Hoops Sports Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Toronto

We had planned a family day for our son. Ripley’s Aquarium and his first Blue Jays game. The plan was to find somewhere for a early dinner/late lunch before heading to the Skydome (aka R*rs Centre) for warmups. From the minute we were seated I knew Hoops was going to be a disaster, we were seated in that forgotten corner table that every bad restaurant seems to have and true to form it was almost 30 minutes before anyone noticed we were there and another 20 minutes for soft drinks to arrive. We tried to order pizza but were informed the pizza oven was broken. Something the hostess should have relayed when seating us but didn't. We ordered nachos to start and had to revisit the menu now that pizza wasn't an option. A big mistake not having a contingency in place because the nachos would arrive, chips turning black and a light smattering of hard brown cheese even a mouse may have passed over. We suffered through the plate because my little guy was ravenous but complained about the burnt taste the whole time. With the nachos finished, there was still no sign of our server to take our main order. When we finally ordered we asked for drink refills at the same time. My wife and sons’ plates would arrive with the drink refills and the server said mine was ready in the kitchen and she'd be back shortly with it. She then proceeded to clear and set another table before grabbing my plate. My sons $15 Caesar salad which the menu stated contained bacon was littered with ‘facon’ bits. No parts of any pig was harmed in the making of this salad. My wife’s Mexican steak wrap which the menu said contained thinly sliced steak had giant chunks of overcooked leather wrapped up inside a still cold tortilla. My Beef au Jus, well I don’t know what it was like, they brought out the steak sandwich instead. When I spoked to the manager, he seemed flummoxed at the errors and the server (who on her previous visit to our table had complained about her day, how busy the half empty restaurant was, the kitchen staff, the broken pizza oven, the order system, other demanding customers, etc…) insisted that I had ordered the steak sandwich and was wrong about asking for the Beef au Jus. Finally, I just asked the manager to get me the bill for the salad, nachos and drinks. When the server delivered the bill, she again insisted I didn’t know what I’d ordered and had ordered the steak sandwich. When checking the invoice, I noticed there was a $0.75 charge for pop refills, something that was not mentioned on the menu or by the server. I am not against drink charges for soft drink refills but it’s the exception and not the rule and should be stated somewhere. Further to the unexpected upcharge we had been charged for four refills instead of the two (one for me and one for my wife) that we’d requested and received. When we brought it to the severs attention, she again insisted she’d brought us two refills each and honestly for the extra $1.50 it wasn’t worth the hassle to get the manager involved again. We will NEVER set foot in Hoops again and I hope this review will serve as a warning to any wayward souls looking for a good place to dine. I wish you a Bon Appetit…...

I was extremely disappointed in this restaurant. We decided to give hoops a try because it was on our way to Ripley's Aquarium, but I would definitely pick somewhere different next time. The service was horrible. We had to go and find our waitress or ask someone to find her at least 4 or 5 times. The food was not good, but for the spinach dip which was quite tasty. The menu however, said that the dip came with pita chips as well as chips but it wasn't until they brought it to our table and I asked why there were no pitas that they finally mentioned they were all out. I also ordered Quesadillas but I had two children at the table who were a bit picky so I asked if they could make changes. I asked if they were spicy and I was told that there were no jalapenos, so they were not spicy. I asked for no tomatoe and no peppers, so basically just chicken, onions, and cheese, but when it arrived there were peppers on it. I assumed they were simply green peppers. I removed them for one child but the other kept them on. I then had him complaining wildly that it was too spicy and it was burning his insides. That was when I realised that they were jalapenos. After some chocolate milk and a bit of time, he started to eat his dinner. The fries however were so salty and over cooked that they were almost inedible. The chicken fingers were fine, and so were the wings. The final straw was the fajitas. I ordered steak but when it arrived there was so little that it would hardly make two wraps. On top of that when I tried to eat it I found so much gristle that I had to open it up to cut it all off. That left me with about 3-4 very thin and now very short pieces of steak. The peppers and onions were all either burnt and stuck to the hot plate (which they first tried to put down in front of a 2 year old) or practically raw. Then I was left with everything and no plate. All I had was a dirty side plate left over from the appetizers. It took a long time again to find a waitress and I was just handed another side plate. The condiments were all placed on top a small amount of lettuce, and there wasn't much cheese either, so you couldn't even fill up the wraps with that. To top it all of there was absolutely no flavouring to the fajitas. I mentioned most of this to the waitress and she smiled politely but that was it. I assumed that they wouldn't charge me for at least the Quesadillas since we couldn't really eat them, but no it was full price for everything. They even charge for refills of pop here. I am guessing that either we caught them on a really bad day or that the only thing keeping them going is tourist traffic. I don't know why anyone would give this place repeated business. P.S. We had to change the baby on the floor because there was no change table in either bathroom and not even any counter space to make do with. Not a family...

When the waitress arrived I ordered a melbec red wine and learned they were “out” of it. I then got a menu and discovered they were not “out” they don’t carry it. So I ordered 1/2 litre of another wine and enjoyed it!

I asked the waitress it she had tried any of the salads and whether she would recommend the portobello salad. She informed me she did not eat salad. I ordered it anyway with a side of shrimp. The salad came quickly and I learned the menu was quite misleading. There was no mention on the menu of lettuce just portebello mushrooms. In fact it was a tossed salad with a grilled portebello on top. Much of the mushroom was black and inedible.

The shrimp was over cooked but quite tasty. The salad however looked fresh on top but as I got into it the lettuce below was quite wilted and dark. The Manager “Vamir” tried to reassure me it was 200% fresh and he made it himself, he felt the balsamic dressing made it appear wilted. I explained that if the dressing had been applied just prior to serving that the lettuce would be coated and crisp but not waterlogged and wilted. He agreed and suggested I did not need to eat it. He later comped the salad and only charged the wine and the shrimp which I am happy to pay! I My only concern was that he made me feel like my concerns were not valid. Little did he know I have been a restaurant manager for many years and understand the relationship with the customer is vitally important.

I looked at the dessert menu and opted to take my business elsewhere. I have been here for Jays games 30-40 times in the last year and always took my business across the road and was very happy with my experience. This time I opted to try Hoops, I will never come back to this restaurant and will be sharing my poor experience with My friends and colleagues who frequent the games.

This was an opportunity to listen, take some constructive criticism and walk away with a win/win. It’s really too bad.

Beware this manager has abit to learn about customer service. It’s more important to make the customer feel not valued or validated thAn to find a happy medium.

The waitress was sweet but when they realized I was likely writing a review they tried to rush me out the door. She will still get a sizeable tip, not here concern that the manager is ill equipped to manage the...