JOEY Sherway — Restaurant in Toronto

TLDR: server begging for tips, aggressively bussing tables, scamming my mom out of money, terrible service

(This happened in the summer to be fair but its SO bad that and still makes me mad I just had to leave a review incase those same employees are still there)

My mother and her friend had lunch here and I later find out that their server added an 18% auto gratuity to the check EACH, and never said a word, so they tipped on-top of that too. I only discovered it through her receipt.

I complained and it was confirmed this was not supposed to be done, so was given a $100 gift card to return. This time I came with my mother; and wow- horrifying service.

I'll leave the worst for last- seems so small in comparison but we had to ask them for the champagne they were offering at the entrance 3 times before someone finally came and served us.

They were aggressively bussing our table to the point they would be trying to collect glasses that were still a quarter full, and plates that still had food on them. It was really uncomfortable.

The worst part- So there were no tables available so we decided to have an appetizer and a drink at the bar while we waited for our table to have our meal. Have done that at places like The Keg, with a seamless experience.

After a drink and an app, our table is ready. I am then prompted to settle up at the bar. I questioned this because I wasn't expecting it, and she said she can't just add it to my total bill at the end of my meal. She refused.

So I agree and I give her my gift card. She didn't seem happy about this, and she asked me if I'd like to leave a tip. I was not ready to tip yet, I wasn't even ready to pay yet, I hesitated because I didn't really want to tip twice, and to be honest I didn't like her service so I didn't want to tip.

Once I hesitated for a moment, she launched into this explanation about the concept of "Tip out" (which I already knew) and telling me about how servers have to rip out their back of house a certain percentage of their sales, so if I don't tip her, she'll be losing money off of me.

To say I was horrified would be an understatement. I'm not sure if it's because we're of a similar age that she felt comfortable with this, but it was the most unprofessional, tacky thing I have ever experienced.

After my continued hesitation, she relented and agreed to transfer my total bill to the servers section I'd be seated at for my meal. We still had food and drinks and they didn't bring up my food from the bar. Sigh.

I then explained this all to the server (left her a $20 tip.) and I actually spoke to the manager on the spot. She gave us a free dessert and apologized, nothing was comped because we were already paying with a gift card that we got because my mother was literally scammed by a server here last time LOL.

The manager confident stated that we'll be back. But we never did go back. Even writing it out makes me realize how AWFUL that was. It ruined our afternoon. I didn't feel like it was handled as it should be. I think she should've been fired for that. She was a very young, thin blonde girl working behind the bar.

Just terrible staff, I don't know how they get away with it with their...

I have been going to Joeys from the time they opened their franchise in Toronto, I have been in all of them and had a fairly good experience all around. This is the first time I went to Sherway garden with 6 of us, and what a horrible experience all around. With the reservation a week in advance they put us in a booth which best can do 5, packed us like sardines. With the hostess constantly not interested in doing anything, we managed to get a better larger table in the bar area. I took a bottle of very expensive red to ask them to open, which they did by telling me it’s a $40 corkage fee, (where mostly charged $30 and that was ok) We order food with sushi rolls , no soya sauce on the table, no chopsticks, no sharing plates, asked for it, they came but where we had some with forks and without dipping. Our wine finished, no one asked us if we like another bottle, no water for a long time, really bad service upto now. Our food of 6 came in a round of 3 serving, then the 4th in another 5 minutes, then the 5th one in 10 minutes and then the server came to me and said did I order? , which she forgot somehow, I had ordered Blackened chicken, which in a rush could be done in not more that 15 minutes. My host, as a gentleman that he is, would not start until my food arrived, so we asked the server to take his food back and bring it with my food so it stays hot. We spoke to the manager on duty, told her What a horrible service we are getting and the word was used. The service is pathetic, she didn’t like it. At the first instance she wanted us to leave and will take care of our cheque, now we are not 30 year old guys but all ages 65 and above,shame on this manager for treating us like that. . I told them we will eat here, again the food started taking time so my host went up to the kitchen side and asked the chef how long, and he said it’s coming. The manager came back to us and asked us to leave, This was the first time it had ever happened to us, we couldn’t believe it. You charge 20% tips on all bills, but with such a pathetic service you and Sherway garden should be ashamed of yourselves. Yes the business is good, but if you keep doing what you are, you will be the biggest loser, as a much better option in Cactus club is around the corner. I couldn’t sleep very well last night, Manager Tyler needs to train well, where in restaurant business the customer is 99% right. And yes ontarians are taking whatever they get, bad service, bad food, lousy attitude, over priced restaurants with mediocre foods....

If you have food allergies, STAY FAR AWAY from this restaurant unless you want a trip to the ER. This restaurant doesn't even deserve a 1 star. I've been meaning to write this review for a long time now. A couple of years ago, a friend and I went here to eat and I had ordered hummus and substituted the bread for veggies. I'm generally very cautious with what I order due to my allergies and dietary restrictions, however, I informed the waitress I had a severe soy allergy. When my food arrived, the hummus had edamame in it! It was pretty dark in the restaurant so I didn't notice the hummus contained whole soybeans until a few bites in. As soon as I noticed, I informed the waitress and she was confused and didn't know edamame was soy. She was extremely rude, and rather than apologizing for the mistake, she gave me nothing but attitude. I didn't get a single apology from the waitress, kitchen staff, or management. I don't understand why you'd even put whole soybeans in hummus in the first place (such a strange and horrible combination), especially after I informed her I was severely allergic. I completely understand the risk of cross contamination when eating at any restaurant when you have allergies, but this was just such a careless and stupid mistake that could cost someone's life. Imagine telling your waitress/waitor you have a severe peanut allergy and they bring you a dish with a spoonful of peanut butter on top. Absolutely stupid! I ended up in emerg that night and needless to say, I have never eaten at any Joey's restaurants since and I will NEVER be going back. The staff clearly lacks proper training and education, and they really should consider hiring more professional and qualified people who actually care about their jobs. Other restaurants have their management come out and speak to you personally as soon as you mention you have a food allergy when ordering your food. You're lucky if your waitress/waitor even knows what a food allergy is at this restaurant. Their food quality is also terrible and their service is clearly garbage. Thankfully, after this horrible experience, I discovered a MUCH better restaurant less than 7 mins away with way better service, amazing staff and incredible food that my family and I now go to a few times a month instead of this...