Pretentious Restaurants

[TheKing]

Any and all venues around Lakeshore and Trafalgar, trust me, I live there.

Except one, Southside Cottage Grill - very cool interior, reasonable prices, pretty good food, nice venue, great hangout.
But a few of the clientele can be pretentious fucks, but I ignore them as much as possible.

I never eat downtown Oakville because of the pretentiousness. I have found Paradiso to be bearable but never tried other restaurants.

Then got introduced to 7 Pizzeria.. amazing food and great crowd of employees there. I was expecting them to be snooty, overpriced, with average food.

Probably the best pizza joint I've been to, not overpriced ($20/person for pizza plus appetizers/drinks/etc... a bargain for a 'high end' restaurant as much as it is one). Staff is friendly although you can tell they're trying to please the snooty people too so they're a little bit abrupt. But they do it in a nice way.

Won't eat anywhere else downtown Oakville but 7 is a winner. It's absolutely packed on Fri/Sat nights unlike some of the other restaurants... so obviously others agree with me.

No way am I setting foot into Olivers, Mye or Jonathans ever again by the way. And I got pissed off with the attitudes of all 3 restaurants over 10 years ago and never went back. I can only imagine how bad it is now!

 

[james t kirk]

Another place that has attitude that I can think of is "The Chase" down on Temperance Street

I've been there a few times. Food is really good, but the pretentiousness is a bit tough to take.

Called them up recently for a reservation and the woman who answered the phone was kind of standoffish with me about my tardiness in making the reservation (same day). I wanted a very early dinner as my friends and I were heading out to see a show. So I wanted a 5:30 table. She was just hemming and hawing on the phone about "not sure" and this and that. It took her forever it seemed to say, "ok" I even told her that we would be out of there in 2 hours. (And I knew from experience that the place would be empty when we arrived (it was) and maybe one third full by the time we left (which it was)

So why the drama?

 

[Insidious Von]

Tiberius, from your posts I get the impressions that you're all about image and you pay the price for it.

As Eric the Clown said to George Costanza, " you're hung up on pretentiousness man". I wouldn't go near a place like Edulis with a 20 ft pole. Since I think you're swell I'll give you some suggestions:

I go to The Queen and Beaver( on Elm St) for really good traditional English fare. I'll probably take in a WC match there as well.

For great mole I go to Margarita's ( on Baldwin St) it looks like a dive but the food is anything but!

For mussels I go to the Beer Bistro on King St E.

For PEI fare I go to Zee Grill on MT Pleseant two blocks south of Eglinton. However when I go there I look after the designated driver, I like my Gray Goose with oysters.

http://www.zeegrill.com/

And forget the new wave Spanish cuisine, just give me Farmer's Paiella with a nice cold pitcher of sangria to wash it down with.

 

[GameBoy27]

I agree Toronto has many millionaires especially in the banking sector. But the restaurants here suck big time. No where near the quality you'll find in Chicago, Philly, New York and Montreal for that matter.

Are you serious? Toronto has some amazing restaurants serving up all sorts of interesting cuisine. Sounds like you've been going to all the wrong places.

To say that Toronto doesn't have a huge number of really great restaurants is absurd and simply not true.

100%

 

[SoftHands813]

Burger King is fine ...

Hey pal, have it your way.

 

[reaper29]

What about pepsi?

Seriously though, that sounds brutal. Never even heard of this place and if that's their attitude don't think I will ever go. I found Rosewater Supper Club (does it still exist?) to be similar. Went there a while back...no problems getting a reservation as the place was almost empty. Depsite the fact that they were empty, service was reaallllyy slow, the food not all that great and a holier-than-thou attitude from the waiter. These places (hopefully) will learn when people stop going.

I remember going there many, many years ago as a vendor wanted to treat us to a nice dinner. I don't remember the service, other than the food portions were small, the food was just ok, and I ended up hitting Mickey D's afterwards 'cause I was still hungry.

 

[Serpent]

You're just a well known Toronto basher on this site, so, frankly, your opinion counts for shit.

It's not my opinion, it's a fact. Go through this list and lemme know when you find a Toronto restaurant anywhere: http://www.theworlds50best.com/

It's the culinary wisdom of a lot of qualified people. People who have the benefit of exposure and presumably the qualifications to comment.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

I find pretentious behaviour really difficult to handle... not just in restaurants either. Try shopping in some TO boutiques. It's almost like they don't want your business.

Any places that would make me feel like I have to beg them to take my business is a place I don't want to bother with.

Personally I am game for a vendor cart hot-dog when I am in Toronto. LOL

and they have coke!

 

[Serpent]

Any places that would make me feel like I have to beg them to take my business is a place I don't want to bother with.

That's a smart consumer.

 

[james t kirk]

Tiberius, from your posts I get the impressions that you're all about image and you pay the price for it.

As Eric the Clown said to George Costanza, " you're hung up on pretentiousness man". I wouldn't go near a place like Edulis with a 20 ft pole. Since I think you're swell I'll give you some suggestions:

Edulis is not that swanky inside. Trust me. Looongggg way from it. Very plain jane.

Just fucking full of themselves though.

I've heard good things about the Queen and Beaver though yes, but I'm not that much of a pub guy to be honest.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

Edulis is not that swanky inside. Trust me. Looongggg way from it. Very plain jane.

Just fucking full of themselves though.

I've heard good things about the Queen and Beaver though yes, but I'm not that much of a pub guy to be honest.

Now see, give me a good greasy diner dive or small pub with great food and I will happier then eating at some wannabee swanky place. Then again, I like to meet people and I tend to where ever I go. I am just one of those people. I will stop anyone and say hi. So these types of places with their nose up would just turn me off totally.

 

[james t kirk]

^^^ You should try "the Vesta lunch" on Dupont and Bathurst. It's not just greasy, it's grimey.

And it's been "reputable" since 1954 (which co-incidently was the last time they cleaned the washrooms.)

Real down home goodness.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

^^^ You should try "the Vesta lunch" on Dupont and Bathurst. It's not just greasy, it's grimey.

And it's been "reputable" since 1954 (which co-incidently was the last time they cleaned the washrooms.)

Real down home goodness.

Sold! Sounds awesome!

 

[groggy]

^^^ You should try "the Vesta lunch" on Dupont and Bathurst. It's not just greasy, it's grimey.

And it's been "reputable" since 1954 (which co-incidently was the last time they cleaned the washrooms.)

Real down home goodness.

Best sampled at 2am after a few too many drinks, when you need that extra grease to cut down the alcohol.
Open all night.

 

[Insidious Von]

Best sampled at 2am after a few too many drinks, when you need that extra grease to cut down the alcohol.
Open all night.

I'll have to give Vesta a try but the name is bizarre. A greasy dive should not be named after the Roman Godess of purity.

Tiberius I did a background check on Gene Roddenberry and got it wrong. Your namesake was not the 2nd Roman Emperor, it was Tiberius Gracchus. He was two Millenniums ahead of his time. After the destruction of Carthage, he attempted to reform Rome's political system. For his efforts he got himself killed, it was the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic.

When you need to cut down the alcohol I'm with Anthony Bourdain. He recommends Bacchus Roti (on King St, Between Dufferin and Jameson).

 

[MattRoxx]

Eduli's web site is not well designed, and I see what you mean about pretentious:

OPTIONAL SUPPLEMENT:
SPECIAL DISH
IN HONOUR OF BLACK TRUFFLE SEASON
Brillat Savarin
Layered with Perigord Black Truffle
Soft Triple Cream Cheese from Burgundy,
named for the great French gourmand Jean-Anthelme Bri l lat -Savarin.
**WARNING**
Please note, Black Truffles are considered an intoxicating aphrodisiac.
80 g. indulgent portion (serves 2)
40,00 supplement to your menu

 

[bigtymer]

Is there even a single restaurant in Toronto with at least one star on the Michelin guide? I'm guessing no, but, I could be wrong. I wonder if any restaurant in Canada has made the cut?

 

[Moe]

FWIW I've eaten at Edulis and found the meal to be good - I would go back. I don't recall any pretentiousness, but there is a certain vibe at many restaurants like this. I can see how it would annoy some people. My advice is, if you don't like it, stay away - it's not that uncommon once you hit a certain price point.

That said, there's no excuse for treating customers poorly. However, comparing the vibe at Edulis to that of a greasy spoon is like comparing a dingy AMP to a high end agency. Different strokes for different folks... And that's OK.

 

[james t kirk]

Is there even a single restaurant in Toronto with at least one star on the Michelin guide? I'm guessing no, but, I could be wrong. I wonder if any restaurant in Canada has made the cut?

Michelin is primarily European restaurants and I think there are a few in NYC, but that's about it for North America. Europeans would rather not acknowledge North America.

 

[Moe]

Michelin is primarily European restaurants and I think there are a few in NYC, but that's about it for North America. Europeans would rather not acknowledge North America.

Sorry, but I gotta call BS on that one.

http://usatravel.about.com/od/Food-And-Cuisine/ss/USA-Michelin-Restaurants_2.htm