Personally I have always had great experience here--not to mention the fries are amazing here!!!
This time, my review is based mostly on my experience as a sole diner during Winterlicious. I decided after a long stressful day at 1.45 pm (after being in the office at 7am) to go and enjoy lunch. The menu was decent at Hawthorne and it being the last day of Winterlicious I decided why not .
Walking in I was greeted with a friendly smile and was given the option of sitting at a table by the window or the bar, I opted for the bar. The host and the bartender were very friendly and attentive. A bit awkward (I assume the host was quite new) but with good intentions.
The Kale salad I ordered was quite large but delicious. I ate about half and left it there, took some time but the host/waiter realized I was not going to finish it and asked if I wanted to keep working on it or clear it--I told him I would work on it with my main and he said Ok! The main was brought out promptly thereafter, burger and fries which was a huge portion. I ended up packing half the burger, half the fries and the rest of my salad in a take out box (and boy was it still delicious for that nights' dinner) .
The dessert I tried was a coconut bread pudding which was alright--I was never a fan of bread pudding but love coconut. All in all I wasn incredibly full and had a lovely experience. $23 was well spent!
Hawthorne is a social enterprise of Hospitality Workers Training Centre (HWTC), a non-profit organization based on a sectoral workforce development approach. It was created as a partnership between the Hospitality Workers' union (UNITE HERE Local 75) and major hotels in Toronto and modeled on the Culinary Training Academy of Las Vegas. HWTC works with Toronto's hospitality and food service employers, existing workers and new entrants in need of work to train, support and strengthen the industry's valued workforce. In 2015, HWTC trained 300 participants at Hawthorne and other industry partner facilities, including unemployed youth and those in receipt of Ontario Disability Supports and Ontario Works. Out of these trainees, 80% were successfully placed in jobs in the hospitality industry of Toronto within the same year.