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Pickle Barrel
Category: Restaurants Canadian (New) Canadian (New) [Edit]
2300 Yonge StToronto, ON M4P 1E4
Neighbourhood: Yonge and Eglinton
(416) 485-1244
- Hours:
Mon, Sun 9 am - 10 pm
Tue-Thu 9 am - 11 pm
Fri-Sat 9 am - 12 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dessert, Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
27 reviews for Pickle Barrel
27 reviews in English
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Review from David M.
Toronto, ON
11/14/2011
It's taken a couple of weeks to write this review which should say something...breakfast wasn't exactly inspiring.
We got pretty much what one would expect from any location in the Pickle Barrel "chain". Good quality food, decent portions, comfortable surroundings.
Regarding the breakfast, there were a couple of quirks that I should point out. First, the "Early Bird Special" was 6.49 and including 3 eggs any style, 3 pieces of bacon, your choice of toast and coffee or tea (served from 9-10:30 daily). Notice anything? The "special" does not include potatoes. This is the first time I've run into this after over 70 breakfast special experiences. (Check my lists below.) Your choice of home fries, french fries or latkes would be extra, unless you order the "non-early bird" breakfast. (A bonus...sour creme is complimentary with the latkes, but you have to ask for it. Hear that, Free Times Cafe?)
Secondly, this location doesn't have bagels. Let me repeat that...a Pickle Barrel that doesn't serve bagels. Or blintzes. I hope you were sitting down. So, fair warning - menus vary at different locations, so don't count on getting your favourite food item if you try an unfamiliar location.
Sooo, if you want a quiet, comfortable location in the area, give PB a try. If you want a better overall experience, you might want to give Mars or the Sunset Grill a go.Listed in: Breakfast places
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Review from Caroline W.
Scarborough, ON
5/20/2012
Never again. Menu is way too big (to be fair at least they do have vegetarian options), but the food is so bland. Tastes like a bad at-home-meal. Service is also slow and there's usually a wait too...don't really see why.
The layout of the restaurant is interesting, but kind of confusing....feels a bit like a maze.
Food from their take out section is just as bad too. Baked goods are dry and just plain icky. -
Review from Natalie T.
East York, ON
5/6/2012
VIBE
The place looks like it hasn't been updated since the mid 90s. Think of the band Colour Me Bad's wardrobe splashed across the interiors. It's a little bit like that.
It's also a bit of a maze to get through to the back but plenty of booth seating which is great for a work lunch.
I ATE
Let's just say there is a LOT of choice on the menu, which is a mini book. A quick look on their website assures me there are 300 menu items. That's crazy. CRAY. I had the Mushroom Burger. It was OKAY. It looked cooked. Not really impressed to be honest. Now I know.
Colleagues had Rose Reisman's Warm Chicken Spinach salad. This looked pretty good. I would recommend this or the other salads. Suffice to say, you won't go hungry here!
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
So I wouldn't get the burger here again. But I'm not going to get in a "PICKLE" about it! Mwah ha ha.Listed in: Yonge & Eg, Burger Time
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Review from Christine R.
Scarborough, ON
8/24/2011 3 photos
First off I should say I am a Fan of the Pickle Barrel......so maybe this review is bias but anywho I can't say I've ever had a bad experience at PB before either......and I do enjoy going through there gigantic plastic coil bounded novel they call a menu.
At this Location I love that its high up so ask for a cozy booth by the window so you can peek out at the frantic pedestrians running around on yonge street.
Service wise we had an amazing waitress named Lenny. She was soo bubbly and sweet and made our dining experience worth coming back. If you come ask to be seated in Lenny's section and i'm sure you won't be disappointed.
After flipping back and forth through menu we settled on two appetizers the Crispy Fried Calamari and the Risotto Balls.
The calamari was absolutely delicious cooked perfectly and nice and crispy and they gave a hefty portion too. It's served with lemon and a chipotle aioli which we kicked it up a notch with some tabasco sauce. Super yummy!
The risotto balls were a little disappointing at first because when we cut into them they were sort of cold in the centre. We alerted are lovely waitress and she gracefully took it away and said she'll take care of it. Within minutes she brought us back a steaming portion and they were nice and hot but not burn your mouth hot. They were perfectly crunchy but smaller than traditional risotto balls but I really enjoyed the chunky tomato sauce it was served on.
For mains I had the Pulled Brisket Sandwich which is served on a brioche bun and topped with crispy fried onions and served alongside sweet potatoe fries. A typical brisket sandwich and sweet potatoe fries, not mind blowing but still delicious and no complaints.
For dessert the crispy crunch and reeses peanut butter sundae jumped out at me so I had to have it! However when it arrived it wasn't what I expected. First of all PB does NOT serve real ice cream in any of there desserts, instead they serve frozen vanilla yogurt but I knew this already from past experiences at PB. However besides no real ice cream this sundae was just lacklustre, it was frozen yogurt piled with too much whipped cream with a light dusting of crispy crunch and far too much reeses pieces....if it were reeses peanutbutter cups I may have enjoyed it more but it wasnt.......and slim to none chocolate sauce.
Overall service was top notch that night....a water glass never went unfilled, Lenny checked up on us and wrapped our leftovers, provided us gracious and courteous service with a warm smile and cheerful attitude. Food was hit or miss but the portions a hugeee and affordable plus the menu is sooo grand its worth coming back to! Trust me after one visit your know if you are a PB fan or not.......but I still AM! :-) -
Review from Chanessa K.
Toronto, ON
4/11/2012
Went here with my friends and the service we got was unbelievably rude. He treated us with disrespect and took advantage of us simply because we are teenagers. We get seated and it takes him at least a good half hour to taker order while he passed back and fourth near our table. If we wanted hot sauce we were not rude in asking saying "Give me some f**king hot sauce!". There were more please and may I, sorry to trouble you. The waiter would roll hi eyes as if we were saying something rude to him. Towards the end when my friend asked for a moist hand wipe, he was rude and said "We give those out for rib orders, theres a washroom right there can't you use that?" How rude, then came the bill, he passed by at least 6 times, and when he glanced down to look at what my friend was paying with which a $50 dollar bill, he grunts, rolls his eyes and walks away. 10 minutes later after telling him we were in a hurry, he comes back and says to my friend with aggravated behaviour, "Look I can't take that! You have to go to the take out area to get change!" When he took a fifty from the table across us. I can't express anymore how angry I was with this service. Paul or Peter whatever his name is should be fired.
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Review from Jeff M.
North York, ON
10/1/2011
40 years in business and lost their way. Pickle Barrel is a strange place, originally an up market deli, they have forgotten what deli food and portions are and try to pump out sort of nouveau-neo-healthy-cusine that also misses the mark. Latkas that look like hockey pucks, deli sandwiches that look anemic are all served out by a staff that wouldn't know deli if they walked into one and don't give a damn about the customer. I would suggest that Rose Reisman go to Thornhill, Montreal or New York and see what deli is and then try again.
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Review from Monica B.
Toronto, ON
9/5/2010
I've been to this Pickle Barrel plenty of times. Each visit was very disappointing.
Pickle Barrel has terrible service; the staff looks like they really don't want to be there at all. The reasonable priced food that tastes good is served with dirty cutlery that has food on them. You can't enjoy anything! When you bring the problem to the attention of the servers, they don't seem to comprehend the problem, or completely ignore the matter. Many times I was given a new set of cutlery to use, which also had food on it.
I really tried to like this place, hoping that perhaps it would clean up its act because the food is good. It's too bad the service and the cleanliness suck.Listed in: Yonge & Eglinton
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Review from Joanne S.
Toronto, ON
10/7/2010
Really bad experience at this location. Went on a Friday around 8pm, 3 guests (including myself).
Service - not worthy of the title, sorry. I arrived later than my friends, but she figured that we already knew what we wanted. She kept rushing us to order. Want us to order faster PB? Have a smaller menu. We ordered wine with our main, she spilled at least a quarter of mine on the table and wiped it up and did not top up my drink... After RUSHING us all through the beginning of our meal, she was nowhere to be seen for dessert...
Oh, nobody at the front desk greeted me or asked me why I was hanging around (was waiting for my friend to get me). Pretty shitty service.
My friend forgot her ID and the waitress LECTURED us on why she needed to have her ID to order drinks. My friend, before this lecture, had already said it was fine as it was her fault she didn't have an ID. Don't know why the lecture was necessary, we're not 14, we get it.
Food -
Two starters to share:
Mozzarella sticks - no flavour, I could easily pass these again.
California Avacado Springrolls - I was hoping for some distinction between the flavours they said would be in it. Best part of this would be the sauce it comes with.
I ordered the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Burger. Was HORRIBLE. The fries were bad, there was ONE slice of cheese on my burger. A really small slice. The burger itself was dry and disgusting. Friend 1 ordered the Spanish Paella, this was DELICIOUS! Friend 2 (sans ID) ordered the French Toast thing - it was HUGE portion and was nicely presented. She was very satisfied with her order.
I'm a fat ass (and didn't finish all my meal) got the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake - wasn't as warm as I remember it being but it was good. My friends got the smaller version of the cheesecake, they were satisfied.
EDIT: forgot about drinks, pass on the martini special...unless you're getting the chocolate one. That one is delicious!
Suffice to say, I did not tip. -
Review from Laura T.
2/20/2011
In general, I'm a PB fan, but I visited this particular location for a post-movie alcoholic beverage, and was pleasantly surprised! Have you ever ordered a bellini from PB? If you haven't, I suggest it, just so you can experience this incredibly oversized drink for only $7.90 taxes included.
I ordered a raspberry bellini, that came with a blackberry on steroids and a strawberry. It was great, not too sweet, not overly boozy (maybe a downfall for some), and we had lovely service.
In the summer, I quite enjoy the Rose Reisman warm spinach salad w/ chicken. They also let you add strawberries for an extra few bucks. Well worth it, usually very fresh, filling and healthy.
I don't like reviewing chains, but the bellini was something to write home about! -
Review from Andy H.
4/16/2009
I usually hate restaurant chains, but this place is still a favorite of mine to stop in when I visit Toronto.
Big beers! Yes they serve 16, 32 and I believe a 64 ounce beer if my memory serves me.
I started with the four burger sliders appetizers, which is just a great way to kick off a night of devouring fatty foods with booze. They give you the sides to mix and match your burgers to you liking. I also got an order of mozzarella sticks and they were pretty darn good.
I ordered a half bbq chicken that came with fries. Oh Canada your ketchup taste so good...why is that? Oh yeah no HFCS...what a concept. Anyway the chicken was juicy, bbqed to perfection and the fries were addictively (is that a word?) good.
Now this place would have scored easily a 4...maybe 4.5 if yelp offered half star reviews. But the waitress was awful! She came over to our table and took our orders...we sat there noticing a few things...A) No napkins, B) No utensils, C) No condiments. You need at least two of those three items when dining out.
When we brought it to her attention after sitting with greasy hands from eating our appetizers, she immediately threw her co-worker under the bus and said it was her fault that we did not have those items. Hmm? You are the damn waitress...it might be her fault as the host seating us, but it is also yours you silly goose.
Then when we finished our food we had to flag her down after sitting there twiddling our thumbs and staring at the empty glasses that once had soda in them. I do not usually care about waiters and waitresses, I get that they have long hours and it is a thankless job, but seriously she was probably one of the worst I have ever had and it almost ruined a fun night out. -
Review from Vivek S.
4/19/2009
I've always felt "less is more" when it comes to a menu. Their over-sized menu offers a boatload of dreck and few highlights; I've never been dazzled with any of the fare. The service at the Yonge and Eg locale is particularly egregious, and the wait is frequently quite long.
Obligatory Restaurant Pun: Finding fault with this place is like shooting fish in a BARREL.
Menu Readability: PB's menu is about as thick as a R.L. Stine novel and equally horrific.
Need to mention: I don't like this place. Don't eat here.
What this place teaches me about myself: I don't automatically love places with Pickle in the title.Listed in: Uno Dos
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Review from Victoria M.
Toronto, ON
6/7/2009
There are two things to know before you go to Pickle Barrel. 1) The menu is long and extensive 2) So are their meals ... If you're not sure what you want to eat you should go here because they'll probably have something to satisfy your hunger with. On the downside, if you go here hungry and don't know what you want to eat you'll probably eat everything you order and be full for the next 3 days.
What I can recommend right off the bat without thinking are a few things that I know are good... they aren't in a specific order just what I can think about off the top of my head. I should note though that the menu can be scary to go through because it's a little TOO long.
1) Chicken Fingers..either with fries or their Greek Salad... this is a classic and you can't go wrong..so if you want to be safe this is good.
2) Greek Salad... you can have it for yourself or share it with the table as an appetizer... **Warning this salad is REALLY big
3) Luau Salad... really nice summer salad
4) PB Sliders
5) Avocado Turkey Club... this is ridiculously good
6) Waffle with fresh berries or banana served with frozen yogurt
7) BBQ Haven... really big meal and really good..
During the week I think on Tuesday they have cheap Bellini's so it's can be nice to go for lunch or dinner... if Bellini's are your thing..and their martini's are really strong at this location. I know random ordering a martini at pickle barrel but if you're looking something that's going to hit you over a meal I'd suggest PB.
Every time I've been at the Yonge and Eg location the service has been great.
Also if you park in the mall you can get your parking validated. -
Review from Thomas H.
9/20/2011
location location location.
Is there any other reason this place still exists?
I've been dragged here too many times in my life. I would rather eat fast food. I think that says enough.
I remember being moderately satisfied by their milkshake. Otherwise they're like 0 for 12 on meal attempts. -
Review from Constantine N.
Toronto, ON
8/6/2010
I have been to this restaurant about ten times. This was due to the fact that I gave it a few chances, and the other times I was sadly meeting friends there, who were clueless about how this place is.
This Pickle Barrel has two main problems: a lack of cleanliness, and a generally lousy staff.
Firstly, the place just is not clean. Out of all the times I have been there, I have always experienced receiving at least one fork or knife rolled in my white napkin that had a fair amount of somebody else's meal on it. I also find it gross how most of their white cloth napkins have some human hair wrapped in them; which usually varies in size and quantity. Moreover, every once in a while you get your ice cream in a glass cup that reeks of that smell one's dishes have when one has failed to properly wash off the residue of chicken, beef, or eggs that came into contact with them in the sink or dishwasher.
Furthermore, the staff doesn't seem to want to be there, and try to make an absolute bare-minimum effort in terms of serving their customers. Most of them can barely even crack a smile.
Also, the servers are even rude and argue with one another. For example, I once went there with some people for a friend's birthday, and our waiter had to nearly beg his fellow-servers to gather to sing Pickle Barrel's lousy birthday song for my friend.
In terms of the food, it's decent, but nothing special. But it's pretty hard to enjoy eating any food with semi-unwashed cutlery, while being served by somebody who couldn't care less about their job.This place is just awful! -
Review from Emily T.
Toronto, ON
11/19/2008
It's too bad I have to give this place such a poor review because the food on their very abundant menu isn't half bad. Let me start by pointing out the positive first:
The menu has just about anything you can think of. Whatever you're in the mood for will most likely be listed. The ambiance is nice enough; nice seating, nice lighting, etc, etc. The price is right and they have a great drink and dessert selection. So what's the problem?
...Well, you know how the Jackson 5 said one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch?...Unfortunately, the service at this Yonge and Eglinton location just spoiled the entire silo...
Sigh... I probably won't ever go back to this location again after what happened and here's why:
I was there for dinner and drinks and from the start it didn't feel right. Our waitress took forever to greet us and the place wasn't even busy...No smile, no name, no connection at all from our server and first impressions usually mean a lot...even still, I was able to let it slide until I asked for separate bills.
The waitress rolled her eyes and kind of grunted/sighed as a response. When the food was served, it was pretty much slammed down in front of our faces and never once were our waters refilled. As the night wore on and the service got worse, we had a bet going on as to who would find a big gob of spit in their plates...(no one did, luckily).
The bills were wrong when given to us and when I asked for the manager to straighten it out I thought I was going to get my ears boxed! I'm not the type to complain or cause trouble at restaurants (side note: I've been a server before and I know first hand how stressful this job can be so I can empathize to a certain point) but the service was absolutely terrible. And when I thought the service couldn't get worse, the manager didn't even seem to care. Go figure.
All in all, you may have a better server and a better night than I did here; I certainly hope so. If you want a decent meal, Pickle Barrel isn't bad but don't expect great service. -
Review from Amanda A.
Toronto, ON
1/4/2010
Pickle Barrel is okay for 1 thing - breakfast. That is it. Even at that, this isn't my restaurant of choice.
Pickle Barrel does one thing well - they keep the same crappy menu and service pretty uniform amongst its Toronto locations.
I suppose you are wondering why I have such a hate on for Pickle Barrel, but all I can say is I gave them too many chances. I haven't had any memorable meals here. Memorable moments, yes. Like when I asked for no veggies with my steak (while ordering) and the server asked if I would mind just sliding them onto one of my friends' plates once being served, since the chef disliked substitutions. I mean, where the hell am I eating?! I am actually saving them money and plating time by omitting part of my meal - not even asking for a substitute.Listed in: The Best and Worst and…
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Review from Lynda W.
Toronto, ON
9/3/2008
I know at least with my friends Pickle Barrel has a bad rap, I'm not sure why. The Pickle Barrel at Yonge & Eg is in a pretty central location, and it's farily big, so it's rare that you'll ever have to wait for a seat for a long time (like a lot of other restaurants in the area).
They have your typical cafe style food, sandwiches, wraps, burgers and the like. I like the nachos platter, my staple when I go.. Seriously, the best darn nachos I've had.. They put some sort of tomato sauce, so sometimes the "older" nachos get soggy, but it's still delish. If you are afraid of the sogginess, then go ask them to go lite on the tomato sauce. The bruschetta is also one of the best i have, though it can be hard to eat (they cut the pieces in thin triangles). The bread is some kind of garlicky flatbread, absolutely yumster!
I ordered a veggie wrap once, it was pretty good, but nothing compared to the nachos. I can't attest to any of the other dishes to be honest because I like to stick to my faves! But try em and let me know! -
Review from Andrew L.
2/10/2010
While the Pickle Barrel has quite a sizable menu, I found the quality of the food to be somewhat lacking.
I ordered the Greek Feta Burger, which is a patty on a Greek salad. The burger was way too dry and had barely any taste while the salad seemed to be just some mixed greens with a sprinkle of feta cheese.
If the meal wasn't too great, the service was even worse. My food came on time, but my friend's oysters took forever. The waiter actually brought out two wrong dishes before he finally served the right one. At least he gave us a discount, which was very nice of him.
Overall, meh. Enticing menu, below-average food. -
Review from Sarah Y.
Vancouver, BC
7/7/2010 2 photos
If you appreciate restaurants with variety, er...an overwhelming selection of food on its menus, this is the place for you!
On my first visit here (and possibly last?), I was ravenous and delighted in page after page of appies, entrees, burgers & sandwiches, seafood and so forth. It's truly American dining at its "Canadianest".
Mussels (my first love) are only $7.99 and their beef burger sliders were about the same. Fiance and I started with those -- the sliders were massive. Like, a tiny bit smaller than McD's kid size burgers and there were four of them!
I ordered a veggie burger with a side of yam fries - the server wasn't on top of his game at all that night (or is that typical? I won't comment on that) and thought I ordered the fries as a starter, so out came this plate of pretty looking yam fries. Until I actually ate a few -- they were not fresh, like they'd been sitting for awhile under a hot lamp.
I took one bite of the veggie burger and almost puked -- it reminded me of Chinese herbal medicine. Needless to say, the server took it off the bill (but still charged me for a full appy size yam fries). At that point, I didn't bother to complain anymore.
I guess the only highlights of this dining adventure would be the beer and the dessert. Fiance ordered one of those yard-long beer flasks...I think it was Sapporo and I ordered a brownie dessert that came in a mini-martini glass. We thoroughly enjoyed each.
I really don't think I'll be back. Of course, that won't matter to Pickle Barrel since they probably make a killing from servicing the movie-going crowd. -
Review from Joy S.
Woodbridge, ON
7/6/2010
I used to eat at this location when I live at Yonge and Lawrence. Now that i've moved I havent been there in a while.
I came here 2 weeks ago with a girlfriend I haven't seen in ages!
I REGRET COMING HERE!
The service was terrible.
Our server ignored us the entire time, we had to ask other servers to get us refills on drinks and to order dinner and desserts!
It was ridiculous.
He was serving tables around and beside us but when he saw us hed just look away and go back into the kitchen.
I was very upset.
I am not going back to this location!
Yonge and Dundas is muchhhh better location! ** -
Review from Keith C.
11/13/2010
Used to come here before a movie at the Silvercity. It's been decent each time I've been here. Nothing special. Just your regular Pickle Barrel food. Pastas, burgers, sandwiches, fajita's. They pretty much serve every american type food that you'd want to eat here. Very large serving sizes and plenty of items on their menu. The service isn't bad considering that they've been packed every single time I've been here. Did get a shake here one time and the banana's in it tasted like they were not yet ripe. The deserts are also enormous.
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Review from Magdalena R.
Toronto, ON
3/17/2010
Gigantor menu. It took me a long time to go through it, and once I was done, I had to go through it again because I had forgotten everything that I thought looked interesting. This is definitely not a quick in and out experience. The food is mostly tasty. Not too extravagant, but the portions a large. The drinks are very delicious, and also large. The raspberry pinacolada is super awesome. Due to its large size, I went through several brain freezes. And like with any frozen drink, it was worth it. :)
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Review from Julianna B.
Toronto, ON
4/21/2009
Y'know, it's not bad. For a quick bite before a movie, a solo dinner with cocktail during a marathon Christmas shopping session, or a brunch, it's just fine. The decor is pleasant, and it has an interesting view over Yonge & Eglinton. Don't order anything that takes delicate or skilled preparation, and you'll be happy. I've never had any problems with service myself.
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Review from Brian C.
Toronto, ON
3/2/2010 1 photo
After sifting through the book-like menu I ordered the "Best Ever" Meatloaf. The gravy is an odd mix of salt, sugar and a dash of beef flavor sort of like the flavour of those fries and gravy chips you sometimes see. If I were lost in the woods for days before coming by this place, I'd probably just eat one of the servers. The service was quick.
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Review from Steve P.
3/1/2010 1 photo
So it was my last day visiting with my fiancee over the weekend and she begged and begged me to take her here because she was just "dieing" for some Blintzes. She says she used to get them here when she was younger and has such fantastic memories of their taste that she wanted to get them again. Alright, I relented and granted her wish like the fantastic genie that I am.
After wading through Sunday morning traffic and dealing with finding the proper parking spot in the garage making it so we don't have to walk miles, we arrived at a semi busy PB. We were sat halfway around the earth towards the back. Sheesh, I never knew a place could be this vast in Toronto. Most restaurants we eat in are the size of closets and elbow room is a gift when it happens. So after walking the ring to Mordor across the valley of fire and the plains of sorrow we arrived at our table and presented with what appeared to be "The Codex Gigas" (Google it if you like). Our Server "Ben" came to the table with relative speed, relative like how the polymorphic solid known as "Glass" moves. (You are now smarter) It probably took a good 10 minutes for him to get to our table to introduce himself and explain the specials they had. I ordered us waters and sent him off on his way.
All the while I was watching my fiance quickly turn page after page after page, forward, backward, forward, backward, looking more and more confused. And then her confusion changed to horror, and then horror morphed into anger. I didn't even need to hear her speak. Blintzes, were nowhere to be found in this entire codex of non nutrition. I almost saw a tear well up in her eye as she couldn't grasp how they were not on the menu. When Ben finally returned with our waters another 5 minutes later it was painfully obvious that there was a problem with the look of consternation on my fiancees face. I took the reigns and decided to spin a tale of woe that was by no means true but it sure sounded great. I explained how I lived 8 hours away and I made this trip especially for my fiancees recommendation of how fantastic their blintz's were. I made such an epic tale of this journey and my inability to eat breakfast the way it was explained I think I made the table behind me weep openly, or maybe it was the fact they put too much pepper onto their pasta, either way, it was an emotional moving experience. Ben stared in disbelief at the staggering tale of heartache and death that followed me to be in his presence this morning, and now he needed to be the one to tell me that they took them off the menu a few weeks ago. Man it was hard to keep a straight face through all of this, but it did cheer up my girl. Ben had a look as he walked away as though I had kicked his puppy, I'm quite certain I made his day. Anyway, I am rambling on here.. Lets get onto the food.
After the initial shock passed for my lady sank in that she would never taste what she longed for, she decided that a Belgian waffle would be the next thing on her pallet. After reading War and Peace I settled on the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla and a Chicken Pasta dish. The Quesadilla came out in about 10 minutes and was well presented. I snapped a picture of it and then took a bite. Promptly burning the h*ll out of my hand when the sauce shot out the back and it just so happened to be lava. Water and rags cooled the burn and after the food chilled I managed to eat the rest of it. Not a bad flavor, but it needed some more chicken.
20 minutes later the food came out and it was pretty tasty. Unfortunately my burning hand took my concentration away and I did not get a picture of the pasta or her waffle, but come on, it's a waffle. You've seen one, you've seen them all. Although it was not a Blintz she seemed to enjoy eating it, and my pasta was pretty tasty. A little light on the garlic but the pasta was cooked very well. The garlic bread or should I say brick that came out I'm pretty sure was baked last year due to the hardness. I probably could have used it to break concrete. Soaking it in the sauce for the duration however enabled me to give it a try, and it tasted ok.
On my way to the bathrooms, which by the way are completely on the other side of the universe in this place, I passed the desert case, I thought that the mini parfaits would be a great way to round out the meal so I got a Rocky Road mini to finish everything off. In Summary, I didn't have a bad experience at this spot I just wish I had my camelbak water jug to combat the dehydration I felt when walking to and from my table. In fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't even need to exercise that week. Ok that's enough rambling, this is bordering on absurdly pointless. -
Review from Nikki H.
Etobicoke, Toronto, ON
7/6/2010
Maybe this is just a review of Pickle Barrel in general... Seeing as I've been to many different locations across Toronto, and it's hard to pick one out from the other because they're all the same.
As everyone knows who eats here, the menu is pretty much as large as their over-sized portions...
In the 20 minutes it takes the server to actually come to our table, I still can't finish looking at the whole menu.
When I DO finally decide on something to order, the plate of food I get is enough to feed at least 2 people. If I wanted to bother to take home leftovers, it would be great. So that's an upside for people wanting to make two meals out of one while dining out. Or you can even order one plate of food, and share it with your friend.
The prices are decent, not too high or anything, especially considering the serving sizes. And as for food quality, I've had an equal amount of good and bad experiences with food from Pickle Barrel. There's been times that I've ordered a wrap, and been brought a soggy tortilla messily wrapped around some wilting lettuce and veggies. There's also been times that I've been brought a really tasty salad, or chicken fingers back when I would eat meat on a regular basis.
The drinks really are a little over the top on sweetness and added junk, but their smoothies are tasty. (It's pretty much just fruit juice blended with frozen yogurt. But it tastes good.) Their desserts are also HUGE, so order one to share, or just get a mini dessert. -
Review from willi p.
Markham, ON
10/30/2008
Fine for dinner before a movie, but I have never really beena fan of the roadhouse themes.
