Balzac's Vaughan Metropolitan Centre — Restaurant in Vaughan

I'm only giving this place a 1 star and writing this review regarding a horrible experience I had received from one particular staff at this location. I visited this store yesterday and spend about 2 hours there enjoying the coffee any pastries, they were both great until a staff came up to me and FALSELY ACCUSED ME FOR STEALING. They had a few merchandises on display on a counter close to the table I was sitting so I got curious and went to take a look at the coasters and some plates. However, shortly after I put those merchandises down on the display counter, I was approached by the staff and asked if I was going to pay for the coasters? I was very confused because I didn't have those coaster with me and wasn't gonna purchase them, so I asked him back why would he ask me that question then he responded firmly saying " because I saw you slipping those coasters into your pocket". ???? Excuse me? I had NO POCKET on any piece of clothing I was wearing yesterday and I even asked him to get a female staff to check me to prove that I didn't "slip" that coaster into a pocket that I don't even have. That was VERY VERY OFFENSIVE because he literally approached me without any hard evidences and I even told him to check the security camera footage to verify if I really had taken those coasters. During that entire conversation which lasted about 5 mins, I received no apologies, all he said was "don't worry about it", don't worry about what? That's something I should be saying as someone who was FALSELY ACCUSED for a serious action not from someone who accused me for it. And how could I have calmly sat at the table and gave the chance for someone to confront me if I really did steal something? That was just ridiculous! Half an hour later, the supervisor came to me and apologized about the misunderstanding and only then I had received a proper apology from the staff. Now I feel very sorry for the supervisor because she had just started her shift and had to deal with this and she was a very nice girl. She did offer me a free drink and some pastries afterwards as gratitude and I do appreciated it, but there's definitely improvements need to be done on training the staff on dealing with situations like this, because that was such a...

I went to this Balzac’s since it’s the only coffee place in the VMC area and I’ve loved the service and coffee in other locations before.

Ordered an iced latte, and when it was ready, the barista looked me dead in the eyes and called out an iced latte, so I grabbed the drink thinking it was mine but there were other people waiting before me and it felt odd. Thankfully I asked them what the drink was (they didn’t even remember what it was) so on I waited. They should take a note out of Starbucks’ books and at least write names on the cups so customers don’t get confused. I noticed one of the baristas using their phone instead of helping the other barista make coffees. Maybe it’s how they organize their drinks?

They all had a very laidback attitude with no urgency for customers. I overheard one barista say to another that they don’t want to work the register, gave a big huff and eye roll, and then they completely left the work area with a lineup of people to serve. I get it — I’ve worked service jobs, and it’s tiring, but they were really busy, and I wasn’t expecting to witness employee dissatisfaction like this. You’d think with their prices, they could afford to pay the baristas a better wage so maybe they could actually give a rats ass about their work. Anyway, after the 15 mins I was there to witness all of this, the latte tasted pretty bad. It had an almost alcohol taste to it. I’ve had plenty of coffee in my lifetime and this was NOT good. I don’t know if it was bad milk or bad coffee, but it wasn’t worth the $8.50 I paid for it. And the cup was FILLED with ice — I guess I ordered a cup of ice with a side of latte! My mistake! Attached is a photo of the “drink” after it melted. I pray that another coffee shop opens near here and shows them what good customer service and good coffee is...

2024: Finally made it back after 11 months. Just as good as I remember it! Unfortunately I only got here once on our trip! But this time the pastries were all out on display! So we tried the chocolate croissants! Sooo good, I highly recommend them. Can't wait to come back!

2023: Found this place near our hotel, after checking them out online made it a point to stop by. I was not disappointed! I wish I lived near by so I could make it my regular stop for coffee! I got my normal "iced caramel latte", my son got and iced vanilla latte and my Mother in law got asked for something hot and chocolate.. I missed what the gal said but my Mother in law loved it! (I think it was the Mocha, but not sure) Hoping to get back one more time before we leave town. The fresh baked items were low by the time we got there, but what was still there looked fantastic, maybe next time! There's some parking out front, my hubby waited in the car for us. We were in and out pretty fast, it was busy but not crowded...