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| - I've eaten here over 8 years, and for those first couple years I would have given it 5 stars. Over the course of those 8 years I have often had "best spot for brunch" conversations and put Saving Grace at the top of the list.
The food is very creative and delicious.
But... on Sunday I had a trifecta of problems, and this two star review is about this particular experience:
-They missed my name on the list, seating others ahead of us.
-They refilled every cup of coffee around me, but not mine.
-There was a long black curly hair on the plate under my food.
Having moved to the east end it's been a couple years since I visited Saving Grace. On Sunday I took my fiancee there for our anniversary, as she had never been there. I was expecting this to be a typically pleasant brunch, but from the first step things went wrong.
We got there just after the first customers had all been seated, as in... the girl before me got the last table. That's fine... i'm used to the wait and it was a beautiful day. So we sat on the bench and watched the line start to fill out. A half hour later another couple were called to a table. I immediately spoke up saying "Excuse me, sorry but I think you missed my name on the sheet". The server checked, and sure enough the proof was there on paper.
"I'm really sorry. What do you want me to do? Do you want the table?" Without missing a beat my fiancee and I simultaneously said "yes".
I'm curious why she asked us how we'd like her to fix her mistake. I'm an understanding guy... mistakes happen. And I'm sure I'm not the first person this has happened to. So why isn't the fix automatic? Why didn't she know exactly what to do???
Solution: Seat the right people. Offer all parties involved free coffee. Go out of your way to make the awkward situation comfortable for the customer.
That's on them. It's not on me to be apologetic for wanting to be seated in the proper order.
But the way the situation was handled I was made to feel awkward, like I had inconvenienced both the server and the other patrons by speaking up. And then I couldn't help feel that the coffee miss wasn't a mistake... and horrified by the thought that maybe the hair was intentional (I am 99% sure it was an innocent mistake... i really hope... gross). If not for the first mistake I probably wouldn't have thought anything of the hair. But I had to stop eating and asked for the bill, purposefully not mentioning the hair until after we got the bill so as not to have it seem like maybe I put the hair there to guilt them into a discount.
We paid in full, tipped about 15%, and left promptly.
Every weekend at home I go all out cooking breakfasts that are a shade or two below the quality of Saving Grace (minus the creativity). I love to cook, I don't terribly mind doing dishes, and I love saving money by eating at home.
We go out for food for the experience.
While their food typically is 5/5, unfortunately on Sunday Saving Grace failed that anniversary experience. I hope they understand that in the competitive climate of Toronto brunch spots the experience is as important as the food. If they put the same love into their customers as they do the food then they are back on top again.
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