Scotland Yard Pub — Restaurant in Toronto

We had a terrible experience at this pub on Saturday night. If I could, I would give a rating lower than zero, especially regarding the service.

My community had booked the venue about a month and a half in advance for our monthly event, reserving space for a group of 40-50 people. A few days after submitting the request, we received an email confirming that our reservation had been accepted and that we would be contacted closer to the date for further details — which never happened.

On the morning of the event, one of the organizers called to confirm the booking and was told that there was no reservation under our name. However, the staff admitted the mistake and invited us to come anyway, assuring us they would accommodate us, given that the venue has over 200 seats.

I arrived at 7:30 p.m. and we were told to temporarily wait at Cathedral, because the tables at Scotland Yard were not yet available. These two venues, along with the Old Spaghetti Factory, belong to the same owner and are interconnected.

At Cathedral, the manager warned us that by 9:30 p.m. they would remove the tables to turn the venue into a nightclub, but reassured us they were aware we were waiting to be transferred to Scotland Yard. We started ordering drinks, and I personally walked several times between the Cathedral and Scotland Yard, glass in hand, asking for updates — without anyone stopping me or offering any useful information.

At 9:30 p.m., security literally kicked us out of the Cathedral. We politely asked if we could move to the Old Spaghetti Factory (which was half-empty), and the manager agreed.

At that point, I went to Scotland Yard again to ask if we could finally be seated. The answer? They said they could never accommodate us, blaming us for not confirming the reservation — despite the fact that their staff had previously admitted it was their mistake. As I was discussing with an employee (who repeatedly refused to let me speak with a manager), I saw other newly arrived customers being immediately seated at available tables.

Then, a waitress approached me in an extremely aggressive and rude manner, ordering me to leave the premises, claiming that we couldn't even stand and have drinks — even though many other customers were doing exactly that.

The situation escalated: we were also kicked out of the Old Spaghetti Factory, part of the group got stuck back at Cathedral, and only about fifteen people managed to find seats at Scotland Yard. To make matters worse, we were not allowed to move between the venues internally: we had to exit to the street and re-enter through the main doors, going through security checks each time.

Honestly, at a certain point, the situation felt like an actual hostage situation.

But it didn't end there.

The small group of about 15 people who managed to stay at Scotland Yard remained until 2 a.m., spending an average of $150 per person (plus tips). After paying, they were suddenly approached by security and asked to leave the venue immediately. When they requested an explanation, the security guard struggled to provide one, and they asked to speak with the manager.

The manager — the same person who had just processed their payment without saying anything — then claimed that the group had to leave because alcohol had been brought in from outside — a completely false accusation, since the empty beer bottle they were shown had been purchased earlier that evening at Cathedral, one of their own venues.

When my friends tried to defend themselves, the manager and the security guard verbally assaulted and insulted them. In particular, a young woman who was trying to de-escalate the situation was aggressively yelled at by the manager, who told her to "shut up," saying there would be no further explanations, and threatening to call the police if they did not leave immediately.

The way we were treated was disgraceful and unacceptable.

I personally will never set foot in this place again and I will warn anyone who asks me to stay away from...

EDIT: I personally Would not recommend (but someone else might) based upon service staff and level of service, which was horrendous and extraordinarily long wait times. absolutely no senior staff on site during (based upon age and demeaning attitude of staff present)nighttime and/or closing shifts there’s no Scottish aspect or even Nova Scotia connection from this bar to its heritage and therefore I would never recommend going to this bar.if it's a "plain and simple bar" perhaps some foresight and named it as such? Maybe "Not the Scotland Yard Pub" ?

From the unmaintained washrooms to the mismanage staff. if you’re spending money or walking by, I do not recommend and believe a zero out of five stars is more accurate.

Unfortunately, the commonality of poor service and high prices are subject to my opinion and have taken over the market alongside poor service. When spend their hard earned money on an outing and are left with disappointment would not justify or become grounds for being baseless. It's frustrating trying to find a establishment with quality service, or at least mediocre. Not everyone is going to happy with you in your 45 years of experience in the market. Often, I do stay home but it's nice to get out once and a while.

Perhaps you should be happy with 1/5 as your customers are not able to give you a zero. There's nothing crude about someone's opinion you just have difficulty dealing with negative feedback. Best of luck with the next 45 years.

I do believe you are correct. I shouldn't be so forgetful of those that are exceeding customers expectations or maybe those that are simply a 2+ star business.

Kep reaching...

We, myself and my friends(3 couples) were in the area last night, around 1100pm! We decided to go there and have some late night food, There were people there but as you can imagine at 11pm on a Thursday night, there was not much of crowd there in the patio! There was a sign in the entrance saying that you can find a place to seat(see the photo shared here), so we decided to go and find a place to sit! As far as we could see, there were tables for 4, so we decided to move one one the table, attach it to the other one and make room for 6 of us! A server that later claimed to be the manager came to us and asked if we moved the table and of course we said yes, She, very un kindly, started lecturing about their policy! Regarding the table location! And that they cannot be moved! And refused to serve us there! The act was so rude that we all decided to leave and not spend even a single dime there! We found the act very impolite, and dis respectful! I guess they actually believe they are part of Scotland Yard with some policies that cannot be altered even to greet and accommodate the customers! Very disappointed with the team and the management there, very negative experience. Not recommending on the food quality or anything, as we did not try, but the experience was certainly...