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| - This chain tries to fill the gap between upscale restaurant and trendy bar, but unfortunately does not particularly exceed at either.
I ate dinner here on a Friday night, and the ambiance was quite unique. Even without a reservation, my party of 3 was seated within 5 minutes, maybe we got lucky. Anyway, the vibe is a weird mix of your modern restaurant with a bar/club feel. There was a birthday party on the rooftop, and you could hear the music pumping through the walls. A little bit distracting for some people, but it was okay for me.
4/5 - Food
3/5 - Overall Experience
The food is on the pricier side, considering this is not a a strict restaurant per se, as some of the appetizers ran near $20. At those prices for an appetizer you start entering the same price range as a true fine dining restaurant. My group had some butternut squash shrimp ravioli to share, which was 3 pieces for $16. I tried the bacon cheese burger, and the other two entrees were the Jambalaya bowl, and some short rib pasta.
The burger was good, though nothing spectacular for a $18 burger, considering the cheese was your processed orange American cheese. The short rib pasta had healthy chunks of braised rib, though they erred on the pastier drier side. The Jambalaya bowl was good, with well seasoned sauce and fragrant rice. The ravioli was very delicious, but considering the filling was squash, and with only one shrimp per ravioli, the price is steep. The cocktails are good, and served creatively. I enjoyed a Moscow Mule in a copper mug. They also had steaks, but I would prefer to support local steakhouses for a similar price.
Considering this place deems itself per their website "a casual fine dining experience", I'd say it was much more on the casual side. We were seated at a table before it was set and ready. There was sticky sauce residue on the table, and I had to ask my server to wipe it down for me. There were no introductions or any communication really from the server, she just came to refill water, take drink and food orders, and that was it.
Overall, this restaurant chain is a upscale, 'fancier' Milestones, with the prices to match. Plenty of other local options in Toronto at similar price points, with better service, and similar ambiance and quality of food.
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