Firkin on the Bay — Restaurant in Toronto

When something goes wrong, a business has the best opportunity to show they care in how they handle it. Firkin on the Bay has demonstrated exactly what NOT to do in these situations. We stopped by for lunch and were seated, at our request, on the patio by the hostess who assured that our server would be out shortly. Over 20 minutes later, after we already had to go back inside to confirm they hadn’t forgotten about us, someone finally came out who apologized for the “short” wait. This was probably not overthought, but starting by minimizing the very not-short wait we had wasn’t a great beginning. We ordered our food and pop to drink, and since we (rightly) guessed the server may not be check on us very often, we mentioned upfront that we were pretty thirsty and would likely want refills, so since all three of us were ordering the same pop, suggested/asked if they might bring a pitcher so we could refill for ourselves. The server acknowledged the request (didn’t really say yes or no), but didn’t bring the pitcher. Ok, presumably he intended to be back to check about refills. We waited a very long time for our food, and at no point did the server come back in between to see how we were doing with drinks. Finally, the food arrived (including the appetizer we ordered which arrived at the same time as entrees), at which point we asked the server if we could please have our refills, plus cutlery and napkins to be able to eat our meals, since we hadn’t received any. The server left never to return. We ate the parts of our meal that we could with our hands, meanwhile the rest of it sat getting cold on our plates. (Still no refills in sight either.) After about 30 minutes more of waiting, we went inside to speak to the hostess to ask if we could speak to the manager. She went off (first saying she had only worked there for 2 days and wasn’t sure what to do), and then returned not with the manager, but with our server. The server apologized and to his credit admitted that it was his fault and that he had ignored us, but then asked what else he could do. I said that I would still like to speak to the manager, and also that we were still waiting on the refills from ages ago. (By then the food was cold so the cutlery was a lost cause.) We went back to our table to wait another 10 minutes or so before another server (not ours and not the manager) came to the table with 1 refill (not 2) of the wrong drink. I pointed out (not aggressively) that this was the wrong drink and kind, and that we were still waiting for the manager, and the server responded by saying, “Chill out! There are worse things that could happen to you. Don’t you know there is a war going on?” and walked away. Wow. Never in our lives had we received such terrible, sarcastic, rude treatment at an establishment, especially in a situation where we had already had such terrible service that we were giving the manager a chance to make right. Finally, after another long wait, the Assistant Manager finally arrived. Although the word “sorry” was spoken, it was very clear from his tone, body language, and everything else that he said that he did not care. He gave a lot of excuses about how they were understaffed, and about how he himself was also too busy to promptly speak to us because he was working the bar. Not once did he acknowledge that our treatment was unacceptable, and he cut me off several times when I was explaining what had happened. Our meals were covered (as they should have been since they were mostly inedible anyway with no cutlery), but the experience and treatment was so terrible that we will never return. We have lived in the neighbourhood for years, and have gone many times to the Firkin. We will now ensure to warn our friends and neighbours to frequent one of the many other establishments in the...

I was told that their opening traffic on Monday broke all records for prior Firkin openings. Not surprising with such a fantastic location and a guaranteed clientele fed from all those condos in Humber Bay Shores. Apparently, they ran out of food because of the unexpected demand. Of course they had the usual opening glitches with newly trained staff. It was no doubt exasperated by the much larger number of patrons than was anticipated.

We had lunch there on August 26th (Wednesday). The view of the Lake and City from their patio and even inside is probably one of the best in the GTA. The staff were all very attentive and eager to please. One thing for those who have hearing problems and want to dine al fresco, you may want to choose patio seating on the side by Village Court. It is much quieter that the front patio due to the noisy fans that I'm told are always on. I don't know what purpose those fans serve but the noise does detract from the experience. I'm wondering if they could be adjusted during prime patio times so the noise could be muted. On the plus side, conversations from nearby tables are less intrusive due to the fan noise.

I understand that reservations are not being taken now but that could change in the future, especially in non-high demand week days. They have no patio heaters which may deter some, especially with the cold weather approaching.

Firkin has posted open hours from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Patios are open until 11: pm on week days and until midnight on weekends. That makes sense due to the proximity of condos close by. BTW, no plans for karaoke that nearby residents will appreciate.

This is not fine dining by any means. The food is typical pub fare with reasonable pricing but the location is great, especially for locals who will appreciate having a restaurant within...

We were loyal customers until last night. For almost every weekend since we have moved into the area, we have spent our weekends there...the staff now is very slow and rude! Not to mention all the little FLIES that buzz by your head every couple of seconds! Gross!

Last night we got yelled at by a bartender!!! We came in telling them how we were downtown at a festival and got dropped off for a quick beer before going home.(Like usual) Bringing in our pizza leftovers in a box from Boston pizza, they had no problem. One of the bartenders(Stephanie) even told us how she can eat a whole pizza and how it's her fav place. No mention of "hey by the way don't eat your pizza here just cause we serve food," we would of understood. Nope, we got yelled at once we already paid and were trying to finish our beers and leave!!! My fiancé was munching on a little piece as he was waiting for me to finish when he got yelled at! I can understand if you nicely tell us but yelling to customers is rude and not professonal!!! And plus they saw us walking in with the pizza box and said nothing....Then they continued to tell us how we should of put the pizza box in a bag and hid it behind the bar by our feet.. Yeah that makes total sense to put our food on the ground on your nasty floors.

Ever since mike left, the bar staff is very slow and it takes awhile to get a drink refill. Can't tell you how many times I have literally stared at my cup waiting. Instead a bartender is telling a customer her "life story" for a couple of minutes and not doing her job. Not to mention the new staff isn't really knowledgable about the drafts.. It's kind...