Urban House — Restaurant in Toronto

Terrible experience! I visited your bar with a friend shortly before last call. When I asked about the beers on tap, the bartender responded dismissively by pointing at the blackboard without saying a word. Although I found this rude, I let it go and ordered two beers.

After briefly sitting at the bar, I went to the washroom. Upon returning, we decided to sit in the small indoor patio area, which had only one occupied table. This was our first time at your establishment, so we were unfamiliar with the seating arrangements.

At that moment, a server suddenly grabbed my beer from my hand and accused me of trying to take it outside. She raised her voice, used profanity, and refused to return the drinks we had already paid for. I explained calmly that we were not leaving and only wanted to sit down, but she continued yelling.

A man who appeared to be the manager or owner then approached us. He initially shouted as well and did not allow me to explain what had happened. He later apologized on behalf of the server, but shortly after insisted that we leave the bar.

What troubled me most was when the servers told me: “If you were Canadian, you would know where to sit.” This remark was racist and deeply offensive. I have lived in Canada since 2009 and in Leslieville since 2021, and I have never before experienced such treatment.

Ultimately, after insisting, we were refunded for the drinks. We left feeling shaken and extremely uncomfortable. I made an effort to end the situation politely, but the entire interaction was hostile, discriminatory, and unprofessional.

I am sharing this because I believe management needs to be aware of how staff are treating customers. No guest should have to endure racism, verbal abuse, or intimidation in your establishment.

Absolutely unacceptable. If you care about respectful service and a safe atmosphere, I cannot...

I've been waiting for this place to open up and had such high hope that it would be our new favourite brunch spot, and maybe we set our expectations too high. First, they don't really have a "brunch" menu, they serve all day breakfast so there are maybe 3 items that would qualify as brunch. Pictures of menu below (taken Oct 2017 - menu might change over time). Second, food came out and there were french fries on our plate - we were hoping it would be home fries or even tater tots. Not a deal breaker but just a bit odd. We also got a side salad (yay!) however it was drenched in an Asian-style dressing and too many different flavours on the same plate (jam, ketchup, eggs, salad with ginger-sesame dressing - flavour overload). Third, they charge for coffee refills. I don't have a problem with this when it's included with the meal, or if the cup more like a mug, or if it's an americano; but to pay $1.75 for an ikea-size cup and then $1 for refill is a bit much. Especially since it's your standard drip coffee. I'd rather they charge me $2.50 and give me unlimited refills. However, my veggie omelette was LOADED with all types of veggies, I was really happy about that! And the service was great. Prices are really reasonable across the entire menu, so it's definitely worth checking out. I'm going to come back for dinner, maybe it's not a great brunch place but there could be potential for it to be a cheap and cheerful...

We visited this restaurant recently and overall, we had a great time. The atmosphere was warm, the vibe was nice, and the food was absolutely delicious. The service was also quite good — the staff were attentive, and we really appreciated the fact that the kitchen stayed open 7 extra minutes just for us. That was a very kind gesture, and we were genuinely grateful.

However, everything went downhill at the very end. When we asked for the bill, the bartender or waitress — whoever she was — handed it over. Since we personally don’t support tipping culture, we simply skipped the tip section. Her reaction was completely uncalled for — she told us, “You guys are mean.”**

Excuse me? That kind of language is not only unprofessional but extremely disrespectful. Just because someone doesn’t leave a tip doesn't give your staff the right to verbally insult them. I was actually going to leave something for the kitchen staff because of their great service, but her rude and disgusting attitude changed everything.

We left with a sour taste in our mouths — not because of the food, but because of how that bartender or waitress treated us. It ruined the whole experience. Definitely not coming back again, and I’ll make sure to let others know how customers get disrespected here. Fix your...