Universal Grill - Menu

Have you been here several times with my boyfriend and his parents love restaurant however I find it to be very bland-normative / very mediocre. Considering it... read more Have you been here several times with my boyfriend and his parents love restaurant however I find it to be very bland-normative / very mediocre. Considering it is so mediocre the locations isn't wonderful and the booths are always cramp it is surprising to find the prices to be inflated like 30% higher than the restaurants in the area.Thankfully there's a diamond in the rough in a young hostess/server who is very charismatic and I would call a total superstar definitely makes the universal grill experience worth it.

I went with two friends to this neighbourhood diner. I checked the menu online and it looked appetizing. I booked a table for three, arrived on time at 7:45 pm.... read more I went with two friends to this neighbourhood diner. I checked the menu online and it looked appetizing. I booked a table for three, arrived on time at 7:45 pm. I was surprised that the place looked so empty on a Saturday night, with half a dozen tables filled with customers. I was greeted by a friendly woman. I told her that it was our first time there, and asked her for a recommendation. She said that ribs are one of the major attractions so I told her that I would try them. My friends often share meals so I told the server that I wanted a separate bill for my food, which I expected to cost more. She replied that they have an old cash register so can't do that. We were all perplexed and told her that, but she said that she had a calculator and would be able to settle things that way. I thought nothing more of it until we asked for our bill. I asked for her help in determining my portion. She handed me a calculator and said: "It's not my job to calculate your portion of the bill." My friends and were aghast. A server has never refused to calculate a bill when people are dividing the costs. It is common practice -- everywhere. We did our own calculations, which may or may not have been correct considering that she hadn't included the HST. When she came back with the credit card machine, she said we could not use two cards. She explained: "One of you will have to pay the other cash for your portion." We were apoplectic. I said: "You would have had to give me my own bill if I had sat at the counter by myself and talked across the restaurant to my friends. Would you have preferred that we eat our dinner that way? Why will you not just give me a separate bill and let me pay it by credit card?" She replied that she had explained to me that I would not get a separate bill when I ordered my food. I asked her: "Would you have preferred me to leave the restaurant then and not eat here once I learned that you don't allow patrons to sit at the same table and pay separately?" She refrained from answering, but finally agreed to allow me to pay my portion of the bill on my credit card. Given how she treated us, I refrained from giving her a tip -- the first time in my life that I have not tipped a server. One could hardly reward her for turning our night out into such an unpleasant evening.Just last week, I went out with two friends to Bairrada Churrasqueira Grill on College. We told the server that we'd need three separate bills when we ordered our food. "No problem," she said with a smile, and gave them to us at the end of the excellent meal -- with another smile. Each of us paid by credit card. That's how it usually works, wherever we go. Servers typically understand the different way people order and pay for their meals, accommodating customers without the machinations this server put us through. The absence of customer service at Universal Grill is staggering, and clearly, they don't care about our business. Given that there are plenty of fabulous restaurants in Toronto who serve their customers without this kind of ordeal, they won't be seeing my friends or me there again -- nor anyone in our circle once they hear of how we were treated.