East Side Marios

One of the worst dining experiences of my life. Every step of the service was slow and painful, from waiting to be seated all the way through paying. The fact that our order somehow «didn’t get sent through to the kitchen» extended the torture even more… We were offered a free dessert due to the extra wait time, but really, our quick lunch stop had already turned into a two hour ordeal and we just wanted to leave. Atmosphere was loud mediocre and the food was very overpriced for the quality. Overall? Long waits, bad attitude from servers, and bland food at inflated prices… Don’t waste either your time or your money here.

Went in a date with my boyfriend last night there. He ordered the bacon wrapped scallops and when it came they let us know the dish has changed from the menu and the scallops are now mini and not bacon wrapped. Seemed unprofessional not to have the menus up to date. My meal was fine but my boyfriend said the scallops were gritty and he felt they weren’t properly washed. The server said she’d get a a manager and even after making eye contact from across the store, the manager never came over to apologize or speak with us. Seemed overall like no one had pride in their job.

The service here sucks! It took over 10 mins for the server to take our drinks. Once arrived, she was not very nice. The hostess was clueless about the menu. The food was okay but the server was slow, she screwed up our order and messed up the receipt. A lunch for five took over 30 mins to get salad and soup; another ten mins to get food and about 20 mins to pay the bill. This place is a cluster****.

It took around 15 minutes for a waiter to even GREET us and introduce themselves. We weren’t even told any personal favourites or specials. It’s funny because I was asking my friends where our waiter was when she was actually right next to us, speaking to other customers. She even looked at me when I asked but decided to come 15 minutes later. How immature or her. The server was also very pushy and rushed us into getting our food. Speaking of food, it was TERRIBLE! Don’t even bother wasting even a dollar here.

Came in on a Wednesday night with my 4 yo daughter. ESM used to be really good but we were very disappointed. My daughter’s pasta looked like it was put into the microwave or under the heat lamp too long. The garden salad was lettuce only with no vegetables at all, nothing! The only good thing about this experience is my daughters meal was free because of the kids club.
We will not be returning, Yuck!!!

Came in on family day, hoping to sit down for a nice family dinner. We’re regular patrons of this restaurant and our kids love the food here.
Kids wanted to get some spaghetti and meatballs. Waiter informed us they ran out of meat sauce. Kids wanted soup with their meal, ran out of tomato soup. My daughter wanted to get Italian wedding, they’re were out but after waiter came back, they managed to get a pot going and got another somehow. And no Coke! Seriously? How? It’s a syrup. It seems to me that there’s a significant issue with management in respect to anticipating demand during valentines and family day. If they know they’ll run out of certain items, management needs to do everything they can to make sure they can handle dinner service. Call your suppliers and get it done. It is embarrassing that they won’t even give my son a side of fries instead of soup. Management will not allow. What the heck is going on? Are they purposely trying to prevent customers from coming back? We haven’t gotten the main course yet so stay tuned… Ok. Got main course. No wholewheat noodles so I got regular. Meatballs weren’t even cooked in sauce and aribiata sauce was very suspect. Tastes like plain sauce. chilli flakes sprinkled on top. Literally. That’s not how I remember it. Maybe they ran out as well. Wasn’t impressed at all. Job well done. They managed to lose regular customers. Oh yeah. They messed up the bill too. Simply terrible.

DONT GO THERE
I’ve been here before and the service and food wasn’t bad, but the second time was terrible.
The manager doesn’t know exactly what’s going on

I’ve been here before and the service and food wasn’t bad, but the second time was terrible.
Our group of four waited for about 15 – 20 minutes to actually get the attention of the hostess. After about another 20 minutes, we still weren’t seated yet, even when the restaurant was pretty empty. Tables weren’t being cleared fast enough. There simply weren’t enough servers. The service has definitely gone downhill.
We walked out and found another restaurant. I would not come here again.

DO NOT GO HERE!!!
Seriously gross. I am not a food snob and I truly enjoy some good cheap comfort food once in a while. However, this food was barely edible. I would really be surprised to learn if they even had a real kitchen back there. Everything from the soup to the spaghetti tasted like it was out of a can. The tomato soup tasted like alphagetti sauce. I ordered the spaghettini and meatballs — the noodles were extremely overcooked and mushy. The sauce tasted very similar to the tomato soup — like a can of globby alphagetti. The «meatballs» were the consistency of the weird meat you get at Subway (nothing against Subway) — very spongy in texture. Not what you expect when you order meatballs at an Italian restaurant, even if it is a family friendly one.
I came here with my family because we were tempted by the «buy one meal and get one free» deal. DO NOT make the same mistake we did. Our «meals» were thrown out because they were unedible. I ordered a penne primavera to take home — it was a few plain noodles with a side of oil and about 3 thin slices of zucchini. We thought it would be great to be economical and save money by getting a free meal to take home (why not, right?) Here’s my lesson of the day: IF A MEAL IS COMPLETELY FREE, IT IS PROBABLY WORSE THAN AIRPLANE FOOD. And it was. Honestly disgusting — I can’t stress that enough. And this is coming from someone who will eat anything.
Finally, the service was atrocious. If the staff are reading this now, you all need some serious lessons in customer service. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for years so I know how this stuff works. I won’t bore you with the details, but essentially expect to feel like you are surrounded by people who have never been to a restaurant before, let alone worked in one. After waiting 20 minutes to be seated, we were not greeted at our table for another 20. The restaurant was not busy. At all. Looking over at the hosts/​hostesses (there were 3), they were all chatting away with each other. So we went and asked someone to get our server since no one had come by our table. A few minutes later our server comes to the table and immediately says «I’m a bit flustered right now». That was it. Not sorry, or an explanation, just that he was flustered. Again, the restaurant is not busy. One of us mumbles «umm, ok. sorry to hear that», and then we order a bunch of water.
There’s no point in offering «all you can eat soup/​salad and bread» if you don’t check up on your tables to see if they need more.
Someone at our table complained about the wait and the service, and from that moment on, 3 or 4 different people came by our table several times to check if everything was good. We didn’t tell them the food was terrible, but hopefully they figured this based on the amount of food that was left on the table when we left. Here’s some customer service advice: when someone complains to you about bad service, it does NOT help to have several of your staff check on the table constantly. It’s annoying. Give a genuine apology and perhaps dock the bill so your customers are inclined to return.
I am not an avid Unilocal reviewer and I do not agree with rude people who post negative comments just for the fun of it. However, this restaurant deserves a 1 star review and everyone needs to know it.
Stay far away. There are better restaurants for the same price. The draw to this place used to be the prices, which are not even cheap anymore. Now the food is around the same price as some real italian restaurants. It’s a shame. I wish I had listened to the other reviews on this page before visiting.
To the East Side Mario staff at this restaurant, I feel so bad that you have to work in this industry and don’t even get the benefits of being around yummy food. If you just tighten up your service, your restaurant maybe still has hope. Bad food AND bad service? You’re gone. Bad food but mediocre service? More likely to stick around. But, duh.

Terrible food! Soup tasted like CAN. Don’t let unlimited soup and salad deceive you. They are not serious about it and for you wont get that.

Service was good. Food is very mediocre. Barely passable at best. Had the chicken parmesan and pasta bolognese. Chicken parmesan was very bland and too soggy. The pasta was pure cheese and even then it tasted bland. Best part of the meal was the garlic loaf and Italian wedding soup.
Definitely overpriced.

Kind of lazy at this location. Ordered a Cesar and there was no spice on the glass rim and no celery. The waiter was great though. Food is crap as usual. This is not Italian by any means. Might as well go get bottled sauce at the grocery store.

Had very bad experience here. Waiter was rude and order was very slow .He told me he has to charge me extra because I tried some of my husband ‘s salad ! Really? !Two Tables beside us shared their salad too just right beside us also ordered pasta ! This is our first time here and will NEVER come back!!!

My cousin and i went for a few drinks and a meal, thinking hell why not its close by. Don’t bother. We sat there, while 3 other tables that came 10 – 15 minutes later were served before us. three servers all ignored us, finally we got a hold of someone and guess what… he was our server just Didn’t know about it. We got sub-​par drinks and the lady across from us ordered a Vegetarian dish and got one with meatballs and the other with Seafood. A total of 3 people were complaining around us.
So hey if you want to experience being ignored and treated like you have leprosy than feel free to hit this place up,
oh and as for the food, my chicken parm was dry as an ashy elbow on a summer day.
Yeah…No thank you.

WORST RESTAURANT EVER. OVERPRICED AND DOWNRIGHT AWFUL!
After taking forever to settle on a restaurant my uncle and I decided to go to ESM’s for dinner. I have eaten there before and remember it being a semi-​decent dinner.
Unfortunately, this was not my experience the second time around. When I arrived the first thing I noticed was a small group of people at the door, and a very narrow standing space that allowed for little traffic, the hostess was flustered and unattentive and didn’t even notice me. Thankfully I was meeting someone and was able to slip off to my table. The seating arrangement is weirdly laid out and all of the guests in the main area can see each other, even though I was in a booth I felt strangely exposed.
The décor is supposed to be reminiscent of a Brooklyn style pizzeria type diner… it is instead reminiscent of a tacky, cheap grungy replica of a Brooklyn style pizzeria. The traditional dimmed lighting of restaurants is taken way too far (at this location at least) as the atmosphere is so dimmly lit, it’s difficult to see and uncomfortable to dine in. next the menu, although I enjoy having options, I would much prefer a few well mastered entrée’s to a plethora of ill prepared ones. The menu itself was busy, overstated and poorly organized, while the folder itself made the words and pictures blurry and difficult to read. as if all that wasn’t irritating enough, to make everything better the temperature inside the restaurant was about 35 degrees celsius,
After 15 – 20 minutes of making small and waiting, the waitress finally returned to the table and put some bread on it. I asked her if it was possible to be put outside due to the temperature in the restaurant (it was beautiful and breezy outside, and a desert sauna inside) she hurriedly told me she would «be right back» to move us… nearly another 15 minutes went by and finally a different waitress came by to let us know that we would be moved soon (It is important to note that the patio was completely empty, and space was not the issue, time management however, was). finally we were moved outside, the huffy hostess placed some forks ad knives on a single paper napkin on a less than clean looking patio table and abandoned us for nearly another ten minutes. When she returned she was finally ready to take our drink order (a water and a diet coke), it was once again almost ten full minutes before she brought the drinks. already unsatisfied with the time I had spent there, I was nearly ready to pay for my drinks and leave, but the hunger was too great at this point so we decided to stick it out. after eating our bread we flagged the waitress down to give her our order, she jotted it down and was very very condescendingly fake. Our salad was brought to us fairly promptly, as were two itty bitty dollar store salt and pepper grinders (plastic grinders).
Our actual food arrived about half an hour after our salad, which I would have forgiven if it had been good, but it was horrendous. I ordered fettucine alfredo and a side of meatball, and my uncle ordered a pizzaroli. my alfredo was small portioned (for a restaurant) and bordering on cold, it was bland flavourless and literally tasted as though it’s sole ingredients were heavy cream and noodles. It was hands down the worst pasta I’ve ever eaten. the meatballs however (which I’m pretty sure are poisoning me as we speak) tasted identical to the canned meatballs commonly found in spaghetti-o’s (which I am ashamed to say I’ve actually eaten). they were dense, processed, balls of dough/​meat related product that tasted like an artificial loaf. it was vile and filthy and it made me instantaneously want to vomit. we had ordered the d=cheesecake and sunday desserts as soon as we got our order so that it would arrive around the time we had finished, after three bites of the meal I caught the waitresses attention, requested take out containers, the cheque and cancelled our dessert order. She apologized and left the table. I dumped all the food into a box paid the 40 dollar bill (31 + tip) and hightailed it out of there, vowing to eat a pile of dirt and a handful of crushed up bugs before I ever set foot into an east side mario’s again. do not go in there, don not send your friends and family there, and for the love of god do not EAT THERE!

Nothing fancy, but when I’m craving some «Italian» comfort food, this is my place. To be fair, this started when I was little when my parents would take me here as a reward for a good report card, doing well in my swimming lessons, etc, but my affinity for their cheese capaletti has withstood the test of time. Creamy cheesy goodness. Yum.

The food is decent. Not the best, gourmet pastas but what you can expect for $ 10? For the price it’s good value. Lots of real bacon for the caesar salad. Good place for vegetarians because you can make your own pasta. There’s a $ 9.99 special on until May 9^th… normally it’s $ 13.99.

Went to east side Mario’s for som decent Italian food.
The service was good! The only reason we go there is for their Hell’s Kitchen chicken! It is really good if you’re into spicy food. When you order an entrée your offered unlimited soup or salad and garlic bread.
It’s a mediocre Italian restaurant. Their prices are slightly high.

This is an Olive Garden copy but not as good.
The décor is that of the Italian district in New York.
The food is your typical Italian flare but overall not that great.
If you want great Italian food, go to College St.

Me and my family went to East Side Mario’s
2171 Steeles Ave W, Toronto, ON M3J 3N2.
My son, who is almost three years old, has contracted food poisoning from this restaurant after eating their spaghetti and meatballs. It was ordered from the kids menu. I want to make sure that no other family and child goes through what he is going through.