Zaitoun — Restaurant in Toronto

date visited : Tuesday Feb 04, 2020

Overall Rating for experience : 4/5

Comments : first time visiting here. We were kinda hungry and wanted to try a new spot for chicken. At least if we are craving broast chicken we don't have to travel as far now. Used to go to 4c Broaster down on Lawrence Ave near Victoria Park.

Service : 4/5 Service was friendly. Since the proteins were cooked fresh it seems, it took some time to receive our order.

Food : 4/5 we ordered the 2 piece chicken combo w/drink (comes with dinner roll) for $7.99 along with the Chicken Tandoori plate meal for $12.49, +1 extra drink at $1.50 for my wife. I noticed they do offer ribs, but I'm uncertain if the ribs are pork or beef. Thinking beef, since the resto is Halal. Those with Gout careful before ordering the ribs, inquire to make sure if pork or beef. The ribs seemed a little on the pricey side (offerings of 2 or 4 ribs based on the menu). They even have a veggie patty burger. Tho not vegan currently due to the mayo garlic spread. Maybe a basil pesto might work better?

Comments on 2 pce broast chicken combo : fries are supposed to be Cajun seasoned, but didn't really notice that flavoring, fries seemed pretty standard not fresh cut. The broast chicken was crispy enough with some oil that collected at the bottom of the black paper plate lining. Less greasy at least than other chicken restos that we have visited. We did find the size a of the chicken on the small side. 2 pce combo is basically 1 chicken leg back attached cut into 2.

Comments on the Tandoori Chicken Plate meal : comes with 1 skewer worth of flame grilled Tandoori chicken (6 pieces) on top of a bed of seasoned rice (basmati I think) along with a salad and fair sized piece of naan bread. The chicken pieces were tender for the most part, rice was good overly seasoned for my palate but was okay for my wife. I found the seasoning on the Tandoori chicken pieces to be leaning toward the salty side. Not able to comment on the salad, since I did not snag any from my wife's plate. Wife was stuffed didn't even make it to the naan.

Drinks : primarily canned soft drinks and bottled water.

Portion Size Value for Money Spent : 3/5 the portion value for the 2 pce broast chicken combo was ok. However the portion value for the Tandoori chicken plate meal seemed a bit higher than expected. Not sure if it should be priced at $12.49 maybe $10.49..since salad is cheap and rice itself is also cheap in comparison to the chicken on the skewer.

Worth repeat visit : We will likely come back again, since they are close to us. Looking to try a few other items...

I ordered two chicken wraps and two naan from Zaitoun tonight via phone order and drove there to pick up my order. I was told that my order would take between 20-35 mins and so I waited patiently, as usual, as I have order from this restaurant multiple times in the past. I made 3 follow up calls to the restaurant to confirm whether my order was ready. After 50 mins, I was told it was ready and I went into the restaurant to pay and pick up my food. The woman working there, a relative of the owner (sister-in-law I believe) asked for my name, I said Pam, and I heard her mention ‘wraps’. I paid for my order which came up to about $27. I thought that to be high, however given price increases everywhere, I did not question it, considering this is a restaurant. I waited again, for my order to be handed to me and I left. when I got home, I realized that I was given the wrong order of a beef platter and beef wrap and so I called the restaurant to inform them. The woman began to rudely dominate the conversation and said that I gave her another customers name and that now she is inconvenienced to make another order. Which is not true. She did not take into consideration that I have food in my home that I do not eat due to religious beliefs as I do not eat beef. She then hung up on me as I was speaking, not picking up the phone afterwards. I could not be more displeased, and very shocked at tonight’s mishap. I have supported this business on multiple occasions during the pandemic. I have not complained on the extremely long wait times or missing items in the past. I have been cordial to their staff. And today as a customer, I am very disappointed in the behaviour of this member of the business. I hope this incident will be addressed in an...

If you want to be publicly humiliated and harassed - this is the place to go. I visited with my family and the person who took our order gave us fried chicken pieces of his own choice - his excuse was that they were out of pieces. That’s all fine but I didn’t want specific pieces and the guy was arguing with me about it. It’s your job to communicate with us if you’re running low on stock, rather than giving us something we don’t want. Then our second time, we were harassed by getting kicked out of the restaurant. For what?? We didn’t even talk with anyone or had any altercation of any sort. This is beyond embarrassing and I will definitely not recommend anyone for their cheap, unprofessional and downgrading customer service. Worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant, that too with my family.

Edit to reply to a sorry excuse of a reply:

I implore you to ask your own employee what the altercation was. He was being rude infront of my family members and that’s why I said if you have a personal issue with me, talk to me privately not infront of everyone else. It was never to invite a physical altercation. Why would I want that with my family present? This just shows your level of customer service. You don’t even reach out to customer to hear their side of story, what about your employee demeaning your customers?? You have other negative customer service reviews and it is completely my fault for not reading them prior to visiting. You can be rest assured that me, or any of my family and friends will ever visit your...