El Convento Rico — Restaurant in Toronto

My best friend is getting married in the week, so we decided to do a night on the town for her. I asked her to pick a place she thought would be fun to go dancing. Unfortunately she picked this place. I've been to El Convento Rico before. Experience's have always been okay in the past. But last night was a disaster. We got there at 10:45 PM. As soon as we got there we noticed the staff aggressive and mean. There were two people paying at the door a $15 cover charge, we stayed behind them and the bouncers quickly shoved us into a waiting line where there was literally no one waiting. He kept us there for 10 minutes, and then allowed us to proceed to pay for our cover charges to go in. I thought that was really weird for starters, considering there was no one in line in front of us and behind us. We were the only ones there being held back. I figured they did this because the club was full downstairs. This place is in a basement. After paying $45 for the three of us to go in I get to the bottom of stairs and there're less than 20 people in the club. Right off the bat that started off as a warm welcome. Then we made our way to the bar where we find out everything is cash, my friends have no money on them they only had credit cards and debit cards. So I covered the first round of drinks. The bartender was cocky and unkind. I figured a $4 tip on $11 would soften him up a bit, But it didn't, not even a smile or thank you. Then the place got loaded up, stuffy as hell. The ratio of Spanish music to English music at one point was more than 2/3. I went to the DJ and requested a song, he rolled his eyes like I was bothering him said he would play it and for the next hour And a half nothing happened no song. After dancing for an hour and half it got so stuffy in that small overcrowded basement I could barely breathe. I needed some fresh air. So my friends and I decided to go outside for a breath of air. God for bid you're smoker and want a smoke break. I'm not, and neither of my 2 friends. We get outside we take a five minute breather. Only to find out that we have to get into a re-line to get back in. The line for people with stamps to reenter on their hands was enormous. I counted over 40 people waiting to get back in, on the other side of the door, they had the people waiting to buy tickets to get in. The bouncers let 10 of those in to collect there $15, then would allow two to reenter on our side. After waiting 45 minutes, missing the drag queen show that we originally came for we gave up and left the club. We were nowhere near entry after 45 minutes of waiting. They held us there like cattle. Not one staff member was polite. What a waste of $45 and a night. It really ruined it for my friend. She really had her heart set on watching the show. Toronto is full of amazing clubs I wish we had picked another one. I would suggest staying away from this place. There're so many nice clubs in Toronto. With really nice classy stuff. This one is definitely the lower end. They're only there to take your money they don't care if you have a good time. I've been to this place at least a half a dozen times. Experiences in The past have always been mediocre. This experience is the one that has made me decide to never go back there again. I will tell all my...

I recently visited this place for a friend's birthday, and got ripped off. I had been there before a few times years ago, and people are normally pretty welcoming with a good vibe. We got bottle service, which took about 25 minutes to flag down someone to serve us. It took another 20 minutes plus to actually get the bottle and drinks to the table when the staff outnumbered the guests (there were literally maybe 6 guests at that time). We had gotten there extra early as we had reserved a booth. As time went on, this place started filling up, so we weren't surprised that we rarely saw the person serving us throughout the night.

When it came to paying the bill, the server, Chalo, just brought a payment machine with an amount on it. When I asked for a bill, they mentioned that they couldn't print it and what place gives you a bill nowadays? and I should just pay. A bottle costs $175, and the amount on the machine they were putting was $275. Umm it didn’t make sense. I looked at it and said I needed a bill first before I paid anything. He got annoyed and said I was being difficult and continued to push that I pay that amount. I said I would not pay that amount until I had a bill. I asked to speak to the manager; as I found it suspicious.

In short, I had to find the manager. When I explained the situation to the manager, Antonio, he just said that he would talk to him as Chalo continued to talk in my ear and say things like, "If you don't have money, don't go out. I did you a favor serving you; you're racist." The server refused to give me a bill, and the manager didn't really do much to help the situation. I was disgusted with the behaviour and paid only for what I consumed. I now noticed they charged an extra amount close to 37 percent % more than I should've paid. To top it off the server then went back to my booth and to complain to the other guests.

Moral: double-check your bills, as they overcharge for tip money, when they think you...

A club with consistently good music, vibes, and staff.

El Convento Rico is a latin nightclub that offers some of the best vibes in city. Located downstairs at the listed address, you’ll more than likely see a lineup formed after 11pm. What I like about this spot is that from the multiple times I’ve been here, whenever I’ve been willing to wait in line, I have not had a problem getting in with a moderate wait time. The security here are pretty chill and aren’t full of themselves like you’ll find at other clubs in the city.

When you get inside, the layout of the club isn’t the best, but I do enjoy that it is a single room open concept with plenty of room for the dance floor. The washrooms here are usually pretty clean as well. Bartenders leave a little to be desired in regards to hospitality, but I feel that it isn’t a chore to get their attention and they are quick to take your order.

The best part about this club is easily the music and vibes. Consistently this place will have a good playlist going with the DJs maintaining the vibe as the night goes on. Crowds will flood the dance floor and join in on singing to popular parts of songs, while some will take part in some pretty good latin style dancing.

The club does host drag shows during the night, so if you are a fan I implore to come here for a night of fun. Personally I’m not the biggest fan of the timing of the drag shows because I feel it sometimes takes away time that could be spent dancing on the dance floor as the show will take up the entire centre of the dance floor at prime times of the night.

Nonetheless, El Convento has become one of my go to clubs in the city. Do I think it’s the best in the city? No. But, would I agree to come here at the first mention of it? Yes, absolutely, I feel this place is just such an easy option for a night out that I know will not leave me...