Grenadier Cafe

How is this place still in business?
Went today and ordered the spanakopita and asked it to be heated only to learn that this meant putting it into the microwave!!!
Bathroom was disgusting, girls didn’t seems to care when I address this with them before our meal.
Bathroom still in same condition 35 minutes later.
Guess the very immature girls behind the counter didn’t want their job to cut into their socializing.
Never again.
It’s a shame b/​c the location is a gem.

The Park and a great little place for breakfast make for a perfect day to start summer.

I was pleasantly surprised with this restaurant. I thought it would be a tourist trap but it wasn’t. The prices were fair and the food was good but nothing to write home about. Always choose to dine in instead of lining up at the take-​out counter and then having to find your own table. Plus, there is a separate washroom for those who dine in — there is no line up. If it’s hot outside, sit in the patio — there didn’t appear to be AC inside the restaurant. I can’t say I would make a trip from the east end just to eat here but if you’re in High Park and find yourself hungry, tired, or needing to use the facilities — I would highly recommend it.

I would give this place negative stars, if possible.
If you don’t want to read the review, here’s the takeaway: This place is staffed by a mean-​spirited, hostile hostess and it is organized VERY poorly, which negatively affects both customers and staff. AVOID!
Where to begin?
I went here with my fiancé and her parents recently. The place was bustling, which is usual for a weekend brunch place. The problem, though, is that the staff are rude and unfriendly. I suspect that this has much to do with the complete lack of organization in the place.
Case in point:
We waited for about 20 minutes in a line that snaked around the interior of the waiting room, partially blocking busboys and waitresses who were trying to carry dishes into and out of the main dining area. This was frustrating for both customers and staff; customers were uncomfortable standing in a long line and staff were uncomfortable carrying plates (sometimes a bunch) through this congested line.
You could really see it in the faces of staff. Not a single person was smiling, which to me is a BASIC aspect of customer service.
Meanwhile, staff were not sitting customers at 6 – 7 OPEN tables in the immediate vicinity. For some reason, this place has reserved these for a «take out» part of their restaurant, which makes no sense. Why make customers wait in a line that makes servers’ jobs that much more difficult? Why not seat some of the people waiting to dine in? At some point, there were people literally sitting and checking their cell phones at these tables, while the line continued to disrupt the flow of foot traffic coming into and out of the kitchen. Management must not care much about customers or staff, because everyone in this situations was frustrated and unhappy.
These are all unpleasant aspects of this place, but the real downside came in the form of a rude, passive aggressive hostess. After a long wait, we finally made it to the front of the line. The hostess signalled for a different parties to enter the dining area. A bunch of people walked in and we followed, thinking that we had also been queued into the restaurant (keep in mind that the floor was very congested and confusing and chaotic). Once we walked in, we realized that we had made a mistake and were yelled at and chastised by this hostess who started commiserating with a customer about us; she then told us we could leave saying, «There’s the door» and «I think you should leave». And to top it all off, she said with the most passive aggressive smile, «Happy Mother’s Day!»
I will never frequent this place again. At the end of the day, there are so many places where you can go for brunch that don’t have a hostile and mean-​spirited staff. Ownership should be ashamed that they haven’t created an efficient way to seat customers. This is unfair to customers and staff, who were obviously very stressed out by the foot traffic in and around the kitchen. And, ultimately, ownership should think twice about hiring rude and mean-​spirited people. Avoid this place and go somewhere that has a friendlier staff and a working model for sitting/​serving customers.

Breakfast at High Park! This place is so convenient especially after a run or cherry blossoms viewing. Got here around 9AM on a Saturday and it was packed. They have a to-​go cafeteria, sit-​in area and patio. I opted for the sit-​in. It had friendly staff, quick service and just awesomeness. The food had decent prices. Went with the traditional breakfast — 3 eggs, sausage, hash and toast for $ 6.99. Coffee is $ 2.49 with free refills. The food was alright — no complaints! The atmosphere is a bonus because it was boosting everyone’s energy. It was alive! It is totally a great place for families and kids.

Good food, service model can be confusing for first timers. And line up to order overwhelming. There is a separate area where the wait staff will take your order at your seat, but I believe that there is a mandatory tip for this section.

I live very close to High Park and I have gone to Grenadier Café for their early bird specials with my family a few time on various Saturdays. They give you large portions of food especially for $ 3.99 a plate, it is guaranteed to make your stomach VERY full. I like the scrambled eggs with ketchup part the best. However, I would suggest that you only come for the early bird special because the food is overpriced during regular times. I tried the eggs benedict once and they ruined one of the eggs and it costed over $ 11, which wasn’t worth it. Other than the eggs benedict, the food has always been delicious every time I came.

For $ 4 – 5 breakfast it’s about what you’d expect. No point coming if you don’t make the early bird special though.
Food is decent, decent portions, fast service. Although you do order at the counter.
Everything’s generally good except for the bitchy older waitress

The food taste is terrible for the price. My IDs love a hot dog, jello and chocolate cake. Not here, they disliked it all. How does someone mess up jello? My daughter said it tasted terrible. I had the French onion soup. The bread was mushy and I couldn’t eat it. Ordered the souvlaki. The salad was wilted and grocery store premix dressing. It’s too bad. The location is great and the ambiance is nice. The server was very friendly. But the food — not good. My husband had a breakfast plate and that seemed good.

We’ve eaten at The Grenadier a few times this year and it’s been pretty good. Definitely feels like you’re eating at a city-​run cafeteria but overall, it fits well into High Park and the food is pretty good and very reasonably priced. You can self-​serve or have table service (which we opted for). I find the indoor part very dark and in need of a facelift.
However, the last time we were there, my son ordered a hot dog and fries from the kids menu for the first time. It was definitely not kid-​sized and definitely not geared towards kids. It was a HUGE hotdog… I would even say it was a sausage and it had a very heavy and strong smoky taste to it. Not what I imagined it would be and definitely not attractive to a kid. Needless to say, he had one bite and ended up eating the fries for lunch… and it’s not that he’s a picky eater… he was hungry and loves hotdogs. But real hotdogs aimed at kids not this huge strong tasting thing.
Also… it was a gorgeous day outside so we sat on the patio which was infested with bees (or wasps? I don’t know the difference… either way, take warning — it was really bad!). Our table was in the sun near the fence with flowers and it was particularly bad; to the point that there was no way we would be able to eat there were so many of these little buggers attacking us. As our lunch arrived, I asked to move to the upper deck into the shade and was met with a snotty response from this teenage girl who worked there. She said «they’re everywhere» and grudgingly moved us. Funny, we didn’t encounter any of these pests in the shade. I had to ask her for cutlery for our lunch which she brought along with her attitude. I’ve noticed before that service is hit and miss here and today, it was definitely a miss.
Overall though, I would return… it’s a good place to have breakfast or lunch in a beautiful park.

This place will suck any kind of festive fun you came with. Try to avoid if possible. Feel bad for those who work here as they are clearly miserable
Terribly confusing system with the café pick up and the dine in option. Service is pretty terrible. Was not greeted or acknowledged as we waited to be seated. We finally got a table and they tell us the «computer» is down so they can’t take our order. Okay, sure. Some old lady in line wanted some tea and she wanted to ask where she could get some. The dude at the counter was quite rude with her as well.
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Enjoy Simple Straight-​Forward Meals. High Park is a great place to spend some downtime. The Grenadier is a good place to sit down for a quick meal while you’re there.

I’ve been attending the Yoga in the Park event, almost every Sunday during the summer. I’d come here for brunch right after the Yoga practice with my cousin.
This is such a convenient place for all day breakfast.
What we didn’t like was being surrounded by bees as we ate in the patio. You have to constantly battle them as you pour maple syrup on your pancake.
We enjoyed the pancakes (thick and fluffy), the omelettes (probably my favourite) and the Eggs Benedict (3 stars for quality in my opinion, which means it’s neither super great, nor bad to get a low rating)
The coffee is not strong at all. I usually have coffee at Starbucks and the Grenadier coffee definitely didn’t deliver my daily dose of caffeine.
The line ups are usually long, the prices are average and service is average.

This place is great. Been coming here for over 25 years and love everything about it!

Location and patio = amazing!
Food = not bad
Prices = crazy over priced
I wouldn’t recommend this place for a meal but it’s the perfect summer time spot for an ice cream or a snack. The space inside is ugly and dark but the huge patio is awesome.

Decent enough for breakfast/​brunch and the location can’t be beat.
However, all the servers seem to be disinterested teens, and the frozen pub grub that gets served for lunch/​dinner is not very appetizing.
Drivers beware — the parking lot next to the Grenadier is perpetually jammed in summer. On our last visit to High Park we spent 12 minutes driving there and 20 minutes cruising for parking. I suppose it was divine justice for not taking the TTC over.

What’s with the harsh reviews? This place is awesome!!! It’s right in the midts of high park with the best view and great wrap around patio with a view that can’t be beat! Prices are very fair. I got a good sized steak sandwich for only 10 bucks! It had great flavour and hit the spot! It’s the perfect meal for after a long walk in high park! Service is lovely and friendly. The overall experience was lovely and worth a meal when visiting high park! It’s not fancy by any means, but it’s delicious, hits the spot bad is comfortable dining experience. They’re slammed on weekends so go in a weekday and it’ll be no wait!

The ultimate breakfast.
Two eggs, pancake, sausages, Newport striploin, peameal bacon, home fries and toast.
Enoyed it thoroughly after a walk around the mini zoo.
Little pricey and crowded. But worth a visit for their all day breakfasts or their thin crust stone baked pizzas.
Recommended!

I can only speak to the breakfast at Grenadier and it truly is A-​OK. We go here often on weekends just because it’s close to home and a great place to take kids. We always go to the back in the full service dine-​in section because I can’t bear the chaos in the self-​service café. In summer there is a nice full service outdoor area as well. The location really is beautiful — there’s just something about being in High Park.
I usually order the Traditional Breakfast, which is quite substantial — eggs, bacon, homefries (yum!), and toast. My hubby gets the Big Breakfast which also comes with bacon, sausage and ham, and a pancake. We don’t even bother ordering anything for our 6-​year-​old because it is that much food. They bring us an extra plate and the kid gets the pancake and some toast, homefries and meat from our orders. The one odd thing though is that it is absolutely forbidden to substitute any of the meat in the Big Breakfast. If you don’t like ham, too bad!
I’ve always found the service prompt and courteous in the dining room. We regularly get the same server and she’s really lovely. We’ve never had a bad meal or experience so would recommend.
We’ve never had lunch or dinner at the Grenadier (there’s no alcohol!) so can’t comment there. But the menu is HUGE.

High Park is for sure one of the best parks here in Toronto. Grenadier is decent but don’t have too much high expectations for this café.
The reason I give this 3 stars is because of the horrible customer service from their workers. I understand fast-​food and customer service jobs are hard to do since I work at McDonald’s but giving there is no need in giving attitude to customers who genuinely try to be nice or ask for some assistance.
The food is a little over priced but you save money on tips because it’s optionally since they don’t really service you besides bringing food to your table. Since there is a dining room also part of the café but that is with service (waitresses, waiters etc.)
However, what I enjoy is their all day breakfast menu. This is perfect for breakfast lovers that wake up in the afternoon and go to the park for a nice walk. The pizza and souvlaki here is also amazing.
The tables are often clean and there is also outdoor seating so coming here in the summer is the best.
Thanks for reading!

Don’t have super high expectations for this restaurant and you won’t be disappointed! I think this is still a homey feeling neighbourhood restaurant in the heart of high park. It fits with the park — I mean, I can’t really picture a modern or high end restaurant in the park. I’ve been here a few times for the weekday breakfast schedule. You can’t get any cheaper than $ 3.99 for a full breakfast (2 eggs, 3 sausages, home fries and 2 slices of toast). Coffee is about $ 2 (no refills unfortunately but is quite tasty.). You order at the counter, take a number, and a server brings it out to you. It has a huge patio which is great for a post workout brunch, meeting up with friends or just coming back yourself for a quick bite. Tip: Don’t leave your food unattended on the patio, not for one second, or the birds will be on it!

This place is dry for one. It’s the only restaurant in the park, so no competition, and it shows. Unless you are starving with no other options, avoid this place.

i only come here for the ice cream. It’s usually on a hot summer day and i just want ice cream to walk around the park with. In terms of food i haven’t tried it and i don’t think i ever will.
It’s some pricey ice cream though. haha

Enjoyed an ice cream break at this café with some friends and their kids.
Will be back but the ice cream is a bit expensive and not loads of choice. Works.

Great value for your money. Where else can you get steak and eggs for $ 9.99
After your your Breakfast you can go for a great walk in High Park