Soho House Toronto — Restaurant in Toronto

Kids love the word "aura" these days, and when my dad asked me what it means I told him "think Soho House 2010-2014." That confused him more but I like messing with my dad. Forreal though, the run Soho House had can only be rivaled by 2011-2015 Whole Foods. You really had to be there… but like any other prime, Father Time always catches up.

I was set to do a full rise and fall piece on the Soho House right here on Yelp but in my research, I stumbled upon an article by Lydia Moynihan in the NY Post and she nailed it. I really didn't have much to add so go over and read that if you have a sec. Shoutout to Lydia.

Instead, I'll just recap our experience here like any other boring Yelp Review.

We came to this Toronto location before the Taylor Swift concert, and I was pleasantly surprised. It felt like prime Soho House. A beautiful, discrete brick building with an old school interior. Whoever designed this one needs a raise. I'm so tired of the cookie cutter half-assed modern architecture.

The ones in LA and NY now feel like it is just a bunch of dorks trying to be seen by God knows who. There is no soul in those locations.

We grabbed a drink in the lobby and went upstairs for our 5pm dinner. I domed a couple of negronis and we split a margherita pizza and a bottle of pinot noir before our mains arrived. I got the rigatoni, per the waitresses recommendation because she had a thick Italian accent. Big truss. She wasn't lying either, that rigatoni went crazy.

I took like 30 pictures before a staff member came over and said no pictures, as I didn't know that was still a rule here… please don't beat me up.

We closed dinner with a couple espresso martinis before setting off on foot to go see Big Tay put on a show. She really did her thing.

Thank you Soho House Toronto, for giving me a taste of what the Soho House used to be in the states.

IG @jnov_ Tiktok...

I tried to get over my disappointing experience at Soho House this weekend, but the way I was treated has really stayed with me. I came to support friends performing on Saturday night. Right off the bat, the front desk was quite condescending, but I let it go. Later in the evening I ordered three drinks for friends and carried them to my table by the bar. I was absent minded and forgot to go back and pay, but I was sitting right by the bar and could have been reminded a million different ways. The bartender decided to throw an ice cube at me. I was so confused that I pick it up and returned it to him thinking it was shaker malfunction. He proceeded to chastise me for not paying. Another patron told the bartender he would've happily tapped my shoulder to grab my attention. Again, I was sitting right by the bar. I also reiterated it's never okay to throw things at me, and I paid my bill. It wasn't until another male friend came to my defence that the bartender apologized -- at first to my friend, and not to me directly. I really tried to let it go and enjoy the rest of my night, but I'm deeply disturbed that a bartender found it okay throw anything at me and then to feel no remorse about it until another man told him off. I feel completely disrespected. I don't know if it's because of labor conditions or what, but the general vibe that night among staff was quite tense and very condescending. I've been to other Soho Houses and had a much better experience. It seems to me that Soho House Toronto takes itself way too seriously and has veered into the territory of treating patrons with contempt, despite the premium paid for drinks and memberships. Needless to say, I won't be...

I was a Soho House member for more than 5 years and enjoyed visiting the House to work, connect with friends and entertain clients. Unfortunately this year I decided to cancel my membership due to the organisations policy on levy of membership fees during the pandemic. Soho House Toronto continued to charge fees and recorded them as credits to be used for online products or in-person once the house opened.

From March 2020 to mid-July 2021 the house was closed. Once it opened again, Soho's parent organisation determined that all house credits would expire September 30th, leaving members barely two months to utilize a significant amount of credits (in my case nearly $1000). Despite Toronto being the most locked down of all the houses this policy was inflicted on its members.

When I called membership headquarters I was told that I should have used my credits before the house opened on product. It's unconscionable to tell a member that they should have used their house credits on products that they may not want instead of the experience of being in the house enjoying the ambiance and food. This was a cold and bureaucratic handling of the pandemic for Toronto house members. I've rated 3/5 instead of 4.5 to express my displeasure and to warn future potential members. I also asked to have my membership cancelled.

I just don't feel like the organisation cares for its members as it did when I first joined. Perhaps it's recently plans of becoming a publicly traded company will further compound its descent into a profit-focus organisation as opposed to quality. Pretty sad because this was a great place to work...