Gare de l'Est

Great experience on first visit. Impressive brunch!

Not only was the food incredible, but the service was impeccable. From the moment we walked in, til the last drop of espresso we were well attended to and cared for (which is not easy when it's a full restaurant and you're taking care of a table of 7 people ordered multiple courses).

I would highly recommend adding Gare de l'Est to your usual Toronto dining rotation--you won't be disappointed by a single bite.

Lovely spot - wonderful staff - food was really good! I chose the oysters (delicious) and the traditional steak-frites (a tasty choice). I will definitely go back!

We were not impressed with the menu - very basic Bistro fare. The prices are steep, quality is mediocre. Service was apologetic, understandably so. I am reminded of a tourist trap in Paris we visited...nothing special, not good value.

While we we seated, waiting for service, a prediction was made that all restaurants would suffer losses due the pandemic: in this case, that wouldn't be the deciding factor.

We have had so many great meals here in the past but we did not have a great experience this past visit. The food took too long and the service was not up to par with previous experiences.

Lovely restaurant next to the Crow's Nest theatre. Good for pre-show dinner or, dinner any time. The fish was particularly good and the house white wine excellent

Very quiet nice atmosphere (although it was Sunday evening). Great food. Good experience all around.

Delicious, well prepared, simple dishes. Lovely ambience. Observant staff.

Would absolutely recommend Gare de l'Est! Had the Rainbow trout an it was excellent. Lots of slivered almonds for the beans. Serving size was perfect!

Very handy for before or after theatre (Crow's Theatre). Lovely spot, great service and the food was very good. Would definitely return!

We did not like one of the items that we chose very much, and were thrilled to be listened to and offered a free drink. That seemed like a very good way to acknowledge our discontent, and excellent customer service.
We loved our other choice and both of our wine choices, and will definitely go again.

Servers kept trying to take our plates despite food still on them. Extreme salt use (and I like salt) - too salty for me. Heard good things about the mussels. What arrived was a smallish plate of shrivelled, rubbery simulation of what mussels should be.

Food was delicious. Service was excellent. Started off quiet but as restaurant got busier, it became quite difficult to hear my dining companion

The French bistro vibe is inviting. The food is well prepared and delicious. Service is attentive and efficient- especially for pre-theatre dining. The wine list by the glass is reasonable, but not extensive.

Last time I went to this restaurant my experience with the food was beyond expectations hence why I booked this restaurant for the Valentine’s Day dinner this year. But the experience unfortunately was very disappointing to say the least.

Apart main course of the cod and the artichoke heart vegetarian option was mediocre and not something you would expect from a fine dinning establishment like Gare de l’Est. And not sure what the chefs were thinking when they served the cold sourdough bread (and charged you $5) as an appetizer. People don’t want to spend $200+ for a meal like this. It felt like the idea of the night was to attract as many couples as possible for Valentine’s Day to make a profit but yet cared less whether the patrons would like the meals or not.

The only positive thing about the experience apart from the great desert was the service of our server which was exceptional as he went above and beyond.

My husband and I went for Valentine’s Day! The menu was great the food was wonderful the dessert was a little bit of a let down in comparison to the entire meal! The restaurant decor is great the environment was wonderful! Service was good, a little slow towards the end of the meal and we were left asking for a coffee at the end. It all in all good is great!

We enjoyed a marvelous time over dinner at Gare de l'Est on Valentines Day. Every aspect of the evening was first rate: the service, the menu, the presentation. We loved the entire experience!

Attentive but not overbearing service and delicious food!

Nice place, good service, great food. It was our first time and we will be going back. The menu had some great classics on it.

Lovely way to start an evening at the theatre. Service was perfect and we were finished in lots of time for curtain call.

Chef Deron and the Gare de L'Est staff always provide excellent food, service, and ambiance. Our favourite is the seafood platter but you can't go wrong with any of the plates. Thank you.

My first visit and I will definitely go again. Coffee was exceptional and the brunch was also excellent with a unique number of options.

Reliably great food and great value. Love this place.

Servers need to told to wait to remove plates until the last person is finished at this level of fine dining
I understand if an American chain needs training but you should know the etiquette

Love this place!

It’s one of my favorite place to go for diner. Our table was too close to the sliding doors to the theatre so we got chills every time someone came in or our.
Great server who spoke French.
Great food and great ambiance .
Tables are too close together however .

I am most pleased by the location right beside a first class theatre which made the occasion memorable. The meal was excellent but also the staff was very courteous and professional. For me this is one of the better places in Toronto to have a complete evening out.

We always have a great time at GDL. Wonderful food, wonderful service, and we got to our play at the Crowsnest with time to spare.

I enjoyed our visit. The food was very good. The greeting by the hostess was warm and welcoming. The decor was lovely and being right next to the theatre was so convenient!

The hostess was warm and welcoming, our waitress was lovely. A few small issues with the service: we would have liked to have been offered the pre theatre menu along with the regular menu, and the length of time it took to get our entrees after our appetizers. I believe this was because of how busy the kitchen was with the pre-theatre crowd.

I did find the noise level a bit high.

Very enjoyable bistro fare with a congenial and stylish ambiance. Great for pre-theatre or as a neighborhood haunt.

Great location if you are going to the theatre.
Lighting makes it difficult to read the menu.
Mussels were very salty.
Very good service.
It's expensive.

Enjoyable evening prior to theatre at Crow's.
Food and service excellent. They were very conscious of us getting out on time.
Brad Thomas

French onion soup was all bread and looked like wonder bread that hadn’t been toasted. Manager said that was the way it was supposed to be. Mussels were very salty. Couldn’t enjoy them. Server was good.

Love love love this place

The trout is my new favourite
Brilliant staff, who make sure you make the curtain at Crows....

Server disdainful and rude. I ordered in French. Server did not acknowledge order, instead gave me a disdainful look. Gave him the benefit of the doubt, i repeated my order in English, still no acknowledgement but the disdaining look continued. Finally I said, is it my French you object to or can you not hear me sir. Finally he shut down the look in his face, did not acknowledge anything, just moved on. I did not know until my order arrived if I would receive what I ordered. Uncomfortable.
The people at my table commented on the behavior of the server, how inappropriate his manner, how patronizing.

I visit your Bistro for the quality of the food and because your servers do not say”Hi, my name is...”

Service is a profession, it is sad you have at least one server with such a weak ego structure he needs to distain a customer. It was unpleasant, was a discordant note in the otherwise pleasant ambiance, and sad that by belittling me, he made himself so small and unprofessional.

Great chicken and salad and wine was remarkable. Service was enthusiastic and efficient and friendly. A bit loud but nothing you can't live with and still enjoy conversation.

The quiche was amazing - a very large portion. Staff were very helpful and kind. Our dad found the ambient noise made it a bit hard to hear and no arms on chairs make transfer from his walker difficult.

As always, excellent food, service, ambience and a well thought out wine list.
I’ve never been disappointed here.

This is one of my favourite French restaurants in Toronto, so I was pretty disappointed when we invited our family here for a Christmas dinner and received service riddled with unapologetic blunders (wrong drink order, a side dish that came at the end of our meal), an ambiance of shouting kitchen staff and a paper table cloth that cheapened the experience and caused multiple paper cuts!

You must come here to eat the brunch scones which are house made and almost a cross between a croissant and a scone. They come with a pot of butter and are obsession worthy. The chicken liver pate that is an option with the meat and cheese board is probably the best pate I've had in the city. Really nice eggs benny, solid brunch, attentive and lovely service.