Showtime Bistro — Restaurant in Toronto

Went there with my lady; I had been there twice before; once before with my lady. First time we ordered the showtime ribs and the Philly sandwich; it was amazing; the ribs had a spicy bbq sauce that hit just right; the Philly didn’t come with the classic mushrooms, but the sandwich was still really good. The second time I went with my friend and we both got the ribs; it was pretty good; the seasoning could have been amplified a bit more, but still solid. I visited again today, and I was sorely disappointed. I ordered a steak dinner; medium rare; it took forever; there was hardly any sauce on it; the sautéed vegetables were practically raw; it took forever, and worst of all the steak was medium well at best. I thought maybe they had mixed up my order and I called over the waiter, she tried to tell me it was medium rare, when the was hardly any pink let alone any red; most steakhouses I’ve been to the waiters are even aware of the consistency and would have brought it back immediately without question; instead she brought the cook, and he apparently didn’t know anything about steak either, as he tried to convince me of the same nonsense she had; I literally had to pull up a chart to show him what the proper doneness of a medium rare steak looked like; even worse when they brought me the second steak it had no sauce and it was well done; I even told them, to at this point, just let me in the kitchen so I could cook it myself; then they had the audacity to try to make me pay for it, when any professional steakhouse would have given me a meal on the house for such an egregious mistake. I had to tell them that multiple times I would not pay for the steak and instead to just bring me some ribs, as I had lost faith in getting a proper steak that night; which I had come all the way from downtown in hopes of receiving; they took the first two plates and then brought me the ribs with no cutlery; no apology; no compensation; nothing but dissatisfaction and disappointment, and the worst part is that I used to recommend this establishment to people. Milkshakes were good; about the only good thing I could say about the...

31st March, 2025. Time: 8:30

I recently visited Showtime Bistro and was extremely disappointed with the experience. Having been a regular customer in previous years, I was shocked to see the drastic decline in service quality, management, and overall atmosphere.

Lack of Management & Unprofessional Staff

Upon entering, it was evident that there was no responsible person in charge—no manager or supervisor to oversee operations. The staff was not only disorganized but also extremely loud and unprofessional, arguing amongst themselves in the kitchen like a chaotic debate. This created a very unpleasant and unwelcoming atmosphere for customers.

Extremely Slow Service

I ordered the Chicken Tikka Poutine, expecting the same quality I had enjoyed before. However, the order took a shocking 45 minutes to arrive. When it finally did, I was disappointed to see that there was barely any chicken in it—just a few small pieces, making the dish feel incomplete and not worth the price.

Poor Customer Service

We tried to get a staff member’s attention to address the issue, but it took another 20 minutes for someone to acknowledge us. When a lady finally came, she agreed to bring a fresh poutine. However, we then waited another 30 minutes before the replacement arrived. By this point, the entire dining experience had already been ruined.

Final Thoughts

This is not the Showtime Bistro I remember from previous years. The management needs to seriously step up and hire a proper food service supervisor to ensure efficiency, professionalism, and quality service. With the current state of the restaurant, I cannot recommend it to anyone. Hopefully, the owner takes note and makes the necessary improvements before they start losing more loyal customers.

⭐ Rating: 1/5 – Until things improve, I won’t...

Heads-up, in reviews you read about daily specials but they actually dont have it during the Ramadan season.

We ordered chicken shawarma poutine, mango milkshake and mighty chicken zinger burger.

The burger: soft fluffy bun, brioche perhaps?, with juicy crispy chicken. The potato wedges it came with were nicely seasoned and crispy.

The poutine: i will say, very generous serving of cubed chicken meat. However, i dont know if its partly due to the overpowering hot sauce making it so sour in certain mouthfuls or not, but it just tasted like tandoori chicken to us. However, the server assured us that it was indeed the chicken shawarma poutine... Also there was some mouthfuls that was just so salty. Thankfully, the milkshake helped offset it. The gooey cheese curds were great. Still more likely to try something else next time. Maybe the jerk chicken poutine.

The shake: nice and thick. A big topping of whipped cream. Taste reminded me of mango lassi.

The service: service was a little slow, it sounded like kitchen was very busy (i think with takeout deliveries) but front of house staff was essentially non-existent. The sever had to be flagged down to take our order. Food was hot and fresh but again, couldnt find server when wanted to pay bill. Had to go to front desk and ask to pay bill so we could leave.

Loved the music...