The Waterfront Bistro

An owner that deserves to fail

My brother chose this place to celebrate his 30th birthday on Saturday, July 27th. He called a day or two in advance to try and make reservations. He wanted to sit on the patio, but they didn't take reservations on the patio and told us it was first-come first-serve. That's not a unique restaurant policy, so we obliged without any protest. My brother showed up at 7:00 PM with around 10 people. They got a table on the patio. There were other people outside of our party there, which was not a problem. When they left and more of us trickled in, we slowly took over the entire lower level patio, abiding by the first-come first-serve policy. The waitress had everything under control and we did everything we could to help her keep things organized. She was very nice and helpful. Then, suddenly, for no rhyme or reason, the owner comes out and lectures us for 5-7 minutes on how he doesn't normally allow this many people on the patio and that we're going to be very difficult to manage. He repeated himself at least 5 times over to make sure he had interrupted everyone's conversations and had everyone's attention just to let us know how much we were hassling him by giving him our business. We all sat in shock for a while. I wanted to stop him about 2 minutes into his pontificating, but didn't want to cause a scene at my brother's event. Once he was gone, we all had to confirm with each other that that had actually happened and quickly decided we were going to settle our bills and leave. As we were doing this, the owner actually came out and imposed himself on one of our tables full of women (my cousins) like a stupid coward and, being even more confrontational than he was before, asked them if they had something to say to him because he heard they were talking about him. Maybe he would have left that meeting unscathed if it were different women, but this idiot obviously doesn't know the women in my family. They bluntly told him that he is unprofessional and needs to learn how to talk to people. He was smart enough to not push his luck and walked away. We went to The Port just up the road. They accommodated us, all 30 of us, very quickly despite being under-staffed, the service was excellent and the food was spectacular. Most of us ordered $30+ entrees that were worth every dime on top of lots of drinks. Nice move to the moron that owns the Waterfront by robbing your waitress of a lot of money. Thanks to The Port, The Waterfront was unsuccessful in what seemed like a deliberate attempt to ruin our night. Judging by other reviews for this place, they can't handle large parties and they generally have crappy food anyway. Go here if you want to waste money and not have your business appreciated at all by the owner.

Really terrible food

We reserved a table and ate inside the restaurant, service was mediocre, neither friendly nor unfriendly. No one came to ask us if we were enjoying our meal, I suspect they are used to negative comments and didn`t want to hear them. Frankly, the food was disgusting, everything came out of a box, or a bag, nothing was made fresh in the kitchen. I do not appreciate soggy frozen vegetables and Captain Highliner frozen fish when I am eating in a restaurant which claims to be fine dining, and charging fine dining prices. The meal was extremely salty, I over dosed. The Beef Wellington was beyond description. The Creme Brulee was still partly frozen when it was served and the texture was heavy. Don`t waste your money, stay home, order a pizza, you will enjoy it more.

Poor Service on Mothers Day

Our experience at Waterfront did not start well then quickly turned poor. The food was average, the service was very slow. When we arrived our reservation for 7 was not found, however, after much consultation a table was found. Unfortunately the triangular table was set for 6. We pointed out our party was for 7; they simply jammed an extra chair to an already cramped table. At our request, we were repositioned to a larger table that was located beside the bar and in the main servers lane from the kitchen (explains why the table was available. Our drink order sat at the bar for 15 minutes before being delivered; my Scotch with ice was missing the ice, the waitress laughed and said the ice melted. Rather than replacing the drink, I watched as she added more ice diluting an already skimpy drink. Our party included 2 children who are very slow eaters. As we have done in many restaurants, we ordered their kids meal to be delivered with the appetizers thereby timing their eating habits with adult maels. Unfortunately, the adult meals were delivered 1hour & 10 minutes after we ordered. After inquiring 2 times on the status of our meal (each time we were told in will be 10 to 15 minutes), the children finished their meals and they stated to get restless. So far our Mothers Day meal was not what we had expected. The final insult occurred when the Owner came to the table and started to argue with us. He stated that the meal with delivered to us within 45 minutes (not true), said that I should have instructed the waitress to replace the watered down drink (should have been a restauarnt policy), then proceeded to tell us that a party of 7 takes longer to prepare than a party of 4. I pointed that that the adult meals were for 5 (as the children's meal came earlier). It was clear to us that the owner was not interested in apologizing for our meal experience, perhaps he was more interested in defending his restaurant in front of other guests and staff. Interestingly, while the owner was very much argumentative, our bill was reduced by $50. WE will not return to The Waterfront, as well we will caution our friends.

Yumm!

They have awsome wings, best iv ever had. The service is nice and the dining room is great. Nice and comfortable with great food. Can't wait to go back

No joy for non-smokers

We've been regular customers for the Waterfront, especially the upper deck with a nice view of the lake. We loved sitting there in a nice summer day, enjoying a light meal with the lake in the background. Now the entire upper deck is a smoking area and the non-smokers are relegated to a small walk area along the parking lot. Great view of asphalt and bumpers, not to mention being constantly bothered by smokers heading for the upstairs. Without the view, the food is not good enough to make it worth returning to this restaurant. We certainly won't until the smoking policy changes.

An associate and myself visited The Waterfront on July 12th. We went for a casual dinner and to take in the scenery. We sat outside in the front of the restaurant as the upper floor was too sunny and hot. After being ignored by the waitress for a while, we finally received our drinks but had to ask 3 times for our table to be wiped as it was very sticky. Even though our table was on ground level, there was boards spanning the eating area. Every time someone walked by, our table shook like we were in an earthquake. We joked that we were waiting for the inevitable tsunami. We ordered a burger and sweet potato fries and the grilled veggie and goat cheese panini with a caesar salad. The salad and fries were $2.00 extra. What a disappointment! The smallest $11.00 panini ever. Hardly any veggies. The caesar salad was almost un-edible with way too much dressing. The fries were just average with no dipping sauce offered. Burger was just okay. The meals are too small and over priced. Our waitress never cracked a smile the whole time and we waited way too long for a couple of sandwiches. This was not the first time that we had been to this restaurant. We had been once before many years ago and found the food horrible. We thought with the passing of time, the food would have improved. It didn't!

Too salty

I went there because it was the closest to the boardwalk we had been walking on. It seemed to have a decent atmosphere so we decided to try it out for dinner. For a casual walk in, the menu was very pricey. We each ordered one thing and decided to share. Mussels and frites were huge but the tomato broth was so salty that I could barely dip my bread to enjoy the remaining broth. The prime rib was overcooked and bland without the gravy. And the gravy tasted like it was out of a can, also too salty. The pasta del mar was the best part of the meal as it was the least salty dish out of the three and the portion was generous. Considering we all ordered one item each, again, the bill was quite a shock. I wouldn't mind checking out their bar area next time as it seemed more casual and lively than the somewhat stuffy dining room.

Great total restaurant experience

My wife and I had a wonderful evening out and a very very good meal at our favorite local restaurant and bar. The 12 ounce steak was cooked to perfection and if you have not enjoyed the homemade fries, you are missing something. I started with oysters on the half shell to set the mood which are good but the rockerfeller rocks. We were also here for dinner with two other guests two weeks prior and our guests loved the service, meals and atmosphere as did we. The real nice part of the Waterfront is to enjoy a meal on the fine dining side or the casual side and then sit back and listen to real nice acostic or small group play and sing.

Beautiful!

Beautiful view on the patio. Take your date here.

Pickering... I weep for you.

It makes me sad that Pickering has these nice restaurants with so much potential yet they fail to deliver. I speak particularly of Port and The Waterfront. My husband and I went to The Waterfront last night in hopes of a nice semi-casual dinner. Normally we would travel into the city but we decided to stay in Pickering and try out The Waterfront. We've been disappointed before when we've done this ("ahem" Port) but I checked out their menu online and it looked promising. After waiting about 30 min to be seated on the upper patio we were given a menu that was nowhere near the one I previewed online. It only had about ten generic dishes including salad and appetizers (ceaser salad, fish and chips, wings, spag and meatballs?). The wine list was bad, the selection of beer on tap was bad and our waitress was practically non-existent. Next time we decide to stay in Pickering for a night out it's The Black Dog or bust.

Disappointing Food (hair found in it as well)

I went with my mother to see the Canada Day celebrations on the boardwalk and we decided to find a place to eat lunch with an outdoor patio so we could enjoy the music. We got a table on the upper deck and the view of the lake was very enjoyable. The service was friendly and prompt, though we were brought our appetizers and main dishes together (maybe they were trying to free up the patio quickly). The food was absolutely appalling! The fried calamari was far too greasy and the breading alone made up half the plate. There were also two hairs in the calamari! The waiter offered to replace the dish, but we were too full to eat more. The fish and chips was the worst I've ever had. The fish was deep fried to the extreme such that you could see a pool of oil on top of the fillet. When you cut it, you could see that, like the calamari, the dish was half batter. Even when I removed the outer layer, the fish itself was small in size and far too greasy to be palatable. Only the salad was edible. Bottom line: don't waste your time here because you're just paying for the nice view.

Went for the first time today and absolutely loved it. Gorgeous patio and the service was fantastic and very friendly. Food was delicious and quick. The location is amazing, overlooking the lake and marina and we'll absolutely be returning again.

Unhappy Mother's Day

I recently visited this restaurant for mother's day with a party of 13 and expected the service to be slower than normal because of the size of our party and the day we visited, but after our meal we sat for 45 mins without having our plates cleared or being asked if we want coffee or tea. I ordered the seafood linguine and for $17 I got what tasted like a Michelina's t.v. diner with a couple of baby scallops and a tiger shrimp. The atmosphere was appalling, there were water spots all over the ceiling and wallpaper peeling everywhere. I will never return to this restaurant and suggest you avoid it as well.

My husband and I attended last Saturday evening. Truly a gem. We felt a warm welcome from the moment we entered. It was just getting dark and the sparkle of the lights on the water made for an excellent ambiance. They played the whole Micheal Buble album for us. We had bruschetta, crab cakes and lobster ravioli - enjoyed everything. Without a doubt we'll be back. Down to earth people, great food and prices.

great dinner

We were seated in the bar very nice, and we ordered from the fine dine menu, so we had the option of two menus. By far the best prime I have ever had! The tiramsu house made OH MY GOD the BEST!!! We will be back.

We were there to!!!!

Busy Busy yes but we knew that heading down there. A beer garden, A Foot In Cold Water,there was a least 600 people outside the bar was full and a Wedding. YES very busy they were working very hard. Its was crazy. how can anyone expect top notch service on a day like that!! We still knew this all along how could these people not have seen that!!! We frequent this establishment often and we TOTALLY understood. We had fun regardless anyone there would have known this! How could this dummy not see this!! People like this should stay home.

lots to choose from

Review We dine here often . . . the menu has a broad range of dishes, something for everyone. Should be compared with any fine dinning establishment . The food is delicious with loads of flavour and ohhh theres lots to pick from, some of us had wings that were to die for and a couple of ordered from the dinner menu. . .this is why we dine here, there is always something for everyone. Thanks for offering wireless. Always makes our lunch easy to! This is our all time favourite place to dine in Ajax and haven't found another that can even compare to it!

Great Birthday

We had such a good time! The dining room was prefect, the food was amazing and we had fun with our servers! We moved into the bar and had our drinks there, we will be back for sure!!

WHAT A GREAT BAND!!!!!!

wow WE HAD A BLAST, bring them back, LMT was great! We ordered wings and they were HOT thats the way we li8ke them, thanks for such a great night!!

I can not believe anyone who has put a bad review...

I can not believe anyone who has put a bad review about The Waterfront. The food is amazing, everytime you go. The service is second to none. They make you feel like you are the most important people in the place everytime you go in! Mario is the best! If you haven't been DO NOT listen to any bad reviews. This is a great spot to eat.