Village Idiot Pub — Restaurant in Toronto

The absolute worst bar I've ever been to. I'd give it 0 stars if I could. On the surface it seems charming enough, but the staff is just appalling. I've been here a total of three times. The first was fine enough: uncomfortably small for how many people they cram in, and the drinks where watered down, but it was passible.

The second time I was there me and my friends had to deal with this big Aussie called Austin, and his attitude was downright foul. I came in with four friends. We each placed our order, but for some reason one of my buddies didn't get his drink for over an hour, even though he'd only ordered a beer, and the bar wasn't busy at all. Austin barely showed up at our table, and when he did he seemed just straight up pissed about serving us. I cant for the life of me figure out why, since my friends and I were ordering drinks the whole time we were there, and we weren't talking too loudly or being inappropriate. I had my suspicions he was being so aggressive and flippant with us because some of us at the table-myself included- were visibly queer, but I didn't want to assume the worst. Eventually we tried to order food, and it took over an hour to show up, with Austin bringing us silverware 20 minutes before our food even arrived. Eventually he just straight up asked us to leave. He literally said "when are you guys leaving," which really put us off, as we'd all wanted another drink. Since he was being so hostile, we just decided to pay and go. For some ungodly reason he decided to confront us all about our lack of tips, as if we didn't just get the worst waiter experience of our lives. I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Canada waiters are paid minimum wage, which admittedly isn't great- but I also get paid minimum wage, and I don't expect to get tips from customers I'm openly hostile to. It was a very awkward experience and I was pretty sure I wouldn't come back.

But come back I did! With an entirely different group of friends. We were doing a pub crawl, and I was hesitant to order, since apparently Austin was the only waiter the had skulking about. But my friends were insistent, so I relented. We sat down and immediately I could tell he recognized me, and was angry about it. I did my best to be quiet and polite, only ordering one drink. Since we were at the end of our pub crawl, my friends and I followed up our order with a round of waters (which didn't have ice by the way). Well up rolls Austin with another drink for one of my friends- an "old fashioned" that she DEFINATELY didn't order. It was clear, so at first we thought it was just water, but my friend said it tasted funny. We were all kinda thrown after that, since she's a smaller girl, and no one had asked for another drink. When we finally managed to flag this Austin guy down again (despite being the only people in the bar) we asked why this drink had been brought to the table, and he insisted that my friend- and only my friend- had asked for another drink, which we all knew she hadn't done. It made us feel really skeeved out. Her partner, my other buddy, pointed out that this "old fashioned" had come back clear, and that we hadn't ordered it, and if it could not be charged to us since no one had asked for it. Austin got really aggravated and defensive, saying "well you must've poured ice from your other drinks into here, so nice try!" Before turning to me and yelling at me about remembering me being here before and not tipping him. By this point that was over a month ago! I snapped, and chastised him for his poor service the last time I'd been here, which only made him more irate. Auston started ranting and raving about the "slave labor" he endured here, and how it wasn't fair to not tip waiters. As if the rest of us also weren't working class. He ended up charging my friend for the extra drink, for a total of $50 CAD for "two" old fashioned. The rest of us had only been charged $15 each. We just decided not to engage, as by this point it was clear Austin was just trying to pick a fight. Avoid this place...

First off - I just want to say how I have never wrote a review for an establishment so this says a lot. This was one of the most weird and uncomfortable experiences I have ever had going out to eat. I have never had such a strange interaction with a server. I don't know our servers name, she actually never told us it, she would just approach us and blankly stare and wait for us to ask for a drink or food... it was so offputing and it seemed like she had no idea what she was doing or where she was. When it came time for the check, our table was handed a card reader to complete our transactions and my check was first. Because we are not from the area, I did not know how this specific card reader worked so I asked her for help. It came time for the tip and I asked her how to add a tip, and she said "Just press the enter button." So I pressed the enter button thinking that it would then let me add my tip amount. But it didn't, and it just finished the transaction leaving her with no tip. Our server then starts crying in front of the whole table and says to me, "Is there a reason why you had a bad experience?" and I replied confused, "What are you talking about?" She says, "You did not tip me." Her not getting a tip was purely an accident and a result of miscommunication. I was so confused and taken aback because I wanted to tip her... then I had her crying and embarrassing me in front of the whole table. I was so uncomfortable. I apologized and genuinely felt bad because I understand how much tips are important probably more than the average person. My mother has been a server her whole life and relies on tips for her income. I had my other friend add more to her tip on her check to make up for it, but she just continued crying. It was so painfully awkward. In all my experiences going out to eat, I have never seen my server acknowledge how much money she receives, it is just blatantly disrespectful. I understand not receiving a tip is awful, but it was an accident, and frankly if she had a problem she should have NEVER brought it up in front of the whole table embarrassing her customer. I left the restaurant feeling awful about myself over an honest accident and cried. After reading reviews, I am recognizing a pattern. The staff needs to be trained to speak to customers with respect and also it should be known that there are people traveling to Toronto from other countries and they may not know how the card readers work. Just be nice, why would you want to embarrass...

Food- 3.5/5 Atmosphere- 4/5 Service- 0/5

Overall, a nice pub with decent food and a good atmosphere. However, the service completely ruined the experience.

My partner and I visited today around 5:20 and ordered Fish & Chips, Nachos, and two beers through Ilona. While waiting, the table behind us was loud, so we asked another server (I think her name was Jill) if we could move. She said it was fine.

We received the beers and the Nachos shortly after, but the Fish & Chips didn’t come for at least 20 more minutes. While ordering another beer, we asked Jill to check with the kitchen. About 10 minutes later Ilona brought the Fish & Chips but without the beer, and began complaining that we confused her by changing tables. This was very uncomfortable, especially since we had asked permission before moving and were polite throughout. Considering how quickly the Nachos and beers were served, it was clear the Fish & Chips order had been forgotten, yet she chose to blame us instead.

Another 15 minutes went by with no beer. At this point, I felt like we were being ignored or simply not prioritized. We decided to just finish our food and leave.

As we were nearly done eating, Ilona brought the beer said “I remembered.” I told her we had waited too long and that we were going to ask for the bill. She didn’t respond at all, and just walked away.

While incredibly frustrated, we didn’t want to make a scene. When we finally asked for the bill, Ilona made a sarcastic comment like “Are you sure you want the bill?” and then told my partner how “serious” I seemed. It was baffling how unaware and oblivious she seemed to be about...