Pickle Barrel — Restaurant in Toronto

As someone who is in the service industry myself I am not normally one to complain, especially take the time to write a review. but i cannot express enough how extremely disappointing my experience (and my first ever i might add) at pickle barrel was.

I’ll start from when we first arrived, hostess was pretty nice but didn’t ask much. Arrived to a nice booth which was nice, but there was a party with children and the kids were running around the restaurant, up to booths and yelling at patrons, banging on the walls. A kid literally peeked his head into our booth and yelled. Also i watched a server carrying a stein of beer, sneeze, not cover his nose, went all over the beer, then proceeded to deliver it to the table. Next our server came over, she had a nice greeting but then i asked her questions about the cocktails. She made me feel almost dumb for the questions that I had asked. I said I like a cocktail that is “more on the light refreshing side, and not too sweet” where she responded with “okay give me nothing” and laughed. I proceeded to order a margarita (ol faithful) and she gave me a weird look, laughed and went “uh ok..” just a really bad energy and attitude towards a guest especially for their first time.

Our drinks came , and my boyfriend’s beer was completely flat. We would have said something to our server about it, if our server ever came to check on us.. which did not happen. Then with the food, on the menu for the ceaser salad it states that there is tomatoes in the ceaser salad. kind of odd.. so when we ordered we requested no tomatoes in either of our ceaser salads, where she responds “there’s no tomatoes in the ceaser salad?” where we showed her on the menu that it states that. She explained that it was different for other ceaser salads. almost as if we should know that? ANYWHO. food came out! tomatoes on the ceaser salad:) AGAIN. would have complained about it, IF she came to check on us.. which she did not. My boyfriend got the “PB bacon cheeseburger” with ceaser salad and i got the chicken ceaser salad. My salad tasted sour, like the dressing had gone bad, i could barely eat it. My boyfriend’s burger, i watched him take the first bite and grease dropped all down his face and covered his hands. the “crispy onions” were completely soggy and had no coating on them at all. we truly could not even eat our food. and again, as someone who has worked in the service industry for 6 years now, i fully understand that the food itself isn’t entirely the kitchens fault, for it can just be the ingredients that are supplied. but hopefully by leaving this review it is just constructive feedback to potentially do better. when we couldn’t eat our food, we went up to the bar and asked for them to send a manager over, instead our server came over and asked what was wrong. we explained and she seemed to be alot more cheery now that our night was going poorly.. we asked for the manager so that we could explain our experience. I give this place 2 stars even 3 just for the manager alone. I didn’t catch his name but he listened to our concerns, acknowledged them, was very kind, thanked us for the honest feedback, took care of our food, offered us anything else in return, and also gave us some coupons. He was truly the highlight of our night and definitely ended it on a good note. i also want to preface that i fully understand , especially being a server myself, that we all have bad days, and things can go wrong. So i am not coming at our waitress at all, for at the end she was very sweet and apologetic and really made up for what happened beforehand. I just wanted to take the time to leave this review, for honest critical feedback for I have heard good things about pickle barrel and i think they have...

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 – ABBA Turned Our Lunch Date into Pure Magic at The Pickle Barrel Yorkdale!

My girlfriend and I came in for a cozy lunch date yesterday, and thanks to our server ABBA, what could have been just another meal turned into something truly special. Even though we were bummed to hear they don’t make that legendary Caramel Crunch Cake anymore (seriously, bring it back!), ABBA’s next-level service completely saved the day.

Why ABBA Deserves Employee of the Year: ✔ Date Whisperer – He picked up on our romantic vibe immediately, giving us space but appearing exactly when needed – like a hospitality ninja! ✔ Memory Like a Steel Trap – When I mentioned missing the Caramel Crunch Cake, he didn’t just apologize – he personally recommended the New York Cheesecake with extra caramel sauce to ease our sorrows. Genius! ✔ Flawless Comic Timing – His playful teasing about our indecisiveness ("Should I come back after you’ve had 10 more minutes to debate the menu?") had us cracking up. ✔ Anticipatory Service – My girlfriend’s iced tea was always magically refilled, and he brought extra napkins before we even noticed our messy burger situation.

The Cherry on Top: When ABBA saw our disappointment about the discontinued cake, he went above and beyond to make it right – comping our dessert and promising to put in a good word with the kitchen about bringing back the fan favorite. Now THAT’S service!

Final Verdict: Even without our beloved Caramel Crunch Cake, ABBA made this our new favorite date spot. We’ll be back next week – and we’ll definitely be asking for his section!

Management Take Note: Employees like ABBA are why people become regulars. That cake might be gone, but as long as you’ve got ABBA, we’ll keep coming back!

Thank you for making our date unforgettable, ABBA! 🍔🥂 #BestServerInTheCity

P.S. We’re starting a petition to bring back the Caramel Crunch Cake – who’s...

Had an amazing dinner. Being from Montreal I know my smoked meat and I decided to try the smoked meat sandwich here. I was in shock when it arrived it was a double decker sandwich that I could barely fit in my mouth. I ordered it lean the way I like it and it came so thinly sliced that it melted in my mouth. probably the best smoked meat sandwich I have had in years. I also ordered an Onion soup that was amazing. The broth was so good and thick and the amount of cheese was unreal. it was so so good, only it could have been a bit hotter the soup but still was amazing. I finished off with a Cheese cake with strawberry and chocolate sauce and whip cream. The presentation was beautifuland the cake was very good. I want to thank my waiter Max for making the evening more memorable with his great service. The only sad part was my family who was with me earlier in the week when we first wanted to try Pickle Barrel but due to unfortunate circumstances we ate at Earls and that was not as good . I don't even remember what I ate at Earls but I will always remember the smoked meat sandwich and onion soup I ordered at Pickle Barrle. Next time we all visit Toronto I will definitely bring them here to enjoy this incredible and not that expensive restaurant and one of Toronto's best kept secrets !!!!! I also want to thank Juan Pablo for amazing customer service for inviting me back to enjoy an amazing meal. To the chef, my taste buds and stomach salute you for an amazing, plentiful and...