radius restaurant

brunch service-- no toast. fancier and fresh offerings. service was deadly slow. one of our two meals was sent back; the restaurant was great about that. the potatoes were terrific. i'd go back, but not for brunch.

fine.... radius has hired lance, chef at rapscallion and what fun. my girlfriend and i ordered the stuffed chicken and the fresh lake perch. delicious and the server actually could tell us the boat that caught the fish on lake erie. love local!

the radius is located in one of the nicer areas of the downtown area, surrounded by a variety of restaurants and pubs.  it is a relative newcomer to the area and is a large and fabulous space.  it consists of two venues, one side is a clean and comfortable space for dining. there is also a very large series of patios on the outside of the building, including a large street side patio and an elevated rooftop patio.

mostly agree with review from golden palate - radius is a decent restaurant trying to be high-end. the food was ok, but i've made better at home, and it's definitely not worth $140 across 4 people with only 4 beers ordered. staff was friendly but slow. the quiet ambiance was a positive note. if they focused on pizza and tapas, and cut the price by 25% they could be onto something.

according to the our lovely server, the resto opened in november and the cafe six months before. the decor features high ceilings with hammered tin tiles, glass tables (with tree trunk bases) and chandeliers. i remember the modest sandwich shop that stood there before so i was impressed with the change! from 10-3 on weekends, radius offers a brunch menu: traditional fare (eggs benedict, french toast) as well as a choice of 3 different frittatas. one has the choice of potatoes, quinoia salad, or a fruit bowl as accompaniment with each brekkie option.

great for brunch and dinner!. i have eaten here on two occasions, once for dinner and once for brunch and both were delicious.

dinner: my partner and i ordered guacamole, mussels (with curry sauce), stuffed mushroom caps and seared tuna. everything was delicious. the portions of the guacamole and mussels were huge! we drank beer and enjoyed the service (i believe it was the bartender serving us, curly-haired girl, very nice). considering she was serving and bartending for the rest of the restaurant, she was like superwoman!

brunch:my partner ordered the beer and bacon caesar, which was delicious (and such a novelty!), i stuck with coffee which was...great coffee. my partner had the sir isaac buchanan benedict which he loved, and i had the smoked salmon benedict. our eggs were lovely and soft-poached (how we ordered them), the hollandaise delicious. our server (dave?) was prompt, and very friendly. we will definitely return to try out their new patio!

delish!. so i felt compelled to come and write a review for radius after last night's dinner- prior to coming, i had only passed by and then read some comments which were mixed. i didn't know what to expect but wow- my sister, cousin and i were blown away by the experience from start to finish. very attentive service, delicious food- i had the braised ribs myself and i would definitely order them again. the dessert of flourless brownies were the perfect finish to the meal and the ambiance through the whole evening was straight up very cool. i highly recommend this place to try, i will definitely be back to hang out. great job guys! totally loved the experience last night.

slow servers.. went there the other day for lunch and sat on the patio. i had been here numerous times before for drink but never actually ate here. when my friend and i arrived we were greeted by a server (hostess?) who told us to sit wherever we like so we chose a nice table in the on the non-bistro side of the patio. after waiting for close to 10 minutes (with several employees walking past our table and not even acknowledging us) a server finally arrived at our table to ask us if we'd like something to drink, my friend ordered a water and i ordered a water and an alcoholic beverage. after probably another 10 minutes our water finally arrived, and the server told me she needed to id me before getting my other drink, fair enough and responsible, however it should have been done at the time of ordering. about 5 minutes later my drink finally arrived, and although delicious, probably would have been quicker for me to simply go to the bar myself. we ordered the dip trio and a salad, both which came quickly and at the same time. the food was nothing exceptional, and slightly over priced in my opinion for what you get, however all the drinks we had throughout our lunch were delicious. simply put, the service there is bad. i expected somewhere like this to have incredible service and when it didnt i was highly disappointed. i would like to note however that all the employees were very nice and no one was rude, our server actually apologized for taking so long. in the end, if you are looking for somewhere in the area that has a great selection of beers and mixed drinks, i would definitely suggest radius (and sitting at the bar/ordering directly from there yourself) but as far as food and service goes, i would not suggest this place for a lunch date.

tuesday june 4, 2013. on the patio. early evening. 3 light draft beers $21.19 incl tax but not tip. you have got to be kidding. total customers inside & out possibly 20-25. service can only be kindly described as extremely slow to non-existant. some clientele this evening can best be described as tattooed freaks with one in particualar arriving on a skateboard and appeared to be coming down from his latest injection of fun, if his total body twitching & jerking was any indication. if being gouged and watching some of hamiltons underbelly is your idea of a good night out, i'd highly recommend this place.

disappointing. went for dinner last night with a friend and while we loved the decor of the building, we were disappointed in the food selection and the quality of the food considering the price. when we inquired about a daily special, we were told no, that a new chef was on board with a new menu featuring pizza and more casual food items in the works. i found that a little disconcerting given that the cafe has been open for only a short time.

we ordered the cedar plank salmon which came with grill marks and no smokey flavour which led me to suspect that it had been grilled and not planked at all. we had to request bread and then noted on our bill that we had been charged $3.00 for four small slices of plain white bread. i thought the charge was cheap and tacky especially since it is not noted on the menu.

when i spoke to the manager his response was that many restaurants charge for the bread basket ( that's not my experience) and while he offered to remove it from the bill, his whole demeanour was arrogant ...i felt he thought my objection was just a big fuss.

i don't plan to go back.

went to radius a few days ago for dinner and i thoroughly enjoyed my entire meal. we had the two beef skewers to start. they were cooked exactly how i like them. they were super tender and not over cooked. the skewers were severed with three sauces: creamy horseradish, a salsa, and an oil based sauce. i loved the first two but the last one was alright. i got the beet salad for my dinner and had an order of garlic shrimp added to it. the garlic shrimp were honestly the best garlic shrimp i have ever had. i just wish there were more then three! they were little heavy handed on the dressing but it was still delicious. my fiancé had the chicken and substituted the mashed potatoes for quinoa. he enjoyed his meal and didn't leave a morsel on his plate. our waitress was extremely polite and engaging. she was helpful and answered all the questions we had and made no fuss about substitutions.

i would say that radius is quite pricey though. our meal came to around $85 at the end of the day. radius isn't a place i will go to often due to the price, but we will definitely make it our stop for special occasions.


-----16 sep, 2012-----

the food and drinks are delicious. i love the atmosphere and the staff is very friendly. i am glad to have such a unique place in my neighborhood.

disaster. clearly owner and staff trying to be more than they truly are capable of. food was cold bland and completely unpalatable. overpriced food. will ensure everyone knows not worth the drive. pasta was oily and overcooked. cake was dry and stale, thankful for water to try and wash everything down.....too bad can't wash away this lame place with arrogant owners/managers

mediocre food, good service and atmosphere. i was really excited to try radius- love the philosophy, love the neighbourhood, cool building etc.

bottom line: the food was mostly "fine" but not worth the (relatively) expensive prices. a couple of hits (pasta puttanesca and flourless brownies) and a couple of misses (mushroom caps and margaritas), but mostly just mediocre.

positives: the atmosphere and decor is great- really beautiful surroundings and cool vibe. our server was polite, prompt, and professional. the flourless brownie was amazing- very decadent and delicious!

negatives: the food was really just ok..... for the price, it was not satisfactory. i had the cedar plank salmon. salmon was slightly overdone and not that hot, quinoa side was bland (no real spices or anything to speak of). the carrot and snow peas were overly buttery. the whole thing was definitely edible, but not worth the price. the only entree to get a rave review was the pasta puttanesca. flatiron steak and swordfish special were both described as "fine". for appetizers we had crab cakes (boring), stuffed mushroom caps (i didn't try them but apparently they were not very good) and a caesar salad (good).

i'll try radius again in a few months- i love the concept and i really want them to succeed, but so far, just not up to snuff.

not worth it. both the cafe and the restaurant are lovely, well decorated spaces with great ambiance, but don't make the high prices for inferior food and poor service worth it.
after several decent experiences at the cafe (decent food, lots of selection, and passable if overpriced coffee) we thought we would try the restaurant for their advertised brunch. nobody was at the hostess stand where we waited for a few minutes before entering the restaurant. 2 waitresses were chatting at the back of the room, 2 more loitering at the bar on the upper level. our food was disappointing: my frittata was too salty (and too big as well, not a big deal, but much larger than my companions meals), the eggs in the benedict were neither poached as is traditional or soft boiled as indicated on the menu and the hollandaise was greenish. the 'pb&j stuffed french toast' was just two slices of slender french toast used as a sandwich with a thin spread of peanut butter and jam in between. for $12. our bill came to $50 for three entrees and one coffee (the coffee prices being twice what they charge in the adjoining cafe). for that price you could have a much better meal at either jack & lois or the harbour diner, with better service and less pretension.
radius urban casual dining feels like a vastly inferior bread bar rip-off. i would suggest anyone looking for a nice meal in a similar ambiance to try the real thing instead.

disgusting overpriced microwaved breakfast sandwich. i have been here a few times for coffee and they typically have good expresso, however the menu items are overpriced and poorly executed. the breakfast sandwich was over 5 dollars for a greasy premade sandwich which was obviously microwaved as it appeared faster then the coffee. my partner had a muffin which came in a tacky plastic containing giving the impression that we were buying a store bought muffin. further, customer service sadly lacking. interior design drab and black, i think ths cafe is after the business lunch crowd however quality and service is lacking.