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Toronto is a wasteland for "fine" dining...

post #1 of 48
8/15/09 at 2:23am
Thread Starter 
Well I'm ready to boil over. I've searched high and low and I cannot find one restaurant in Toronto that actually requires even the slightest bit of formal dress for dinner. I looked for two hours online for a restaurant in Toronto that required a jacket and not one of them did, every single one was some stupid variation of casual, "business casual", "social casual", "smart casual". I looked at all 10 of TOs top-rated restaurants as well and nothing. I know eating has nothing to do with how you are dressed, but it would be nice to actually attend somewhere with folks that put in some effort not to look like slobs and/or tourists. Is it unreasonable to ask for such a restaurant? Do people still dress nice for dinner anywhere these days?
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post #2 of 48
8/15/09 at 2:25am
Simple solution: go to Montreal. It's nicer overall.
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post #3 of 48
8/15/09 at 2:37am
I'd never be caught dead in an uppity restaurant that requires formal dress before I'm admitted. There are a million other better restaurants that do not require that kind of bullshit.
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post #4 of 48
8/15/09 at 2:51am
Thread Starter 
I should have been more clear, I'm not looking for a place that actually "requires" a jacket, where they are going to stop you at the door if you don't have one, but it would be nice to dine amongst some folks that actually take the time to dress decently.

I just used the dress code requirements as an indicator of what people are wearing there. I've also been to most of them and people don't even follow through on the minimums.
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post #5 of 48
8/15/09 at 2:56am
Strictly enforced dress codes at the door is for clubs & fetish bars...not restaurants. And as far as I can tell, nobody ever showed up at Splendido in their flip flops.

What's the point....it's 1:30 am drunken rant.
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post #6 of 48
8/15/09 at 7:22am
I usually make it a point to walk into one of the many gourmet dining venues around my college campus (Wendy's, McDonald's, Arby's) in a finely tailored bespoke suit with my chin held high and chest puffed out. After I pointedly enter the restaurant, I demand that I be seated and look down on the sniveling rodents that are my peers, and ask to speak with the chef. After giving him a glare of absolute superiority that says "whatever you have isn't good enough" I am presented with a Big Mac. I then proceed to take one bite, spit it out on the nearest person wearing something from American Eagle, shout in protest at the lousy quality of food and company, then storm out of the establishment whilst shouting "My review will not be kind!."

But seriously,
Why not just find a nice restaurant, throw on your tailcoat, and just not care how everyone else is dressed? Very few restaurants nowadays will meet your expectations as far as dress codes. Even at the finer restaurants in San Diego, I've seen less than appropriate dress by some of the guests, but what does it matter? They eat, the restaurant gets their money, and all is well. Best not to worry yourself with dress codes but the quality of food.
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post #7 of 48
8/15/09 at 8:49am
Sorry, find another venue where you can play dress-up.
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post #8 of 48
8/15/09 at 10:26am
I saw a guy at Canoe in bad Mom jeans and an orange sweatshirt, happy as a lark. The sommelier and I chatted about dress code. No more. Cannot turn patrons away $$$.

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post #9 of 48
8/15/09 at 10:39am
Bring some take-out to the opera. That should do the trick.
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post #10 of 48
8/15/09 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by audiophilia View Post
I saw a guy at Canoe in bad Mom jeans and an orange sweatshirt, happy as a lark. The sommelier and I chatted about dress code. No more. Cannot turn patrons away $$$.


Yes, this is what I'm talking about. No one cares anymore.

As for Splendido I have yet to go, they are my last resort I guess.
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post #11 of 48
8/15/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkNWorn View Post
I'd never be caught dead in an uppity restaurant that requires formal dress before I'm admitted. There are a million other better restaurants that do not require that kind of bullshit.

Sorry to tell you but many of the world's best restaurants require a jacket.
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post #12 of 48
8/15/09 at 11:34am
why do you even need to dress up to go to a restaurant,casual wear is more than enough.In a recession you expect a restaurant to be strict on dress code?.ALOT of businesses are hanging on by a thread now any customer is a good customer.
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post #13 of 48
8/15/09 at 11:47am
Quote:
No one cares anymore.

Cares about what? Going out for dinner dressed fashionably or being stylish? Of course they do.
Establishments aren't concerned with patrons as part of the overall dining experience? Of course they are.

Along with the economics of not turning away paying customers and bad karma of insulting people, mandating "stylish" is no longer as simple as requiring a jacket & tie. Some of the least attractively dressed people I see are actually wearing a jacket & tie.

The old places that used to enforce the jacket & tie, used to give those patrons who showed up without a "house" jacket & tie, where upon they looked & felt like an idiot. Defeated the entire point...but hey, they were wearing a jacket & tie.

Other patrons in a restaurant can indeed affect your enjoyment by behaving obnoxiously, but not by what they are wearing. In fact, being at a table with someone negatively commenting on the attire of the other patrons would qualify as obnoxious.

If you want to go somewhere and be confident that everyone is attired appropriately, go to a "black tie" affair.
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post #14 of 48
8/15/09 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by freshcutgrass View Post
Cares about what? Going out for dinner dressed fashionably or being stylish? Of course they do.
Establishments aren't concerned with patrons as part of the overall dining experience? Of course they are.

Along with the economics of not turning away paying customers and bad karma of insulting people, mandating "stylish" is no longer as simple as requiring a jacket & tie. Some of the least attractively dressed people I see are actually wearing a jacket & tie.

The old places that used to enforce the jacket & tie, used to give those patrons who showed up without a "house" jacket & tie, where upon they looked & felt like an idiot. Defeated the entire point...but hey, they were wearing a jacket & tie.

Other patrons in a restaurant can indeed affect your enjoyment by behaving obnoxiously, but not by what they are wearing. In fact, being at a table with someone negatively commenting on the attire of the other patrons would qualify as obnoxious.

If you want to go somewhere and be confident that everyone is attired appropriately, go to a "black tie" affair.

Wow, a little f%^king touchy are we? Did you get booted out of an Applebee's recently for wearing a flip-flop/fanny pack combo? I hardly think it is unreasonable in a city of 5 million people to expect at least a handful of restaurants to have a dress code where you can dine civily. Some CRAZY people like to get dressed up once in a while and go out with their wife/gf, friends etc - and there are not a lot of places other than restaurants to do that. And for the OP, you might as well forget it...getting dressed up in Canada means wearing your best running shoes/hockey jersey combo, complete with your most prized baseball cap.
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post #15 of 48
8/15/09 at 1:03pm
Quote:
getting dressed up in Canada means wearing your best running shoes/hockey jersey combo, complete with your most prized baseball cap.

Your crassness is beneath responding to.
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