The Ballroom Bowl - Yorkville — Restaurant in Toronto

The Worst Experience of My Life!

If I could give zero stars, I would. Let me start by praising Jamin and Amir, the two incredible servers who were the only saving grace in this disaster of an establishment. Jamin was attentive, professional, and went above and beyond to ensure our table was taken care of. Amir was equally fantastic, delivering flawless service with a kind and approachable demeanor. These two are shining examples of what hospitality should look like. They deserve promotions and recognition for holding this sinking ship together.

Now, onto the nightmare that was Josh, the so-called manager, and Paula, who I can only assume calls herself a manager because no one else would. Never in my life have I encountered such rude, dismissive, and utterly incompetent individuals in positions of authority.

Josh: Completely unfit for his role. When a legitimate issue was brought to his attention, he rolled his eyes, spoke to me as if I were a nuisance, and then blatantly ignored the problem. His tone was condescending, and his behavior was downright hostile. It’s clear he has no business interacting with customers, let alone managing anything.

Paula: Even worse than Josh, which I didn’t think was possible. Her attitude was dismissive, her solutions nonexistent, and her professionalism utterly absent. She didn’t just fail to resolve the issue—she escalated it with her unapologetic rudeness and utter lack of care. She treated me like I didn’t matter and had no respect for my concerns.

I walked in expecting a pleasant experience and instead left feeling humiliated, disrespected, and angry. These two individuals should seriously reconsider their career choices because they are actively harming the reputation of this business.

To anyone reading this: if you happen to encounter Jamin or Amir, you’re in good hands. But if Josh or Paula are anywhere near the establishment, RUN. They will ruin your day, your meal, and your faith in humanity.

This was, without exaggeration, the most horrific experience of my life. If I could plaster this review on billboards to warn others, I would. Josh and Paula have no place in the service industry and should face serious consequences for their...

I am writing to express my disappointment with the service my party and I received from your hostess on Sunday. The hostess, who has long straight hair, displayed an unacceptably rude attitude toward us.

We requested assistance with extending our reservation, to which she responded that same-day bookings were not possible. When we mentioned that we found an available spot on OpenTable, her response was extremely rude and unprofessional. She yelled at us, saying, "Just book it," and showed no willingness to assist us further, including taking us to our laneway.

Such behavior is not what we expected from a new establishment .

You should also consider charging per lane rather than per person. We were a group of eight people and couldn’t even finish one game, extremely tight space especially if they put another large group in the facing laneway. You are looking to sit 16 people on 3 seater couches. It feels like a scam to charge per person rather than per lane. For any large group, do yourself a favor and book more than one lane—you get to play more for the same price.

Additionally, OpenTable system appears to be broken. If you book the same day reservation they will not honor it despite you getting an email saying booking confirmed.

Update: The manager on duty, Imad, was very nice and tried to make things right. He significantly improved our experience by regularly checking in on us and ensuring we were taken care of behind the scenes. His efforts were much appreciated and made our visit much more pleasant.

While Imad's excellent service helped salvage our visit (if it was not for him we would walk right out and never return), I hope that appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that future customers do not experience similar treatment, starting charging per lane (which is what is fair) and they fix the issue...

Venue 3/5

Location is great, easy to get to and find parking. Came on a Tuesday night 10pm, 7-8 staff working the shift. There was a strong smell of marijuana inside the venue. A few larger groups and medium groups bowling at the time.

Service 3/5 (overall)

When we came in, the hostess informed us last call is in 30mins (10:30). We waited close to 15 mins before we were able to flag down a server for our table. There were a few other servers just chatting the whole time, and the bartenders chatting with coworkers and patrons.

The waitress for my table (Ana) seemed to be the only one actually working (out of 4) and serving others. The other two girls (see pictures) were just chatting together, chilling on phone or walking together around restaurant even during the time I was attempting to flag down server.

Food 3/5

Ordered the Short Rib Mac n Cheese and 2 Burgers for a quick post workout snack. The short rib had next to no “rib”. The queso, feta and cheddar with the crushed tortilla chips makes it interesting however. The burger tasted alright. portion was average.

Overall, was a little bummed given this is the Yorkville location. Have heard good things about the other locations. Will have to give those a try before I give Yorkville another chance.

Shout out to our server Ana for taking care of the whole restaurant and our table.

Feel free to contact me if you are management/restaurant owner.

Edit Thank you to the management team for reaching out and addressing my concerns. They also provided an explanation as to why some things happened the way they did during my visit. I appreciate the transparency and the follow up customer feedback. Will give the venue a second chance and have an updated review...