The latest restaurant buzz, including what’s opening, what’s closing, and where to eat, drink and be seen

32 Comments

1 2 3 Next »

Comment on this post

1. It’s not the neighbourhood, it’s Le Gourmand’s inconsistent and spotty service. While their gourmet sandwiches are delicious, they are not worth a waitress that takes half an hour to drop it by your table. I live in the neighbourhood and tried going here on numerous occasions. Hopefully they will learn something from this!

   January 28, 2010 at 5:43 pm | by Christine

2. He says, “…people bought “half-a-million-dollar condos, so they can’t afford to come buy their $3 coffees in the morning.” Maybe, but that hasn’t stopped all the people I see going in and out of the Starbucks right across from them…

   I’ll miss their pastries and food, but I have got to agree with Christine about the inconsistent and spotty service.

   January 28, 2010 at 6:39 pm | by M

3. I’m a regular at LG2 (Yonge/Bloor) and can only say good things about it. The service is good and the cookies are indeed some of the best in the city.

   The regular-brew coffee (Black Gold!) is cheaper than Starbucks – and tastes MUCH better, as well. The $3 coffee mentioned above is the specialty coffee (lattes, cappucinos, etc).

   LG3 suffered due stiff competition from Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and The Keg – all located next door.

   January 28, 2010 at 8:46 pm | by P

4. Quel dommage!

   I’ve been to the other Le Gourmand’s many times & really enjoy them. I was excited when this one opened in my neighbourhood, but the poor service stopped me from going back.

   I agree, their coffee & cookies are great.

   January 29, 2010 at 10:12 am | by Gabby

5. Buddy can say that the residents didnt have money, but I worked across the street and stopped going because of the chronic disorg. I’m now closer to the one at Y/B, and think the staff there varies from clued out, to stoned to just rude. It is only the lack of other decent outlets at Y/B that keeps me going back.

   January 29, 2010 at 11:07 am | by Bob Loblaw

6. I live in those condos and it’s very sad that they closed. Their coffee is cheaper than SBucks and waaaay better (try the Americano).

   Milton, you’re sooooo wrong. The problem wasn’t the coffee, and I certainly don’t think the residents were cheap. It was that you ran a full-service restaurant and didn’t tell anyone. If you walked by it you would just think it’s a coffee shop; nobody in the city really knew the difference between LG3 and the other locations. Nobody in this thread or the article said anything about the fact that LG3 had a gourmet full dinner service. The next time maybe you should try some proper marketing and maybe try to understand your customers. It might work better than insulting us by calling us cheap.

   January 29, 2010 at 1:36 pm | by S

7. It is not a surprise that they closed in a neighbourhood with so many lunch options – with the lack of service, there were other places to go. You always had to keep an eye on your order because chaos reigned behind the counter – either they didn’t remember what you ordered, sold it to someone else or put it on a plate when it was ordered to go. Staff were either in the way and unhelpful or had major attitude. There is no excuse for making customers stand in line for 15 minutes for a ready-made sandwich or rolling your eyes when a customer asks to pay with a debit card. This closure was due to poor management and lack of customer service, not clientele.

   January 29, 2010 at 1:44 pm | by Naomi

8. They closed because service was abismal. Loved the food but left several times because I couldn’t wait any longer to pay for sandwhich was sitting at cash!

   The staff didn’t have a clue how to run or work in this restaurant….

   January 29, 2010 at 2:47 pm | by Number 9

9. It’s a shame that Mr. Nunes blames customers for his restaurant’s closing. The format of the restaurant was to redesign itself several times a day – breakfast cafe, quick lunch, dinner takeout, high end (then midrange) dinner, late evening bar. Confusing, and who knew! And yes the service was a big problem.

   As for the condo dwellers’ willingness to buy coffee in the morning – what an insult. I am one of those condo dwellers, and have been making my own lattes on a high quality machine for longer than Mr. Nunes has been in business. Why would I go out for it? And even if I wasn’t a fanatic, I would find it economically irrational to subsidize his business every day (or Starbucks’ next door). Besides, the vaunted LG3 coffee was made in a fully automatic machine (push a button and it comes out measured). This is espresso for dummies and untrusted staff, not the technology for a barista who has creative control.

   As an occasional customer of le Gourmand’s other locations (where they have, at least on Spadina, a real espresso machine), I was excited when the cafe opened. With this comment, Mr. Nunes will make me think twice about going back to those places.

   January 30, 2010 at 8:33 am | by Coffee geek

10. When I heard that LG3 had closed I was really sad – I loved their brunches and chocolate bombs. But after reading this article and being called cheap because as a resident I didn’t go buy his coffee everyday, I’m no longer upset.
    Instead of calling us cheap, Mr Nunes should do some introspection on what really went wrong. While the staff were sweet, they were incompetent and slow. The dinners were hit or miss.
    We went in one afternoon to ask about catering for 50 people and after a 10 minute wait were told to come back in the morning when a manager was around. Usually when I go to a restaurant and say ‘food for 50 people’ – I’m assured of a better and more enthusiastic reaction than that. LG3, your chocolate bombs will be missed but your attitude won’t.

    January 31, 2010 at 11:11 am | by Arti

11. I frequent the Spadina location and the service is great, but the systems sometimes are frustrating to new people. I wonder if this may have played a role. For example, at the Spadina location there is a big sign above the cash that says ‘Order Here’. In the morning, you don’t order there at all. But sometimes you do. On weekends its a crapshoot. They just need to get some consistent and predictable processes to build new clientele. Good food, poor business practices.

    February 2, 2010 at 10:47 am | by smAsh

12. Oh well, I did like the food, and got lucky with the service there, but I do agreed that this restaurant may be lack of marketing and service consistency. I think if u live in the neighhood, u do want to live a little, and the $3 for a coffee is an affordable luxury, otherwise, one would not choose this neighbourhood? Mr. Nunes may need some PR training. The way he said it- its like you bought a Rolls-Royce and could not afford the valet parking, but I am sure he is better than portraite here, good luck in the next location. I would come back as everyone deserve a second chance.

    February 2, 2010 at 12:10 pm | by jojo

13. This a.m. the Y/B location was completely out of coffee cups.

    Perhaps Mr Nunes could address this little glitch

    February 3, 2010 at 2:43 pm | by kevin phillips bong

14. Two weeks ago I ordered a salad and there was no lettuce. There are four grocery stores within a five minute walk which I am certain carry lettuce I took someone for breakfast and was told there was no bread to make french toast. I ordered coffee to go and they had run out of lids which I was told after I paid for the coffee…..and people wonder why they closed!

    February 4, 2010 at 1:03 am | by gillian

15. Wow,
    service sounds very bad there.
    I remember going to a restaurant in ottawa and ordering a soup to go and they did not have any bowls..but this was not a take out place and not really an item you should get to go (was a tortilla chicken soup).
    This restaurant I went to, the server actually went to a bagel shop nearby to ask for a soup container for me!
    He should take notes from that place.

    February 4, 2010 at 8:45 pm | by Miriam Ottawa

1 2 3 Next »

Follow Toronto Life on Twitter, Facebook and via RSS

Most shared stories today