L’Avenue — Restaurant in Toronto

Firstly, the l'Avenue in Montreal is one of my favourite restaurants - I still think that the pecan French Toast is one of the best foods I've had in my life and their hot sauce is really great, so I was very excited to hear that a restaurant was opening in Toronto.

I don't really take issues with service but my experience at l'Avenue Toronto has changed something in me and made me a more cynical and angry person when it comes to restaurants.

We came as a party of 6 on Saturday around lunch time, we were expecting a lineup so we waited in line outside, that's to be expected. After about an hour we came to the front of the line inside. Because our party was bigger we were told they were waiting on the bigger table to clear up. We waited another 30min, no acknowledgement of our group. We would've been fine with being split and seated nearby but nothing. After the wait when the table did clear up we were seated but then more waiting for someone to serve us. There were 2 manager-like people handling the line and getting people seated but they did not care about us at all, no sorry, no explanation, it just felt like us being there was an inconvenience for them. I know it is a bit extra but I at least expected them to say something, some acknowledgement or a sorry, or to make a note about us to our server, anything, but there was nothing. The food didn't take too long to come out but most of the time there it seemed like we were very low on the mind of the server.

The food was pretty good, as expected the pecan French Toast was near perfect: The caramel sauce and cream is not overly sweet like you would expect and it has a nice creaminess, the pecans taste great with the toast and individually, the toast is also great but I do remember the Toast in Montreal being a little more fluffier/ lighter than what we ate. I tried some of my friends order of Bobby does Dallas - very good nothing negative to say. The montreal bagel was also very nice, the flavour of the Sesame seeds on the bread was great. The potatoes were underwhelming but they're just potatoes so it's whatever. I also got the blueberry iced tea - at first it seemed a little off because it wasn't as sweet as I expected but it got better the more I drank it.

Overall, I'm just really upset and disappointed by the service and even though the food was good, it ruined my mood for the whole day. Out of the thousands of restaurants in Toronto, I do not understand why I would ever choose to come back here. Throughout my whole experience at l'Avenue Toronto, I kept questioning if the people doing service knew that we are paying for our meal. Why anyone would pay to get this type of service is beyond me. It sounds pretentious but there are other restaurants that would appreciate our patronage and at least give the bare minimum of courtesy for service.

Anyways I'll be revisiting l'Avenue in Montreal but cannot recommend...

Came here for brunch, but after the usual brush rush. Arrived around 2 pm. They were able to sit us right away. The food was terrific and it had a trendy vibe with good decor and lively music. The ingredients were fresh and well-balanced. I got the Bobby Does Dallas, steak and eggs meal. Wife got truffle duck and kids split the Nutella French Toast. The Bobby Does Dallas was delicious and is for everyone who loves a zesty BBQ flavor. The truffle duck had more duck flavor than truffle, which is nice as truffle can easily be overpowering on many dishes. They figured out a good way to balance that flavor. Kids LOVED the Nutella French toast. I have to admit, I snuck in a piece just to see what they were about. I never had such fluffy French Toast in my life. It was well made and packed some delicious flavors. The only negative was on the service side. I am willing to let it go as I can understand that the staff may have been tired after a brunch rush. However, I ordered a drink and the waiter said he would get it right over. A table sat down 10 minutes after we sat down and I noticed the drink I ordered went there with my waiter. I didn't say anything because I figured I would just order it again when the waiter came back. However, after making me wait another 5 minutes or so without a drink, the waiter came back and told me they sold out of the drink I ordered. Mentioned that they had a staff party a few days ago and they went "crazy" with how much of that beverage they drank. The beverage in question was club soda. I said it was not a big deal and to get me a black coffee instead. He said he would be right over with it. More than halfway through the meal he came back to check on the food. Told him it was good but in still waiting for my coffee. He said he forgot and would go bring it now. At the end of the meal he came back and asked if we wanted something else, we just asked for the check. He came back with the check and a payment processor. As I was paying, I mentioned that I STILL have not received my coffee. He was surprised and apologized, but didn't offer to get it or make things right. I would have offered the client a "to-go" cup at the very least. I still tipped 20%, but not sure why he completely messed up with my drink orders. I'm in town for a few days and wanted to go back to try the shacksuka and the Dubai chocolate French toast, as those sound amazing. However, will find another place to visit instead due to the service...

I wish there was a way to give this beyond outstanding restaurant more stars!! We took my mom for brunch today for Mother’s Day. 4 of us left there in a state of disbelief over how unbelievably incredible the food was. I have travelled the world and dined in 6 star restaurants and they don’t compare to this one. The variety of coffees was the first of many difficult choices, the mimosa choices were the next difficult choice, then the menu which is not to be believed, then you add in 10 star service which brings L’Avenue up to a 20 star rating!! I ate more than I have probably ever eaten and couldn’t leave a bite behind, my wife, mother and son did the same. I would say we ate for 6-7 people. The food is impossible to rate or describe it is that out of this world!! I could write pages about this restaurant and just outstanding every aspect of it is. We will absolutely be back.

We met the owner who is as sweet as the Strawberry Nutella French toast I had is. I won’t mention what else I had because it’s embarrassing how much I consumed uncontrollably.

This is an absolute must try for anyone who wants to have the best most unique brunch in this city!!!

And if my raving isn’t enough to get you to go, everything they serve is 100% fresh organic and you can tell the minute you see an actual egg that didn’t come from an egg farm but from a farm fresh egg the yoke colour is the give away for those who know and I know! The syrup is from only the top award winning syrup competition, yes there is a competition for maple syrup and they serve the winners!! Just go you’ll thank me later!!

Don’t ask what I spent because we didn’t order like normal people (especially me) so it would not be a fair representation, but it’s was vey fairly priced for the quality of what we ate and the service...