Thornhill Pub — Restaurant in Vaughan

My husband and I visited the Thornhill Pub this evening at around 5.35 p.m. (so bear that context in mind), but given the negative reviews so far we were curious - and also regulars at The Brit etc so you know who we are and that our review is objective ;) We were seated at a table for two straight away, and noted later that another couple seated where they didn't want asked to change and were immediately accommodated. This place definitely has the ambience of a 'real' pub as far as the interior decor is concerned (different levels, dark wood furnishing, archway etc) and it seems that quite a few changes have been made since some of the initial complaints and comments. The first of these was obvious with the provision of the menu (in laminated format, one page for beers and one for food, albeit the latter having a handwritten note). It seemed to be fairly good, with the obvious exception of steaks in any form, although, yes, a bit expensive. A waitress was with us within 2 minutes to ask whether we wanted a drink, she answered our questions and provided the drinks within another 3 minutes, then took our order for food: "Salmon with vegetables". This was delivered within a very reasonable 15 minutes (we can expect to wait at least 20 minutes for freshly made food anywhere else). When I ordered, I asked whether the meal came with fries and she answered that it came with mashed potatoes (not stated on the menu) but that I could have both without extra charge if I wished. That was a pleasant surprise, but I confirmed just fries. I'm going to comment on things other than the food later. My food arrived and consisted of a hot earthenware bowl containing the salmon and vegetables, a bowl of salad AND a bowl of crinkle cut fries. This was enough for both me and my husband, in fact the salmon was the size of two normal fillets, which may in part explain the price of $22. The vegetables were basically onions and peppers (green, red and orange) and the salmon was seasoned and cooked well (see below). We tucked in and twice waitresses came back and asked whether we liked the food - oh yes, we did - the one meal was adequate for the two of us! The decor was also excellent, there were at least three people waiting on and one lady at the bar who was clearly an experienced raconteur and kept those drinking there very happy! A few minor issues now: I had two hairs in my food, thankfully obvious and therefore removable but a little bit disturbing. The waitresses looked and acted quite...scared...and desperate for a positive reaction to 'was your food good?', rather than 'how was your food?', which was a shame, because they were very efficient and I commend them for the great job they did. The salmon was slightly overcooked and it couldn't be said that it came in a 'sauce', just oil, but nevertheless everything was perfectly cooked. There was 1980's music on in the background which we enjoyed and I can honestly say that, with the exception of the above, we didn't have any criticisms whatsoever. There were people eating outside on the patio and inside at the bar and in the pub itself, all seemed happy and we certainly were, so we are rating this 5* for the service and food, and encourage everyone else to try it. One final point was that I had a rum and coke, and it would be useful to have a more extensive menu which links the food and drinks as well as listing the price of soft drinks/spirits etc - but this was a minor point and we are told the menu will be changed accordingly as soon as they can do it. I hope they now have one which includes steaks. Another suggestion is, like all traditional pubs, to have a Sunday roast lunch, which I am sure would draw in a LOT of customers, for...

I keep coming to this place because of the outstanding Music Saturdays.

However service is non-existent. The last 4-5 times I spent 3.5-4 hours here and not once did a server come by to ask for my order. My reservations thus far were NEVER honoured: we had scenarios where 9 of us were trying to crowd at a table for 4, because the tables I reserved they gave to someone else.

Tonight they straight out tried to seat me away from a table close to the band (again, my requested tables were given away), just to seat down a party of 4, when I reserved for a party of 6 - they didn’t even have my reservation in their books - I had to show the waitress my call history that I actually called 2 days ago to reserve.

The calamari that I ordered after I flagged down a waitress came after over an hour - without utensils or lemon wedges.

Btw, if you park in the parking lot behind the pub, you actually get a ticket from the city, as it doesn’t belong to the pub - but it’s not self evident, and the pub certainly doesn’t have adequate amount of parking spots. Do I need to continue? If there would be 0 stars for service, that is what this place deserves.

Update: After I posted this review, one of the waitresses came by just to tell me I am no longer welcome at this place. Wow. I brought a lot of friends and business here over the past 1.5 years - all because of the amazing music. How interesting that they have no interest in revisiting their service situation but send customers pointing out these away. Unfortunate. I wish you all the best!

Recommendations for Management/Owners:

1. Please partner with OpenTable, so that customers can book their own tables, which will eliminate staff/booking errors.
2. Hire staff with people and customer service skills, who will treat your customers with professionalism, respect and dignity. This will in turn increase customer satisfaction and help growing your business.
3. Train your staff to be more courteous, not to discriminate against clients, and become more attentive and efficient. This, again, will go a long way for your business.
4. Treat loyal, long-term customers who not only support your business on a regular basis, but growing it by inviting additional people regularly, and post on social media about the music and the venue reaching 10K people providing you with free (!) advertisement, with appreciation - not calling them “you are not welcome” and “I am not serving you”. These clients organically grow your business - a business that is part of the hospitality industry, amongst the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic.
5. Please partner with the owner of the parking lot behind the pub, so that your patrons are not hit with a $60 paring ticket after visiting your establishment.
6. Each business that is run by people is exposed to staff errors. Errors are forgivable as long as rectifyable actions follow. An apology goes a long way.

I am open to a discussion and conflict resolution - and subsequently, an update to this public Google review. In the interim, I wish you all...

The ambience and décor are very nice but it was cold in there. I could see the server shaking and when no one was watching, she was rubbing her hands to warm them up. I had to leave my coat on and was still cold.

The server was a young girl, who was really doing her best to keep up with an unexpected slam. When I walked in, there were two other people. Within 15 minutes of my arrival, about 6 more people showed up. She was quick, calm, polite, professional, and informative to everybody. Bonus points.

I ordered an Irish coffee but there's no whipped cream - no points deducted for that because that's what happens when I cheat on my diet.

I ordered a small garden salad with blue cheese dressing on the side and the spicy shrimp with stir-fried vegetables and this is where it all went downhill.

The salad vegetables were crisp, cold, and quite delicious. My problem is that the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber, were cut in sizes ranging from teeny tiny to way too big. It made eating the salad a bit of an adventure, because the tiny pieces kept falling through the fork while the bigger pieces needed to be cut down to size. It came with a bonus portion of balsamic dressing, which was a nice surprise, but a little more consistency in The cutting would be nice.

The shrimp, however, while tasty, was a problem. It came on a plate with two pieces of bread. I believe it was a sourdough bun. Also tasty.

The shrimp, however, still had the tails on. That is fine when they are all placed on top of the presentation for easy access and are not coated in a thick, sticky sauce. When they are sauced up and stirred in, it becomes a royal p i t a to pluck them out, twist off the tail, then have to wipe the fingers before the next bite because napkins cannot clean off a sauce thick with sugar.

I would not call the vegetables stir fried, either. They were liberally coated in the same sauce as the shrimp. Mostly onions and peppers, which means they were also soggy. Essentially, the entire portion was a big puddle of squishiness. The texture was a huge problem - I couldn't swallow.

Stir fried vegetables should be tender crisp, not squishy.

What would absolutely make this dish (as well as improve the bottom line) is serving half the existing portion, but put it on a bed of rice.

It does not need to be fancy-dancy basmati or Jasmine rice; just regular long grain rice will do because the shrimp has more than enough flavor to carry the day. You don't need to fill the entire plate, either, (because that thing is just too big) but a reasonable portion of rice, the sauced shrimp placed on top of that for easy access to get the tails off, then properly stir fried vegetables (not just peppers and onions, a California mix would probably have been cheaper and would have been more interesting) set to the side would have been absolutely perfect.

Still and all, I'd come back if I'm...