XXI Chophouse — Restaurant in Vaughan

I'll start out with what we ordered (wish I remembered to take pics to show you just how bad it was), the pros and then the cons.

Celebrated our one year anniversary and got the lobster sliders, ceasar salad, steak, lamb chops, side of veggies, mashed potatoes and tiramsu. Beverages: glass of wine and a Virgin margarita.

Pros: while some of it tasted fine, it wasn't anything special. Hence the 1 star for food. Nice atmosphere, quiet Ceasar salad tasted alright Tiramsu tasted okay too Both meats were cooked to our liking

Cons: The server/host showed us to our table and I proceeded to sit down, noticed that my seat was completely covered in crumbs so I took the napkin to wipe it off and the server says, "oh I still have to clean that." Then why would you show us to our table if the the table wasn't ready?! The server seemed to get very annoyed that I asked for a cocktail menu even after he listed me the cocktails he could make. Told him I'm pregnant so I needed to see what sort of ingredients go into the cocktails and decide whether it would be good as a mocktail. When I ordered the margarita, they were out of the pineapple garnish and it was fine but the drink was so warm! Even with the 2 ice cubes in it My husband orderded a glass of wine and they took his glass to pour it in the back or at the bar. Um what?! Wine is supposed to be served at the table. We ordered 2 sides with the entrees (mashed potatoes and veggies) but the server failed to tell me my dish already came with the veggies! Waste of $18. The menu didn't indicate that it came with a side either. The lobster sliders, all I could taste was the slaw and the bread The salad wasn't the easiest to eat. Literally full romaine leaves (not cut or anything) on a plate with dressing and cheese. It also had cherry tomatoes which I picked out and put to the side. Who puts tomatoes in a ceasar? And the menu didn't say anything about it What threw me off the most was the plating. For a fine dining restaurant where we spent over $400, everything was just slapped onto a plate (with the exception of the sliders). My husband's steak was literally just that. Steak on a plate, no garnish, nothing. I've seen better presentation at the Keg. The dessert had 2 blackberries and 2 strawberries and a slab of tiramsu. When I made reso, I indicated it was our anniversary, would have been nice if they dressed up on the dessert plate or if the server even acknowledged the reason we were there. The meats had zero taste. Have we forgotten about the art of marination? There was another couple that came in and the staff seemed to know them so all the attention was given to them. Usually, servers are trained to ask about allergies, but that wasn't asked of us either.

We were 15 minutes late but I called to let them know. People may wonder why we didn't send the food back. My husband is the AGM of a Yorkville resraurant and so I'm always concisous of sending back food (that I decided to order and would be the same if I got them to make me another plate). Would be different if it was cold or had something in it.

When we got there, there as barely anyone in the restaurant so we thought we'd get some next level service. Well, we were completely wrong. I would definitely not recommend...

I cannot say enough positive things about our experience here. My husband booked this for our anniversary. We were greeted by the hostess with a "Happy Anniversary" and as soon as our server came, she wished us one as well, and asked how long we'd been married. Later into our meal, we each received a complimentary glass of Prosecco to toast with, and she recalled we'd been married for 6 years and congratulated us on it. Reading reviews on other sites, I'm not sure that some people have been there recently. I read one review complaining that there was no bread provided to start. We got some. It was fresh and delicious. I read other reviews about waitstaff being slow or not helpful. Our server was sensational. She was knowledgeable, friendly, consistently checking on us for refills, if we were ready for our next course, to clear plates etc. She even went so far as to clear our plates, and bring us new ones, between the 2 appetizers we had ordered. And then, before our steak came, she even wiped down our placemats to clear them of crumbs. Knowing it was our anniversary, they sat us at a table that permitted us complete privacy in the solarium half of the restaurant for the vast majority of our stay (until a larger party sat down roughly 30 minutes before we departed). It should be noted that we requested to take our time and ordered several courses, asked for each one individually, and also stayed for coffee/tea/dessert. We were there for over 2.5 hours. (Had we wanted to move our service along faster, we would have had complete privacy for our entire meal.) We ordered the bone marrow, my husband had 3 Oysters (I don't eat seafood, but if you do, don't skip these - the show is worth it), the prosciutto/burrata flatbread for starters. Having made the choice to have so many starters, we ordered 1 steak and 2 sides to split (the 16 oz NY strip, 21 layers truffle potato, and buffalo brussels). The server took it upon herself to request the steak be sliced, and served to us on a board, so we could easily share it. It was cooked to absolutely (medium rare) perfection and the sides were outstanding. Trust me, you want to order the 21 layer truffle potato! It was my favorite food of the entire night. We then shared the creme brulee, and it did not disappoint, while having espresso and tea. Everything we consumed, including beverages, was worth every penny. Yes, this is fine dining. Yes, it has a high price point. But, its not just that the quality makes it worth it - the portions are actually huge. I would highly recommend coming here for a special occasion. They will treat you with the utmost care. We will absolutely be returning. Thank you for a wonderful anniversary...

Although the steak was really delicious the overall experience was subpar at best. The overall ambiance of the restaurant was nice but the music was so loud that it was hard to hear the person sitting next to you let alone have a conversation in a group setting. As a party of 5 we were all sitting quite close to each other so this really shouldn't have been such a big issue as it was.

As someone that frequently visits higher end restaurants this seemed like I was being punked. The front of house was very nice and so were some of the other waitstaff but our particular server was not very pleasant to deal with. He made us feel out of place and seemed annoyed with our table from the beginning of our service.

We were asked if we would like flat or sparking water and had requested flat. When we asked for a drink menu, we were told there wasn't one but the bar could make us cocktails if we'd like. At no point in the conversation was it mentioned that water was charged by the bottle, which would have been fine had we been informed. Restaurants in Canada that charge for water will announce as such when serving which was quite odd that the waiter didn't feel the need to mention this. A new bottle of water would be opened before we were even done drinking the first and by the end of the night our table was charged for 5 bottles of water amounting to $45 when 2 of us didn't even drink water and all of our cups were full when we were leaving.

When I had made the initial booking I was informed that bills would not be separated for parties of 6 or more however once at the restaurant the waiter told us they didn't do seperate bills but we could use different methods of payment after we had all calculated how much we wanted to pay. The misinformation not only made the whole process uncomfortable but it would have been easier and quicker with split bills.

During the time of the reservation I was informed that a mandatory 20% gratuity is charged for parties of 6 or more. Our party of 5 was still charged 20% gratuity which came to over $120 for subpar service, and ridiculously long wait times for food.

If anyone were to ask my recommendation on XXI I would advise them to go to Blue Blood or Jacobs and Co. instead. Both restaurants are more luxurious with better service and although their menu items are more expensive, the bill would amount to roughly the same considering XXI is charging you for what they see fit whereas the other two restaurants charge for their service, meal and overall experience. Unfortunately the quality of the food could not makeup for the...