Stakeout Dining Room & Lounge — Restaurant in Whitchurch-Stouffville

Been here recently and my thoughts. I'll start by saying, they're short staffed due to getting lazy people back to work, or something, I assume. There was one waiter for our section of apprx. 25 seats. which normally is o.k., when there's a busboy or a support person.. not enough when on their own. Food: 120z Prime Rib.. was undercooked and some bites were a bit chewing, w/fat string thing happening.. I didn't want to send it back and wait forever... and I wanted fresh pepper, but it took till I was almost half way thru it, to get his attention to get the fresh pepper (why a support staff coming around with that, is good). Taste: was just o.k. safe.... NOT the best I've had. That was at the banquet place of my wedding 2019.. side dish: Veggie and mashed... Veggie comes in a Huge plate with small center bowl area with Tiny salad for a baby.... o.k.. Mashed, tasted fine, but they have NO gravy option.. he said the prime rib comes with au jus...o.k. I asked for some extra of that on the side for the mash, didn't get any extra.. so tiny salad and no gravy for Mashed pot... Hm... Veggies.. ah, for fancy place, being small portion is o.k. but an extra piece of something still would have been nice for $51. Overall, so so on the Food overall rating of quality, taste, size &service, is So So. Wife had the Salmon. She said it tasted good, but also just normal good, not the best she's had... o.k. Plates/Tables. They bring you the side dishes on a HUGE plate that barely has room for it on the table sizes, so your arm rest area is taken up and forced to eat as if you're squished in a tight family dinner at the house with 12 people sitting tightly next to each other at a table of 8 max. Just put the veggies and mash next to the fkn Prime rib's Huge plate.. i don't mind... And WE ALL (4 of us) had this issue at the same time. again, Dumb design to go with huge plates for small portion/table size ratio. Appetizer: Fried Calamari.. Tasted just fine and the usual Calamari does at all Greek Restaurants on the Danforth... Likely frozen style.. Tasted fine and safe. I liked them.. but I'm sure Chef Ramsey wouldn't. My friends had the Rib steaks and said they tasted good no issues... but agreed with the other stuff I mentioned above, for value/service. Service, I can forgive, as I assume they're short staff NOT by their choice and dong their best... but service still lacked... and this is where my final complaint comes in... TIP: I hate when they put the tip on the bill and it's even more than 15%. Especially when you know you're short staffed and Did Not provide top service... Again, I get it, but don't push you luck by not providing top service and the push a high tip !!! That's rude. But, I paused and decided just pay it. they need it right now (not that I don't as we're all having some harder times during this Plandemic)..but I paid it and figured they really can use it.. No worries. FYI. I used to waiter so I am not an ahole.. but I tip well when it's earned, and I never expected any % and I understood I had to earn it when I waiter'd. To Sum up my long review. I feel I ate at a fine dining Greek restaurant (yes I know this is a steak place) with fancy decor and ambience, but for double the money, and lesser service. Would I return ? No. Forever ? Never say Never. If I hear they've improved and happen to be gong thru the area, Maybe. ps. if the Prime Rib was awesome and they had gravy for the mash. I'd give it another star... and the 4th star would be for the service to be fully staffed and proper and proper plate/serving sizes not to cramp you. which stole away the...

Just want to pass along some stuff to the owners / managers.

So I went here last night with my other half for our anniversary, 6:15pm on a Sunday.

When we arrived we were in the lobby approx 10 minutes within no one around, we actually had to go and get someone to seat us - I can maybe understand this if you are very busy but it wasn't, it was maybe 1/4 full, so ok mistakes happen, I let it slide - maybe it was a shift change or something.

We sit down and the hosts ask us if it's a special occasion, we advise him that it was and what for, and while nice but not required he says 'oh anniversary, wonderful, your dessert tonight will be on the house' - It's a nice gesture so at the end of the meal we did order dessert however we were charged for it. I'm not a stickler over a $10 dessert so we let it slide but what it does signify is a complete lack of clear communication in the place and there is more evidence of that from the time we sat down.

Let me start,

1 - So we get drinks, we order a bottle of wine which here has an astronomical markup, it's more then Harbor 60, La Castile and lots of other steakhouses, it's near insanity, I swallowed my pride and still got a bottle but you really need to review your wine prices, they are way off.

2 - We order the appetizer of the 'bacon wrapped scallops' they come out and the bacon is damn near raw - I get that you can't fry a scallop for long but cook the bacon a little more separately before wrapping; it was absolutely disgusting with near raw bacon.

3 - We both order the filet mignon topped with crab, this was ok but again the back wrapped around it was damn near raw as we got them done rare and medium rare. Again disgusting.

4 - I had the caesar salad and while the fresh anchovy was nice the lettuce hearts where whole - I go out to eat so I can eat, not have to rip my salad apart, get a clue here and cut the damn lettuce up.

5 - My side of vegetables had 'raw' I mean legitimately RAW carrots in it, they we're even warm, whomever streams these needs to go back and learn how to be a line cook - these were terrible.

6 - The garlic mash - ok where do I start. Cardboard might have been a better meal, they were dry as ever as though they had been sitting in the fridge for a week, not creamy whatsoever, also no less than 2 times I bit into a solid piece of a garlic clove...I'm not a chef by any stretch but I know you are supposed to use roasted garlic, you know what happens to roasted garlic? It breaks apart in the mash. I had to slather the mash in the leftover melted butter we had from the scallops just to power through it.

7 - Check this out, I kid you not, the girl got a baked potato served to her in....tin foil, what the hell kind of 'high class' place serves their guests in tin foil, give you head a shake guys.

8 - Almost forgot about this, no water was served to our table for the whole visit, nothing whatsoever.

9 - We had the creme brulee for dessert, the bowl was so deep that bottom was frozen - ice on the bottom frozen.

And all this for nearly $300.00

Needless to say we'll likely never visit again nor recommend...unless there are drastic...

When you walk into this establishment, you may feel a sense of how upscale it was. From the fancy chairs, the ambient lighting, and the well dressed server...everything seemed perfect but boy was I deceived. I ordered the ribeye steak medium rare with a double baked potato. We waited around 40 minutes from our appetizer to our entree. We waited so long, I watched other people receive their meal who came after us. I politely asked the waiter to check on our order, he informed me that the kitchen was backed up and it would take another 15-20 minutes before we will receive it. I waited a total of 1 hour before I received my food. That's okay, I understand that the kitchen can get busy. My dinner finally arrived and it was made medium well. I was so beyond disappointed because I knew if I complained, I would most likely have to wait another 15-20 min before I would eat but how could an upscale establishment with such high prices make the mistake between cooking a medium rare and a medium well? Despite what I already knew, I asked the waiter to have my order redone as I've waited long enough, I want to have a medium rare steak. If I wanted a medium well, I could have cooked it at home with a grade AAAA steak from Costco. The waiter informed me what I already expected...another 15-20 minute wait. At this point I've lost my appetite and just want to leave. I asked to speak with the manager whom did not help me at all and made the experience even worse. He basically told me that it's not their fault that the steak came out so late as it takes time to cook, but even with the steak coming out wrong, it's not their fault because they are busy. At this point, I knew that the manager will not be able to help to make my experience any better so I told him it's fine, clearly it's my fault for coming here. He then asked me what else do you want me to do? We are already going to make you another steak...another steak that was going to take 15 min before I could eat. Guess what... The steak came out rare. I would never take a date here nor ever recommend this place to anyone. The only 5 star I can give is for the servers who are trying their best to make the experience amazing.

I cannot say how the lounge side was as peeking from the double doors it looked amazing...but for dining side...I would never ever recommend it to anyone...not even my worst enemies. Save yourself some money, you are better off going to another steakhouse.

1/5 Food - 1/5 Price...