Paradise Grapevine — Restaurant in Toronto

I don’t think that I’ve ever had a worst dining experience. I showed up excited to celebrate an anniversary with a friend who was in town. Upon walking into the back patio I noticed that multiple people in pairs were seated at various tables. After being seated at a small barrel shaped table that required my purse to be put on the floor and that was a bit uncomfortable I kindly asked if I could be seated at one of the other empty tables similar to other guests. The first host told me that they didn’t seat people in pairs at the bigger tables, after I pointed out that other guests were seated in pairs at bigger tables, she than said that they were reserving it for bigger groups. Upon clarifying if they now took reservations she said no and that the other tables were being reserved for the owner that was coming. She than came back 15 minutes later with water. After sitting in the same spot for another 20 minutes and noticing 3 groups of 2 who came in and sat where they wanted, we than asked again if we could be moved to a table in the corner that was smaller that the tables that all of the new guests in pairs were seated at, but that would allow me to not have my purse on the floor and would be a bit more comfortable, the host told us that she could but that she would likely need to move us back to the smaller table if a larger group showed up. 20 minutes later the host comes back over without offering to take our order (now 45 minutes) and says she needs to move us back to the small barrel table when all of the new guests that came in were seated in pairs at the same size table if not bigger and she didn’t ask anyone of them to move. After 45 minutes of Watching the host clean empty tables, tend to guests that came after us and literally have us seated for 45 minutes with just water, In addition to asking us to move when other guests were accommodated, we just decided to leave. It was very clear that we were being treated differently and it was very saddening to have to deal with that, especially when so many of us are trying to support small businesses...

Unfortunately, for me, this bar was not a fit. The nibbles they had were fine, but just easy from bag to plate type things - which is totally ok if this is what you want. Great potato chips, from a bag, not home made, so good for the chip company and good for them for choosing them. WE asked if the peppers were hot and were told "they are pickled" - warning - they are REALLY hot. would have been nice to get that information. the service left us really myeh. no table service, ok, but then even when standing at the not busy bar for a few minutes the one guy working was awfully busy talking with the other employee who just finished work and was sitting at the bar drinking. great. We almost felt like we were in the way and it was 9pm on a mid-week night, so not so busy and not so late that they were hinting "closing time" - won't go back, but other people seem to love it, so if those things don't bother...

I tried the backyard patio and it was a pretty disappointing experience. Poor service where the wine bar staff unexpectedly is completely disinterested in helping you select a glass of wine. As a result, I also ended up with a poor glass of wine.

The covered backyard patio, while cute, offers no table service, can feel very crowded and is extremely noisy to an uncomfortable decibel level. Because of the design of the ceiling, all sounds are very much amplified so it is very difficult to carry a conversation or even remain in the environment.

If you explore the neighborhood, you can very easily find other less popular wine bars that deserves more business and will offer you a superior backyard patio experience. Go...