Worst in Toronto

[food face]

As we all know, most are so so or bad than good. Let's here what you think is terrible and why. Let's not have others avoid the same mistakes we made.

Some of mine:

Art Square Creperie on Dundas and McCaul
Swatow-for it's Deplorable service and mediocore overated food.
The Bad Kitty in Chinatown- I can't remember the name but it has "Kitty"in it- Cucumber as a main component in a stir fry. The most horrible slit-your-wrist depressing atmosphere ever.
Hare Krishna Restaurant in the Hare Krishna Temple on Avenue- Used to be ok. Now it's just dreadful. Crusty old rotten curries served up whenever they feel like it in the basement of the temple.
Magic Oven Pizza

[vorpal]

Buppha Thai on Queen St E at Javis. The absolute worst Thai food that I've ever eaten. The fried rice was clumpy with dried up old vegetables and completely flavourless. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. With Mengrai in the neighbourhood, I hope that this place shuts down soon.

Any Golden Griddle for non-breakfast food. I used to get dragged here by my coworkers and it was hideously bad.

Fran's Diner on College just west of Yonge. Why people eat at this place, I'll never understand; the fact that it's open 24 hours is simply a threat to the people of Toronto.

Spring Rolls: the biggest insult to Asian cuisine ever unleased upon the world. I can't necessarily claim that the flavour of the food is the worst, because frankly I have yet to find any flavour in any of the food I ate there..

[hungryabbey]

uh second Frans.. I have had a very unsanitary experience there and the food has been just terrible every time Ive been forced there.

[SMOG]

3rd. Last time I went I didn't want to eat anything... so I ordered a smoothie. How can you get a smoothie wrong?? It was all ice, the fruit was all chunks that didn't make it up through the straw. Just embarassing.

[Allison_]

I gather Frans has gone downhill over the last 30 years or so, but their breakfast food is still edible. (Hard to mess up.) I always appreciate that they have veggie breakfast sausages.

[da9920]

5th....I work in the area and get dragged by colleagues to Frans whenever there's birthday or what ever...terrible. Last time I went (about 1 month ago) i simply had a bottle of water.

[BrettM]

Lived in T.O. for two years (mid-90s) and Fran's certainly came up. Don't remember being overly impressed but certainly the impression was it once had a great reputation as an amazing greasy spoon. Sorry to hear it seems to continue to not live up to that.

[jo blam]

Fran's is deep fried brown or microwaved fried food. blech.

[pinkprimp]

i def agree with you on Frans and Spring Rolls. i HATE Spring Rolls and I don't know why people keep insisting that we go there for lunch. All I taste is either salt or ketchup.

and Frans...the only time I'll go is if it's LATE and if I'm drunk. the last time i went, i had the "asian noodle bowl"...it was like gravy on pasta with a few bean sprouts on it. disgusting.

[Allison_]

Yes, the flavours at Spring Rolls are always noticeably... off. Like they've been cooking a dish for years, ingredient proportions have drifted naturally, but no one has tasted it in so long that they haven't noticed.

[John Manzo]

I haven't been to Spring Rolls in years but what irked me beyond description last time I went was that they served the food with this slippery jasmine rice on PLATES and insisted that we eat with slippery lacquered chop sticks. Okay, this would be fine if the food (or the rice) were served in bowls, but not even Chinese people would try to eat off a flat plate with these impossible chopsticks, and they were doing this as some sort of ploy for authenticity. And the food was terrible.

I made the mistake of going to "Natural Sushi" on Yonge on a trip to TO a while back- gummy, undercooked rice that was stodgy like oatmeal, and the rolls were almost nothing but this abominable rice. Horrible.

[estragon]

Agree 100% re: College-Yonge Fran's, Spring Rolls, and Golden Griddle (any time of day).
I'd like to add the Asian place at the NW corner of Carlton and Parliament (Ginger?) -- easily the worst allegedly Thai something or other I've had. I think they used ketchup in the sauce.
Oh, and also Richtree in College Park. I'd say all the Richtrees, but I haven't been to the other ones in years.

[fruglescot]

FRAN'S
I haven't been in the College street location in some time and will not soon after reading these reviews, however, having said that I would like to mention to everyone down on Fran's that they have a very good spot across from Massey Hall that we often patronize after the annual Women's Blues Review
Always open quite late when we pop in there for a bite.

[T Long]

I went to that Fran's when it first opened in part because of good memories of the St. Clair Fran's (that I frequented so long ago) and it was close to the office. However I have not returned since....not a terrible place, but not that special either...filling portions I recall.

[chalenegirl]

i have to agree with Frans and golden griddle (horrible service, and bad, bad, bad, food). i don't know how they can both manage to stay open 24 hrs. is there really That much demand for these places?

spring rolls, and all it's counterpart (go, east) is such a sham. i think ppl do there for the decor and amosphere more than anything. the food there is terrible.

[pinkprimp]

i dont even think their decor is anything special. all those "trendy" asian places have the same theme when you walk inside. it's as if the same person designed them all.

ugh.

[SpiceMustFlow]

Talk about lack of truth in advertizing: I once made the mistake of ordering Fran's coconut cream pie, which the menu claimed to be "the best in town!"

Hint: it sure wasn't.

[LuGallaso]

Totally agree on Spring Rolls. So awful I don't understand how people keep going.

[jo blam]

Not to be a snob, but those who love it there, have no idea what good food is. They all gather there like lemmings. I stopped in there the first time 'cause it looked busy. I was disgusted with my meal.

[Auntybarby]

Spring Rolls, I agree.... It is horrible.

[lamaranthe]

Thanaks for the pitfalls. The only one I know - amongst those you mention - is Golden Griddle. The one at 180 Eglinton Ave. East is not only unfriendly but the food is bland and they make you wait a long time for it.

[Googs]

The Breakfast Grill on Parliament just north of Queen. You only make one thing. How can you do that so poorly? It's breakfast! Get another business plan.

[Googs]

I have to take this one back. After The Breakfast Grill was taken over by new owners the service, food, and attitude have all improved. Still not Destination Breakfast, but if you live a 5-10 minute walk from Parliament & Queen and don't feel like making brekkie it's pretty okay.

[MindGrinder]

Ginger - various locations. Expansion has left them resorting to super sub par ingredients.
Golden Griddle breakfast buffet.
Any Kelseys the worst of the worst chains.
Le Biftheque closed thankfully.
Any place in Chinatown that serves "Beach Chicken" or "House Chops".

[rayrayray]

salad king tops the list for me.
also agree with magic oven...

[squeeziecat]

I have to say there is one dish at Salad King that i love... I know it's completely inauthentic and the kitchen is a conveyor belt, but I can't help enjoying my annual "good-bad" feed of golden tofu curry with all those crushed dried chilies dumped in...

at least they're consistant

[SMOG]

Bon Vivant at Avenue Rd just south of 401. Horrible on every count (see my full review posted on this board).

2nd Golden Griddle. Greasy crap.

Pizza pizza worst fast food pizza chain.

[jennjen18]

Yes, let's make Bon Vivant be on this list! Went for a dinner in the patio, and felt that the food and everything else was quite amateurish. Cutlery and plates and glasses looked like they were purchased at the local Loblaws. Patio furniture too. Food was so average. Had the salmon - there was no taste in that. Not sure whether they're doing well or not ... but to be at Avenue Rd, there are just no excuses...

[Manybears]

This thread is too tempting not to reply to. I may not know fine dining that well but I definitely know bad food :-)

Three of my worst:
Plaza Flamingo (on College next to Sneaky Dee's): breakfast buffet. Somehow went twice. Should have chosen to starve.
Devil's Advocate (on Bay north of Elm): I swear their nachos were made with ketchup.
Alioli (in Mississauga on Burnamthorpe): I can still taste the lime (seeds, skin + all made up 30% of the salad) and raw onion (another 30%) in their lobster salad. What a waste of lobster.

Also: I had great service at Swatow last night, for the record. It was strange. Are they improving?

[cynalan]

Gotta disagree with your inclusion of Alioli in this list. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. We've actually dined there on many occasions and had wonderful dinners, particularly the vintner's evenings.

[skylineR33]

I also quite like the food at Alioli, the pasta is quite nice and not too expensive. Maybe only that particular item is bad.

[vorpal]

I also have to disagree with your inclusion about Aioli. It's hard for me to recall my meal as it's been a few years since I was there, but I remember the food being fairly good. Whereas the other couple we were eating with said that they really enjoyed the meal, my husband was disappointed with his dish, so perhaps there are just a few lacking offerings on the menu.

[Manybears]

Fair enough, I meant to edit afterwards and say I'd only been there once-- maybe they were having an off night. I was there with 6 people though, and nobody finished their meal. We all felt like we'd paid a lot of money for large portions of not-good food. If I ever have to go back I'll get the pasta :-)

[estragon]

I've been going to Swatow 2-3 times a year for at least 12 years (used to go a lot more). I generally have the same thing, it's not out of this world but consistenly good comfort food, and they service is always just fine.

[deelicious]

agreed on swatow

[grandgourmand]

I used to go to Swatow and enjoyed it for what it was..., that is until I saw one of the line cooks exit a bathroom stall, not wash his hands and head back to the kitchen. I'm not naive enough to think this is the only place where that happens, but when you witness it firsthand, it makes you draw a line in the sand.

[Scary Bill]

Ho Lee Chow: Cost inversely proportional to taste and texture. Can't believe they are still in business. Threw out half the food ordered.
California Sandwiches on Winston Churchill only (the others are GREAT) They pre-cooked the veal.
Mr. Greenjeans: Every menu item I've had is lousy. I quit.

[wordsworth]

Agree with Ho Lee Chow. How they stay in business is up there with the great mysteries of life.

[jennjen18]

Ha! I thought I was gonna have to start the Ho Lee Chow rant, but good thing I found it here first. Ordered in, and it took 45 minutes to come, with a charge of $3. So food came, there were no *something rather,* totally couldnt understand what the person said, so they substituted with another huge colourful sauce (lemon, it seemed).

Crispy shrimp - not crispy at all. We've had it run-of-the-mill Chinese food places, you cant screw that up. But you can. They must have used the SMALLEST possible shrimp, and the batter was so thick... goodness. It was undercooked, most of all.

We ordered in a bunch of food and was entertaining guests - we were so embarrassed. Finally we called them at 11pm, good thing they still took calls then. We got a credit back. But do we want to eat there again? NOPE. Just 2 days ago, my SO called the guests and was just chatting, and they TOO got us a $20 credit because they were just so disappointed with their food. Haha, now we have $36 credit... What do I do with that??? *sigh*

[Arcadiaseeker]

Well they are out of business now -- just as well I guess!

[Bob Catt]

Ikki Sushi, on Kingston Rd. just east of the Danforth Avenue intersection. Don't EVER go there - it should never be patronized because of the zero-rated food they serve. I've tried it, so believe me.

[torontovore]

I only noticed this because the restaurant name made me laugh. I admit that I'm not a fan of uncooked seafood, but surely any meal described as ikki would be suspect. I did a quick search and found that 'restaurantica.com' has 11 reviews of this place dated between 2005-2007. On avg the reviews gave a 9.6 out of 10 score. So either all the reviews were by relatives or something has recently changed to negatively affect the food. Can you give any specific details of why you rate the food as zero?

[SpiceMustFlow]

I can't speak for the original location of Ikki Sushi on Kingston- and yeah, the name is unfortunate- but I have been a couple times to their second location at Woodbine and Danforth. We were overjoyed to have a sushi place walking distance from our house, but let me just say... life's too short for bad sushi.

The last time we went there, the service was friendly but that was the only good thing I can say about the place. The food was simply appalling, and the cheery singing chef is not the karaoke hero he imagines himself to be. Fail.

[Fizzzzzy]

I go to the Ikki Sushi on Kingston Rd. once every few months, usually for tempura veggies/shrimp and teriyaki (I'm not a sushi eater) and I've really enjoyed it. I took two of my clients there too for a casual, quick lunch, and they enjoyed it as well (they did have sushi). Maybe it has improved since the original post? They're never very busy inside, but I think they do a lot of catering/delivery.

I agree with Ho Lee Chow though... their food seems to get worse and worse.

[LemonLauren]

I am a service-nazi, so worst for me depends mostly on service.
Sushi Island, though I love the brown-black rice rolls, is pretty pretty bad.
I've also had horrible service at Nirvana (the new Red Room on College at Bathurst), but in that case, you get what you pay for.
Supermarket was HORRIBLE. and the food, at least what i had, didn't win me over,
it's gone now, but Smalltalk on Bayview was the worst service with such good food. such a shame.

[Googs]

Oh well in that context, LL, for the double helix of bad food & inept service I'll go with La Vecchia.

[SMOG]

Seriously? I really like La Vecchia. Been several times and never had bad service. The food I find is good... not spectacular, but good.

[Googs]

Two years ago I would have agreed. Now I'm just angry at them for betraying their patrons with this shell of their former self.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/403470
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/100541
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/100541

[morrigan]

And of course http://www.chowhound.com/topics/396630.

Ah, La Drekia...I laughed...:).

[SMOG]

Interesting read... what can I say, perhaps it's not so good and I'm lucky that I had a good experience there last time.

Next time I'm in the area, I'll give Zucca a try.

[Ginsugirl]

I knew someone who worked there, briefly. They add a walnut-based pesto to just about every item on their menu. Of course they don't bother to list the walnuts, nor train their staff properly to be able to warn customers (he only found out by watching in the kitchen). They will kill somebody someday.

[acd123]

Amore is way worse.

[skylineR33]

Old spaghetti house. The pasta stinks.

[KitchenVoodoo]

Does the Old Spagetti House even count as a restuarant? My vote goes to "Dead Lobster", although we should probably not even include chains in this survey.

[SMOG]

Oh yeah, forgot about this one! Everything there tastes like reheated Chef Boyardee. Or worse.

[KevinB]

Which, after being asked to sub for a missing waiter (I was working at the Keg nearby), is actually a pretty accurate description. The pasta is pre-cooked, and then when you order, they drop it into little vats of hot water for a few seconds. If there was a fresh ingredient in any of the sauces, I didn't see it.

[estragon]

There's a reason the call it the Old Spaghetti House. Truth in advertising!

[MiriamOttawa]

I actually like "Dead Lobster" (aka Red Lobster),
but would never go there for "real" seafood.

But their appetizer menu with the stuffed mushrooms,cheese sticks,breaded zuchinni is pretty good!
Also the cheese biscuits :)

I would say it is more "bar food" I go there for,but not often as they are always super greassy.

The calamari is horrible though,worst ever

[embee]

I'll risk humiliation and admit that every couple of years I crave a small portion of the spaghetti with mizithra cheese "a la Homer". And I still like it...

[violetplant]

I have to agree...there is something so simple and so delicious. I have recreated it at home as I do not live very close to Toronto...hmmm, craving it now!!

[TexSquared]

"Bourbon St. Grill" wins hands-down (warning: at Vaughan Mills and in U.S. shopping malls it is called "Kelly's Cajun Grill").

This is the biggest joke of any GTA restaurant bar none. There is no such thing as "Cajun fried rice", and their self-proclaimed "World Famous Bourbon Chicken" might as well be called "Chicken balls with red sauce". The food looks like it was borrowed from Manchu Wok (ugh).

Put simply, this is very bad Chinese food*** with Cajun-sounding names to try to fool you into thinking you're getting Louisiana cuisine. It's crap.

***the chain is owned by a Chinese guy in Florida. Ain't nothing Cajun about it.

My wife votes for Swiss Chalet, specifically the sauce (the chicken itself is OK). The idea of taking chicken gravy and mixing in BBQ sauce made her stomach turn....

[Bigtigger]

I second many of the "recommendations" for this list of losers, though Tex is perhaps a little hard on Swiss Chalet whose offerings, the horrid sauce excepted, are toothsome in their way, if expensive. Also, didn't the horrid Le Biftheque not in fact close but re-decorate and re-name itself to serve essentially the same nasty food to unwitting conventioneers ?

A tale of Fran's. I live near one of the original locations which closed c. 2000. For about 5 years (1990-95) it served really good food - the grilled cheese and bacon sandwich served with sharp cheddar; the lasagne tasted home made; the onion soup was beefy and cheesy; the club sandwich an exemplar of its kind, ditto the Big Breakfast; some of the bakery items tasted home-made and were unique in the city. It wasn't cheap, but it was good. Then one day I noticed a New Menu - and the advent of the horrid food of today, witness the downgraded grilled cheese to vapid pap, the tired cakes and pies, etc. A member of the family worked in the restaurant, and could only answer my queries and protestations with lowered eyes and some reference to a "new business model" and "economies of scale" - sad sad sad.

To the names already mentioned I nominate Pizza Pizza, excellent new commercial running in movie theatres but horrid 'za; Golden Griddle (WHY can't some Canadian outfit duplicate Waffle House in the US ?); the decline of Over Easy; the absurdly-overpriced pizzas at Whole Foods; terrible service and tiny portions at La Palette; rickety tables and tired, expensive steaks and menu generally at Carman's Club; all chain Chinese; travesty of "doughnuts" from Tim Hortons; pretentious pricing at its high-branded offshoot Timothy's; attitude at Starbucks; decline of the Tulip.

[T Long]

I thought Tim Horton & Timothy's were separate entities.

The decline of Fran's is a shame. I have such good memories of the back room of their old St. Clair location....breaded sole and liver & onions were favs.

[John Manzo]

You're exactly right. TH and Timothy's only share the aspect of being completely horrible. They are in no way otherwise connected. 100% separate companies.

[JamieK]

not to quibble but the Tim Hortons/Wendy's company is complelety different and separate from Timothy's World Coffee which also owns mmmarvellous muffins and Michel's Baguettes.

[embee]

When did that happen? Second Cup used to be connected with Michel's Baguette and mmmuffins - all franchised by Michael Bregman.

Come to think of it, I went into a Michel's for a Danish last year for the first time in a few years. The Danish was as pretty as ever, but its previous buttery richness was totally missing.

[Googs]

http://buzzpr.xguru.com/timothys/timo...

[deelicious]

Second Cup was sold by Michel's group to the Cara Group in 2002 roughly.

[embee]

I was aware that Second Cup went to Cara at some point. But where does that place Baguette and mmmuffins? They aren't part of Cara. Are they, in fact, now owned by Timothy's? (Just idle curiosity, BTW.)

[embee]

And Fran's "new business model" bankrupted them, so justice triumphed in the end. Today's Fran's was the lone franchisee that survived the corporate bankruptcy.

[TexSquared]

I hated Biftheque too, but you had to figure they were doomed from the start. They tried to expand into Toronto following the wave of ultra-high-end steak houses (Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Harbour 60) that opened in the mid 1990's. Their advertising message was simple, we'll give you for $15 what Ruth's charges $50 for. Problem is, price isn't everything. If you serve crap, it doesn't matter if it's cheap, nobody's coming back. Those who dine at Ruth's are more than willing to pay for quality and are NOT going to be happy with Biftheque. Those who can't afford Ruth's probably eat at The Keg, which also beats Biftheque in quality (not a difficult task, of course).

Circle T's Buffet in Pickering (which closed in October) had to be the worst non-Chinese buffet in town. For those who didn't know about it, it was Tucker's "discount" location. Yes, that bad... Wasn't really a chain as they only had the 1 location, probably a Tucker's test marketing project that clearly failed.

Agree 100% with your listing of Tim Horton's. Someone PLEASE send that coffee to the World Anti-Doping Agency because there's gotta be some illegal drugs in it to make it as addictive as it is. Sure there are Starbucks addicts but they can't hold a candle to these zombies that seem to be muttering "timmies... timmies.... timmies" every waking hour of the day. Biggest piece of false advertising is the "Always Fresh" sign at Tim's. Their donuts are anything but.

As for Waffle House, I can't see them surviving up here. They're mostly a Southern phenomenon... you'll drive southbound on I-75 and there's a point where Tim Horton's territory ends and Waffle House begins (around Dayton, Ohio?). They wouldn't last if they had to take on Tim Horton's for the breakfast business in Ontario, just like Tim's would be eaten alive if they encroached on Waffle House in Georgia. They're mutually exclusive.

[LemonLauren]

Biftheque is now Steak, and the prices are now jacked up and the decor changed, but service and food still lack quality...see review
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/471235

[Scary Bill]

Tex, a buddy of mine owns a couple of Tim Hortons so I can vouch for their efforts at freshness. The doughnuts get tossed if they don't sell within 12 hours of being made and all sandwiches must be made to order, sandwiches cannot be made in advance. It pisses him off because he believes he misses business from people who do not want to stand in line, order, and wait, they just want to grab an already made sandwich and run.

Area managers are intolerant to rule breakers.

This is an instance where the corporate boys want the franchisees to live up to the advertising.

Oh, and I find the coffee quite pedestrian.

[deelicious]

Unless they stopped the practice as quickly as they began it, they now serve previously frozen timbits at many locations; these should not be considered fresh!

[Scary Bill]

The raw dough is frozen, shipped, and then fried "fresh" Cooked product is not frozen to my knowledge.

Sort of like the "fresh" sushi, much of which is frozen, then thawed and prepared.

[julesrules]

Maybe at standalone Timmy's, but what about the many express-type locations in office buildings, Pape subway, gas stations, etc? Maybe they can't be expected to have kitchens, but they still have the Timmy's name
Also when my friend worked there in high school (15 years ago, and they did bake everything fresh back then), the donuts were considered garbage after 4 hours. Big difference from 12.

I don't love or hate the place, but I do think the quality has gone downhill.

[Scary Bill]

Never been to an express, but I would be surprised if the standards were the same as standalones ALSO, probably the biggest reason for any decline in quality is that Timmy went public and is now bedevilled with shareholder demands for greater profits.

[Fizzzzzy]

I was told the donuts were cooked in the factory, flash frozen, and then heated in the stores. Initial testing showed people found they lost their freshness faster, but when they were fresh they tasted the same as they used to when made in the stores from scratch. I dunno... they're too perfectly formed now. I used to love getting weirdly shaped apple fritters at Timmies :)

[embee]

Things definitely changed with Wendy's and, sans Wendy's, they have NOT been changed back.

The donuts used to be very fresh. They were never available for sale for up to 12!! hours - at least, not at a properly run outlet. I don't eat donuts often, but I do indulge from time to time and they are often the only edibles on offer at business meetings. My favourites were the French crullers, (which used to be light and fluffy with a very slightly crisp outside and are now soggy and pasty) and the sour cream unglazed (which now leave my mouth coated with a greasy slime absent in the past). And (other than at very high volume outlets), Tim's donuts can be out-and-out stale. The stuff sold at the Express locations would have been consigned to the garbage in earlier times.

The coffee is not my favourite. I suspect it contains some robusta beans (which Starbuck's, Second Cup, and Timothy's do not use for brewed coffee). These beans have much more caffeine than the "Arabica" beans used elsewhere. While the salt content info surprises me, salt added to harsh coffee does improve its drinking qualities. To my palate, Tim's coffee tastes (consistently) somewhat burned. Salt plus much cream tempers this this sensation. (This is a different kind of burned from Starbuck's coffee, where the beans are roasted very dark. Tim's beans are not dark, but the brew tastes burned)

I will say that their sandwiches, though not interesting, do tend to be fresh, and are much better than the awful food served at Starbuck's. I'll even go on record that an iced cap tastes no worse than most Frappucino varieties, and better than some, if I view it as a shake as opposed to as a coffee.

[pinkprimp]

Really? I would consider Starbucks' blended cremes more like shakes, compared to an iced cap. and since im the topic, i HATE the misnomer of Tim Horton's Iced Cappuccino. scientificlally speaking, you can't make it without the aid of gastronomical tools because a cappuccino by definition is half milk and half foam. where is half my frozen foam then?!

[embee]

I won't commit the indignity of calling an Iced Cap a "cappucino", because it isn't.

I'm not a fan of very sweet drinks (of any kind), and both the Frappucino and the Iced Cap are much too sweet for my taste. Neither takes the place of real coffee, whether cold or hot; espresso or brewed.

However, I award the dubious crown to Tim's because the Iced Cap holds together until it's finished. It contains a huge amount of 18% cream, giving it more of a milkshake quality when mixed with their slush.

The Frappucino offers choice and a small amount of customization potential, but all are too sweet anyway. The prep is inherently flawed, and most of each drink ends up as sweet but weakly flavoured blended ice that won't even go up the straw. Plus it costs much more.

[julesrules]

I do like me an ice cap, even made with milk instead of cream, often as much or better than more expensive frozen coffee conconctions... even the ones from independent stores.
I had a muffin from Second Cup the other day that made me wish I had crossed the street to TH's - would have been fresher, and probably not had such a strong chemical taste.
Also like the prices at TH's. You can get out of there for less than $2.

[youdonut]

the burn taste you get from a tims coffee is from the improper making of it. what happens is that the empty pot is left on a burnner and heats up and when the first few drips land in the glass it burns, similar to placing a drop of water into a really hot pan, then this burnt bits tend to destroy the flavor of the rest of the pot. the people who work there are just to lazy to hold the pot above the burner until there is a quarter of an inch of coffee on the bottom then place it on the burner. you may notice some smaller coffee places have pennies on the burner this is to help reduce the coffee burn effect.

[Sui_Mai]

or it just tastes like cheap robusta beans (the more inexpensive ones grown lower on the mountain)

[jayt90]

Robusta being a key ingredient in Italian espresso, because the flavor is not as dominant as the the roast.

[rsvp7777]

A couple of years ago some chemistry students at university with my daughter decided to get to the bottom of the "addictive" qualities of Horton's coffee. they analyzed it and found a surprising amount of salt and a higher percentage of caffeine than in most other coffees.....don't know if that's it, but....

There have also been rumours over the years of nicotine or MSG being added. The uni chemists didn't find any of those substances.

[hungryabbey]

hm thats very interesting

[MindGrinder]

Ummmm - That is such an urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient...

[DishyDiva]

The bit about the "surprising amount of salt" in the chemical composition of Tim Horton's coffee had me scratching my head a few days ago. Until......I saw this thread, which I thought I would share with you:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/370705

(Sorry, if this is irrelevant to the OP)

[fatman0000]

A pinch of salt is supposed to mellow the bitterness in the coffee.
I sometimes do it. Try it with regular coffee, not premium.

[Ginsugirl]

Swiss Chalet sauce is not without it's devotees. I have to mail packets of their dry sauce mix to mx ex-pat friend in England a couple of times per year. Mind you, she ships me my squeezy Marmite, so I suppose there's no accounting for tastes.

[SMOG]

Hmm... can you include a food court chain? Most food court chains are terrible. Yes, Bourbon is bad, but what do you expect when you pay $6.50 for 3 lb's of food? I'd say it's on par with the average food court chain.

[TexSquared]

My point was authenticity. There are food court chains that call themselves Italian and at least make an effort to serve something that resembles food from Italy. There are food court chains that call themselves Japanese and at least make an effort to serve something that resembles food from Japan. Then you have this place, that calls itself Cajun, but makes no effort whatsoever to serve anything that you'd ever see in Louisiana; instead, they serve JUNK CHINESE food and give it Cajun names. That's what makes them the worst of all the food court chains. This would be like if a Mexican place served sushi....

[julesrules]

I work near Fairview mall and had reasonably high hopes when I saw a Caribbean place in the food court - "Caribbean Queen" I believe. I figured it would be a decent option when I found myself there. Turns out it's a variation on the Bourbon theme, and equally bad (except the plantains, which were decent).

[TexSquared]

I don't know what would be worse, trying to pass off junk Chinese as Cajun, or trying to pass off junk Chinese as Caribbean...

[Blueicus]

At least quite a few caribbean countries have a relatively substantial population of Chinese people living there, so at least it's slightly more plausible.

[syoung]

Neither. The worse is trying to pass off junk Chinese food as Chinese.

[fatman0000]

What would you expect in a food court? If i go to a restaurant and the cooks are not of the nationality of the cusine i won't eat there

[Snarf]

You can't be serious. Have you peeked in any kitchens lately? Best Italian (arguably) is Zucca, cooked by a Kiwi. Beyond the chefs themselves, most of the sous are George Brown alumni, and very multinational.

[SMOG]

I agree fully. I'm just saying... one would be foolish to believe the authenticity of a place in a food court. Most people don't know better. And don't care. Those are the people they prey on.

[WelcomeBack]

Food court food is never a reliable indicator of a cuisine...think of the stuff that they pass off as chinese food in shopping mall food courts.

[julesrules]

Agreed, but there's a couple of food court Caribbean places downtown that are edible, which is why I was initially pleased to see Caribbean Queen at Fairview mall.

[Ginsugirl]

Island Foods in the Villiage by the Grange mall has some of the best patties in the city. It's no wonder they often sell out by 12:30!

[duckdown]

I've DEFINITLEY got to agree with Bourbon St. Grill

This place and its "mystery meat" (I call it that because I've never seen a chicken with so much fatty deposits in my life) are absolutely horrid. The one at Shoppers World here in Brampton is truely horrible!

[TexSquared]

Mystery meat doused in mystery sauce, and they insult the fine people and culture of Louisiana with it. I guess they're admitting, "we couldn't cut it as a Chinese restaurant so let's trying calling it Cajun and maybe someone will buy it"... sadly the strategy worked....

Then again, it's not just the food courts that insult Louisiana. N'awlins and Southern Accent claim to be authentic but are far from it... this thread comes to mind: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/105322

[Apple]

Here are my two cents - I am sure at least one of these places will cause some controversy....

Just as a preface - My two contributions have nothing to do with unflavourable food, or rude servers - but just a general lack of respect for the customer.

Le Petit Dejeuner.... used to love it there - went once a month at least until I saw the owner wiping down tables. Then looks down at the floor and sees a spill, wipes that with the same cloth and then returns to wiping down the table - that is plain unsanitary and that is why I no longer eat there. It's a shame - It would be one thing if it was a misguided server - but the owner serves as an example - if this is acceptable in front of the customers - who knows what happens in the kitchen.

Young Thailand - we used to go all the time as it was our go to dinner... we went on a weeknight and the food that was served was microwaved -the curries and even the rice - crusty and dried out on the outside and cool on the inside - this is a Thai restaurant and not my kitchen where it is acceptable to nuke leftovers. Not to have the decency to make fresh rice for your customers in this type of restaurant is not okay.

Michelle's on the beach - the room smelt like antiseptic cleaner when we walked in for brunch, the tables were sticky, it took 20 minutes for a coffee - these things were all survivable.... the kicker was when the server finally brought out meals to the table and the "standing french toast" the served me was wrapped in a dirty cloth napkin.

[Zengarden]

Peel Pub, previously located on King St. West.

Lasagna "special" was made with bologna and barbecue sauce. I was just so shocked by the lack of attempt to even make anything that closely resembled lasagna. This is what happens when you don't heed the warning about faux pubs in the Entertainment District.

[abscissa]

Chega, Yonge Yrk/Mills. Everything was terrible.

[Full tummy]

The Goof in the Beaches - Don't go there.

ACR Hot Doubles & Roti - O.K. I'll admit they were hot.

[Full tummy]

Oh, got to add East Side Mario's and Pickle Barrel. Like, how can you ruin a pasta and cream sauce? But both places did; I'm suspecting there was more flour thickener than cream in them noodles.

[smr714]

Used to love the Goof in the beaches for lunch when I went to School. Once a month we are allowed to leave school for lunch and go down to Queen from school and get the old greasy fries and burger. Sit at the tables and listen to the inbooth juke with the songs that were old back then. I almost had a heart attack when i drove by there the other day and saw the "trendy" look they seem to be using now.

[Ginsugirl]

No one goes to the Goof for the food, it's for the nostalgia. Almost everyone who grew up in the Beaches went on their very first date at the Fox theatre followed by a "meal" at the Goof's. It's just how things were done, so our parents wouldn't worry.

[Fizzzzzy]

Definitely! We used to go to the Goof after high school dances back in 198.........nevermind :)
Rumour has it, they'd serve students vodka in a teapot for $5... but I was a good girl so I never asked. Lost a few quarters in the jukeboxes though!

[Vinnie Vidimangi]

Johnnýs on Victoria Park and SquareBoy on the Danforth. Apache a runner up. Unpalatable burgers. How can something so simple be so bad?

[chalenegirl]

have you had anything else from Squareboy? try their chicken souvaki on a bun or pita, or their gyro. i've never had a burger from there.

[gwenchick]

I agree with chalengirl Squareboy does great souvlaki with salad They are busy all the time, so the burgers arent that bad

[Fizzzzzy]

Oh no! I love Johnny's burgers and their fries with gravy! It could be nostalgia though... My husband and I went there after our wedding reception because we were hungry! :)

[Brain of J]

I think so highly of Johnny's that I would have had my wedding reception there had my wife been game. She wasn't. :-)

[Full tummy]

You obviously think more highly of your wife, haha.

[legourmettv]

From the OP --"The Bad Kitty in Chinatown- I can't remember the name but it has "Kitty"in it- Cucumber as a main component in a stir fry."---

Well I have to tell you... Cucumber is a main component in 'stir fry' (whatever that is) in many parts of China (I've travelled extensively across China). Funny how we perceive what authentic is supposed to be, based on how chefs / cooks interpret the cuisine of region.
You can eat cucumber in one region in almost every dish, get on the train for a one hour journey and never see another cucumber - until you move on again.

So my point - it's in here somewhere - just because you don't understand doesn't make it bad. The decor... another matter. (even though that is authentic rural China at it's pinnacle)

[grandgourmand]

Hernando's Hideaway on front. As far as "mexican" goes, this is gotta be one of the worst. I had a meal there a few years ago and it wasn't too bad, went back a couple months ago and felt horrible about the experience.

Other "worsts" I think of aren't all that bad, just very overrated in some circles. Hero Burger and Swatow jump to mind. On the latter, if anyone remembers the seinfeld episode where Jerry went to "poppy's" for a meal and saw poppy leaving a bathroom stall and not washing his hands, well...replace Jerry with me and poppy with a Swatow line cook and it's not as funny as the tv show.

[Minnow]

Second Hernando's! Oh my word. I went there out of desperation on a Thursday night when everything was around was packed. Crazy bright burger king parking lot lighting. Awful stale tasting margarita. And then... my friend ordered enchiladas, I had a burrito. Five minutes after ordering (shoud have known), two identical plates come out. On one side, dry cold rice. On the other, what were supposed to be refried beans, but they had been sitting out so long that a crust had formed over top of them. In the middle, some sort of meat with a sour tomato sauce on top. The best part, though, was the garnish of 4 or 5 teeny browning lettuce shreds. We looked at each other and started to howl in laughter.

I also enjoyed the table of 7 16 year olds beside us who were sloppy drunk. Nothing says classy like allowing under age drinking.

[food face]

Yes it was the Greedy Kitty. Hunger and an adventursome spririt propelled me to try it. Now that I'm settled here in Chinatown, I know better. I actually have thrown in the towel with Chinatown restaurants as a whole with the exception of Asian Legend. It's all the same crap with MSG, grease and lost hope. Cucumber in a stir fry, hmmmm. It may be authentic. Cool. It was just aweful. Just my opinion. I didn't realize there's loads of us that would love to eat a crunchy cucumber in Stir Fry.

A stir fry is a term many people use to describe wok fried vegetable in a variety of sauces ranging from sweet and sour to garlic-ginger to sesame hoisan. The stir fry can be vegetarian or include chopped up pieces of meat, chicken or seafood including shrimp and scallops. The stir fry usually involves cooking the ingredients at a high temperature to maintain it's crispyness. It is usually done in a wok but can also successfully be fried in a frying pan. The stir fry is an integral component to any chefs repetoire.

I have a field trip for you legourmetty...you seem up for a good adventure and it will perhaps remind you of your travels. Go to the Greedy Kitty by yourself and treat yourself to a large portion of the cucumer with sweet and sour vinegar sauce over plain steamed rice.

[chalenegirl]

" cucumBer with sweet and sour vinegar sauce over plain steamed rice."

there is nothing wrong with this meal. just because you aren't used to it doesn't make it bad. i've had it in China before, maybe not with a sweet and sour vinegar sauce, but with a soy based sauce and garlic, and it was fine. it's just like the strif fried watercress or gai-lan that you would get, except substitute the veggies with thinly sliced, half circles of english cucumber. i haven't eaten at this resto, i'm not commenting on your past experience at this resto. i'm just saying that this meal isn't as unusual as you make it seem in your statement above.

[food face]

I'm was never saying it was bad because it was cucumBER chelenegirl. Thanks for the spelling correction...oopies. I pretty much tasted like the wost thing I've ever eaten. Period.

[idnas]

If you mean the Greedy Kitty on Dundas, I agree it belongs here. I don't have a problem with the cucumber but agree about the atmosphere. Plus, at the risk of opening another MSG debate, let me just say that following dinner at the Greedy Kitty my companion and I spent the night with pounding headaches, racing heartbeats, etc.

I won't be going back there.

[abigllama]

I love great food but am not that picky. I'm happy to eat a drunken grilled cheese at Fran's as I am to have to have a hearty meal at Au Pied Du Cachot (sp) in Montreal. Some of the complaints on this list are a bit funny. Why would you order an Asian Noodle Bowl at a greasy spoon like Fran's and then be suprised that it's not good? Someone jockeying a grill at 4am at Fran's probably isn't going to pull off the Asian Noodle Bowl so well so best to stick to the basics.

I'll eat almost anything so here's a list of inedible meals. If I can't eat it, it's really really bad.

Burrito Fresh on Bloor- I love burritos and was excited to try a new place out. Visited shortly after they opened and it wasn't too bad but wasn't too good. Was in the area and wanted to grab a late lunch so gave it another shot. Staff was very indifferent and seemed irritated that I was ordering. I got a soy meat burrito (not vegan but dig spiced soy meat on occasion). The ingredients tasted almost stale and old. The soy meat was clumpy and tasted bitter like it had been sitting around for awhile. Ate about half of my burrito, left it, staff was busy in their cell phones so left. Had tummy troubles later, not sure if it's their fault but I won't be back.

The Village Rainbow on Church - This place is infamous for bad food but my friends like to drink beer on the patio in the summer. I was meeting them and hadn't eaten so tried to order something super basic that would be hard to f-up and went with nachos. I was so hungry that would have been happy with process cheese microwaved on chips. What was served was a pile of tortilia chips with some mysterious school-lunch quality taco meat glop oozing down the sides. There was a little bit of cheese and a huge glop of sour cream about 6 inches wide oozing over the mysterious meat. It was horrible, the meat had a gummy texture like it had been microwaved in a bag and poured on chips.

Ruchi on Yonge - Got take out that was practically inedible. Samosa was so greasy that it left huge wet mark that went through two layers of paper bag. Mater paneer had about 4 small chunks of paneer and was swimming with peas in a puddle of grease. Can't remember the chicken dish I had but the quality of the chicken was sketchy and it too had large pools of grease floating on top of sauce. The whole meal was a big greasy mess and I felt disguested with myself for even attempting to eat some of it.

[pinkprimp]

Of course I don't expect the asian noodle bowl to be FANTASTIC...but i've had better noodle dishes from michelina's than what i was served there. there isn't an excuse when it's 11 am in the morning. i think they should just take it off the menu if they cant make it halfway edible.

[Fun Tzu]

SECOND on Ruchi! Both times I left there not disappointed, but angry, like I was cheated out of my money. Miserable, tiny cubes of meat in oceans of flavourless gravy. Barf.

[Food Tourist]

It's great that this thread hasn't been deleted yet. Other threads like this in the past (e.g. started by Cereal Killer) haven't survived moderation.

I realize it's a chain, but the worst meal I had in the past year was at Milestones on the Queensway. I had the exact same salmon and rice meal that is (falsely) described in excruciating detail in their radio ads.

Honorable mentions: Pho 99 on Dixie for the worst-ever non-pho offerings, Fresh by Juice for Life on Spadina for the most dehydrated, and JKWB for the ongoing oversalting obsession.

[LJS]

Oh I am so on board with this opinion: my SIL (who is good person otherwise) has NO food sense and makes me go here. I swear there is a Cisco truck backed permanently at Milestones back door. There is nothing fresh or original or cooked-on-premises, all pre-fab, plastic-y and tasteless.

And it ain't cheap either!?!

[redearth]

But the Bun Bo Hue at Pho 99 is one of the best I've had... The pho's not bad, either. What non-pho items did you have that were so bad?

[Food Tourist]

It was on Chinese New Year so my memory is a little foggy but an old chicken dish, a fried whole crab dish (with red sweet sauce), and a (burnt) noodle dish with some kind of sweet sauce. Probably my fault for trying these dishes to begin with, but they at least admitted the crab was frozen.

[Ubervache]

After my weekend adventure, I'd have to add any independent bar that gets over 75% of it's food from Sysco. There is no sane reason why everything has to be frozen and then deep-fried.

[TexSquared]

Agree totally. If I wanted previously frozen, deep fried dreck I can get it a lot cheaper out of the freezers at M&M Meat Shops or Sam's Club and fry it myself! Not to mention the beer would be a lot cheaper than the bar charges!

[Pizza Lover]

Chippy's, Chippy's, Chippy's - absolutely horrific excuse for fish and chips. If you ever wanted to know what eating oil tastes like this is your place. Pathetic sliver of fish, fries that looked like end pieces, expensive and that horrific loud music they played in the background. We threw out most it and had to go for a salad to open our arteries.

[food face]

Pizza Lover, where do you rec is better for Fish and Chips?

[Welshgirl]

I'm not Pizza Lover, but the fish and chips at McNie's (corner of Burnhamthorpe/Martin Grove in central Etobicoke) are excellent and their meat pies and haggis are yummy too!

[Pincus]

I'll second McNie's.

[TexSquared]

The original owners of McNie's sold the Burnhamthorpe shop and are now at High Street in North York (DVP/Lawrence area).

[mikeb]

I seem to recall that someone posted that McNie's on Burnhamthorpe had since closed. Can anyone confirm this?

[Ginsugirl]

Try that place on Mount Pleasant (near the model train and doll house stores). They've been doing the same thing for 50 years, and fry in beef fat. If I'm going to subject my arteries to fish n' chips, I'm going to do it right!

[Full tummy]

I think you mean Penrose...

[Strongbad789]

I also dislike Chippy's fish, although I loved their chips. One of my favourite F&C places in the city is Olde Yorke on Laird.

[freckles1963]

simply THE BEST F&C in Toronto

[Lotus Seedling]

Natchos Natchos Thai Thai... I went after seeing their Restaurant Makeover... and thought the new David Adjey menu was worth a try. It appears they didn't utilize it fully. The food was oily, the restaurant dark and the owner hovered like a hawk, making the dining experience unnerving. It's the first and last time I go to a restaurant that's had a TV makeover!

[SMOG]

I've never dined inside, but get lunch from them once in a while. And for the price, I'd say it's great. Compared to what you'd get from a "thai" place in a foodcourt, it's definitely a notch above.

[scrooge]

I went to Natchos Natchos shortly after Restaurant Makeover and was totally disgusted with what I was served. Inedible chicken, obviously freezer burned and premade - not at all fresh.

At the time I didn't realize Restaurant Makeover had been there. Wasn't until I criticized the new decor (not functional) and horrible, horrible chairs that I found out why the change. I couldn't get comfortable in the chairs. I was back once after the dinner from hell and was equally disappointed. I actually sent the food back because it was ... well ... inedible. Complained again about the chairs. They are good if you want to lounge around but terrible for sitting at a dinner table.

How sad because I always enjoyed it prior to RM visit. Haven't been back since.

[bluedog]

Agree with Tim Horton's comments. UGH to everything...coffee, sandwiches, donuts...everything. Also can't stand Spring Roll's...bad overpriced asian...will add Mr. Greek, Friendly Greek...why do people go into these places? Surly service, horrible food....but do take exception to Square Boy. Yeah, it's greasy, but ask anyone who lives in the neighbourhood: most everyone i know is addicted to the souvlaki, and the burgers are the closest thing I've found in TO to a Salsbury House Nip (which granted is also greasy gut wrenching food!)

[hungryabbey]

Agree, square boy might not be the best, but its certainly not the worst. Plus the guys there are so fun there , Id must rather go there then try to find a spot on the danforth to grab a burger at Licks.

[bluedog]

Good point, and with that I'll also add Licks to the list. UGH.

[Pincus]

Spring Rolls as well. Ho-Lee Chow. Pizza Pizza. Trying to think of non-chain places, but coming up blank. Showing my bias, I guess.

[Baelsette]

In my 35 years in Toronto I had my worst meal ever, I mean ever at the Red Tomato. I realize it's a tourist trap but we were going to a show at Roy Thompson hall and it was last minute. Truly the service was awful and the food disgusting. The decor in there has not been changed since it opened, it is beyond dirty (I'm surprised they got a green pass) and no joke the table was being held together by a piece of duct tape. The only good thing about this meal was the cold beer that accompanied it!

[food face]

Agreed. Red Tomato is horrid. I also had a terrible meal there. Red Tomato sucks.

[Scary Bill]

I and many of my friends have been to the Red Tomato often-though not recently- and have had good experiences. They are liberal with wine pourings, and if there is a complaint, Fred Luk, the owner, is very responsive and good with customers. I have generally found the staff to follow his lead.

[Snarf]

The menu might have more than is manageable for a shared kitchen. I've eaten off the specials list and have never had a bad experience. The mains look like they might be trying to do too many things.

[fussychow]

I used to work at the Whistling Oyster, another of Fred Luk's enterprises with the same 'happy hour menu'. It's all frozen/fried beyond belief foods - if you want some drinking or hangover food it's okay, but nothing beyond that. What always killed me was this stir fried main dish that was served in a hollowed out pineapple shell - they re-used the pineapple shell after running them through the dishwasher...

[Manybears]

Oh my good lord.

[Scary Bill]

Oh yeah, Mrs. Scary was a semi-regular at the Oyster, and I did hear about the pineapple shells. Pretty disgusting for sure. I went a number of times though and whatever I had from the Happy Hour menu was usually tasty and reasonable value.

[SMOG]

Went to Mr. Greek the other day. Don't know why. Had horrible meals there in the past, guess I wanted something quick and fast. It was bad. Just plain bad. Salad was soggy with dressing... tzatziki was bland... chicken severely overcooked and covered in dry spices...

Actually, I enjoyed the potatoes! The potatoes were good.

Otherwise, by far the worst greek. Even worse than the places in food courts.

[chow999]

i was there (9218 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill ) once for the express menu and neither did i have had pleasant experience: the service was slow, the food plain and the bill was a small surprise -- i thought it was just my bad luck on that day ...

[lasardo]

Alright, some of the worst of the worst (some echoed already on this board):
Hernando's Hideaway (either locale): Awful food (burrito had a frozen veggie mix in it, including crinkle-cut carrot and broccoli), terrible service and too-high prices.
Burrito Boyz: Horrendous service, literally as if the staff couldn't be bothered to deal with you, coupled with a bizarre ordering process and a total lack of respect for the customer.
Sushi on Bloor: Sloowwww service for mediocre sushi.
The Pizza Pizza @ Church/Dundas: The head guy there, usually taking orders, is practically yelling at you, daring you to order. One time a server didn't know what goat cheese was, and instead of giving us broccoli, gave us pepperoni.
Mars Diner: My veggies were frozen, and steak was literally reheated in a microwave before my eyes.
Lolita's Lust: Is this place still operating? I hope not, based on their tiny portions, ridiculous prices and too-dark decor.

[SMOG]

Sorry, I have to respond to this one... I take that shot against Burrito Boyz personally! Take it back!!

[Vinnie Vidimangi]

My problem with Burrito Boyz is that it is extraordinarily boring.
VVM

[Googs]

To each their own, Smog. I take offence to the "either location" inference about Hernando's Hideaway. I've been enjoying the Yonge location for over 20 years. I would never go to the other location. There they just don't get it.

[abigllama]

That's interesting with Hernando's, I've had just the opposite experience. Have been dragged to the Yonge street location twice and had bad meals. Sketchy meat and ketchup based flavors were my issues. On a Mexican craving after a film ducked into the Front St. location and had decent tacos and queso dip.

I was complaining about lack of decent Mexican here to a friend of mine in Dallas. He claims he had decent Mexican at Hernando's on Yonge a few years ago. So possibly I got em on two bad nights?

[Welshgirl]

Maybe it is because I was spoiled by eating some fantastic burritos in California, but I found BB *very* disappointing - the burritos were tepid, bland, and overpriced.

[deelicious]

Nah. its because they ARE tepid and bland.

[John Dory]

Mars Diner was absolutely awful. I walked in there after having a few drinks and expecting a passable hamburger. My girlfriend ordered a chicken sandwich and the guy microwave defrosted the chicken breast right in front of me. She took one bite and pushed it to the side. My hamburger brought back memories of the highschool cafeteria. The place was understaffed and dingy looking. I might have been better off at Vesta Lunch.

[mrzee]

Back in the 70's Vesta Lunch had great breakfasts. I haven't been there in about 35 years though so I don't know what its like now. And Mars had killer blueberry muffins and bran muffins.

I wish the arteries would let me eat in places like that again :-)

[TorontoTips]

OK, I have to comment on this one: Vesta Lunch!
Having passed it by many times, but always been charmed by how cute it is - the perfect greay-spoon diner like place, with the counter and the whole deal, I finally had the chance to stop in.
I was SHOCKED at just how horrible the food was. I saw an emo girl with fresh cuttings on her forearms eating a horrible looking undercooked breakfast and it was about 11:30 am, so I ordered a toasted western sandwich and fries with gravy, figuring that these were greasy-spoon staples and couldn't disappoint.
WRONG!
Both were truly terrible. A couple of bites and I threw them away and headed uptown to Burger Shack for some cheesy burger and fries goodmess.
Vesta Lunch - take a picture, but eat elsewhere, trust me.

[phoenikia]

Margarita's on Baldwin. Saddest excuse for Tex-Mex I've encountered anywhere... whatever I had ordered was a soggy mess made from frozen california mix veggies. I don't remember it being that bad in the late 90s, but what I was served last summer was the worst restaurant food I can remember having.

If your friends drag you there, stick with the drinks.

[Chicken_little]

OMG! THANK YOU! I've been there twice with an ex-boyfriend who likes it. It almost altered my feelings for him... I was so shocked how he lost his sense of good taste... must have been a favourite of his "favourite" ex... hence the break-up. I thought, who is this person and how could he possibly think this is good???? This place has a KILLER location, but everything from the dirty decor, sloped floors, are palatial in comparison to the food. Does that make sense? Mouldy cheese both times - like they NEVER wash out the cheese bin and just keep adding.... Bleck! Almost can't even go there in my memory. Haven't been to John's Italian, but that's another joint with such potential, but is a dead zone from a food perspective.

[DrewStar]

Yeah, I remember watching the owner fill a couple of pint glasses with beer which ran out midway. He glanced around hoping nobody was watching and proceeded to fill the glasses to the top with a different kind of beer. Greasy food and just a dodgy place.

[Arcadiaseeker]

You are right -- that place is FOUL! I ordered some kind of chicken dish and it was full of old gristly/boney chicken meat. I nearly gagged. Worst Mexican and one of the worst meals I have had in TO.

[goodmom8]

- Gal's Korean on Hwy 7 east of Bayview. Yuck.

- Vic Hong on Bayview / Major Mackenzie. The worst food, beverages and service ever.

- ALL Starbucks coffee - hot or iced or blended or lattes, all not worth the money and can't hold a candle to Second Cup. Makes Tim Horton's coffee heavenly in comparison.

[KevinB]

What's wrong with Vic Hong? The new location is much brighter and more cheerful than the old spot, and we still enjoy the food - and we've been going for at least ten years. The "centre vietnamese" noodle in soup is very tasty, and we usually stick to the BBQ combo plates, although occasionally we'll pop for a crab. Can't really comment on the beverages, as I only drink the tea or pop.

We usually find their service prompt and friendly, but maybe that's because they know us after so long.

[coconut lime]

i aggree Kevin, i enjoy the food there as well.
i though it was one of the few place for vietnam food that i enjoy in toronto
try the curry there next time if you haven't, it's not bad at all

i prefer the Scarborough location but i guess it's wasn't a good location for them because alot of people aren't aware they're there...

[phylao]

Captain John (queen's quay)
Swatow (chinatown)
Asia Station (located in the splendid china mall)

these are worst of the worst!!

[Manybears]

(While I'm not on board with the Swatow mention)... oh my god yes to Captain John. Oh it was sad (so sad) it was sad (too bad)...

[hungryabbey]

I dont know if its a chain or what, but it looks like some type of captain john fish and chips spot across from blockbuster area on the danforth. Does anyoen know about this?

[Pincus]

I don't think they're affiliated. Based on the menu in the window, the place on the Danforth looks like it's being run by a Greek restaurant owner that also sells fish and chips. Based on the clientele I've seen there, it looks like another low end watering hole that sells food. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I've never had any desire to step inside the place and try it out.

[julesrules]

Agreed. I was willing to patronize a basic "family" fish and chips shop in the area, but once I saw the crowd not so much. BTW I think there are two locations, one down around Greenwood that is open and full of drinkers and the one across from Blockbusters which was not open yet last time I walked by.

[hungryabbey]

hm I didnt even think it had opened yet, it said coming soon in the window last time I checked. But I do agree with you Pincus, open or not, I am not exactly tempted .. I dont know why, and I know Im judging a book, but whenever I see 'captain johns' I instantly think about frozen fish sticks that I used to get served at school when I was a kid. uh.

[Pincus]

I was thinking of the one near Greenwood which is open. I did not know there was a second location in the works.

[hungryabbey]

I think its right beside the magic oven.

[jayt90]

That is not fair to Captain John, a Macedonian.
Perhaps you are remembering Captain Highliner.

[hungryabbey]

ah yes, perhaps that was the one.

[embee]

I heard a rumour that there was some connection between these places and the guy that used to own British Style Fish & Chips. I've no idea whether this is true and I have not been tempted to go in. Does anyone have any solid info about this?

[NovoCuisine]

Captain John's! I'm not sure how I forgot about this one.. I was thinking really hard for some straight-up bad food experiences to contribute to this thread, and other than the usual suspects (Boston Pizza, Spring Rolls, et al) I couldn't really bring myself to disparage anyone.. but, yes, Captain John's should be on this list with a bullet.

[Mila]

Re: Captain John's

Funniest thing I've ever read on Chowhound
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/36124...

[Mila]

I usually abide by my mother's rule "If you have nothing nice to say..."
But I'm thrilled that food face has granted us license for a bit of venting.

1. Downtown Foodcourts. Why are the servers always yelling? No please, no thank you, no hello / goodbye. Granted there are exceptions. Worst offenders Tim Hortons (Exchange Tower) and Thai Island. And LOL at Bourbon Street, what a joke.

2. Hernando's Hideaway on Wellington. They should be embarassed to call that Mexican food, crappy Margarita's and a waitress who does a bad imitation of Flo. "I've been here 25 years, and I'll tell YOU how it is"

3. Worst disaster of a meal ever, East Side Mario's, Front Street. 20 orders into kitchen, 2 hours later: 5 right meals, 6 wrong meals, 9 no show meals and all meals cold and tasteless.

4. Worst plate: The Swan, though I consider this a one off and don't hold it against them. It went something like this: Fillet of perch topped with fresh crab on a bean puree with pesto sauce, parsnip mash with tomato confit and vegetables with harissa sauce. Okay, that was mostly made up, cause it was a while ago but I remember counting 9 different flavours on the plate. Who's fault? Yes, mine for ordering it.

: P
Thx
Food face

[TexSquared]

It's not just downtown foodcourts, Mila, it's pretty much any of them. Downtown you'll get the worst service, in the suburbs you get the worst food. If you're on a diet, pay a visit to the food court at Lawrence Square Mall (Lawrence at Allen). Most disgusting KFC in the world, slowest and one of the worst McDonald's you'll find anywhere, Amato Pizza (ugh), and this disgusting greasy spoon that feeds (more like poisons) the rest of the mall staff (count how many dollar stores!) You'll quickly lose your appetite and won't have to eat anything... the whole mall is depressing and the food court completes the picture.

Bourbon Street is everywhere, sadly (it's called Kelly's Cajun in America). A couple years ago we were at the Palisades Center Mall just outside New York City. This is a HUGE, upscale mall with a lot of big box and high end retailers, nothing in the GTA compares. Anyway, I couldn't believe it when I was heading to the bathrooms at the back of the food court and sure enough I'm accosted by a guy giving away, you guessed it, bourbon chicken samples. I thought, man, I did not drive this far from home to eat THAT crap. What was even sadder was, right next door to them was a "Japanese" place giving away samples that looked and smelled exactly the same (this time they pitched it as "teriyaki chicken"!). What the hell? We quickly found the elevators to the 4th floor and had dinner at Legal Sea Foods instead :-) Food courts aren't any better in America...

[Bigtigger]

To be fair, Tex, occasionally a food court throws out some good food and semi-civilized atmosphere. The upper level court at Yorkdale is an example: there is a Greek place at the top of the stairs (as opposed to the escalator) which is run efficiently, the staff extremely polite, and the donairs and other examples of that ilk are generous and tasty - and reasonably priced.

[TexSquared]

My point was even the good malls, not just the Lawrence Centres of th world, will have crap in the food court. At Palisades Center the main food court is the usual chains and "Bourbon St" type dreck but if you go up to the 4th floor they have full-service restaurants.

[abigllama]

Taco Villa is a nasty food court offender at Yorkadale and a couple of other locations in the GTA. Gloppy, flavourless industrial grade meat is slopped into taco shells or on tortilias served for top dollar. Makes Taco Bell shine actually. Worst tacos I've ever had period.

[duckdown]

oh yeah, i've had the dreaded taco villa in bramalea city center

worst. ever.

[KevinB]

Too right about Lawrence Square - I worked there for a while, and ended up brown bagging it most days in self defense. There was an OK Italian spot across the street, but most days, we didn't have enough time on lunch to consider it.

[hungryabbey]

I thought up another one: Wimpys. Uh. I cant even believe I ever enjoyed it as a kid. Frozen fries that are barely cooked and limp greasy burgers that fill the plate but have no flavour. terrible.

[TexSquared]

I guess because it's winter it's so easy to forget the absolute WORST place to eat in all of Toronto....

the "Food" Building at the CNE!

[morrigan]

Mainly I would agree, but grabbing a boneless chicken roti (with hot sauce) at Island Foods and wandering over to Ontario Place for the air show is a long-standing tradition. There's always a line at Island Foods, but I do love their rotis...

[deelicious]

Also good for a yearly H Salt fix. Beaver Tails. Tiny Tom Donuts.

[food face]

MMMM Tiny Toms not Tims...Toms

[Food Tourist]

I agree that the so-called khatti rolls at the Indian place in the CNE food building were a travesty. I've never seen an Indian place use grocery store flour tortillas before going there.

[Ginsugirl]

Re: Food Building

Shop smart! The Indian place with the Masala Dosas (spicy potato-stuffed crepes) is awesome. So is Island Foods, but they sell out of their best stuff early. If you absolutely can't live without a corndog (Heck, I know I can't), you'd do better to splurge the extra 50 cents at one of the outdoor places that batter them freshly. Best deal on cotton candy is in the International Trade Centre (that green glass monstrosity where they have all the shopping and SuperDogs). Oh, the mini donuts are the biggest rip-off of all time, but mooching the free samples is sound economic advice.

[mikeb]

Mandarin.

Horrible buffet "Chinese" food. I don't like buffets at the best of times, but Mandarin takes the cake. Bad food and you have to line up for it. I can't believe how busy some of these places can get at lunch.

Agree that Johnny's is a huge disappointment. It must be a taste that is acquired in one's youth.

[TexSquared]

If you think Mandarin is the worst, you haven't been to New Style in Pickering (Kingston Rd. at Rougemount)....

[Mike from Hamilton]

<Shuddering at the mention of New Style>

[TexSquared]

Shuddering because you've been there, or because you're trying to imagine what "worse than Mandarin" would be like?
[anybody here remember the Oriental Beast... I mean, Feast? I think they were finally shut down after numerous health code violations]

[TexSquared]

Well, you don't have to shudder any more... I drove by today and noticed that New Style is closed. No idea if they've resurfaced elsewhere or if the business just failed, but with Mandarin, Imperial, Ming-Du, and the soon-to-open Great Wall (in the former Tuckers/Circle T building) in the Pickering-Ajax area, they had no chance to survive.

[phoenikia]

Or the buffet on the top floor of the Sheppard Centre.

[T Long]

Can't disagree more about Mandarin...for what they do, they are probably the best.

[chalenegirl]

i would agree with the original poster and say Mandarin is the worse of all the Chinese buffets i've tried. i have yet to met a person who prefers the Mandarin over starwalk or imperial. I don't expect great chinese food from any of them, but i def don't expect the inedible, flavorless offerings either.

[pinkprimp]

i agree with you. the mandarin was the absolute worst experience i've had. i've only gone once and i never want to return.

starwalk on the other hand...great value and yummy :)

[mikeb]

I may be scarred by the fact that an office where I worked had almost every employee send off or birthday celebration at a Mandarin. Bland and tasteless. It was a lowest common denominator thing, I suppose.

[Blueicus]

I dunno... most of the buffets have fallen off the wagon by serving unfresh ingredients cooked poorly.

[Food Tourist]

I am generally suspicious of chains and buffets; however, the Mandarin in Brampton (Steeles and 410) is excellent - fresh, moist meats, nothing dried out. They have so much turnover, the food doesn't get a chance to die in the steam trays. Yes, it's "Canadian Chinese" but for what it is, they do a good job.

Starwalk and Imperial Buffet and Wong's - those places are hit or miss. I've had great meals and awful meals there.

[Ginsugirl]

The smell of the garbage bay / loading dock out back of the Mandarin at Yonge & Eglinton is enough to put me off eating all day.

[fussychow]

Aunties & Uncles - yes the food is decent, but the attitude of the owners kills me. Three of us once met there for brunch and got sat at a 4-top. We ordered, then seeing as we had a friend nearby and an extra spot at the table, we called and invited him. After enduring glaring stares from one of the owners for the duration of our meal, he finally came over afterward and yelled at us for 'breaking the rules' that all diners must be seated at the same time. Service there tends to suck at the best of times, but that was the last straw.

[jayseeca]

Must agree with Spring Rolls... a bunch of my friends from work loooved this place, i don't know how, but i found all the dishes to be greasy and low quality ingredients.

Of course, all those food court places (all greek, cajun/caribbean, Hero Burger) but I actually think Thai Island isn't that bad......

Richtree! another place people seem to love... the only thing i can justify eating there is the rosti, but even then it can be just a slab of undercooked potato mess.

MB&Co. the first time I went there, it was not bad at all, i almost enjoyed it, but ever since i've found their food to be bland and expensive.

My friends took me to a place in Little Italy called Giovanni's (? i think), and it was just bad, bad, bad. $22 for a huge plate of gnocci covered in boring, sickening sauce... I'd actually would've rather gone to a East Sides... at least I'd get free bread and salad.

[ostracario]

I really like Spring Rolls - the Yonge/Bloor location. I always have the Red Thai Curry and think it's quite wonderful. The quality and preparation at the other locations seems to vary...which is unfortunate. I have this dish, at this location, at least once a month and really like it. Just wish they could do something more exciting than iceberg lettuce with catalina dressing to go with the lunch special!

[badbhoy]

Maybe it makes a difference if you are eating in the restaurant because their Red Thai Curry was the worst I have ever had. Non-existent sauce with a few limp vegetables and "mystery" chicken. We ordered it as take out from the Atrium location and it was probably the last straw for me with Spring Rolls.

I have enjoyed their coconut soup and seafood curry pad thai, but everything else has been extremely disappointing.

[hungry_pangolin]

OK, not quite Toronto, but just outside of London, a place called The Hare&Hound, sort of a gastro-pub. Sweet Jesus. Six of the family went for dinner, and were seated in one of the rooms. We were given menus, drink orders taken, and then... we were forgotten. Almost a half hour passed before we were finally able to flag someone down to ask where or not very complicated drink order was, and that we would like to order. Another 30 minutes pass, and some apps arrive, some don't. Ditto the mains, 45 minutes later, some mediocrely executed ones arrive, some MIA. And (the height of pretension for a place that can't get the drinks right) a palate cleanser... coconut sorbet (blech!). And on those rare occasions when the staff did show up, the attitude was outrageous. The manager, when we finally found him to complain, was even worse. By far, the worst experience in my life. I hope to God that they're no longer in business.

[FeelinFineSunshine]

I'm sure I'll have people not agree with this one, but The Dip. When I first moved to the city in '99, I loved it. Great patio, not pretentious, and pretty decent food. The last two times I've been the service was poor, and the food cold.

The worse part is as the area has become even more 'trendier', even if one was to be willing to put up with poor service and cold food the wait for a table on the patio is excrutiating.

[food face]

The Dip is one of those places you have to limit yourself to what you order. I have never been let down with their gnocci and rose sauce with added bacon. It's always piping hot, the gnocci is soft and the sauce perfect. It's actually a lot better than most of the other "Italian" joints on the College St. strip and more reasonable. I also find the service is not the most attentive, but they are usually crazy busy. The servers are usually really experienced and get the job done. Sure there's some turnover with the staff, but for the most part, I'm always surprised at how they manage to juggle all the tables reasonably well. If you go in with high expectations, it could e a disappointment. It's not the best food in the world but it's decent and reasonable and in no way do I feel it's "the worst of Toronto". It's a Toronto Landmark like it or not with a lively patio.

[Sui_Mai]

Yup the Dip has gone way downhill from plain but cheap and dependable to unedible. But the patio and servers are okay with me.

[Ginsugirl]

Fun for beers or espressos during world cup, but whatever you do, don't order the mussels. Trust me.

[Blush]

If you mean "The Horse and Hound", it's changed hands (and names) a few times since then.

[Gary]

Since this thread surprisingly has not been "disappeared" yet (though some of my comments on Tim Horton's were...) I will take the time to list my worsts.

Spring Rolls/East - Can't be mentioned enough. Most puzzling and frustrating about this place is the number of people who love it and hence force the rest of us to attend through social obligations like birthday parties. Why, oh why.

On the Rocks - Little Canadian-Chinese hole in the wall at Front and Sherbourne. Finally tried it after walking past for years and often seeing it busy. Tried some sort of chicken stirfry lunch special which consisted of a half-dozen chunks of chicken sprinkled with soy sauce and about 5 stalks of celery chopped up. Nothing else. My current theory is that people go there for the cheap drinks.

Bier Markt - Terrible, terrible service. Will never return.

Burrito Boyz - Too many lukewarm, shoddily made burritos. Yes, it was great at first but then went downhill and never improved, and I finally had to give up trying. The good reputation seems to have never died, though, strangely.

[deelicious]

Tim Hortons was moved here - http://www.chowhound.com/topics/496280

[TexSquared]

Thanks, although the thread has been closed already, can't add to it anymore. At least it is where it can be found in search engines...

[TexSquared]

Bier Markt is owned by the same company that runs East Side Marios and Casey's. Which pretty much explains why the place sucks...

[5andman]

Mama Martino's - I could get better and more authentic Italian in a food court in Kenora.

[Scary Bill]

I went once, just once many moons ago, and had a sausage pasta (or something with their "homemade" sausage). It was without doubt the most tasteless sausage I've ever had.

Couldn't understand why the place was so busy.

The treatment plant nearby must destroy the locals taste buds and olefactories.

[deelicious]

or in Korea for that matter....

[chicapea]

omg I had the absolute worst caprese salad there in my life. they should rename it the CRAPese it was so horrid. cold, pink, mealy slices of tomato, slices of processed mystery white cheese, dried basil and oil that was definitely not derived from olives. ugh...i still shudder at the memory.

[Sui_Mai]

Yes! The quality of the pasta is lower than low. It tastes like paste. The place is packed, I just do not understand it all. Biggest mystery in Toronto dining.

[bluedog]

On the rocks used to have a wonton soup special that was huge and not too bad. Only thing we ever ordered there.

[sleepymiffy]

That's the YPT Soup at On The Rocks. That's also the only thing I ever order there.

[bluedog]

Yup, that's it. Thanks.

[laurelmcg]

The Big Ragu - terrrrrrible, terrible service and very mediocre food.

Cucina - awful service, but I think it's now closed. Apparently I wasn't alone in my opinion.

[Googs]

I thought Cucina just had the good sense to get out of Little Italy and move to the Entertainment District where bad service is de rigueur.

[laurelmcg]

Hardly, judging by the terrible staff they had hired, I don't think "good sense" is what compelled them to leave. The doors are locked and a bailiff's notice is on the door...I think it was a non-payment thing.

[millygirl]

I think that's exactly the point Googs was trying to make above.

[Googs]

T'is. Thanks millygirl.

[redearth]

I'm shocked to see The Big Ragu on this list. Do you think it was an off night? In my experience the apps are much better than the mains, so when I go I usual just order a selection of apps, with a pizza or perhaps a pasta. But bad service? Never happened to me.

[food face]

Big Ragu is actually one of my favorite places. I agree, some of the servers can be unprofessional (too casual) but definately not rude. The food makes up for it though.

[laurelmcg]

It may have been an off night, I suppose every restaurant deserves a second chance but I'm skeptical. The mushroom app was delish but that was it. The fish entree was gross - and misrepresented. They ignored us and at the end, when they realized we were unimpressed offered us shots of Limoncello. My friend declined saying she was pregnant, to which they responded "are you sure you don't want any", then filled my shot class maybe 1/4 of the way. I'm not even kidding. I've NEVER seen someone not fill a shot glass. Just added insult to injury.

[Dimbulb]

Everyone gets a shot of limocello at Big Ragu.

[Frank88]

Sultan's Tent - given the price, it serves awful awful food - this was in Feb 2008, so it's a recent experience at the new location. The old location at least had some vestige (slight) of authenticity, but I felt like I was a dumb tourist who should have known better - we should have of course, but a large group was going for an evening's entertainment so you go with the flow.

The Food: Is it too much to ask that the food at least be edible? The waitress had the audacity to say the rack of lamb was the best in the city - the reality was quite the opposite, strangely sweet and barely cooked (I asked for it to be done medium), with the supporting ingredients thoughtlessly and carelessly put together. The seafood appetizer consisted of shrimp and crab cakes that tasted like they'd been microwaved several times.

The Entertainment: Lackluster and amateurish, and definitely did not make up for the food.

Conclusion: Don't enter this tent, even the Sultan's long since left

[Higgette]

My vote goes to the David Duncan House. Over-priced,over-salted frozen food. Great decor but the last time I checked you can't eat the curtains. It's my in-laws' favourite restaurant. God help me.

[Pincus]

Dear God.

Vegetarian Feast

$22.95
For the Vegetarian Lover in you our chef will prepare an exciting array of Vegetables, Potatoes and Rice.

I can imagine how excited I would be to be served this dish.

[Higgette]

Especially when the vegetables are all frozen. Even the steaks are frozen - tastesless and tough. This place gets everything so wrong. The portions are enormous, but who wants to take this crap home?

They charged my SIL $17, for chicken fingers for her kid. Crazy, rip-off dump. Nice curtains though.

[millygirl]

LOL. Good pick higgette. I agree, that place is nasty.

[tromeo]

The Pickle Barrel...Bottom of the barrel .Growing up, It`s landmark Leslie street location was an institution.Since they started to expand into a chain and stray from there oringinal deli style roots things have gotten really bad.Higher prices,way smaller portions,bad service and a menu that tries to be everything to everyone.
I had a bad experince at each one of their locations and will never go back.

[deelicious]

6 of us went to PB Atrium this past weekend. The feta bunless burger, the BBQ heaven, the half BBQ chicken, the greek salad of some sort were all excellent and VERY well priced. The service was also excellent. I agree Yonge/Eg and Sherway sux, but the Atrium is fantastic and fresh always.

[tromeo]

Hey Deelicious Im glad you enjoyed it I`m sure alot of people do.I used to be a regular now I just can`t justify how I saw portion size shrink and prices go up.Most of their main courses came with their "famous" cole slaw that was brought out first.Then they shrunk the size and stuck it on the plate with the entree thus cutting back on the fries.Now its served in a thimble!

[deelicious]

The only thing that shrunk in size, IMO, is the bread and the coleslaw. I agree. But the bread they serve now has onions baked in and it is size enough. For the coleslaw, it still tastes as great as ever and I always ask for a substitute to a potato so I get plenty! The meat and the sandwiches have not shrunk in size to my eye (or stomach). In fact the half BBQ chicken dinner (at the Atrium) is in my mind one of the very best deals in Toronto!

[wordsworth]

Federicks comes to mind immediately. There is/was a place called Golden Chopstick at Leslie and Finch in the mall. That would be the worst, however.

[badbhoy]

I agree with Fredericks. You may as well just chug a bottle of corn syrup with a side of chicken fat for a similar experience.

[Vern Ryerse]

Boston Pizza is the worst.

Appalling food, terrible service. I can't understand how this place stays in business.

Rock Bottom.

[grilledcheese]

I actually went to Boston Pizza in Dufferin Mall the other day and had excellent service. I was amazed. Really nice guy named Sergio. Probably the exception to the rule.

[canadianbeaver]

When I went to Boston Pizza, I checked the menu online first. They had a healthy selections menu, so when I was in the restaurant, I asked to see that. The server told me, "Something healthy? I don't think we serve anything healthy." When he finally did find and retrieve the menu, I ordered the shrimp -- it was five little baby shrimps on a scewer for over ten bucks.

[NovoCuisine]

Boston Pizza is definitely up there with some of the worst food I've had to eat in my lifetime. Once upon a time I was forced to go there more often than I'd like, and the only thing I ever got was the spinach salad. Hard to screw that up, you'd think.. but often the spinach was old and wilted, the eggs yolks green, and if I didn't ask for dressing on the side the entire dish came absolutely drenched..

My BF always got the pad thai ("WHY?" I ask him) and the noodles were perpetually under or overcooked. There are really no words for the shrimp that came with that dish.. or any of BP's dishes.

The last two times we have been, the beers were warm. And THAT was the tipping point for my BF. Thankfully, I never have to put up a fight against going to BP again.

[grilledcheese]

James Joyce Pub on Bloor. (I think it is now closed, but I'm not sure.)

They served us chicken wings that were still bloody inside. When we complained, the "cook" came out of the kitchen to our table, looked at the wings and said belligerently, "That's cooked blood."

Of course we refused to accept them. He took them back to the kitchen and put them back in the deepfryer, sauce on, and cooked them until they were little pieces of charcoal and sent them back out to the table.

[food face]

Thats funny. LOL. Yum, cooked bloody wings.

[tekkamaki]

I know it's been covered in this thread and others but I must reinterate Red Tomato AGAIN! We've actually had some OK meals there before, usually a quick pre-theatre dinner because it was handy and not half-bad.
While we were there this week our clueless server took 20 minutes to bring our wine. Appetizers as well as entrees for our table of 4 came out 10 minutes apart so some diners could dine (while the food was hot) and some could watch.

Noteworthy: the Calypso Chicken Pasta was a gloopy and bitter mess with way too much sage.

My Kobe Beef Burger was actually quite good but it was accompanied by a unique combination of thick-cut mushy and limp sweet potato fries and broken-up near-shoestring fries about 1" long. Sort of those crumbs you'd find at the bottom of the freezer bag.

I e-mailed them with my comments on a very disappointing meal, but have not received a reply as of yet.

[Gary]

Haaaaa! I still recall the wings I had at the James Joyce as some of the worst in my life. There were other negative aspects to my visit, too, but I won't go into details. Suffice to say... I will never return. Shockingly, the place is still around as far as I know; I think it's one of those bulletproof institutions that will never die.

[Guitarhero666]

THe worst restaurant ive ate at was this place in Ronceville called Krak.....I was looking for something cheap and decided to try Krak out it looked sorta interesting and had a interesting name...Well first thing is they didnt have everything on the menu which weirds me out. They had 2 drunken polish dudes drinking and the owner kept hitting them and yelling at them in polish..then the food very bland and it wasnt that bad until my last dumpling i found egg shells in it I was pretty grossed out i complained and they couldnt even understand me the waitress that is....Also the drunks started to talk to me in polish which was very odd..So I basically learned something never go to a restaurant called Krak and pay the extra few bucks and eat somewhere good like Chopin or Cafe Poloez

[Tiny Dancer]

Pizza Pizza (it's crazy to me that this is the number one pizza chain)
Le Bifteque
Siddartha (I know people on here like it but I find it tasteless)
Cora's (the breakfast chain)
Most places in 'The Beach'

[trustme2]

Never expect good food, service or time at a chain restaurant, serves you right for going. In order to enjoy your dining experience, dive into the unknown. The small independent restaurants/diners/etc are the best I have ever been too. Little tid bit, Once they are published in Toronto Life they stop trying. SAD BUT TRUE

[Alacrity59]

Ouch I thought this was about worst. Like a Chinese restaurant my wife and I attended before a play . . . breakfast cereal on the table in boxes to feed the kids (who arrived in PJ's while we were there) . . . I could go on. While Pizza Pizza is not the best . . . for a chain they have remarkably consistent and tasty product. . . in my opinion. Best pizza I had was in a place in Montreal with a three sided brick oven hard wood fired . . . they had three floors but open in the centre so you could see the pizza cooking. (well now I'll be tossed off Chowhound for defending a chain)

[TorontoTips]

Tossed off for saying Pizza Pizza has remarkably tasty pizza? No!
But now I know to ignore your suggestions :-)

[mode]

Mr. Greek in the Beach. Garbage service. No management.
Over-processed pre-packaged food short cuts. Bland spices. Over all a very poor excuss for a for a service restaurant. CLEAN YOUR WASHROOMS.

[fuelbydamon]

CONFIRMED MR. Greek in the BEach is horrible!

[grandgourmand]

Must disagree on Siddartha...it's not tasteles. It tastes bad.

[R1chardsred]

Cora's Really? I have been to a few locations (Mostly Mississauga) Multiple times and never once had bad food there... Sure it's pretty tough to muck up breakfeast but I find the fruit to alwasy be ripe and fresh even off season.. The Egg's bennie is delish, (as is there Samon and lox bagel)....I just can't think of a place that dose a better consisten Breakfeast....

Wost I have ever had was a East side's, they had just changed there menu.. I used to eat there few times a year and it was you know ok.. I knew what to expect.. but any ways.. this Prosuto and Asparagus capalari.. looked like dog vomit (though admitedly at least tasted ok)..

I don't think I have ever been served food so bad I could not eat it, most reastrant issuees I have had have been Service... and substandard food.... but not food poissioningly awful.

[scarberian]

Cora's? Who's complaining about Cora's? The many times we've been there (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Pickering) we've had really good experiences. The only 2 things I wasn't too crazy about ... the frickin' line ups, the prices.

[akyra]

Vaticanno Trattoria ..
Deceivingly friendly at the door, making up for the lack of experienced waiters ...
Charging for the wine the waiter spilled; he then denied spilling half of the bottle (despite having to mop rather than wipe it from the floor)
They didn't offer a replacement bottle ... aside from that bad service experience ...
6 different dishes and one small microwave.
I had once upon a time been known to order the salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden (back in the day). I knew better than to order a main dish .. enough sodium to dry the humps off of a two humped camel ...
The VatTratt took me right back to that place ...
We did however take the rest of the $40 Risotto dish home - the wallpaper has yet to peel away from the plaster, its been months ... something good of something bad ...

Second Choice
Crabby Joes in Port Perry ...
Not once but twice (both visits) I received the excuse - "both chef's happened to quit that very day" ... they need to change the script, really ...
Who in thier right mind would expect turkey in a turkey wrap anyway??

[philly cheeze]

Bar B Qs on Spadina. wing.fries . burgs all gross

[food face]

BBQ's on Spadina. Good one. F-ing aweful excuse for food.

[smr714]

There used to be a chinese buffet on the lower floor of the Scarborough Town Centre. Food was disgusting, could not eat what was on my plate, they they added charges in for plates that were not finished on top of the reg pricing.

[fuelbydamon]

MAGIC OVEN is definitely up there!

[Tiny Dancer]

One of the worst meals I've had was at a place called Jesse Jr., a Filipino place on Kennedy at Lawrence. Never having eaten at a Filipino restaurant we took the staffs recommendations. It was awful. Flavourless and very fatty cuts of meat. Avoid this place.

[goofibulator]

The Dale Family Restaurant, south-west corner of Bloor & Lansdowne. Yes, I bet you can imagine, and you'd probably be right, whatever horrid thing you're thinking about.

Alas, it was the closest restaurant to a former house that I was unfortunate enough to live in, so I would eat there now and again. Always bacon and eggs. Until, one night I decided to go for the double pork chop special.

I was a vegetarian for three months. No kidding.

[Sui_Mai]

Word on the Magic Oven. What is going on in that crust and it's just mushy all over. Mushy crust, mushy toppings. Mush.

[Ironchefa]

Spadina Garden for the red sauce common to almost every dish they serve. Veggies not fresh as they look like they've been soaking in the sauce for ages.

Ditto for Spring Rolls!

[CoffeeAddict416]

spring rolls isn't great but at least the food is edible!

that's not an endorsement... i'm just sayin you could do a LOT worse

[Sui_Mai]

I gotta give Spring Rolls a little bit of like here too. On average they're nothing to write home about, but for delivery standards they are okay. Some dishes are better than others - Thai curries - bad. Vietnemese pork chop is yummy as is the lettuce wrap, curry pad thai and the thai basil eggplant - but order easy sauce.

They are murdering the forests though, I always ask them not to include a menu and knives, forks and sauce packets (after *they ask me* if I want them) and without fail they just load up the bag with 'em every single time!

[tjr]

Some of the worst meals I've ever had that didn't involve illness afterward began with being dragged to Spring Rolls against my emphatic attempts to get others to reconsider. Now, if I must go, I just don't eat. I'd honestly rather go to Montana's or something (at least I like the cakey cornbread there, even if I don't like anything else on the menu). Not making me sick is certainly a plus that removes them from the worst of the worst, but nothing I've ever had at Spring Rolls is something I would want to place in or near my mouth ever again.

[basileater]

Oh, I completely agree. I'll never forget my meal of vietnamese bun with noodles that tasted only of freezer burn and a rubbery piece of chicken riddled with fat that I couldn't bring myself to eat. I'm not even going to talk about (related restaurant) East! We started with insipid rubbery (see a pattern?) "thai" fishcakes and things went downhill from there.

If I were so unfortunate to be dragged there again I wouldn't eat either.

[zed1984]

i must concur. some of worst tdot meals began with spring rolls. the food oh the food..................(and the slightly better but highly deficient service)

[abigllama]

There's a couple of ok things at Spring Rolls but have found that the dishes that involve any form of a noodle all taste exactly the same regardless of what you order. And it's not a very good taste.

On my last visit to the Yonge/Bloor ish location the waiter was having a loud argument with the woman at the table next to me. Apparently she was a vegitarian and he brought her something that had meat in it. He insisted she ordered the meat dish, then tried to talk her into eating it, then said that if she sent it back the meal would come out of his paycheck. This went on for about 10 minutes.

[embee]

I am reliably informed that Magic Oven now uses prefab everything, which explains volumes.

[Googs]

Honestly, why do people eat at the Magic Oven anyway? Conforming dishes to meet a marketing strategy has led to a comedy of ridiculous food. I hate to be hackneyed, but since that style fits the topic, its Frankenfood. And nothing says fresh like prefab. As for the health benefits, well I think the Queen St E location kinda has that aspect aaaaallll wrong. When oh when will this chain restaurant go away?

[abigllama]

Magic Oven is super expensive for what it is too. Not a big fan of the soggy pizza but SO and I were in the mood for pasta and there's a new Magic Oven in the hood. So ordered 2 pasta dishes and split a ceasar salad for take out...I went to pick up and total was $55 with tax. Now when I got home there were 3 of those styrofoam half size wide containers that would probably hold two large hot dogs snugly. The food ranged from meh to pretty good but was made worse by the feeling of being totally ripped off.

[vorpal]

The desserts are good, too, but suffer from the same problem: the portions are just too small to be satisfying, and I'd feel ridiculous ordering four or five in order to get my fill.

[acd123]

Worst falafel and shawarma in TO is Ghazale. It used to be great. Then they started using the microwave. Also, they must have changes the falafel recipe, because now it tastes aweful.

[duckdown]

That is a pretty bad shawarma, you're right

Sarah's has gone WAY downhill also; everything pre-sliced and falafels cooked from hours ago just sitting in a bowl

[acd123]

Still the best IMO is King Falafel at Bathurst and Eglinton. Everything made to order and the meat is sliced at time of order.

[food face]

King Falafel is definately a King in my books too. Ghazale has been nuking things for years. They have at least 2 microwaves in the place and that's bad considering how small it is.

[Sui_Mai]

I know this is the "worst of" thread but I have to say that the best Falafel/Shwarma by a mile is Ali Baba in Parkdale (can't vouch for the others in the chain). The owner, Sam, is so kind and informative about his recipes too!

Worst Shwarma place: Pita Way on King/Dufferin. Iknow they're new but everything tastes like vinegar - even the rice!?!

[Fizzzzzy]

If it's the same Sam, he used to own the Armenian Kitchen in Scarborough, where my husband and his soccer buddies used to go after every practice/game (and he was at my wedding years ago)! I havent been to Ali Baba yet, but thanks for reminding me! It's next on my list :)

[Tatai]

The falafel at King Falafel used to be made fresh to order. Since the owner died a little while back and his daughters took over, there seems to be a bowl of ready-fried falafel balls sitting on the back burner.

The shawarma is still sliced to order and is very flavourful, if a bit tough.

[acd123]

Yeah, I think he was hit by a truck. Sad. But I don't think that the falafel has changed. I think the balls always sat in that metal bowl after frying. I don't find the shawarma tough at all. Great flavour and best tahini around. His daughters do everything pretty much like he did except he put more marinade on the shawarma wheel before cooking.

[food face]

Yes I have been going to King Falafel for over 15 years and they always had a small reserve of falafels in a metal bowl. They are still very fresh and never sit around for too long. The shawarma must only be eaten when fresh. When it's fresh, nothing comes close but when it's been rotating around all day, it's very tough. I must add their halal burgers are incredible and go so nicely with their tahini, tomato, lettuce an hot sauce blend.

[magic]

I second food face's point about King Falafel's shawarmas being best when fresh. When fresh I don't think there's a shawarma I've tried in Toronto yet that comes close. Maybe Sababa's. When they are not fresh, at the end of the spit, I won’t order them. They’re fine, but not comparable to the fresh version. I also must second food face's thumbs up for their halal burgers, which come in pita. They are awesome.

Tatai is right, the falafel is usually sitting around. But I always ask them to make mine fresh and they don't mind at all. It only takes 2 minutes, so requesting fresh is no biggie and the only way to go there I think. When fresh.....oh my stars the falafel is great. However the owner's passing has little to do with the fact that the falafel is usually sitting around. It was like that even when he was with us. Just request fresh and you're set. Man he was a nice guy. The wife is lovely too. I always found their attention to the food/sandwiches was always better than the younger generation running it, who I find go through the motions with sloppiness and indifference at times. That said, a great place.

[Tatai]

The owner was a very, very sweet man. I haven't seen his wife around lately, have you?

[acd123]

No, I haven't seen the wife around in a while. Only the daughters. And they're not my favourite servers in town. Indiferent at best. Sometimes, the pretty one manages a smile, but not often.

I should have qualified my comment about the shawarma. The quality of the meat depends on the diameter of the wheel. If it's full, it's good but not great because not enough of the fat has rendered out and the meat hasn't browned enough. Between 3/4 to 1/2 is the best. Anything less than 1/4 is way too dry and overcooked. Sometimes I drive by just to check the diameter. If it's 1/4 or less, I keep driving.

Yeah, I know, maybe that's getting a bit too specific.

Again, KF is the best shawarma and falafel in TO IMO. I have tried many, but I have not yet found anything that comes close.

[jayt90]

I'll have to go there. I don't care about the indifferent service, considering what they have had to cope with.

[Chester Eleganté]

Ah, a shawarma maven after my own heart. It's true; there are many stages of shawarma goodness, related also to how busy it is. King Falafel is definitely among the best in shawarma, falafel, and tahini.

I think the daughters there are cool. Maybe they can seem indifferent at times, but maybe they don't exactly want to be running a falafel shop, y'know? Whatever. The food's always good!

Oh ya, Ghazale. Smells great from the outside, but the sandwiches are terrible.

[magic]

I haven't seen her in ages. But I usually make it there at night, and I know she never really worked nights. I haven't been during the day in quite a while. She might be there then. I know she makes most, if not all, of their sweets that they sell at the counter. Which are amazing. Since those are still there I'm guessing she is still involved with the business. I could be wrong, but I hope she's still there and we're just missing her.

[basileater]

I am so sad to hear that. Ghazale's was my favourite place for falafel and sharma in the neighbourhood 10 or 12 years ago.

[Ginsugirl]

Smells great, tastes like cardboard. Good enough if you're drunk as a skunk at three am, but then anything would be. God-awful Falafel.

[afici0nad0]

spagetti factory.

pasta and sauce tasted like it was straight from the can.

[Fishchip]

After nearly 250 posts on this topic, I am astonished that nobody has mentioned the entirely inedible Mel's Delicatessen. I think we had matzah ball soup and a knish but I'm trying my best to forget.

[chef223]

Globe Bistro the food was horrible and the service astounding. I've heard nothing but bad things as well from people who I know , who have worked there.

[KitchenVoodoo]

I wouldn't slap Globe too much, I've had many good meals there and I like their excellent hostess, but last week I had lunch, the food took 45 minutes to arrive and the waitress was so ditzy I just knew she had probably forgotten to enter the order into the sytem. When it did come, the fish was soggy and the chips were overcooked.

[fickle]

I was at the Globe for brunch a couple of weeks ago with a group of 7 where our waitress had to be reminded to bring the drink order she had admantly insisted we try and then during another trip back to the table, she interrupted our conversation to contribute a comment of her own. An hour and 10 minutes after our orders were placed, we received an apology from the kitchen that our food was delayed due to a large group in the party room upstairs and that they were going to send out a plate of scones to tie us over while they prep our food. 10 minutes later the scones arrived only to be followed within 3 minutes later the appearance of our order. I had ordered the chestnut pancakes because they looked fluffy and delicious when we walked by the kitchen enroute to our table. Unfortunately my batch was thin, flat and deflated looking. Seems the batter had been used up for the large group and the kitchen had to make a fresh batch. It tasted fine but the appearance was so lacking that I couldn't help but feel disappointed. And to top off this fine outing, another waitress dropped a tray of wine glasses right beside our table as we were wrapping up to leave. There was some confusion as to who was going to clean up the mess and a lot of dodging to side step the glass as we tried to weave out of our table and towards the doorway. My dinner at the globe a few months ago was also marred by flawed service so between this recent outing and the last one, I don't think I'll be recommending the Globe for it's service anytime in the near future.

[Pastryrocks]

Unfortunately there are many places that I feel fit the description Worst in Toronto. The Queensway Rotisserie & Grill at Queensway and East Mall without a doubt is one of the worst meals we ever had. The rotisserie chicken was over done and quite dry. My wife ordered grilled Salmon and we asked the waitress if the salmon could not be overdone. I made sure she understood what I meant, not overcooked, but a little underdone. Well my dry chicken was moister; the little piece of salmon was not unlike cardboard. Now I understand that this place is not fine dinning and after all it is a chicken joint. I asked the waitress why the meat was overdone and was told that’s how we cook it. Should have gone down the road to Swiss Chalet, or even Kentucky Fried Chicken would have been better!

[janel]

Most of my bad experiences are with chain restaurants (no surprise)...

- Moxie's
- Casey's
- Ginza Sushi (Finch and Leslie) Had a terrible experience, our entire table was served before us and we asked for our food several times, they kept saying it was coming but after the third time I heard them talking to the kitchen staff (in Chinese) that they forgot the order and started making it an hour later. And they didn't offer any apologies on top of their poor food and service.

I've read negative stuff about La Vecchia in this thread, but I have to say I've never had a bad customer service experience there and I enjoy the food.

[chef_vagabond]

Fresh

[food face]

Indeed. Fresh is sloppy bitter or bland veg food cooked by disinterested hipsters. Very overpriced too. It's too bad because some of her recepies are actually really good. I have the cookbook and find it tastes so much better when made at home and the ingredients (all though there's often many of them) are not expensive.

[Sui_Mai]

Word. They are doing nothing to prove that "health food" needn't be bland pablum.

And - they do not deserve that awesome corner!

[KitchenVoodoo]

I must get the book and try their dishes at home - I'm not a vegetarian so my standards are probably lower than yours but I like what I get in their restuarants - what I cannot stand is the NOISE level and the shite music - I have learned to pack earplugs when I go!

[Bobby Wham]

East, Amato's, New Gen Sushi, Café Crepe

[food face]

Bobby Wham. Cafe Crepe you think is one of the worst huh? I do agree their savory crepes are disgusting due due to the filling choices (mayo, diced chicken, swiss cheese, tuna etc YUCK). However, their desert crepes are really marvelous. They don't overcook or burn them. They load up the desert ones with so much filling including chocolate and fresh fruit. We once asked for a side of Nutella and they gave us half a plastic cup full. I have been to all the crepe places (yes including the one in Yorkville, I'm friends with the owner). They really don't compare to the desert ones at Cafe Crepe.

[Ginsugirl]

Some of these are just too easy. Sbarro Pizza is dreadful. Firkin Pubs and their ilk go without saying. The Beacher Cafe has atrocious service and worse food. Being dragged along to a mom-tot event at the Rainforest Cafe is right up there with having teeth pulled. With no anesthetic. Just use the prefix 'Mc' and everyone knows what you're saying. I expect to have a lousy time at all of these places, and they rarely disappoint.

What really irks me is the places that get solid reviews, keep their prices high, and still manage to sell me crappy food.

Allen's does not serve crappy food. It is well-made, home-made, and delicious. But there is never enough of it. I don't even have a robust appetite, and I always still feel hungry after a meal there. If there is one thing I cannot abide by, it is leaving a restaurant still hungry.

The other grand disappointment is Banfi. Much reccomended, it was a truely horrific experience. The service was actually great. Attentive without being overbearing, a Waiter who knew his wine list without having to consult anyone, all the makings of a lovely evening. But the atmosphere is awful. The room is already too loud, the tables are wedged too closely together, and there are frequent blasts of cold air from the take-out pizza line-up. My pasta was near raw, yet my husband's was cooked to mush. In another restaurant, we might have sent our meals back, but we'd taken a liking to our server, and didn't want to make his already lousy night any worse. Nothing that went wrong was his fault at all; this would be a matter for management and the kitchen. And yes, we tipped our guy properly.

[acd123]

The pizzas are great, though.

[evansl]

No worst of Toronto is complete without Splendido. OK, it's not the worst in the absolute sense, but its close. It certainly is the worse in the value sense. Federicks is probably the worst of the worst that is still open. The worst I've ever been to was "Golden Chopstick."

Other Memorable bad places include:

Omei
Cluck, Grunt & Low
Thai Bistro
Memphis Style
Ho Lee Chow
Sushi Bong
Pho 88
Spring Rolls

[chef223]

Some of the worst meals I've had in the city in no particular order
Globe BIstro
Coppi ( had better food at an Italian Wedding)
Numerous Chinese Take out Restaurants, way too many too count and unfortunately not one memorable enough to remember

[juno]

This is unquestionably one of the most entertaining threads on this board, attested to by record number of postings. And I'm delighted that over the years I've only been to just a handful of the restos that have been condemned here, and mostly just one time. Just lucky, I guess. Usually, I didn't go back to the ones deemed as lousy NOT because they were so lousy, but because they were so drearily average. The truly lousy restos disappear quickly. It's the average ones that limp along, slowly alienating most everyone, till they justly poop out from lack of trade. When an average bill for two with wine, tax and tip can easily approach $100 in even a neighborhood joint, being average isn't acceptable. Such places SHOULD be put out of their misery.

Though I must quibble with a couple of the joints that have taken a spanking. Splendido is very, very good - at least, it was the one time I went there - it's just that I don't want to pay that much for dinner ever again, and if I do it'll probably be at the Pasta Bar at Scaramouche (which is, agreed, slightly cheaper). And Coppi, on Yonge St. north of Lawrence, has been around a long time for a reason: it delivers the goods most of the time. A few of its dishes are kinda boring - which means, I guess, that it's flirting with being average - but many of its regulars know what and what not to order. The boring dishes are doubtless for those mature regulars with health concerns eating out against doctor's orders. Tip for the rest of you: try the cheapest main dish on the menu: spaghetti puttanesca. The dish has been emasculated in many Italian places by having its anchovies (in short, its reason for being) summarily removed. But here, spaghetti puttanesca ($17 last I looked, but then rents are high on north Yonge St.) has anchovies in abundance and, therefore, it has a helluva lotta zing. They'll put in even more anchovies if you ask politely. Unlike most Italian weddings. Also starring at Coppi: a number of offbeat, interesting starters. It's for those dishes alone, among a couple of other nice touches, that make Coppi distinctive rather than another drearily average Italian resto - of which Toronto has plenty not mentioned on this thread - yet.

[chef223]

Not sure what restaurant you dined at but the Italian restaurant Coppi is not only overrated , but the food itself was either too salty or tasted of brine. My wife and I decided to give Coppi a chance after we heard some positive reviews from friends and others. We are a younger couple so right away , we were look at as being almost a nuisance to the service staff, I guess they felt that no large tip was forthcoming. We ordered the antipasto to start and every single item on the incrediably mundane , boring dish was either overly salty or not season at all. Having myself been a professional cook for a number of years and a graduate of a culinary school, I was wondering to myself has the level of food drop so much in Toronto that this 1970's Italian Wedding version of antipasto is passed off as not only acceptable but adored. Next we opted to try the saffron risotto for two, and let's just say it tasted like it was made with a Campbell soup stock base, and was not close to being al dente or cooked to order. Having giving up now on having a good meal , our next course was the Fruit De Mare platter that cost's 60 and promises to deliver an abundance of lobster, squid, clams and shrimp. This dish was the most dissapointing plate of the entire evening, the lobster tasted of brine and was overcooked, the shrimp was tasteless and since this dish was the most expensive item on the menu it was almost insulting to the diner. We had coffees and split a tirmaisu that could have been bought at any Loblaws . Our meal cost get ready for this everyone, without wine 160 dollars. The funniest part of the entire evening was a gentelmen who we believed to be the owner was moving from table to table asking the couples how their dinners we're going, and I guess since we were a younger couple not only did he not come over to ask us how are dinner was , but he completely ignored us all together.
If your looking for Italian in toronto that won't hurt your wallet too badly and is actually autenthic look more for places like Zucca, not a restaurant that serves below average Italian wedding hall food.

[juno]

Well, it certainly seems that you had a lousy time at Coppi, in which case you're perfectly correct to nominate it on this thread. I've never had any of the dishes you ordered, so can't comment. As to young couples being given short shrift at Coppi merely because they're young, well, it's possible, I suppose. Being older, I've never noticed. But Coppi's prices and traditional menu tends to gear it to older regulars. And it's understandable, though not excusable, if Fausto, the owner, should be more attentive to them. He should get around to all the tables, as he often does. But he doesn't always, alas, and my table has also been ignored at times (I'm not a consistent regular). It doesn't bother me. If I had any major beefs, I'd seek him out to let him know. You'll doubtless be happier at Zucca, which you've mentioned, a first-class resto with a much more modern vibe in its Italian menu. In short, a different style from Coppi, and perhaps more welcoming to younger diners. Though, occasionally, the agreeable Zucca host has missed my table when he does his go-arounds, and I never take it personally - especially when the cuisine is so good there (though the wine prices have rocketed upwards at Zucca in the past year or two).

[millygirl]

Coppi used to be very good. But the last time we went we could not believe how bad it was, in terms of both service and food. It definitely was one of our worst dinners, EVER!!!

[Brain of J]

Why all the hatred for Federick's? Take a classic Hakka dish like chili chicken. Is there another Hakka restaurant in Toronto that does a better job of preparing it? I go to Lin Garden in Scarborough a lot, and while it's very good, is there a night and day difference between it and Feddy's? Nope, they're serving up the same ol' dishes in pretty much the same fashion as Federick's! Certainly something has to be said for all the Indian people in Federick's that fill the place at dinner time. They must know something about the quality and authencity of Hakka food. How many Chinese people do you see lining up for food at Manchu Wok?

For those the complain about Federick's, please be specific about what dishes disappoint you and why and please suggest another Hakka restaurant that does it better.

[macandcheese4ever]

Federick's is just up the street from me and it's always packed with people picking up their orders. The food is great, the prices are great, the parking is atrocious.

[Blueicus]

This is going to be a little provocative, but in my opinion the Chinese-Indian food served at Federick's, Lin Gardens, et al is simply very much like Chinese-Canadian food but with more chilis and spices to please the Indian palate... replace Chicken Balls with Chicken Pakoras and you've basically got pretty much the same deal in a slightly different package.

It is a matter of taste and even cultural background, but I would just prefer to spend an equivalent amount of money at a HK-style Congee-Noodle Restaurant than at a place such as Federick's.

[Wahooty]

Blueicus, I don't find that claim all that provocative. I was going to respond to Brain of J's post that I think the hatred for Federick's is due, in large part, to the fact that a lot of people just don't like Indian Hakka food, for the very reasons you give. I haven't been to Federick's, but somebody once panned Lin Garden as horribly inauthentic because there wasn't a single Chinese person in the place. Well, no, there generally aren't, but that's not really the point - there are a HECK of a lot of Indian people in there, and that's whose tastes the food is tailored to. I love authentic Cantonese, Shanghainese, Sichuanese, etc. food, but I also sometimes get a hankering for some chili chicken, or sometimes some good old, North American General Tso really hits the spot. I realize that not everybody does, though, so if I recommend Lin Garden, I always add the "if you like Hakka Indian..." disclaimer. I think a lot of people go in expecting it to be something it neither is, nor claims to be.

[evansl]

No, Federick's just plain swill. That's all thee is too it.

[Brain of J]

What Hakka dishes at Federick's do you not find to your liking? What Hakka restaurants prepare these same dishes to your satisfaction?

[Finnegan]

Lucky's Chinese Food...two locations, 1 at corern of Lawrence and Midland the other on Lawrence east of Markham Rd. The Lawrence/Markham location is better...Based on the outside (end unit in a shabby strip mall) you would never go in...but inside it's quite nice with recessed lighting, nice wood furnishing..quite tasetful actually. Always full of Indian familes chowing down on great Hakka food.

[scarberian]

Actually Lawrence and Scarborough Golf Club Rd (north east side). About 4 blocks east of Markham Rd. in the Giant Tiger plaza (corner of plaza facing Lawrence). Quite good.

Federicks is also quite tasty.

Will try Chung Moi!

[CeeQueue]

There's another Lucky Chinese at Lawrence and Midland in the Price Chopper plaza. Its address is on Lawrence, but it faces onto Midland at the west end of the plaza.

[purpleonion]

I used to go to Federick's until I discovered Chung Moi about 10 years ago. Their chili chicken and other menu items are much better than Federick's. Chung Moi is at the northwest corner of Kennedy and Eglinton. Teresa, the co-owner, is always welcoming and their food is great! Give it a try.

[TorontoTips]

I'm a fussy one, and I like Federicks for simple, traditional hakka.
They make the best chicken pakora in the city, great chili chicken, yummy garlicky stir-fried green beans, and for the north american traditional, their lunch special sweet and sour shrimp on rice is a bargain with tons of small battered shrimp in the nuclear red sweet and sour sauce that is an occasional guilty pleasure.
But thanks, I will be headed to Chung Moi and Lucky in coming weeks. :-)

[befuggled]

My first couple of meals at Pho 88 were actually pretty good. I had the pho, and it was decent. I don't remember what my wife had. The last time we went there, though, we both made the mistake of ordering non-Vietnamese food. Once again I don't remember what she ordered, but I do remember that a) she didn't get the right dish and b) whatever she did get was terrible. We didn't get anywhere arguing with our server, and I think we wound up splitting my mediocre noodle dish.

Farsi, which used to be at the corner of Richmond and Spadina, served my wife some kind of vegetarian tasting plate where half the items tasted decidedly off. I had a kabob, which was fine. A few weeks later they changed names to Nora. It looked like the same people working in there after the name change, though, so we haven't been back.

[Crispier Crouton]

Evansl, what did you dislike about Thai Bistro?

[TheTDot]

I've had my share of bad Thai food in Toronto. I've come to expect a certain amount of ketchup in my pad thai. But "Thai Unique" on Eglinton West is a new level of bad.
The pad thai was one part noodles, 2 parts ketchup and 2 parts sugar. I'd be very surprised if it contained another ingredient. Tried my best to eat this dish but had to stop after a few noodles. Unfortunately, the pad thai was a culinary masterpiece compared to the cashew chicken. This dish came drenched in so much thick, foul-smelling mystery sauce that the chicken was not visible. The sauce itself was so putrid, it will haunt my dreams for some time to come.

[jayt90]

A heavy hand with the fish sauce?

[TheTDot]

I actually couldn't detect a hint of fish sauce in either dish.

[exquisite]

Embrujo on Danforth.
Terrible service/management. I could manage the food and the show, but if the management gives you some serious attitude as opposed to being accommodating and friendly, I think I should spread the word to make sure that people don't go here.

[Mintycake]

Agree! I had a pea dish here that was seriously Green Giant microwave special. And the staff is obnoxious.

I actually have had some bad meals at Il Fornello as well...its unfortunate that it gets picked for business lunches a lot due to proximity to my office.

Oh and Wayne Gretsky's (another biz lunch). God awful.

[redearth]

Worst burger: Johnny's (Apache is a runner-up, as is Tom's Dairy Freeze)
Worst pho: Hoaikuong on Queensway. Just God-awful.
Worst Generic Family Restaurant: The Grille on Queensway
Worst Italian (if you can call it that): The Old Spaghetti Factory, followed by Mamma Martino's
Worst Pizza: Papa Ceo's (I haven't had Magic Oven's...)

[duckdown]

johnny's is alot worse than apache, imo. dairy freeze i wouldn't think of trying anything besides the ice cream..

the grille definitely wins for worst "diner" or whatever

you can do worse than spaghetti factory though, IMO... mamma martino's is a fine example, but even then, theres still worse... i'll have to think about this one

[dubchild]

The Amuse Bouche website lists that they offer a seven dessert degustation, priced at $40. Being adventurous, dessert lovers, we decided to try it. I was under the impression this would be courses, but our server informed us it arrived on one plate. This was all we were eating. Our server said this is a plate most tables share. We were led to believe it was of a sizeable portion and the price would lead most people to believe it would be 3-4 times the size of a regular dessert. Being pigs, we each ordered a seven dessert degustation. Before the plates arrive, two sticks were placed on the table to prop up the plate. This was needed because the degustation was plated on a bathroom tile, I'm not joking. The plate consisted of seven dessert each about the size of a chocolate truffle, a couple were a little bigger, but not much. Desserts were across the board, unexceptional. I could not believe they were charging $40 for this. I considered complaining when we were leaving, but I noticed the curtain, used to cut the draught from the door, was held up by fishing wire on tubing held together with tape. No point, these people just don't care.

[Non Doctor]

I have to disagree with you here.

I had the dessert tasting for my birthday last year and found it to be utterly delicious, as did all of our party.

Yes, the desserts were smaller, but each was quite amazingly different.

[Delshan]

Tasting menu at The Fifth Grill...awful...we had to beg them to stop

[Delshan]

Worst Burger...Hero Burger

[deelicious]

Second worst burger - also goes to Hero Burger.

[Chicken_little]

I'm loving this post but got to get ready for my pseudo-date tonight or I'd spend an hour reading... Hey... I guess I still could.... Just want to say before I go that I agree with the Hero burger. wtf! Frozen processed patties! Are we THAT stupid people?! Same thing with Weber's burgers up north... retard burgers, but it's such a part of the drive to the cottage that it's impossible not to participate. I think I might get one of those custom t-shirts made with "I hate Weber's burgers... What about you?" and see how long it takes to piss off all of my fellow-Muskoka...er's with no taste. I'm disagreeing with the Swatow hate-on's here though... I've been a fan for years. I would however feel better if I could see inside the kitchen.... try not to think of it too much though.

[SMOG]

I really don't understand what the hate is about Hero Burger. Here's the thing... compared to fast food chains, Hero Burger really is one of the better burgers. McDonald's? Burger King? Harvey's? I would be utterly shocked if someone would argue here that Hero Burger is worse.

HB does not compare to a quality burger you can get at a restaurant or a high-end burger shop. But to call it the worse? Common. I can think of 20 places with worse burgers.

[deelicious]

IMO Wendy's beats Hero hands down.

That being said, who on here said McD, BK or H is good? When did those outlets pretend to be gourmet the way Hero does? Think about how much more expensive Hero is than those other outlets and how close they are in price to better places with fresh, not greasy, not over processed, meat.

Hero pretends to be special but they serve lousy tasting food. I doubt anybody would hate Hero the same way if they had come into the fray like just another fast food burger joint you listed. In a perfect world Hero would be bankrupt by now.

[SMOG]

We obviously won't agree about the quality of Hero Burger. From my experiences (I've had about 10), it's always been alright. I won't compare it to a "proper burger". I can understand that people don't like it. But to say it's "the worst" is really, really pushing it. If you want to call it the worst of the mid-higher end range, I can understand. I can understand if people on this post don't eat at bad places (I haven't eaten at the real fast food places, like McD's, BK, A&W, etc for years). It's like saying Pizza Pizza is the worst. I dislike Pizza Pizza, but also know that there are hundreds of other places (like Ms Vanelli's in food courts) that are 100 times worse.

Perhaps I'm taking the title of the "worst in Toronto" too literally. Or maybe I just haven't been unfortunate enough to have such a bad experience. Dunno.

[tjr]

Hero's burgers are bad. Sure, so are the burgers at McDonald's, but a burger at hero is more expensive and time-consuming. If the burgers are both terrible, most people would rather get the one that takes less time and costs less, rather than the one that produces a bad burger and tries to pass it off by marketing a "superior" product.

[SMOG]

Time and cost aside, you can't honestly say you'd rather have a McD's burger than a Hero Burger?

[embee]

I'm not a McDonald's fan. Their once delicious fries haven't been good in years. Their "burgers" aren't anything close to what I think of as a real burger (of any style). Nevertheless, it is what it is.

Although I typically eat at a McDonald's in the absence of a better choice, I can honestly say that I find a Mickey D's double cheeseburger ($1.50 with tax) or a Big Mac more enjoyable than a Hero Burger. Hero is poor food, poorly cooked, for way too much money.

[tjr]

I'm not a fan of either as well, but I agree with embee. I'd much rather have a double cheeseburger than a burger at Hero, even if price and time were not factored into the equation.

[deelicious]

I would honestly take a mcdonalds burger over Hero - in fact I do. Without pause.

[Squeakycheese]

Hero currently have an enormous plastic cow with their logo on it mounted on the back of a truck, driving around Toronto as a publicity stunt. All it seems to achieve is to hold up traffic :)

[magic]

Never had a Hero burger, nor have I ever been curious.

Love McDs and I pretty much don't care who knows.

[food face]

Hero Burger is a good decent burger and every time I eat I enjoy it. Not the BEST but doesn't deserve to be on the WORST of list. I can appreciate the fact that it over priced and people are bitter about it.

[befuggled]

After the first time I went to Hero Burger, I felt the same way. My wife and I both thought the burgers we had were very good.

After the second time, I came to understand why Chowhound is not so fond of Hero Burger. It was gristly, dry and generally unpleasant. The fries weren't any good, either. My wife won't go back. This was probably our second worst meal in Toronto.

I'm not sure what the problem is. They may have some serious quality differences between locations (Sherwood Gardens versus Queen Street West), but from what other people have said I suspect they expanded too rapidly and have quality problems at most or all of their locations.

[Chocaholic]

I haven't fully read the full thread. BUT! I am thinking the price points are all different here.

But I did go to Fran's becuz it was a tourist spot. Not good. Crazy recommend from tourist guide. Fire on the East Side is better for brunch.

I second Spring Rolls, when I went to the one that opened years ago near the St. Lawrence Market I thought it was good. But today...I rather have a McChicken or KFC. Big Mac instead of going there.

[ttran88]

hero burgers are ok IMO. edible at the very least. I did however tried that new burger place called Fulton Burger. It was very good and the sauces are quite unique. worth a try for sure.

[bjinyyz]

Montreal Deli & Family Restaurant is the worst place that I have been to in recent memory.

The outback steakhouse was lousy - C'Ya (how does this place still survive in Alberta of all places) Makes me laugh.

Agree with all on the Golden Griddle. Although I miss the AYCE pancakes after a night of poker playing in the old days.

Pizza Pizza - Is that really Pizza? I am still not convinced after all these years. I once tried the box it cam in and I must say...It was much better the Pizza (if that in fact was supposed to be a Pizza inside the box).

Also, so disappointed in both Mr. Sub and Subway. They both just don't seem to care anymore.

Almost forgot but I guess it is gone now as well...That steak place that was in Vaughn Mills. How do you open a place like that, spend the time and money and not clue in to how to cook or season a steak which is what you are supposed to selling?

[odysseas]

Mr Greek is awful. Glad to see that they are slowly becoming extinct.

[digiteyes]

Gabby's.
OK, it's a small Toronto chain (13 outlets). Had a Greek salad up on the Danforth once. it wasn't bad.
But the one on King St. East... I think all of the ingredients are pre-cooked, pre-frozen, pre-overdone. Not much tastes fresh. I hate the taste of their chicken breasts. The waiter blamed it on the marinade they use and pre-cooking to ensure that the meat was cooked to proper temperature when served. Olives in the Greek salad are canned sliced black (hah) olives. Bison burger cooked until it was sawdust. Ate there because it was close to work. Now I go buy food at Sobey's instead.

[The Chowhound Team]

Folks, we've split a discussion about McDonald's and Wendy's vs. "gourmet" burgers over to the General Chowhounding Topics board. You can find the thread at this link:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/623461

[Baelsette]

I'm with you on Spring rolls and magic oven but I have to defend the Red Rose (which has since been named something else) on Bathurst.
I've had many amazing take out meals from the red rose and never have I thought that there sauces were store bought.

[mattagascar slim]

The worst I've come across:
1. The pickle barrel
2. Sharkey's Village Cafe (Bloor west village). I used to work there and trust me, you don't want to know about what goes on behind the scenes ((shudder)).
3. Milestone's (or as my friends call it...Vilestone's)

[SMOG]

I'm surprised that you would put Milestones on this list. For a chain restaurant, it's on of my go-to places. I stick to the simple stuff and haven't had any issues. Can I ask you to elaborate on what in particular you dislike about Milestones? (Granted, I can see why people may not like it... but to call it the worst in Toronto, in my opinion is a far stretch.)

[vorpal]

I have to agree with you, SMOG. I loathe the idea of going to chains, but Milestones is one of my go-to places, too. There are some definite misses on the menu, but the California spring salad is the only salad that I've ever actually found myself craving, and their "kobe" beef sliders are quite good. Ack... now I may just have to hit it up for lunch!

[bcg97]

I second the Pickle Barrel. We went with the family a couple of months ago, as the kids had a good time there before Xmas. It was horrible. How can you make bad chicken fingers for kids? they can. Everyt tone one of us thought the food was terrible, and the service was just as bad. Our server quite obviously could care less about being there, and he let it show in every one of the very few interactions we had with him. Fail on all counts.

[SMOG]

I was just going through another post about our favourite places that have gone downhill. Pickle Barrel belongs there as well. Used to be great. But today, yes, it's gone downhill so far that it belongs here. Salad is no longer fresh. Sandwiches are just blah. Matzo balls in the famous soup are consistently raw in the centre. And probably the worst part of it all is the fact that their menu is about 20 pages (literally), yet it's hard to find something that's inspiring.

A shame, really. It could have been a Cheesecake Factory or Grand Luxe Cafe type place, if only the food hadn't started to progressively suck more and more.

[almond3xtract]

I've only lived in TO for a month now but have run across some icky food, I guess because I have nobody to guide me to the best places yet.

1) Falafel Queen on Queen Street West. When she assembled the sandwich, it was just sloppy. Way too much lettuce, and I mean way too much. The falafel patties were tiny and tasted "dirty". Also, her hot sauce tasted old, like it was made with not-so-fresh ingredients.

2) Johnny Banana. According to my boyfriend, this place used to be awesome. When I went there, I ordered a chicken burrito. The chicken had no discernable flavor, nor did the mole. I got my burrito with everything on it but it was so painfully bland, I couldn't even eat it. The chicken was shredded so finely it felt like you were ingesting something that had already been chewed, and it was lukewarm. Yuck!

[Charles Yu]

The other day, I was forced to have lunch at 'Teriyaki - Taste of Japan' . I had the chicken Yakisoba. What a disaster!! For $8, I had a plate of totally tasteless and bland noodles, mixed veggies and chicken meat all cooked in water. If you tell me the chicken are Balsa wood pulp, I would have believed you! Even drenching the whole plate with Teriyaki sauce cannot revive this Zombie of a dish! A chowhounder should never be asked to eat such '!%^^$%^'!!!!

[SMOG]

I also found the yakisoba bland and tasteless. However, the regular teryiaki meal with rice is at least decent. Problem is the noodles don't soak up the sauce, so you're left with a soggy mess.

[grandgourmand]

I guess you wouldn't like Manchu Wok either, then. Man, their sweet and sour chicken balls...mmm, ze best.

(kidding, just in case).

[embee]

Actually, though I haven't eaten them in years, I used to quite like Manchu Wok's deep fried wings. (not kidding)

[Full tummy]

Those were my favourite, too. But, they were also the first chicken wings I ever ate. Actually, it wasn't Manchu Wok, but their predecessor in the old Don Mills Mall. But Manchu picked up where they left off, with a pretty similar incarnation. That's still my gold standard, alas... I enjoy the wings at Congee Queen as being quite similar, though larger. But the texture and flavour (minus the fish sauce, ginger topping) take me back.

[jennjen18]

The other day, I succumbed to MW's chicken wings, ... boy was that ever a mistake. I can't remember how many I got, nor the price I got them at, but whatever it was, it was SO NOT WORTH IT... blech!!! It was so bland, and so small... They were not good. They get a rating of -12, out of 10.

[embee]

Seems they've changed the prep - a lot. They were marinated in some Asian spices and were crisp and flavourful when fresh (we're not talking finesse here), which they usually were at a PATH food court at lunch. They weren't especially small, either.

Definitely not bland; sometimes too salty. The only major negative was when they made more than they could sell in a short time. They were not nice after sitting in a warming tray leaking grease for a few hours.

Thanks for the info....

[tjr]

And their teriyaki sauce isn't even good. I think I might choose it over a KFC or Taco Bell if required, though.

[Charles Yu]

Unfortunately, the decision was based on 'health consideration' rather than taste!

[tjr]

I figured that was the reason!

[duckdown]

are you talking about the chain, "Made in Japan - Teriyaki Experience" ? It's not so bad!

[Charles Yu]

Yes! That was the establishment.
Man! The dish I had was BAD!!!! If I took all the ingredients home, I think I can cook up a much better tasting dish?!

[Everythingtarian]

Yes but do you think you could do it 5,000 times in a row?

[duckdown]

LOL well I'd imagine the chain suffers from good/bad locations just like any other, but the one by my house is pretty good man, and the huge lineups at lunch/dinner attests to it...

It's hardly gourmet fare but it's gotta be 10 times healthier than a burger & fries... I usually get the chicken & shrimp yakisoba dinner with extra broccoli... sure it needs a good splash of teriyaki or two... but it's not so bad man... and then I'll grab a cranberry booster juice smoothie next door and I feel pretty good for the day.

*shrug* to each their own but I've definitely had much worse

[lunchboy]

Yeah, you know what... when you compare this food to what you'd get at a proper restaurant, it's obviously poor. But if we're talking about a simple lunch of fast food, aside from the sodium and sugar content in the sauce, I'd have to agree that it's up there in terms of healthfulness. Or, should I say, least unhealthfulness?? Either way, for fast food, it is pretty good.

lunchboy

http://nofreelunchonbayst.blogspot.com/

[balthazar]

True, it's inconsistent at different locations. Some are OK, some not so much. Also depends how busy they are. Agreed with SMOG, it's better with rice. It was tastier when they cooked with oil and not water, but the water helps lower the fat content (appreciated if you are destined to hunt for lunch in the downtown food courts every day). Agreed, it's not the greatest food but is often the lesser of many evils in the food courts. It's one of the few places where you can get something that has a good balance of protein & vegetables, with not too much fat, and is not just a bunch of carbs, is not a salad, and is less than $7 (and they let you ask for less rice more vegetables! I love that). I think some of the Edo locations are better than Teriyaki Experience.

Agreed on the above posts re: Spring Rolls, Golden Griddle and Amore, too.

[millygirl]

Quizno's on Eglinton, west of Mt. Pleasant. The place is always empty, and it deserves to be. I cannot believe it has not close down as yet. It's a very large space - and the food is pretty much inedible. Worst lunch ever!

[Brain of J]

When Quizno's first came to Canada (about 10 years or so ago?), they made a very good sub; nice ingredients that would blow away Mr. Sub or Subway and the toasted thing made for a nice warm sandwich. It was pricey but you got a huge sandwich. But now the entire chain is total rip off. They shrunk the sub bread by about a third! Sure, I've seen their ads that say they've dropped their prices, but so they should considering they shrank their subs. I refuse to patronize any of their stores now. Give me McDonald's or Wendy's any day of the week over Quizno's.

[abigllama]

I think that certain stores are taking their own liberties with ingredients which makes for a totally inconsistant product. Since it's a franchise no no I assume they could be busted for this by whomever is handing out the franchises. A friend broght me half of the new Baja Chicken thing they have not too long ago. It was above average Quizno's and think it came from the Yonge/Bloor location. I had a coupon for this so stopped in at the Yonge/Wellesley location to grab a quick sandwhich to eat later at home. I got a hassle about using the coupon and the same Baja Chicken sandwhich was very different. Instead of strips of bacon there were baco-bits on it. Also the sauce tasted like a gross dessert topping and I ended up tossing the sandwhich out. I used to enjoy Quizno's on occasion but don't like paying top dollar for an inconsistant product.

[cynalan]

McDonalds's over Quizno's? You can't be serious!!

[sunshine89]

I remember that their subs used to be massive- they'd brag that "Our 8" is their 12" " and displayed an 8 inch Quizno's sub outweighing a Subway 12" inch- which was entirely true. They were also filled with meat, instead of being the salad on bread with afew bits of mystery meat like Subway. Also, payig $15 after tax for a sub wasn't unheard of

Tines have changes though, and the quality and qunatity have dropped. Econmics must play a factor- i don't know anyone who could finish and old Quizno's 12

[duckdown]

Honestly Quizno's "meat quality" is HIGHLY suspect now, I'm speaking of the chicken in particular.. I ordered a mesquite chicken sub a few weeks ago, and honestly every single bite had this oddly rubbery chicken that wasn't even able to be bitten through, you'd be picking out rubbery pieces with almost every bite. Then because I thought maybe it was just a bad experience, I tried a chicken sub at another quizno's in a complete other city one day and the SAME thing happened. I don't know what kind of "chicken" they're using but I'm done with Quizno's as well..

[abigllama]

I forgot to mention that I peaked over watching the prep of my mesquite sub. They measured out some chicken product with what looked like a scale, then moved it to a small container and dipped it in what looked like warm water. Chicken was strained and then applied to sandwhich. Could they be using a frozen product?

[Brain of J]

The rip off factor at Quizno's is huge and that really ticks me off. I'll gladly pay $1.39 for a double cheese burger at McDonald's over what Quizno's is selling these days.

[Boodah]

Mama Martino's italian food in Etobicoke, it's easily the worst "Italian" food I've ever eaten. The pasta was cooked beyond what you'd get in a can of Chef Boyardee (complete mush), the sauce was literally unseasoned (no basil, no oregano, nothing) and the ham that was in my sauce appeared to be Oscar Meyer luncheon meat slices chopped up.

[redearth]

Yup. Mamma Martino's is brutal.

[Boodah]

My GF used to eat there when she was growing up but hadn't been there in years. She was pretty upset that it was so different than she remembered, what a shame.

[Idas]

Gourmets Of China on Finch near Dufferin would turn off anybody, I mean anybody off any kind of asian food. Forever.
I have another post about this place. Astounding. Surreal. I am shocked because I'd swear some hidden camera was there proving it was some kind of joke. Hand over heart not exaggerating.
The food did not even resemble food court Chinese food.
Humbly grateful not to have died of food poisoning though I did feel as small part of the foodie in me died that day.
I dare anybody to try it and defend any item on the buffet.

[fatman0000]

Gourmets o C was great when it first opened. Haven't been fo years. Thats what happens.
people go regardless and all the owners care about is money. It amazess me to how many people do not know what good food tastes like.

[Nelson]

How is it possible in this lengthy thread that La Maquette (King/Jarvis) hasn't made the list? Third (and absolutely final!!!) time tried two weeks ago: three course meal took 2.5 hours to arrive, surly wait staff, food insipid, tasteless and--criminal in French cuisine--strangely lacking in richness and depth, that usually imparted by butter, cream, etc. Delivery time slightly better than three hour previous record, but how this place stays open is unfathomable . . .
Ho Lee Chow: Seems like the [allegedly-]Chinese-eating public has come to its senses: Ho Lee Chow is closing down!

[1sweetpea]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, the Sultan's Tent is absolutely awful. I went with my family a few years ago, hoping for a fun evening of Moroccan food and entertainment. The food was terrible, all courses were rushed and too ill-timed to enjoy the belly dancing, which was pretty cheesy, as it turns out. The worst aspect was the price. The prices were very high for the food quality, the prix fixe is mandatory and all of the more interesting sounding food choices require additional charges, which could push a single diner's meal in the $50+ range, which is outrageous for that quality of fare. Nothing tasted as if it had been made fresh or with freshly toasted and ground spices. Meats and chicken were dried out, as if they had been cooked (overcooked, more accurately) hours earlier and were being kept in steam trays. The couscous was gritty and dry and really bland. Having been to Morocco several years earlier, I was hoping for savoury, sweet and bright flavours, a feast for the eyes, but everything tasted and looked dull. I would have killed for a delicious bowl of harira, but at The Sultan's Tent it was only ho-hum. It was, however, the highlight of the meal. The service was fine, but nothing special, though I must single out the maitre-d as snippy. Oddly, even though we had made a reservation far in advance of the evening, we were given a terrible table. Our view of the dancers was mostly obscured by pillars and curtains. Of course, it turns out that it wasn't such a bad thing in the end, since the dancers mostly tried to lure diners to get up and shake it with them. As wallflowers, we were happy to be relatively hidden from the dancers. I don't want to knock the dancing ladies too much. It's a pretty weird gig and they're probably just students from a local belly dance school, but they were pretty amateurish, doing the same moves in the same sequences over and over. I couldn't wait for the dinner to be over ... and it was a birthday dinner for me. I had always heard that the food was secondary to the show, but with a third-rate show, that's quite a comment about the food.

[food face]

Good Report of the Sultans. Thanks.

[SMOG]

I went to the Sultan's Tent a few years ago as well and went to Cafe Maroc (the front part in the bar area) about 2 years ago. I never found it to be so bad. Was it great? No, but it was good. Maybe a 6.5 or 7/10 good. It was a while back, so I don't recall everything I ate, but do recall that the food was decent. I wasn't a big fan of the entertainment. I thought that the price was on the high side, but certainly not outrageous. At Cafe Maroc, I had the lamb burger and, again, it was fairly good. I wouldn't rush to go back. But I have to disagree that it belongs on the Worst in Toronto list.

[akyra]

would you like some couscous with that ?? Piles of dry couscous and what a very expensive filler this couscous must be, judging by the cost ...

Novelty interesting but insanely overrated, a never again on my list ....

[KitchenVoodoo]

A vile tourist trap. Do not touch.

[Eatertainer]

2 words...Magic Oven.

[Auntybarby]

HORRIBLE!!!!!!

[Moimoi]

also.... Hero Burger and South Street, Harveys... bleck! Any resto that smells like "mop", and Weber's burgers. Yes, I'm guilty of it once in a while and I hate myself for it. Weber's burgers are frozen, processed patties, people! Is anyone awake here?! I'd like to get a t-shirt with "Weber's sucks" emblazoned across the front just to see if anyone else agrees, but I'm afraid it may create a similar reaction with the cottagers as wearing fur does with PETA folks.

[sloweater]

You might get run over by a family chomping on Weber's burgers in their Land Rover on their way up to Lake Rosseau to rough it.

[Pincus]

Weber's sounds like the Johnny's of cottage country.

[CeeQueue]

Excellent comparison. Johnny's is nostalgic for people who went there after a night of drinking when nothing else was open. Everything tastes great when you're drunk, and the guys behind the counter were entertaining. Weber's -- for a long time -- was the only place to stop for a big stretch of the drive up to cottage country. It is probably associated in many people's minds with the beginning of fun weekends or summer holidays at the cottage. Nostalgia clouds the minds of people who rave about either or both of these places.

[Restaurant Dish]

Something critical that everybody is forgetting is that these two places - both Weber's and Johnny's USED to make a great burger! Somewhere along the way, whether change in ownership, due to money or whatever they both went down in quality. They used to both make incredible, real, hamburgers. I have no idea what you call what they do now.

[CeeQueue]

Coasting on reputation?

[Restaurant Dish]

Definitely. It's a shame that many still going to both will never experience what it was.

[acd123]

I have to inlcude myself in the I-Hate-Webers camp. Most flavourless and terrible food ever.

We now go to an excellent burger place south of Webers called Burger Pit. Amazing burgers and fries. We love it. We'll never go back to Webers again.

[ManAbout]

Add my vote to Johnny's for worst burger. I went there based on recommendations on this board. What I saw was a guy taking out frozen burgers from a cardboard box. I went there once and I will never go back. The frozen burgers I make on backyard gril taste better, way better. Johnny's is gross.

[magic]

Man, I think you'll find most comments about Johnny's on this board are..... less than favourable.

[redearth]

I think you'll find an equal number of nostalgia-based favourable reviews... It's too bad that nostalgia is such a powerful seasoning!

[TorontoTips]

Thank you!
I'm always shocked to see baby-boomers waxing nostalgic about Johnny's burgers. I went in the 70's and I've been recently for a late night post-party snack and it still is total cheap frozen garbage.
Give your gut a break, drive a few minutes east and go to Real McCoy and enjoy a home-made burger, fresh cut fries, and quality neighborhood-style pizza as well.

[Brain of J]

Gotta try the Real McCoy. No doubt the quality of the burger is better than Johnny's, but if you grew up in the vicinity (like I did), Johnny's burgers still have that certain "je ne sais quoi".......

[CeeQueue]

I've been to The Real McCoy a few times and enjoyed the MOJO burger and their fries. I wasn't crazy about the bun, though...it doesn't hold up to the condiments very well. I wish they had a few sit-down tables, but the place is too small for that.

Can you describe what you mean by "neighbourhood-style pizza"?

[duckdown]

FINALLY another South St. hater! That place gets way too much praise on this board

BLECH indeed! What an overpriced ripoff for a small-ish thin patty burger.. but worst of all its BLAND as hell

[act1966]

Hands down: "The Pickle Barrel"... I've had better food on airplanes. It's grotesque that the Yonge/Dundas location has stayed open for so long.

[mikefly]

Texas Lone Star Grill. BLECH.

[jayt90]

There is a Lone Star near me at Whites/401. Haven't been. Why should I avoid it?

[mikefly]

Your link is not the same place..

http://maps.google.com/maps?client=sa...

[Boodah]

Mr. Green Jeans, Eaton Centre mall. The one and only time I was there was for a group birthday party (the birthday girl chose the place). On the floor next to our table was a rather largish pile of parmigian cheese that smelled so strongly I swear you could see the smell rays coming off of it. When we mentioned it to the waitress she left for a bit and then came back with a moist rag and placed it over the pile of cheese, never actually cleaning it up. Then the food comes out...one person in the party ended up getting the house-made potato chips with their sandwich that were incredibly limp and oil-soaked. When he mentioned it to the waitress (a different one also working our group of tables) she said "Oh, sometimes they come out like that." Someone else ordered fish and chips. Imagine a piece of fish with so much batter on it it looked like some kind of midieval broadsword; there was likely as much batter as there was fish, it was grotesquely huge. Top this all off with a guy almost none of us knew who showed up there to eat with us wearing a wolf t-shirt, wolf-head pendant and wolf-head belt buckle and I kept waiting for the Twilight Zone theme music to start playing.

[2ndserving]

omg i'm usually not that picky when i have to pay for my food but the breakfast at fran's was left on the plate - ugh - what a waste of money -

[uhockey]

I'd suggest School as the worst French Toast in the City - it is the worst I've had in recent travels to Toronto, NYC, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

[Linas]

Has anyone been to the Lakeview Restaurant on Dundas at Ossington? That was definitely the worst meal I've had in the city.

[Idas]

Oh, for pub food I nominate Gabby's on Yonge north of Lawrence Ave.
I am thinking they sell black market beer to keep people seated at the bar.
Do not eat there. Nice people but dismal food. Hockey puck burgers, shaken out of the bag salads and packet dressing. Seriously unpleasant.