The Porch — Restaurant in Toronto

The only good thing about my experience at The Porch, was the view. I made a reservation for 10 as a staff event, thinking this would be a great atmosphere...the negativity began before we even arrived, when I called to confirm my reservation the girl had no information on my reservation so took my info again...then I arrived and was told there was a cover charge, which I was completely unaware of, and should have been informed of this when making my reservation...if my staff had arrived before me, I would have felt horrible if they had to unexpectedly pay cover, although the manager on duty kindly waived the fee for us. Once seated myself and one of my guests ordered the buckets, we couldn’t believe when we received them and they weren’t even half full, our first thought was it’s kind of silly to have such a big deceiving bucket and only partially fill it, not to mention at $20+...Then my other guests arrived and 2 others ordered buckets and theirs was full! We wouldn’t have said anything but when we saw that we felt so ripped off, we explained this to one of our many servers and she said she would get “our server”, we also had to send back one of the new buckets as we requested it be made with vodka, and we had to determine ourselves it was made was made with tequila, which we specifically said we did not want. The same manager that helped us earlier brought us 2 margaritas for receiving literally half of our drinks earlier, which was kind, but it was like one thing after another...Then one of my guests took a sip from her water glass and noticed lipstick marks all around the rim....she and the rest of our table were thoroughly disgusted, we asked for another glass, this waitress didn’t even apologize... Service was so slow in between all of this, we would order way in advance just to simply get a drink when we thought we’d be ready for the next. Then I ordered a Sangria, and there was a black substance all over the inside of the glass....I stuck my finger in and wiped the side, and you could clearly see my finger swipe mark in god knows what it was, and the substance was all over my finger, it almost looked like cigarette ash, I’m not sure, but this was the cherry on top of an already horrible experience. I am so thoroughly embarrassed that I chose this place to bring my staff for a nice evening out, none of us even live in Toronto, and came downtown just for a nice experience, and this was the exact opposite. I am so disappointed, as this place has such potential, but clearly lacks cleanliness, customer service, must be short staffed or simply extremely slow, and is beyond over priced for the items you receive. Thoroughly...

I don’t usually review but my god the world needs to know about a tragedy that is The Porch. Overpriced, loud, practically nonexistent menu, and the most spaced out staff I have seen in a while. Honestly, this place needs to stop pretending like it’s the hottest spot in town. I don’t usually review places because so far all of them have been decent. The Porch, though, should be avoided like the plague. Non-refundable $15 to guarantee a reservation? Sooo not worth it and pointless anyway cause the place was empty on Sunday afternoon. I have seen better menus at gas station diners. Granted, it’s a very pub menu but still. A choice of four for everything? Four cocktails, four handhelds, four salads. There is no apps, no mains, no desserts. Just a mediocre selection of random foods thrown onto a list. I got chicken wings. Was served whole eight of them. And boy, they were pink. Those wings were so undercooked, they might as well had feathers on them. Should have gotten a refund really. Got two drinks. A mojito and a margarita. $20 for each. Drinks were good, not gonna lie, but not 20 bucks good. We had to wait 15 min for a glass of water because my boyfriend was struggling with his dry chicken burger. The staff looked like they would rather be gnawing their arms off than serving anyone. They were not rude. But there was no sense of engagement, no communication, no urgency, no positive attitude, no customer service skills or desire whatsoever. I almost debated tipping but didn’t want to be that guy. Two couples sat and left in a matter of minutes while we were there. Probably horrified at the food selection to price ratio. The view was OK I guess. Yes, CN tower and some condos. You can watch it for free anytime you are downtown. Long story short - please take your money elsewhere. The Keg, Fox & Fiddle, Barking Squirrel, you name it. You will spend less money on better food with better ambiance. Avoid The Porch like your life...

Extremely Disappointed – Poor Service, Dismissive Attitude, and Unacceptable Treatment

We had an incredibly upsetting experience at The Porch that left us feeling not only disrespected but dismissed — and it’s important that this is acknowledged.

After being seated, we thought we had a great server and we ordered cocktails and appetizers. After which we decided to have mains but we needed to update our parking meter. so we briefly returned to our car and informed staff (our waitress) before leaving. When we returned, our food had already been served and left sitting out. It was cold, and understandably, we were concerned about what may have come into contact with it while we were gone. When we politely brought this up, instead of any empathy or professionalism, our waitress responded with clear frustration and attitude.

We gave them a chance to make it right. But instead of addressing us directly, she had the host return with the same reheated food, ignoring our request to switch out the bun and sweet potato fries entirely(and we only said bun of burger and fries to be polite since we understand stuff happens). When the food came back the waitress ignored us and the host spoke to say that he reheated it. She dropped our meal off and walked off. The fact that we were dismissed like this — without even the courtesy of a conversation — felt extremely intentional. And as a Black couple, we’re very aware when we’re being brushed off.

We work in industries where service and respect matter — I’m a Sales Manager for a Marriott hotel and my husband is a pilot. We know what good hospitality looks like. This wasn’t just a service failure — it was a failure in basic respect and decency.

We will not be returning, and we will not be recommending The Porch to friends, colleagues, or guests visiting Toronto. I sincerely hope management reflects on how this was handled — and who they choose to represent...