jazz bistro

we enjoyed the performance at thisplacelast night. the band was super loud but the hostess kept telling people to be quiet... apparently theplacewas fully booked, but we were told on the phone that you can't make reservations.
it was amazing that nothing was offered on the side to a total of 12 drinks. not even beer nuts.
expensive for what they are offering.

right located in front of dundas square, thisplaceremind jazz places of chicago. live bands have a good stage in the middle . almost any table on 1st or 2nd floor is near the band. recommend.

terrible. will not return. decided to come to this restaurant for a birthday dinner and was very disappointed with the staff, service, and food. the hostess was extremely rude to me and my guests. we called to make a reservation and had to wait 30 minutes past our original time slot. she said she has space for only two of us to sit at the bar and the others could wait outside. we finally got a table and it took forever toplacean order, get cutlery, and get our drinks. appetizers were mediocre. it then took another 40 minutes to get our entrees after watching all the tables beside ours get theirs far before ours. 2 dishes came out first and the other 2 came out five minutes later. needless to say, our food got cold waiting. the food was missing garnish and ingredients listed on the menu. i asked for the missing sauce and the waiter replied with "what do you want with it?" hello? the sauce that it said it came with on the menu! furthermore, the food was bland and boring. not worth the price. 
before the band started, the hostess took the mic and was like "hello, can everyone stop talking? hello? please pay attention to the musicians and not talk" rude! this is not how you address your guests!
awful experience. will not return to this restaurant again.

we stopped here for dinner after shopping at the eaton center. we both enjoy jazz and thought this would be a coolplaceto check out. the atmosphere is definitely very cool. unfortunately we were too early to catch the actual live show that night but there was some live piano music going on while we ate, which was nice.

we both agreed that the food was really good but they don't bring it up to that next level. i tried the dinosaur kale salad (really nice with a lemony dressing) and butternut squash risotto (the wild mushrooms were tasty). mr. crayon tried the caesar salad and bistro burger. all the food was good, nothing wrong with anything, we just agreed it's not the kind ofplaceyou go to for incredible food. it's more about the atmosphere.

the service was okay. our water and wine glasses were always full during our meal. it did taper off a little at the end while we were waiting for the bill. and unfortunately we were seated directly beside the server station where all the servers were inputting their orders and huddling around chatting to each other. that really took away from the romance of the atmosphere. since there was almost always at least one person hovering around there, we couldn't really talk about anything private or personal.

over all, based on this one experience, i would say thisplaceis cool and i would go back to watch some live jazz and drink wine, but i can't give as high of a rating as i would like because our visit could have been a little better.

i've been known to make crazy mistakes like show up to a party on the wrong day.  yesterday, it sort of happened again.two of my girlfriends and i planned on a sunday brunch before seeing a 1:30p show at a theatre in downtown toronto. being the only one of the three who actually lives in the city, i chose a hot spot (according to on-line reviews) just across the street from the theatre. i'd never been but had always heard about it. i was excited to go.i showed up a bit early at the restaurant. it was a very coolplacewith a baby grand piano and a small stage, where a beautiful pianist was warming up for what i found out was to be a small jazz performance during sunday brunch. i thought to myself that i couldn't have picked a cooler place!   i was satisfied with my choice, sat down at a table for 4 and ordered a coffee and enjoyed the mellow tunes from the performer.it wasn't like my 2 girlfriends to be late. but hey, we all have kids and they were coming from out of town, so i sat back, sipped coffee and also did a little people-watching.then my cell phone rang.yup. turns out i was at the wrong restaurant.my girlfriends had been waiting for me for about 10 minutes at the restaurant next door.i ran to theplacenext door and waded through dozens of people in a line-up that was out the door. i found my two friends at the front of the line and we all looked at each other and said: "let's get out of here."i brought them over to theplacei had ordered my coffee at, which is called the jazz bistro.it was one of my better mistakes.live jazz, fantastic décor, cool and classy ambience (like jazz music itself), and delicious brunch? what more can three hungry, theatre-ready gals ask for?the waiter knew. "mimosa, anyone?"a very smiley and handsome server brought us a bunch appetizer plate of warm, homemade mini-scones and whipped butter. the girls and i sat back, chatted about life and enjoyed what has now become one of my favourite brunch spots in toronto.at this time of day, the bistro offers their brunch menu, so naturally, i ordered my favourite brunch plate - eggs benedict. i always say that it's the hollandaise sauce that makes the benny and well, jazz bistro delivered. the sauce was creamy, a perfect yellow and had just the perfect amount of tang and consistency. the cuts of peameal bacon were thick and juicy. i savoured every delicious bite, along with the potato gallette and salad that came with it. it was a very generous portion that held me over until dinnertime later that evening.one of my friends ordered the baked omelette (with fine herbs, asperagus and goat cheese). it looked like a gorgeous quiche (see the photo). my other friend ordered the house-cured peameal bacon and roasted chicken on a kaiser, sans kaiser. (she saved her daily intake of carbs for the mini-scones) even without the bun, her brunch looked beautiful and tasty on her plate.i'm so glad that i made the mistake of going to the "wrong" place. i would never have known about the jazz bistro otherwise.i want to go back.