Ricarda's Restaurant | Café | Event Venue — Restaurant in Toronto

The Saturday brunch menu was decent but while the food was tasty, it was nothing to write home about. They had run out of three of their four main entrees at 1:30 p.m. Dessert was delicious. Our server was beyond patient with our large party of 7 + 2 infants and she deserves a medal.

But we waited an HOUR for our table...so settle in. At the outset I’ll say - my party was very late for a 12:30 p.m. reservation. I arrived right on time but the 6 other women joining me were very late, leaving me alone to hold the table. I understand a table cannot be held for a long time at a busy restaurant - it’s absolutely ridiculous to expect that - but I wasn’t actually seated at the table yet.

When I arrived, our table wasn’t ready yet & I was seated in a waiting booth. I was not at any point told I would not be seated without my entire party, which I know is a policy at some restaurants - this is relevant for later. Also, had I been told my reservation would soon lapse if everyone hadn’t arrived within a certain time frame, I would have understood and I’d have told my group that we’d have to wait in line or find another place.

About 15 mins in I was told the customers at the table were “lounging” but it wouldn’t be long now. No one else from my party had arrived as yet, so I didn’t mind.

45 mins in, I was given no updates on my table and only one other person from my group had arrived. At this point the hostess walked by once again saying it won’t be long now and I responded with an “alright, because it’s coming up on 45 mins now.” Up until this point I had been silent and not inquired about our table - even though I’d been waiting a ridiculously long time.

She then says “Just so you know we normally don’t hold tables for such large parties for more than 15 minutes.” I was NOT pleased at this sudden attitude. I’m reasonable and I don’t expect tables to be held forever when people are running late BUT 1) They did not even have a table to “hold” because it was not available for an HOUR as the previous customers were “lounging.” 15 minutes into my wait, the hostess came and told me exactly that. So there goes the apparent 15 minute hold policy. 2) There was no reason to “hold” the table as I was there ON TIME. They would not be holding a table for my party - I would have been sitting at it getting progressively more livid at my friends for making me wait and ordering a few mimosas while I furiously texted them.

3. IF I could not be seated without them, this was not communicated. The reason I was not seated was because there was NO TABLE to seat me at, not because they were “holding” a table till my entire group arrived. Even once my entire party arrived, we waited a while longer for them to clear and reset the table we’d been waiting an hour to get.

So all in all, everyone was late by an hour and I would honestly not be writing an irritable review had the whole reservation process not been absolutely futile given the hour long wait despite booking, had the hostess been more communicative or at the very least not tried to pass off the blame of the ridiculous wait time on me and my party, thereby setting a bad tone for the entire afternoon from the outset. A few perfunctory “sorry for the wait” lines were thrown in as we were shown to our table, but not much else by way of apology or making up for the ridiculous wait.

They literally did not have a table to seat me at for an hour despite making reservations. That’s the bottom line. Even if everyone in my party had arrived on time, we’d have ALL been waiting an hour for that table because clearly they’d overbooked and didn’t have a table for us the entire time I was waiting there.

Maybe don’t overbook or if you have “loungers” - politely hurry them along - like we were as we rushed through a 1.5 hour brunch since...

So glad Ricarda’s survived Covid. I’ve been coming here every December for years for brunch for my and my senior mothers birthday and always had an enjoyable time. This time our group of 3 visited for brunch (their first time) to celebrate a young friend passing the bar exam and the buffet brunch impressed them both. Brunch for the three of us with coffees, mimosas and two bottles of sparkling water was almost $400 with taxes and tip. At the price I expect a premium experience. This restaurant is beautiful inside, the service is great and the usual Jazz bad is lovely. My 5-star review is because of the food but I will share some thoughts…

The table had a nice plate of fruit and some pasties upon our arrival so we didn’t have to immediately go to the buffet. That was a nice new touch. PEI oyster bar is fabulous and the scallops and short ribs delicious from the bbq bar. The charcuterie bar was nice and fresh. We ordered the eggs Benny and avocado toast from the menu which were all good and delivered hot to the table. I was surprised that there was no salad bar and no vegetable or fruit bar available like I remember having in December pre-Covid. We were not asked if we wanted a fruit plate refresh.

Coffee was great but we had to ask to have the one teeny little cup of sugar packets refreshed twice. I’m not sure why a table for 4 would only get 2 packs of each type of sugar. Plates were regularly cleared, so that was nice service-wise.

For some reason, the staff lowered all the blinds despite the lack of sunshine. Not sure why that was necessary in November.

Unfortunately, this time (Nov 27 2022) usual jazz band was replaced by a DJ that was blasting music at 1130am. We were only 2 tables away from the DJ and her speakers so we were, at times, so loud that we were unable to hear each other talk at the table and there were only a few tables with people seated at the time. I asked our waitress if this was the new normal on Sundays and she said “the DJ is just warming up”. By about 1230 the restaurant was at capacity and the music was too. There was a period of time where a few of the staff and patrons started a dance floor in front of the DJ for at least several minutes. I noticed that the music was turned down to a reasonable level a few times but that only lasted for a maximum of 15 min, so I imagine that someone asked for it to be turned down but the DJ kept turning it back up. I think I would have had to leave if I had come with my senior mother, so be sure to ask what’s happening there is you or your guests are sensitive that way. I will not come back again when there is a DJ as I would like to be able to have a conversation without straining or shouting across the table...

Terrible experience for Sunday Brunch (Mothers Day) - If I wanted to sit on a folding table and chair I would of much rather of stayed home. Not only did they up there prices for mothers day brunch $55 to $75 a per, I made a reservation for 3 people two weeks prior to mothers day, they make you give a credit card and fill out a form, which is totally fine, however they don't tell you that you are not going to be seated inside the restaurant to only find out when I get there that I will be seated in the atrium which is where they host weddings and private events. They advertise that its a jazz brunch which they play jazz music which I love, but because it was mothers day they got greedy and had the atrium (outside of the restaurant) set up like a picnic where they had folding tables and folding chairs in the atrium. I paid $75 a person to sit on folding chairs, which I much have rather stay home and sat on my very comfortable dining table and chairs. When we got sat at the table we where placed at a table for 8 which was a long 8ft table, for my reservation of 3 people. No jazz music in the room but a speaker to hear them play in the other room which was not the atmosphere I was looking for. One FOLDING chair was broken at our table which was pleasant. They served coffee cold, milk and cream was served in a plastic cup. The hostess tried to convince us to change us to a high top table which only sat two people but also in the same room we were still in, which was not in the restaurant. The second cup of coffee came cold, food was nothing special had no taste, not many options to choose from as well. The muffins where hard as a rock, salads at the station was barley dressed. finally I complained about the seating which I found completely insulting for the kind of money I was spending. They moved us inside the restaurant which was what I thought was going to be initially, had to take my plate of food and move now, enjoyed a little bit of jazz music, however at this point I lost my apatite and interest to even being there. We asked for more coffee and again it came cold, which we had to tell the server to please bring HOT coffee. After leaving the restaurant I had to go else where and have a meal an hour later because myself and guest where hungry. After expressing my complete disappointment in my experience the very same day by email and than a few days later by phone, the manager of the restaurant did...