3519 Bathurst St, Toronto (1/2 way between Wilson & Lawrence), ON M6A2C7, 416.784.9900
It's Saturday night in the summer in the big city, 1 and 1/2 hours after Shabbat ended. I drive north on Bathurst from Glencairn, and nothing's open. Not Col. Wong, not the 3 pizza places south of Lawrence, not the yogurt place. The only place open is Tov-Li. So, why? Is it the COR that's telling the restaurants to not open? Is it the Rosh Yeshiva's telling their kids not to go out on Saturday night? Anyone know the answer?
So it seems that Tov-Li is my only choice, unless I want to drive to Steeles. It's very crowded with the mostly-under-30 crowd. Parking was OK. The space is pleasant, considering the crowds.
In this establishment, you order and pay, then the cashier scrawls your order on a strip of ripped paper. If you know, you have to hand that piece of paper to the server who will then prepare the order. If you don't know, you could stand there confused for a while. Mr. Tov-Li, I gotta tell you that the queuing model you're using is asinine. I guess it's good for you if you want to keep really tight control on who has paid, or you don't want to have people walk out because they feel they're waiting too long. But it isn't about you. It's about the customer, and I don't like it. At a certain level, it seems that there is a lack of trust. Perhaps I don't like it because that little torn piece of paper looks so cheap. Perhaps it bothers me because you're making me do some extra work that you should be doing. Also, I don't always want to make a commitment before I see what you've got. I might want to order something extra as I am standing in line -- but I won't because I don't want to go back to the cashier. I can't recall there being other restaurants that operate like this, so it behooves you to make sure people understand what you're doing. I remember the first time I was there, it wasn't obvious how the system works. You might consider putting up a few signs that explain your system. As a suggestion, you might consider distributing the slip of paper to the food preparation people yourself.
The server who help me was pleasant and efficient. I ordered a falafel. The toppings looked interesting, but for the most part were not very tasty. The falafel balls were dry and also lacked much taste. The pita was overstuffed, and so, of course, it fell apart. I don't like falafels that I have to eat with a fork (or my fingers). I would rather you charge me $0.25 cents less, and make it a little smaller -- or just supply larger pitas.
One last indignity. After ordering, I tried paying with my charge card. The cashier swiped it, then said "Your card just took down my machine". Thanks very much. I don't think so. But, go ahead, blame it on me.
I checked the City of Toronto DineSafe site, and they had one conditional pass in April 2006, and that was cleared up a few days later. The problem was:
FAILURE TO ENSURE / PROVIDE FOR PROPER EMPLOYEE HYGIENE / HANDWASHING Operator fail to provide separate handwashing sink(s)
Other than that, there have been no problems. The most recent inspection was May 2007.
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2 comments:
Maybe the problem was they didn't trust you either, Mr. "40-Something"...
I've had excellent service and food at the Patricia restaurant, but I've had two bad experiences at this one. The first time, I was told that my simple order would take 10 minutes and I had to wait 25! The second time, I paid for a sandwich and coffee. The owner told me that he would get me the coffee right away. I gave my slip to someone to get the sandwich. After about 15 minutes, I asked the owner for my coffee and he rudely claimed I hadn't paid. Of course, because I had given in my slip, I had no proof that I had paid. I refused to pay again and drank water. Also, my sandwich, the same one I like to order up north, didn't come close to the same quality. Two strikes and they're out. There are other places to choose from, where I can get good service and good food.
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