Jack Astor's Bar & Grill Front Street — Restaurant in Toronto

Where do I start. The worst experience and customer service I have ever experienced anywhere in my entire life. EVER.

We showed up 4 hours early to put our name down for a table for the Jays game 7. One of the most historical nights in our lifetime which is about to get ruined by incompetence, lack of empathy and terrible management.

We lined up for almost an hour before an employee told us the line we were in was for outdoor patio only. Indoor seating line was on the other side.

Now everyone starts to move to the other line and the orders get all messed up. People who just showed up were at the front of the line and people waiting for hours all the way in the back. We wait another 30 minutes and put our name down for a table of 7 people. We’re told we will get a text message when our table is ready but no guarantees that we will get one.

As any logical person would do, we started trying other places in the area and ended up choosing to wait in line at the place near the Roger’s centre called The Pint. We were pretty close to the entrance, just past the staircase, and were told that around 6:30pm-7:00pm a waitress will come take our info to have us seated, pretty much guaranteed a table at The Pint.

6:34PM, get a text from Jack Astors: “ {Jack Astor's Front Street: Your table is ready. Please return to the host stand to be seated. Thank you for dining with us!”

We leave the line at The Pint and literally SPRINT to Jack Astors, getting there in record time. We get inside and say we just got the text. Manager tells us sorry, we sent it by mistake, but next table that gets up and leaves is ours.

Ok, people make mistakes, no problem, understandable. We wait patiently for a table.

Nothing for about 30 mins, no checkin from manager, they’re just busy. it’s understandable. 3 of the 7 of us were there, the remaining 4 still on standby because table was not confirmed. Keep checking with manager if we’re going to get a table. “If someone leaves the next table is yours”

While waiting, maybe 3-4 other groups come in and are seated before us. When we approached and asked what’s going on “oh that’s just Employee family that are being seated”, which is a straight up lie because we can see the people showing the same text message we got on their phone to the hostess. Didn’t say anything to the manager about that. Bought a pitcher of beer while we continue to wait.

7:30PM hits, we’re waiting for almost an hour. Game about to start at 8, still unsure of what our plans are because we still don’t have a table. Tell the hostess ok can you at least seat us 3 for now. They seat us at a table for 2. Ask for something complimentary for the inconvenience, “sorry we can’t do anything.”

7:45PM, nobody is leaving, we aren’t getting a table. Our plans and night ruined, we get up to leave.

I go speak with one of the managers explaining how unhappy we are and if there is anything they can do to compensate for ruining our night. Like a complimentary dinner or something.

We were offered a grand total of $50. FIFTY DOLLARS. For our group of 7. That’s a total of $7.14 per person, not even enough to buy an appetizer. What an absolute joke. I asked the manager if she really thought that is acceptable for what happened. She said sorry that’s all she could do, it’s not her fault. Lol…

Asked her to escalate to her manager.

As they’re speaking, because I’m running short on time I just walk up and tell him, the front of house manager Steven Curtis. I don’t want any trouble, I’m not asking for much, I understand you guys messed up, things happen, but I’d like to be compensated in some way for the inconvenience, like a complimentary dinner, $30 per person to at least cover the mains.

Steven says no we can only do $50 sorry. I asked him if he cares about his restaurants reputation, he said yes. I asked him if it’s worth $200 to him, he said no. And thus my review. Never going to this establishment again. And I hope others don’t support such incompetence after reading this too. Thanks for ruining our night and I hope and pray for...

We’ve been regulars with the SIR corp. group for quite a while now—part of their inspired rewards program.

We came to celebrate my brother’s birthday. You’d think that would come with at least a sprinkle of effort. But right from the start, our server on the patio seemed visibly irritated. He remained “professional,” sure—but with the kind of cold attitude that felt more personal than polite. Let’s just say, his facial expressions didn’t exactly scream “welcome,” especially toward us as a visible minority group assuming we would not tip him.

We have always been tipping well (18% or more depending on service) anywhere we go, and generally appreciating the vibe. So what happened during our visit last night was pretty disappointing. Felt like we were being judged before we even ordered—not ideal when you’re out to celebrate.

We waited about 15 minutes just to get the menu—only then were we asked about drinks. How are we supposed to decide what to drink without seeing the menu first? After asking for a moment to choose, the server vanished for another 15 minutes. When the drinks finally came, the white wine was warm and stale, and the margarita tasted like someone dropped lemons in a snowbank and called it a cocktail. Not worth complaining over the wine, though my wife wanted to—I just complained about the margherita that he fixed after being called, checking on our table that id we are doing okay just didn't exist here, we still wanted to keep the evening moving.

Ordering food was its own adventure: the server was MIA again. We finally got the order in, and as always, the food didn’t disappoint—Jack Astor’s kitchen remains solid. But the overall experience? Totally ruined. We didn’t order more drinks, didn’t bother signing in to our rewards account and request some music (no point, really), and were ready to leave.

We still left a tip—because we believe in doing the right thing even when the experience falls flat. But here’s the thing: every guest deserves a warm welcome, good service, and a little genuine care. Whether it's your first table of the night or your hundredth, treating everyone with fairness shouldn’t be optional.

So… thanks, Jack Astor’s patio team, for that wonderfully memorable birthday dinner. You sure know how to make a loyal customer...

I am giving low scores on food and service because I am not sure where else to rate it which is why I am leaving a comment. The food was actually good and this is not reflective of our server, Peyton. She was lovely!!! We we were in Kingston for a dance competition and only had about 2 hours until we had to get back to the competition. We ordered alcoholic drinks to start. 8oz glass of wine and a sour beer. When Peyton came back, she said they only had enough Malbec for a 5oz glass and they didn’t have any more sour beer. My husband then ordered a craft beer and once again she came back to say they were all out of that. We decided then that we would just order a bottle of wine since I knew I would have another glass and there was no more beer that my husband wanted. We ordered the most expensive bottle of red they had (Tuscany something) to which alas, they didn’t have. We ended up with a bottle of white which my husband to open because Peyton didn’t really know how to open the bottle. Again, poor Peyton!! Is this not something you would go through during training?? I realize there has to be a bit of ownership on the servers to learn BUT this should be basic training provided by the restaurant. Then we wanted to order appetizers. Bruschetta and calamari. Poor Peyton had to tell us that calamari had been 86’ed. We made a joke about it because we could tell she was uncomfortable telling us. Luckily they weren’t out of any entrees that we wanted to order so our meals were good. When we paid and left there was a manager up at the hostess stand, laughing and talking with the hostess. Neither of them acknowledged us leaving, looked over or thanked us for coming in. Again, nothing wrong with Peyton or the actual food/atmosphere but for a Saturday night to be out of that much inventory was disappointing. I understand things happen but perhaps inform your staff during a shift meeting these items are 86’ed so they can let the guests know...