bad experience recently where there wifi was down and their debit machine and cc was not working. Apparently "an ongoing problem in the area". Actually probably a problem with just your resteraunt. We offered them the cash we had on us but that was not enough and told us to go get money out of a bank machine. The owner was very rude and kept telling us "this was not her problem" no apologies just attitude

We will never go back here again.

Update to the owners response:

I'm sorry that your server was upset. We were too because of your hostility and rudeness. Maybe instead of sitting in the back room and allowing your server to deal with this difficult situation, you could have taken a more active role in dealing with this yourself instead of making your server deal with it. You did agree to pay my ATM fee, after I asked. This is probably something you should be volunteering to do for your customers considering how long this situation has been going on for.

We have been coming to your resteraunt for years, literally since you first opened. The fact that you did not recognize us is evidence of how oblivious you are to your customers. In fact the last several times we have been in the food quality has taken a turn for the worse and the prices have gone up. The economy is bad but that does not give you the right to overcharge for sub par food.

Reading over some of your reviews, it appears that this has been an ongoing issue for MANY months. It does not appear that any of the other business in the area are being affected by this crosslinx internet issue so maybe for the sake of your customers, you can take a more active role in finding a solution to your...

By far the worst dining experience since Covid. It all started when one of the workers yelled at my four-year-old son. He was outside standing in front of the door and she came out to give food to the Uber driver and said “watch where you’re going” in a nasty voice. Then they made us wake up my one-year-old baby because they said no strollers were allowed on the patio. They escort us to the patio and the first thing we saw was another stroller. My Son was crying the entire time when he could’ve been sleeping during our lunch. Then the waitress gave us a hard time for adjusting the umbrella because we shouldn’t touch anything due to Covid and yet they couldn’t clean the bathrooms. The food was OK but I have never experienced a more unfriendly hostile environment. Boom!

Regarding the owner's response, I don't understand what she's referring to regarding compassion to other human beings, but she certainly did not act compassionately when she yelled at my 4 year-old son when she could have simply asked him nicely to move away from the door. I think it is a cop out to blame Covid for your restaurant's lack of hospitality and to suggest that your harsh tone is the result of a focus on safety. If it is true that workplace culture tends to stem from the example set by its leadership, I now understand where the unfriendly attitude is...