Eating – The Taste Of The Danforth, Toronto.

This is my third attempt to make this post and I’m still struggling. Let me get this off my chest.. I try my best to never focus on the negatives (especially when I’m doing a review type post), however this years The Taste Of The Danforth left a sour taste in our mouths. It’s been a few years since my last trek down the QEW to partake in what I remembered to be one of the highlights of summertime in the city of Toronto.

The Taste Of The Danforth is no longer that rich culinary cultural event I lovingly remembered, but more of a massive commercially driven madness of people. The “Greek” vibe (music, fun, chatter… even dancing and merriment you used to see) are GONE! Can an event be too big?

As mentioned above I dislike focusing on the negatives, so I won’t beat the subject any further, but I do want to comment a bit on our dining experience at  The Friendly Greek Restaurant [551 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON]

The food options (at the roadside stalls) at the The Taste Of The Danforth are very repetitive (grilled meat on a pita with sauce) so we decided on actually taking a break from the heat and crowds and dine at The Friendly Greek. After-all, I came with the intention to eat a good lamb dinner. There were 6 of us in our group and we were told that it would be another 15 minutes before we could expect to be seated (supposedly there were no available tables inside). That 15 minutes turned into 45 minutes and with the sun in all it’s blazing glory.. it was HOT! One of our friends collapsed while in line (fainted), so I rushed into the restaurant and asked for a chair (while others in our group tended to her)… long story short I had to steal a chair as the staff at the door had a sort of ‘don’t care’ reaction. Diners on the patio were more responsive than the staff and offered their chairs and one guy even gave us his drink to help our friend regain herself.  The only staff to show any interest was the girl at the front who sat patrons in the restaurant. At no time did any other staff or management make an effort to see if we were ok, even though there was a big commotion in the lines to their restaurant.

Along with a glass of water and a small plate of fries, the same hostess came out about 10 minutes after the episode began.. she discretely told me that she doesn’t care if her manager doesn’t want her sitting anyone, she will sit us inside. By this time our friend was feeling much better so we didn’t need the water or fries. She did however get us a table inside (shaded) as she promised a few minutes later. Once inside the restaurant we quickly realize that though the the front (facing the street) of the restaurant was packed, there were numerous tables on the inside vacant. So while we baked in the sun and our friend passed out, management wanted to create a line on the outside so people would think this restaurant is packed (must be good food.. create demand).

Beyond the experience in the line and finally being seated.. the food was absolutely terrible! I had the braised lamb shanks (what a HUGE mess on my plate), others in our group had the Greek fries, grilled kabobs… even the salad was terrible. How do you make a bad salad?  On our way out we could see yet another long line of potential customers waiting in the blazing sun.. little did they know that there were many vacant tables inside and that the food was terrible. The service was just as bad as the food in case if you’re wondering.    I’m not one to tell anyone how to run their business, but even if the kitchen needed time to catch up on orders, why not tell patrons this, seat them (if they choose to stay) and sell them drinks? It would avoid having someone faint in front of your restaurant!

Here’s a video clip of  this year’s Taste Of The Danforth:

If you plan on visiting The Taste Of The Danforth next year, you’ll find these tips helpful:

Tips…

– wear comfortable shoes as you’ll be doing a lot of walking

– sunscreen is a must

– pack water.. water and other drinks are readily available, but can be a bit expensive

– be prepared for massive crowds (keep that in mind if you’re on a wheelchair or plan on taking younger children in strollers)

– arrive early if you want to get a seat at a good restaurant

– do NOT expect the same quality food as a normal day dining on the Danforth

– park and take the subway (cheap, efficient and you won’t have to worry about finding a parking spot)

So why did I find this post so difficult to do? As mentioned I hate highlighting negatives and I didn’t want this to come across as a bashing for the event or the Friendly Greek Restaurant, but I felt it had to be said. This may be the last time I venture out to The Taste Of The Danforth and most definitely, you’ll never see any of us at The Friendly Greek Restaurant again.