We ate dinner here yesterday. It was a nostalgic choice for us, as we had enjoyed The Pickle Barrel downtown Toronto about 10 years ago or so, when my girls were very young. Unfortunately this location was absolutely horrible. None of the dishes we ordered were as described in the menu. One of the dinners was returned and when it arrived back at the table the vegetables were raw. (it was supposed to be a linguine pasta with lobster and shrimp) The lobster was fake, the noodles were chewy and the veggies were raw on the second attempt. The cost of this dish was $19.99. The Hanoi bowl was missing half the ingredients listed in the menu description, was bland and the rice was mushy. There were maybe four tiny pieces of chicken. I only finished half and left the rest. The turkey/beef dip was supposed to be served on a pretzel bun. It was not. The calamari appetizer had way too much breading, was bland and barely warm. The mussels appetizer was also disappointing. The mussels were small and over cooked, the sauce tasted like watered down ketchup.
My guess is that this location is suffering financially and cutting corners. Food is crap. Service was even worse. The server didn't seem to care that we were waiting forever, the food was crap and we were unhappy. We flagged down the manager who gave us 25% off. However when the bill finally arrived, it totaled $84; with a mere $8.75 taken off.
Please please don't eat here. You're better off to pick up a burger from the golden arches across the street.