East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Toronto

I called the Scarborough / North York location on Lebovic on Thursday or Friday August 21, 2025 to make a reservation for 16 people for Sunday Aug 23rd at 6 pm to 630 pm. I spoke to someone who said that they do not take reservations on the weekend and we should be fine to walk in. I asked them a couple to verify this info. I said we are a larger group and would it not be better to reserve than to walk in? Again, the person explained that we should be ok to walk in.

My brother-in-law is in an electric wheelchair and lives at Victoria Park and Eglinton so going to Warden and Eglinton is not far for him. Also, we had 5 family members coming from Ottawa, and the rest were from Richmon Hill and Caledon.

My brother in law got there early at around 530-600 pm. Also the family from Ottawa got there early.

The person at the restaurant said you need reservations for a group as they cannot guarantee seating for any walk in group. My brother in law called me and I spoke to the person at the restaurant and explained that I tried to make a reservation and they dod not let me. He then went on to explain that they take reservations on weekends only if you call them 1 MONTH before. So they had many group reservations for that evening. I told him that I was never told that and I was only told to walk in and we should be fine. It was embarrassing for me and I got a little worked up and raised my voice because the person also said now we have 19 ppl. Not the 16 I had mentioned on the phone so they cannot accommodate that many. But when asked, they could not even accommodate 16 ppl! The person kept on arguing with me and I was driving to the restaurant. My husband said to leave it. I feel that the restaurant should have told me about group reservations made a month in advance. Had I known that then we would never have gone to East Side Marios. My daughter works at Kelseys and they have taken groups as big as 80 ppl last minute. I know it depends on size and business, but the fact that they require reservations on weekends a month in advance is crazy. And the fact that they failed to mention they had a few (small) group reservations already, was not good. They should not have told me to walk in with a group and say "you should be fine".

The person was quite rude when I called to make a reservation and when I spoke to them again on the phone. They said we changed the number to 19 from 16 ( it was same person I spoke with both times). We just had 2 add one last minute. So we actually were 18 ppl. Not 16 or 19.

We ended up at the South Indian restaurant 2 doors over. I called Mandarin and they said they could take a reservation for 18-19 at 7 pm or 730 pm. But it was difficult for my brother in law to get there. It meant he would have to get on TTC. And he had a PSW coming at 830 or 900 pm. So he could not get to Mandarin and back in time.

It turned out the the service at the South Asian Restaurant was amazing and it cost us less!!!

I would recommend that place to anyone looking in the Warden Eglinton area. It was called Minerva Tiffin. Excellent service and really...

Worst service I've had at a restaurant! After waiting almost 20 minutes and consuming the free bread the was bought by the host/ess, I finally got up and asked an employee if anyone done was serving our table? The first person said, I don't know?, the second person early said "yes I am I just started". To which I replied the table you just served arrived almost 15 minutes after we did and the table beside us arrived about 8 minutes after we did and they've both been served. She responded with OH I didn't know, like a deer caught in headlights. She couldn't answer questions about the food. She didn't ask about drinks, which should have been do e 20 minutes earlier anyway, but after each of .y parents ordered I had to ask them did you want a drink as well? So between 25 and 30 minutes we now had our order taken, the waitress asked if we would like more breadstick to which we said yes please. Our shads arrived and the waitress asked do you have everything or have I forgot anything? I said my water and we are still waiting on the gnocchi. About two minutes later the waitress said they were baking more bread it'll be out soon, I asked about my water again, then we ever saw her again until the meal was over. 1 minute after she left another person brought my dad's entrée, to which we said this is too early we just got our apps, they said sorry and walked away?

When we were done we still never got breadsticks, my water never came, no one was offered another beverage, no one asked if everything was OK until the .eal was over and the waitress finally asked to which I replied no it wasn't just bring the bill. I filled out this review while we were still in the restaurant because I had all the time in the world. The gnocchi app was over cooked like crispy little bullets, my Father's entree was cold by the time he got to it but there was o one to complain to! My mom Who's Birthday it was!!!! Didn't finish any of her food as it was so so. My pasta was cold, the cheese on my triple parmesean was was solid not melted as it had cooled, the parm and pasta were so bland and flavorless except for the burnt pieces of breading (they were the most flavourful).

The waitress asked if I wanted something else or if I wanted to see the manager, I said No the meal is over you were absent just the bill and were done.

Will Never return, there was no saving grace or redeemable features to the establishment. The table le we sat at has straws wrappers and other garbage at our feet and the plastic table cloth was fairly gresy/sticky.

All and all a miserable experience that I will definitely share with friends family and probably may others. Tremendously Disapointing and a poor Birthday Dinner for my 85 year old...

I had a very frustrating start with this restaurant before I even sat down for dinner. From the fact that nobody answers the phone, to the booking reservation form online that accomplishes nothing, and to the absolutely WORST customer service experience I have ever had with the Manager named Randy. I made several attempts to make a reservation throughout my day before getting fed up and driving to the restaurant to make the reservation in person. I was introduced to Randy, who wouldn’t even let me finish explaining that I have been trying to make a reservation for 8pm before shutting me down with “Nope can’t do it. We’re fully booked, we’re busy” he also tried to reference a piece of paper with 5 names on it to claim that they were fully booked. I’m not sure what was going on but he had a clear attitude problem. I challenged him and said that doesn’t look like a full booking. (Looking around, it was 4:30pm and the restaurant was not even half full) Randy got fed up with me and sent his General Manager Robert to speak with me. Robert was kind, let me explain my situation, and responded with “oh? 8pm? That’s totally fine we can do that!” Which was amazing. I made sure to thank him.

Fast forward to 8pm, we show up and are seated immediately which was great. I then notice Randy is standing by the kitchen with a few staff members, staring at me, POINTING at me several times aggressively and very clearly talking badly about me with his team. (There were no other guests sitting behind our table). I decide to not let it ruin my dinner with my friends and family and just enjoy my food. Our server Amelie was awesome! Very attentive and kind. We ultimately had a good dinner.

I would have given 5 stars if it wasn’t for Randy’s terrible customer service skills and unprofessional behaviour on the floor. I had observed he was rude to a mom and son when seating them, as well as completely ignored guests when they were waiting to be seated. As a grown man and a supposed leader, do better or find a different job.

To Robert and Amelie as well as the kitchen staff, thank you for redeeming this experience, providing excellent service and saving my dinner plans with my loved ones. You are the reason why I couldn’t leave a...