Unicorn Cafe — Restaurant in Toronto

Be Warned! Of cockroaches and bad food handling skills.

This place would not pass a health inspection for food safety, and I doubt all the waiters have basic food handling licences. I had read the booths needed a little cleaning, but having worked at many restaurants in my 20s, I knew the upkeep of the seating and decor does not often reflect the conditions in the kitchen and the staff's food handling etiquette. I felt confident this was a good place to take my family.

I do not write reviews, but this business is targetted towards a clientele with kids, so I feel obligated to warn potential patrons. Even if the food was great (which it was not) or the prices dirt cheap (they are not), during my 1 hr visit bringing my 5 year old niece and her parents for a birthday lunch treat, we saw 2 fully grown cockroaches crawling the main restaurant floor!! They were going in and out beneath the booths into the main hall space. Both bugs were at least 2 inches. Horrified, we pointed to the 2nd roach that was still visible when the waiter was serving us food; instead of apologizing and looking concerned/shocked, she shrugged and smiled and pointed at it while getting the attention of the front server (who was serving ice cream then mopping the floor then back to ice cream serving without hand washing in between). This is the front of the restaurant mind you, so you can imagine how it could be at the back in the kitchen where food scraps, darkness and warmth breeds a more palatable environment for pests. The ice cream/mopping server then proceeded to crush the roach with the mop, mopp it into a bin, and passed the mop to our waiter to take back to the kitchen on her way to pick up the rest of our dishes. Based on both their reactions, it was clear this was a regular occurence and the staff did not seem to care or understand it was something alarming to see fully grown cockroaches walking the floor at the front of a restaurant.

Our server was wearing food handling gloves, so she was probably helping with plating or light prepping, this means handling not only our tableware/cutlery but the food itself, yet she did not hesitate to take the mop on her way to the kitchen, and less than a minute later came back with the rest of our food. Same gloves! This was very alarming, specially since she was also was bringing paper napkins and cutlery.

The plating itself was also a red flag when you see roaches are roaming. The fries came in tarnished metal basket that had a flaking gold coating, it was lined with wax paper, but barely. Only the bottom of the basket was covered and separated from the food, so above that level, the fries were touching the grimmy aged and flaking metal, even poking through the holes, clearly in contact. This was not a cooking grade metal or metallic coating; These very much looked like decorative baskets that had passed their prime and could not be sanitized between servings. The utensils were served in an open plastic trench tray, no liners. With roaches roaming, and the way I saw the waiter handle the mop and then our plates, I can clearly imagine she just scoops them up with that same gloved hand and dunked them into the tray.

The pony booths and cotton candy toppers are no worth the risk. Im frankly surprised I'm the first to comment on any of this, But now you know.

edit: forgot to add that we did not finish our food. We had already started on faster items before we saw the roaches, but my chicken karaage came afterwards and was left untouched. My niece was halfway through her nuggets before her mom...

Such a disappointment. Arrived with a party of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) at 11:30am on a Friday and still places to sit (you choose your own), however when we were leaving at 1pm there was a 1.5hr wait so maybe make reservations if possible. Decor is great in my opinion, lots of opportunities for pics. They have unicorn onesies that you can put on, we weren’t offered this so not sure if there is a charge and I strongly doubt these are washed in between uses. On the table there is a bucket filled with utensils and napkins, this is not a good idea at a restaurant targeted towards young children who touch everything. My water came in a cup that had a lip stick stain on the edge and the water was a slight yellowish colour. We ordered drinks (x3 hot chocolates) and all food at the same time (1 each of noodles, bento box, steak, burger) and one of the items we wanted wasn’t available. Two hot chocolates came out together and then we needed to ask a staff member for the 3rd and it eventually came out. The hot chocolate is worth the $5, comes in a cute mug with whip cream and marshmallow toppings (ears/horn) and then there’s a cloud of cotton candy. The food came out extremely staggered, noodles then a wait, then bento box, then a wait, then the steak, a wait and then inquired about my burger as at this point the 2 kids in our party were mostly finished. Then a second staff came out to ask if we had received everything and I mentioned about my burger again but asked that it be cancelled because by this point the whole group was done. Needed to flag someone down for the bill only to be told we could do it all at the front since that’s where you had to pay anyways. Then had to wait in the chaos at the front with people coming and going, could have easily left without paying, and then you have to go through telling them where you were sitting since tables don’t have names or numbers that you can see. Additionally washroom was small with only 2 stalls, one didn’t have...

Honestly, pretty mid. I went for the hype, lined up an hour, felt pressured to only order takeout, and spend too much for too little substance. I highly recommend this establishment to implement a reservation only system, as it was overcrowded to hell, and the inside is far too small with too little staff to accommodate. The exterior gives the unicorn vibes, and clearly inside has very colourful and unique seating-so why wouldn't I stay for the seating? I'm already paying a huge markup for two bites of food in the unicorn theme. Besides the unicorn theme, the food is Vietnamese style, which was a pleasant prize. But for a regular banh mi, there is absolutely no reason to charge how much they are. And for a rainbow grilled cheese, my friends and I all had a bite each and couldn't have more as both the 2 plain pieces of toast and coloured cheese are just hard as rocks-just like it had been freshly over microwaved. Of course there's a mark up for the very unique vibes, but unless you're already in the area, I wouldn't drive out my way to come here, take forever to find a paid parking spot, and wait at least an hour for a seat. Perhaps for little children's birthday party that's planned beforehand with the restaurant would really be the only occasion it would be worth it, but if you're just looking for a new place with lots of traction to check out-I'd give this a pass. This 4 stars is really to applaud this family's business, as it is clearly run by family friends and I can only commend them for it-but due to the lacklustre food and organization, I couldn't find myself rating this a 5 stars. Of course, I'm probably not the demographic for this kind of cafe, so this is simply my take as an young adult, trying to inform...