Granite Brewery & Tied House — Restaurant in Toronto

It pains me to write this review, but it needs to get off my chest. Years ago I ate here on a regular basis, and the food was acceptable "pub grub". We moved up north to get away from psychos in face diapers spraying disinfectant all over their bodies, so we hadn't been to Granite Brewery since before the Scamdemic. I was initially glad to see it had survived. Manager Owen is an asset to the venue; a very pleasant, decent man.

As for the food, it was atrocious. I'm Greek, so I know food. The guacamole bruschetta was a failed attempt at Mexi-Ital fusion. The key to bruschetta is toasting the bread so that the moist topping doesn't make it soggy. Instead, they used fresh, soft bread, which quickly became soggy and had an unpleasant chew. Also, they appear to have added cheddar or some other hard cheese on top, which they appear to have attempted in futility to melt.

I wouldn't serve the souvlaki dinner in a refugee camp. The chicken meat was BRINED! Who brines souvlaki? It tasted SOGGY. When basmati is cooked properly, it has some bite and the flavour of the aged rice comes through. This rice was was WET AND FLAVOURLESS! The tzatziki tasted off, as if they were using mayo or a past-expiry, unstrained yogurt, and not putting in enough garlic or shredded cucumber. The Greek salad tasted like the dressing was out of a jar, though to their credit, they didn't skimp on feta.

You'd think they couldn't screw up my son's chicken fingers with fries because the fingers were frozen, but they did! The chicken and the fries were both fried in old oil (I can tell). Both chicken and fries were dark and had unpleasant flavour overtones. The chicken was overcooked and dry.

The calamari was rubbery (overcooked by about a minute to a minute and a half), like donkey foreskin. My son was having trouble chewing it, but he loves calamari so much and was so hungry, he did his best to get through it. You could see the poor little guy really working each piece. At one point while I was chatting with Owen, my son began to choke on an extra-rubbery piece that he spit out, then he gave up on the dish. That's when I tried it and realized what the problem was.

I ordered the meatloaf dinner. The mashed potatoes were good, but the meatloaf had very little meat in it. A good meatloaf has a meaty chew to it (Rebel House used to make a fantastic one, as did The Canary). A pub's meatloaf will make or break the place. This meatloaf was clearly full of breadcrumbs or some other filler. I was given two thin slices of it. It was covered in "gravy". I had to eat it quickly because it was disintegrating on my plate. It had the consistency of stuffing covered in gravy (except stuffing has awesome flavour). I was so hungry after I was done my meal that we had to get takeout on the way home so that I could kill the hunger pangs.

Granite Brewery is basically a drinking hole and retail brewery that happens to serve food. Reading the positive reviews for this place, I can only assume that people primarily go here to drink. A drunk will think that a man wearing a dress looks like Marilyn Monroe; and he'll think that waterlogged chicken souvlaki tastes like manna teleported down from Mount Olympus. FYI, I didn't see any attractive women there, so don't expect any action (God I miss the Chick 'N Deli).

I regret not sending all our food back, but I really wanted to like my old stomping grounds, and the degree of awfulness of the food did not fully sink in until we were walking back to our car.

Our experience at this venue last night is so indicative of everything wrong with our society. Customer service & product quality have plummeted, yet people keep stoically lining up at the trough to consume the slop. $120 (no drinks) down the drain. I could have bought my son 3 Lego building kits for that! Actually, for 1/3 the price the three of us could have eaten like royalty at Square Boy or Johnny's Hamburgers, and had enough left over for 2 Lego building kits. I feel pickpocketed. But I blame myself. I allowed my sentimentality to get in the way of my...

My husband and I got married at the Granite recently and we had such a wonderful time that it's kind of hard to express how much we love this wonderful establishment and its people.

The people: Firstly, Sam was our main point of contact for our wedding and from our first meeting, we knew that we were in good hands. He was responsive, friendly, and genuine whenever we spoke to him and we just knew we could trust him with our big day. We visited the Granite one day several months before our wedding to find that a renovation had happened unbeknownst to us and the reception area for our wedding looked quite different than what we had originally booked. When we reached out to Sam about it, he took the time to explain why the renovations were necessary (it made total sense), took accountability immediately, and made things right for us. It meant a lot to us that he didn't just dismiss us or argue with us, and it says a lot about how well he manages his family's business.

In addition to Sam, everyone who works at the Granite is super lovely. Ryan, Tinna, Owen, and Ada are all super friendly and always provide amazing service. The feedback we got from our wedding guests was that the service was prompt and excellent. Unfortunately, one of our guests made a mess on the floor (we're so sorry) but the staff handled it so professionally and didn't mention a word of it to us.

The food: The food at the Granite is amazing. All our guests raved about the food, including my picky mother! We went with Buffet 2 and both the chicken and beef were incredible. Both were perfectly cooked. Super tender and juicy - not dry at all. My go-to on regular days (not my wedding day) is the lamb curry which is so hearty, delicious and really spicy. Ironically, despite getting married at a brewery, I am not a big drinker but have quite enjoyed the Ringberry ale! They are also super accommodating and clear about dietary restrictions so if you have any vegetarians or people with allergies in your group, they are very easy to work with.

Atmosphere + premises: From the outside you would never be able to tell how just how charming this place is. The indoor seating areas are just so cozy and the reception area is great for events. We also attended a trivia night once and it was a blast. The patio is really nice and overlooks a beautiful courtyard which is where we did our wedding ceremony + photos. I cannot get over how beautiful it looked out there with the white hydrangeas in full bloom. We also love how the washrooms are inclusive. Our guests appreciated that this was an all-in-one venue where you can do the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all in one location. No one wants a 3 hour gap between a church service and a reception at opposite ends of the city!

Value: If you're looking for a wedding venue that can accommodate around ~100 ish, I highly recommend checking out the Granite. Every other venue we looked at was ridiculously priced with crazy additional fees. The Granite gives you everything you need without ever trying to upsell you or charge you for any extra stuff. It's all very clear from the beginning what you're paying for.

I promise you won't be disappointed if you book your wedding with Granite. They really are the best team and my husband and I cannot thank them enough for their hard work in making our day so perfect.

In summary: -great food -great staff -cozy + intimate atmosphere -beautiful courtyard -free parking -fun, inclusive events like drag brunches -ceremony, cocktail hour + reception all-in-one location

What more could...

We used to love this place, but we visited here for lunch today and it was mediocre at best. My husband had the wings and I had the pulled pork poutine. The food was ok, but not great. The experience with the beer was really disappointing. My husband ordered the Peculiar. He knows he likes it, and it came room temperature. He didn't complain. I like IPAs but I didn't know which one to get. I was "allowed" one sample, and if I didn't like that beer, I was told I would have to order a flight of several beers to figure out which one I wanted. I didn't love the one sample, so I ordered a $12 flight of four IPAs suggested by the server, and really liked one called Cascadia Common. It seemed a waste of my $12 and of a lot of beer just to figure out which beer I wanted to drink with my lunch. Instead of immediately posting a review, I asked if it would be preferred to give feedback to the owner or manager. The server said she would "see if he's around", and walked away. We waited a few minutes and decided to leave. He did catch us as we were leaving and defended the buying a flight policy, but offered a free can of beer. I wanted him to say they would work on improving things so that we could have a better experience next time. We did buy a few cans of beer before going home, but nothing about this experience makes us want to return. And I feel bad about that because we had our second date here (and others) and thought it was a really special place. Now it feels like a mediocre place. It definitely was not worth the drive, especially being close to the Eglinton crosstown construction mess. Update: The response from "the owner" didn't even include their name -- just a generic "info@" email address. So disappointing. We haven't returned and don't plan to. There are so many great craft breweries in the city. Don't waste your time and money on one who cares more about fleecing you for a sample than they do about keeping you as a...