Mildred's Temple Kitchen
85 Hanna Avenue Suite 104 
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Phone: 416.588.5695
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The team behind the long-shuttered Mildred Pierce is back, this time in a much larger and more modern space a few blocks further south in Liberty Village. Go for the smoked wild Georgian Bay whitefish fritters with pickled spruce tip remoulade ($10) or a comforting bowl of vegetarian stew ($16).
Comments (10)
I wish there was a 0 or a negative Star rating in the drop-down because that is exactly what Mildred's would get from me.
Maybe the restaurant is doing unbelievably well even in these economic times that they don't need or want the business from everyone. I cannot even comment on their food because I never tasted it and even if I did then no matter how good the food would be, it wouldn't make up for the negative first impression the restaurant staff makes on you.
A group of us from different parts of GTA (some of us drove for over an hour) got together for a Sunday Brunch recently. We had heard so much about the place and were super-excited but the excitement died off very fast. The place was extremely cold not just temperature wise but service wise as well.
They have a ridiculous seating policy and extremely snooty/bitchy hostesses one of which was the manager. We were apalled at the lack of respect, politeness, customer service at this place inspite of our patience. They apparently don't seat you unless all of your party is present.....fine, that must be there policy but they neither state that on their website nor inform you about it on the phone i.e. if they even bother to pick up their phone and if by chance they do answer then god forbid if they even answer your queries with patience. Its easy to imagine what expression the person on the other end of the phone line has while they impatiently answer your call. In person, their impatience echoes with their phone demeanor.
They are like a factory conveyor belt that has to keep going. They are in such a rush to just keep filling the seats in their restaurant that they don't really care about the people who will fill those seats. Even if you are missing 2 people from your group of 7, they will not seat you. They cannot add two chairs to your table even though you have now been waiting for 2hrs. Nor will they give you a table with 2 extra chairs despite the fact that your 2 people are on their way trying hard to find the place since it is hard to find. They won't seat the 5 people present because they want the business of all the 7 people at the same time.....unbelievable. It's not like we are lying to get a table, afterall, what would we accomplish by hogging two empty chairs.
Then they have the nerve to give you a ridiculous argument that does not make sense at all. If your 2 people arrived late and you are done eating earlier, then you will be taking up those valuable 5 seats that other guests can use while you chat with your 2 friends who were late and are still dining. So we ask.....What if all 7 were there but ate slowly and just sat in those 7 seats chatting for 3hrs...then what? Well, the answer is "that is different"....how the heck is that different? What a ridiculous explanation/justification to support a crazy seating policy.
Finally, all 7 of us are there and we tell them that we are leaving and in return the manager just snobbishly says "Ok, I will cancel your table then".....excuse me, did we even have a damn table in the first place? If we did, then how come 5 out of the 7 of us were not seated.
A restaurant's product is it's food but it's basic purpose and duty is to provide good customer service because that is how it will attract business but then again like I said before maybe Mildred's does not need the business from everyone. I am a customer and I demand respect and good customer service and I don't think it is too much to ask for afterall isn't that the duty of a restaurant....why else would a person go to a restaurant on a freezing cold day after either being on the subway or driving for over an hour when they can cook or order in? I don't care how good the food is claimed to be, if the service is horrible then that place is not worth my time.
Maybe my friends and I do not fall in the clientele category that Mildred is catering to but I say Mildred's Temple is NOT a temple worth my worship....!!!!!
I don't work for the restaurant, but in the restaurant's defense, you should be angry at your two friends who made you wait two hours and not be angry at the restaurant. I'm sure the restaurant was able to fill the seven seats while you watched during those two hours. Your reservation was for seven people, so the restaurant is not going to seat you for a table of five and move you to a bigger table if your two friends show up. A restaurant's product is its food and they don't have a duty to provide good customer service.
I never cease to be amazed by how many selfish people like MilDREAD exist in this world. Only egocentric fools can blame a restaurant for not allowing you to squat at 7-person table for 2 hours while other waiting customers starve. Good customer service means good service to ALL customers, including those in waiting. I hope I never have to wait 2 hours for brunch because some restaurant's staff catered to the demands of 5 self-absorbed individuals and their 2 delinquent friends. To my mind, there is no doubt the staff at Mildred's Temple Kitchen did the right thing in this instance.
"I don't work for the restaurant" makes it seem as though you do work there, abc. I also noticed that both 'abc' and 'disagree' have comments posted on the same date and time....kind of odd?
I've been to Mildred's and the staff were in fact snooty. in fact, we had all of our group there and still had to wait a long time to get a table, so I can sympathize with mildreads comment.
also, our server didn't look like he wanted to even be there! most of the people waiting for brunch were the 'condo crowd' type, which i guess what they want to cater to ? i wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
Went there for lunch last week. Ordered 2 lunch specials. First meal was heavily buttered chicken sandwich which comes with popcorn salad with liquefied butter dressing. Second meal was heavily buttered slice of breads, excessively buttered scrambled eggs mushroom and regular salad with liquefied butter dressing. Yes, A LOT of BUTTER on everything, even salad dressing! Gross! Service is okay. Each meals is $14. I don't know butter cost so much these days... Bad food. Not going back there for sure.
I eat at Mildred's quite often and for one, the food (in my opinion) has always been delicious. I do agree that some of the staff are a little bitchy/not very attentive. However, the food is so good it doesn't really bother me. If they are slow with my food, then I get angry.
As far at the seating goes, if you 2 of your people are late it's not the restaurants fault. Get angry at your friends for making you wait 2 hours. To be honest, I would have ditched them after 20 minutes. Trust me the pancakes you missed out on are heavenly.
Just checking out the comments and the website before having dinner there this evening. Not a good recommendation I'm afraid.
I certainly hope abc doesn't work there with a comment like "A restaurant's product is its food and they don't have a duty to provide good customer service". Any business will not last long without it!
If you refer to their website there are comments like "served with pleasure" "offers warmth, great service and culinary memories" Maybe everyone there should be retrained in the corporate philosophy they are presenting to the public.
Hope I'm pleasantly surprised this evening and I can give a postitive report!
I've been a few times and both the food and service has been okay. Nothing stand-out, just okay. Wouldn't hesitate to go back, but also wouldn't go out of my way to go there.
As for not seating you until your entire party is there- that's nothing new. Dr. Generosity, Eggspectations, and many other restaurants have the same policy. The first poster in this thread is ridiculous and obviously doesn't get out much.
Wow!! - I hope that you are not typical Torontonians. I recently travelled to Toronto and used some of my hard earned money to eat at this restaurant and this is the complete opposite of my experience. You clearly don't get out much! Maybe it is people like you that give Toronto a bad name in the rest of Canada. Go Mildred!
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