Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

My friends and I came here to celebrate a birthday and our reservation was at 6.

It took around 30 minutes or more for the server to come and take our orders.

I ordered a lychee tini along with my food… Around 15 minutes passed and the server came back to ask me about something regarding my food order which we had cleared the misunderstanding.

The food came shortly after and my drink never came, I reminded the girl dropping our food off that my drink hasn’t come yet and she said she would let our server know.

Another 15-20 minutes passed and no sign of a drink, the server was nowhere to be found and I couldn’t get any workers attention whatsoever. I started trying to pace my meal so that I could have at least a bit left once I get my drink🧍🏻‍♀️

After another good 10-15 minutes the server finally walked by and I had let him know that I never got my drink, he blatantly let me know that he never punched it in, which I was okay with because it happens, I then asked for a shot of tequila instead. From there on the server was constantly trying to push me to get the drink as well as the shot, which I had said no to multiple times, but he wouldn’t seem to leave until I said yes to both.

He brought the shot and the drink finally once I had already finished all my food, and then continued to ask me irrelevant questions regarding what age I started drinking at etc. He wouldn’t leave me be with my drinks and was talking about how he drinks these drinks after his shift etc.

I completely understand making conversation with customers, I myself am a server and it’s always great to have interaction with customers.

But as a server who was absent during our entire experience at the restaurant and was no help whatsoever with anything anybody wanted or needed, and then pushed me to getting 2 drinks, please read the room and leave the customers be when they don’t need anything anymore.

I was constantly saying “okay thank you” “okay” “okay” “okay thanks” and he would not leave and was just constantly talking when I kept trying to just enjoy my drinks that had come after I finished all my food at this point. Mind you some of the shot of tequila had literally spilled and it was only like a half shot.

After all of this and our poor experience, we just wanted the bill and to leave the restaurant. But yet again, the server was nowhere to be found. It took another half an hour or so for him to even be seen and for me to have to wave him down to come and give us our bills.

Finally our bills came, and as each of us were paying he would stare at us while holding the payment machine, expecting a tip. This server did not deserve a tip from anyone at our table in regards to his service at all. Some of the girls at the table had customized the tip to a lower amount and he would pause and stare at them and not move onto the next persons bill for a good 30 seconds after seeing they did that.

This server was absent our entire dinner except for when he decided to bother me and push me into getting two drinks.

I understand upselling but we are a full group of girls getting pushed by a male server and especially when it came to the tips he made us all feel extremely uncomfortable.

I’m not one to write reviews regarding bad service typically, because working in the service industry is difficult and I understand most cases. But this was by far one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had.

The servers name was Adolfo btw so I hope the restaurant takes some course of action regarding his work ethic, service and pushiness. More training is definitely necessary if he wants to move forward as a server, otherwise he should not be put in the position of taking care of customers.☺️

AND just an fyi, as someone who has a smart serve licensing, you should not be giving customers that much alcohol at once and should definitely not be forcing that on them. This is also a...

Updated January 13:

Earls in Yorkville is still fantastic! I love coming here for brunch, it's honestly a great brunch option in Yorkville compared to so many other mediocre options in this area. I've tried their crab cake egg benedit and chorizo bowl so far and they were both fantastic. The crab cake was seasoned well with a bit of a kick to offset the heaviness of the dish, and the small pieces of very well cooked prawns just escalated it to another level. I loved the acidity in the hollandaise sauce and the potato pave was just so well seasoned and crispy to perfection. Chorizo bowl also has those delicious potato pave, and comes with poached egg, salsa, guacamole and, of course, Chorizo. I absolutely loved the salsa, it added the much needed acidity and sweetness to the dish, it just lifted the entire dish up. Honestly, everything about the dish worked so well together and it was a delightful, surprisingly spicy brunch dish.

Definitely give this place a try for brunch too, you will not be disappointed.

Older review:

I've been eagerly waiting for this restaurant to open as Earls is one of my favourite restaurant chains. I made a reservation for their opening night and was ecstatic to see how busy they were on that night.

We ordered tuna tataki to start, cajun blackened chicken and bacon burger for the main, and sticky toffee chocolate pudding and creme brulee for desserts. I also ordered a glass of cab sav, and the total with the tip came to about $170-180, which I felt was a pretty reasonable price (especially given the location of the restaurant). I loved the yuzu dressing for the tuna tataki, I did think may be a bit of soy sauce and lime juice could have made it more vibrant and a better complement to the tuna, but it was still very tasty. Blackened chicken is my go-to order at Earls and it was just as good at this new location - the portion was generous and the spice level for the chicken was just right. I also tried the fries for the burger and thought it was well-seasoned, which is sadly hard to come by these days. Both desserts were really good, though honestly I would have been happy to share just one dessert with my partner (the portion is quite big).

Aside from the quality of the food, I was very pleased with the atmosphere in the restaurant and the service. The restaurant has a nice ambiance and is very well decorated - it feels upscale and casual at the same time, like I would feel comfortable coming here to treat myself or for a casual night out. The servers who attended our table were all very friendly and attentive, and the service was pretty quick.

Overall, I was very pleased with my first dining experience at this Earls location. For anyone tired of overpriced mediocrity that defines many restaurants in Yorkville, I'd strongly recommend giving this place a try. I'll definitely be...

I’m a regular customer at Earls-I like the food, drinks, and the overall vibe. But I’m writing about a disappointing experience at your Bloor & Bay location on July 5th that ruined what was supposed to be a nice pre-birthday lunch.

We actually arrived 30 minutes earlier than our reservation. The host was welcoming and seated us at a lovely table in the lounge area-so far, so good.

But our service fell apart completely after that. Our server (a white woman with curly blonde hair) took our drink order right away-we asked for sparkling water with lime since it was very hot outside. Then she simply left us with menus for over 10 minutes without bringing anything, not even tap water, while serving other tables (including parties that arrived after us).

We had to flag down a busser to ask where our server even was and to get water. Another server eventually came over and poured tap water without asking. When I told her we were actually waiting for our sparkling water with lime, she apologized and quickly said the sparkling water would be free, almost dismissively, as if giving it free would make us forget the terrible service.

We finally got the sparkling water almost 20 minutes after being seated, and the lime we asked for never came at all.

We were fully willing to pay for what we ordered. We never asked for free drinks. I don’t appreciate when staff assume throwing in something free makes it okay to deliver poor, inattentive service. Our original server did eventually return - after serving every other table first - to apologize, but by then it was too little, too late.

This wasn’t the first time this has happened to me at this location. On my previous visit, our server forgot our drinks and side orders and again tried to smooth things over by offering free items at this location. I don’t want free stuff. I want competent, attentive service and a sincere apology when mistakes happen.

To be honest, this pattern also felt uncomfortably discriminatory: my table was the only Asian party in our section. Watching other tables get prompt service while we were repeatedly ignored was hard to overlook.

Earls Bloor & Bay needs to address these service issues and the potential bias behind them. If you are not white, I would not recommend spend your money at this specific location. Your brand can do better, and I...