carlow1

just a thought wandering around my head--- if we were in a cafe for a coffee&muffin served by a waitress/waiter, is the 15% still expected here( in toronto)---i dont intend tipping for every little reason-- i realise that these staff probaly depend on tips to " bump " up a low wage but my motto is tips are for v good service and not for some grumpy drawers to slam my coffee on the table with an attitude!!!!!!!!!!

BAK

For the most part in Toronto, if you want coffee and a muffin, you'll probably get these by walking over to a counter in a Starbucks, a Tim Hortons, a Timthy's, or a Second Cup, telling someonbe behind the counter what kind of coffee you want, and pointing out the muffin, piece of cake, giant coookie, donut, or whatever it is you want.

Then someone will ask you for money, and usually by the time you've paid, you'll be handed a plate or tray with your pastry (or a bag if you are taking it away)and you'll carry your food to your choice of table.

Often there's a box near the cash register and in front of the customer, where you can, if you feel so inclined, drop in some money as a tip. The staff divide up the loot, so you are not tipping any particular person.

As I sit here in downtown Toronto lookng out my window, I can';t think of anywhere I'd be seated at a table and a waiter or waitress would come and take my coffee and muffin order, other than a genuine restaurant. And in a genuine restaurant "regular" tipping is the normal procedure.

And, unless you're in a fancy hotel restaurant where they take pride in the kitchen, such as the dining rooms of hotels, I think as a general rule you'll get better muffins at the coffee chains mentioned above than you will in a restaurant. I dpon't each much of this stuff, but when I want a treat it is often a large chocolate chip cookie or a cranberry muffin at Starbucks.

Tim Horton's makes excellent donuts, in a wide variety of flavors and in cake and yeast style. Krispy Creme is, I belive, on your side of the ocean too, but they are not served in the good coffee chains, and are too sweet anyway.

As you move around Toronto, you'll see lots of Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Timpthy's, and Second Cips, which are, too me, the top four, all with good (TH) to excellent (the others) coffee, and all have clean washrooms, valuable to tourists.

Starbucks has a variety of $1 kids drinks, which may or may not be mentioned on the menu board. A kid's hot chocolate, for one dollar, is a good treat and made just as carefully as a grownup expensive drink.

Finally, I rarely tip at the counter, unless there's just a few cents change, and yet I am welcomed back in my neighborhood Starbuck's and Second Cup, where, at both, they know my order before I speak.

BAK

HogtownJim

Hello:

You would typically buy coffee/tea and muffin from Starbucks, Timothys, Second Cup or Tim Hortons which are
self service type of operations.

Not everyone tips at these type of places but tips are appreciated.

Also, be aware that when it comes to restaurants, Toronto is not a
24X7 city. Most restaurants close at 10 sharp on weekdays and 10 or 11 on Friday and Saturday. Plan to be at the restaurant 30 minutes before closing to be assured service.

If you plan do dine out upon arrival, I would stop at the hotel and head out for dinner.

The Bloor Street Diner at Bay and Bloor has a fixed price menu for about $23 a plate. There is a good bookstore and cinema in the same building. I'd then walk back down Bloor to Church and south to your hotel.

For lunch, try Whole Foods in Hazelton Lanes (Yorkville and Avenue Road) for organic prepared foods such as soups, salads etc and eat them at the food store. A bit pricey but quite delicious.

My favourite Irish pub is P.J. Obrien
at 39 Colborne St which just south of Church and King.

There is also a restaurant called the
Croissant Tree at 625 Church - have not been there.

BAK

Thinkingmore about restaurants kids would enjoy and remember.

Yamato at 18 Belair is very inexpensive in Canadian terms at lunch, and is a flashing knives type japanese restaurant, where you sit beside a grill and the chef cooks your food right in front of you.

You get soup to drrink right out of the bowl, a bowl of rice, and then some sort of meat and vegetables. Prices range from around 7 to 10 per main course, including the soup and the rice.

The ingredients are high quality, and it is fun to watch the chef at work.

To get to Belair: First, get to Bloor and Yonge.

Walk west on the north side of Bloor Street West, cross Bay Street, keep walking along Bloor to the Harry Rosen mens' wear store. That's Belair. Turn right/north and walk a block and a half, crossing Cumberland.

WHEN YOU CROSS CUMBERLAND look left-west. There's a strange park there, with wildflowers and marsh-like plants, and a giant rock imported (they broke it into big pieces) from northern Ontario. The girl will enjoy looking around here, too.

BAK

torontopm

You guys have no mercy, how am I to stay on my diet if you keep posting about all this delicious food I can't have.

Carmanah

Quick rule of thumb - tipping is expected at full service restaurants. By full service, I mean at a restaurant where you go to sit down and the staff bring you menus, the staff take your order, the staff bring your food to the table, the staff make sure your drinks are full, the staff take away your dirty dishes and the staff present you with the bill at the end. You're expected to tip for this. I highly doubt you'll get someone slamming a cup of coffee down on your table. Canada's oriented around service... they know if they slam a coffee down on the table, they'll get a crappy tip. If you think you're getting unreasonable service... where the staff are being obviously rude and horrible (ie: the staff are scowling at you, rolling their eyes at you), then you don't have to tip... but it still is expected.


However, if you're going to a restaurant/cafe where you walk up to the counter, you order your food/drinks/coffee, you pay at the same counter and then you wait until your food is called, then you pick it up and bring it to your own table (ie: typical McDonalds experience) - no, you're not expected to tip. The same goes for any fast food or coffee bar. You're not *expected* to tip. They might still have a tip jar full of loose change that the staff will split up at the end of the night among themselves... but it's not *expected*.

If you plan to go to a bar, the bartender will expect a tip. There are always tip "jars" (or bottles) on the bar for this purpose. The same goes for waitresses at bars... if you go to a pub where they take your order at the table and then come back with your beer... you're expected to tip.

BAK

There's a French Fry stand on Belair, opposite the end of the park, and it is good. In front of City Hall, and on the street in front of the CN Tower and conventional center, there are trucks selling french fries and hotdogs. Bargainprices, good food. At the convention center, I partonize the smaller truck, with Horvath written on the front in fairly small letters.

At city hall, I buy from the blue truck that's usually closest to old city hall. One order of french fries is usally enough to share.

BAK