Cafe Landwer — Restaurant in Toronto

Welcome to the Café Landwer, est. 1919! It’s a bustling place that seems to ‘move’ nonstop as if it were a living organism. If you follow the yellow arrows, you’ll find your way in. But it’s not quite the same as the yellow brick road. I heard a customer say on her way out, ‘I’m having a hard time with your yellow arrows today.’ I felt the same way. I’m not sure if it was just that kind of a day, but I had a hard time, too. First of all, even though the wait time just before 12noon was between 2 and 11 minutes, I tried to join the restaurant’s waitlist. I wanted to join because my mother is a senior and I didn’t want to take the chance that she have to wait outside. After filling in the number in the party, whether I wanted an indoor or outdoor table, my name, telephone number and special request, I selected ‘Confirm,’ and on a new screen was asked to agree to the restaurant’s conditions and did so. But when I clicked ‘Join’ it went right back to the details screen and kind of did a loop between ‘enter your details’ and ‘agree to conditions’ without letting me actually join. A kind of ‘dance’ that reminded me of the ‘dance’ between servers and customers, the latter of which ebbed and flowed over time. That said, we were able to find a table right away. I’ve been to the Café Landwer before and I can tell you that its clientele consists of mostly young adults with a few (very few) older adults scattered here and there whom I counted on the fingers of one hand. If you choose to sit inside, be prepared for a very noisy experience. I was told that this is a café and that this should be expected. However, if you’re an older adult with hearing problems, I suggest sitting outside on the patio. The only drawback to sitting on the patio is that alcoholic beverages are not served there. Having said that, we ordered some lovely, freshly squeezed, natural Apple & Carrot and Apple juices. They were both yummy and healthy. If you come before noon, the restaurant offers a wide array of breakfast selections (e.g., Landwer’s Famous Breakfast, Landwer’s Breakfast for Two and Farmer’s Breakfast) as well as four varieties of shakshukas. Lunch options are equally tempting with a choice that ranges from grilled sandwiches, salads, small plates and mezzas , hummus bowls and entrées (e.g., Landwer’s Famous Schnitzel—my personal favorite—Chicken Shawarma & Couscous, and Sinia Kebab) to pizzas and pastas. There truly is something for everyone including desserts—which we are told is ‘stressed spelled backwards’—and a selection of teas and specialty coffees. Today, Mother opted for The Eggplant (Sabbich) Plate and I went for the Landwer’s Famous Schnitzel. I thoroughly enjoyed my dish as is attested by its name. When it came time to pay the bill, it was shift exchange and I noticed that they had only charged for coffee and desserts (I was stressed in spite of how divine the Outrageous Waffle tasted) and the waiter quickly corrected the error. This was not the first time that this has happened and it made me wonder about the effectiveness of the 104-year-old establishment. All in all, I rate the Landwer Café an overall three and one half. Since I can only choose between three and four, I choose a three because I believe that there is room for improvement in service, payment, noise reduction and ... the...

I’ve been coming to this café regularly since it’s literally right behind my house. I always start with the same order: an oat milk latte.

Today, I ordered it again, and the coffee that arrived was incredibly sweet — way sweeter than usual. (Also worth mentioning: the coffee was first brought to a different table, then later handed to me.)

I politely asked the male waiter with the arm tattoos to check with the barista, and I clearly expressed how unusually sweet it was. Instead of helping, he told me “the sugar is on the table” and then proceeded to explain what oat milk is (???).

I’ve had oat milk lattes many times before — I know the difference between sweetened and unsweetened coffee. His eye-rolling and dismissive attitude, like I couldn’t tell the difference, was so condescending it actually made me furious.

Five minutes later, I called over a female staff member, explained the situation, and she kindly brought me a new one — and guess what? It was completely different. That second one tasted exactly how it should.

I’m 99% sure the first one was made with sweetened or vanilla oat milk. I genuinely tried to drink it, but it was so sugary it made me nauseous and dizzy.

If my preferences aren’t going to be respected, why bother asking if I have any allergies or sensitivities in the first place? What’s the big deal about redoing a drink that costs less than a dollar to make?

The whole thing left me super uncomfortable, and I felt sick while trying to eat.

To make matters worse, no water was offered during the meal, and the staff didn’t check in even once. I understand it was a busy time — and I’m generally a very patient and understanding customer — but the attitude today was just unacceptable.

I was also here with a colleague for a business meeting. We had our meal and planned to continue working over coffee.

And then — shockingly — right after clearing our plates, while I was still drinking my coffee, the waiter offered me the bill and asked if we could vacate the table. We had only been sitting there for 40 minutes.

I didn’t even get the chance to have dessert or properly continue the meeting. It was beyond rude and completely unprofessional.

A massive disappointment. The looks, the attitude, the entire vibe from the staff was incredibly off-putting. As someone who understands the hospitality industry well, I wonder how many more unhappy customers it’ll take before something changes.

If your company wants to improve, maybe start by teaching your staff how to be kind human beings before anything else.

(bonus: Also, the salt shaker on our table was visibly dirty — I’m attaching a photo.)

Never coming back....

First time we went the experience was awesome! What was ordered were 2 orders of eggs Benedict, a chamomille tea, 2 orders of roasted garlic flat bread and two coffees. The eggs Benedict were incredible. The eggs were perfectly soft poached, the Hollandaise sauce was rich and creamy and slightly tart and the ham was smokey and delicious. What I couldn't stop raving about were the smashed potatoes. Holy smokes they were incredible. Probably the best potatoes I had ever had. They were potatoe halves smashed slightly then fried to a golden crispy deliciousness. The roasted garlic flatbread was fluffy and slightly crispy on the underside with a few roasted garlic cloves on top and drizzled with olive oil...perfection! The chamomille tea was the best my husband had ever had, but unfortunately the coffee was not good. The service was great though! That was probably the best breakfast we had had in a long while. We went back and brought some friends with us bragging to them how incredible our last experience was. Unfortunately, this one wasn't as great as the last. I ordered the vegan Shakshuka and the ithe three ordered the sausage Shakshuka, we all thought that the sauce was too salty, too reduced, and too dry. The others thought that the sausages lacked flavour and were dry as well. We ordered a side of the smashed potatoes but unfortunately they were nowhere as good as last time. They were not crispy and they were kind of cold. Kind of like stale day-old potatoes. Well, we all went back again a few months later. This time just for coffee and dessert. What a mistake. We ordered 4 coffees, 2 Turkish coffees, one Babaka, one Cinnamon Roll, and one Chocolate croissant. The coffee was weak and flavorless as it was the last 3 times. The Turkish coffee was awful. Just like dirty dish water. No flavour, no bitterness, and cold. There is a technique to making Turkish coffee, and if you're going to offer it you better learn how to make it and unfortunately, you have no clue how. I can teach you if you'd like; my Turkish coffe that I make is incredible! Now, back to the bad food experience. Not only were all of the coffees a waste of money, but so were the desserts. All were bone dry, old, old, old and bad, bad, bad. No flavour, dry, tasteless, and 3 or 4 day old. The service, again, was not good. Not attentive, Turkish coffees sitting on the counter for over 5 minutes, slow and looked bored. Two out of three experiences were bad which means we...