Ivy Bar & Kitchen

I was a very hesitant about coming here after reading all the unfavourable reviews but I’m glad I did. We came for dinner between 7 and 9:30 pm so perhaps part of the reason we had a good experience was because we left before the 10 pm dress code and the «attitude» referenced in some of the reviews kicked in. My experience was quite good. Both the food and the service are 3.5 stars. We sat on the patio which was nice. The service was very polite but she forgot to return to take my drink order so I ordered it with dinner. Also she made a effort to chit chat and give menu suggestions. The food was good but not exceptional.

Quite the experience. Only 4 out of 5 bartenders from both sides were jackasses. The food is pretty good but you can ruin your evening if you expect to feel like a customer from the melodramatic servers who feel they’re important enough to give you a hard time. The bartenders are super jerks minus one.
Oh for those that thrive on «VIP» elevated status behind the bar where the lousy DJ plays, forget ordering a drink. They only do it for pretty women. It’s funny — the same bartenders who were nice earlier when dining was in full effect because the tip potential.
I’ve seen this before. The ego is so high in this place, they almost feel like they’re invincible. Rome didn’t fall in a day but gluttony and arrogance won in the end. The time will come and by that time, the cash out will be done by management. If you want to have a good time, remember your marks (bartenders) and don’t tip if they’re bad with you. You might not get service but that just means less money for them. You don’t need to drink to have a good time.
As the weather was off last night, it was less packed allowing people to move around better. But a place with one washroom on one side is a real pain if you have broken the seal.
Clientele — 40 and 50 for most part because modern society is too picky to meet so they run out of options to go places. Might want to brand to Ivy League Cougar.

I decided I go to ivy with a friend as I needed to get out and «cheer up». A lively social environment I thought, would do it. Instead I was more upset at the way I was treated by a very young bartender. I’m sure I am twice her age. I will not get into the specifics. But long story short, she was very rude to me. Why do these young kids think they can get away with treating customers poorly? The management at ivy needs to review customer service with their employees.

I do not recommend this place as they hire poor kiddie security they sick on for people being too happy or jovial. Apparently that is not allowed as they deem on the level of harassment. No alcohol was involved. They seem to like to clear out a lot of poor younger chaps for no apparent reason either. Despite the heavy presence of local police, it explains why the lady customers are insensitive to gregarious conservationists. To add insult to injury, the short little blonde manager of the place does not care about all the bad reviews on Unilocal.So don’t bother whining, because they want to be like a downtown Toronto snotty bar. Good luck to them.

I was super excited to check out Ivy as I had been hearing a lot of chatter about them. I had seen them doing a ridiculous number of Facebook offers and giving out gift cards, and this probably should have been more of a warning sign to me, but I figured they were just trying to compensate for their slightly odd location.
It was both hit and miss. The restaurant itself is actually really nice, high ceilings, nice lounge like atmosphere. They also have lots of great specials and reasonably priced bottles of wine.
When we arrived we literally waited at the door for over 5 minutes before we even saw a staff member, but when someone finally came out of hiding they were incredibly nice and helpful.
I had the charcuterie platter and it was huge but not particularly exciting, they played it a little fast and loose with the term «artisan cheese» and the meat was nothing to brag about.
This all being said, I’m willing to give it a second chance as it has so much potential.

What a horrible experience. The greeters, servers, and bouncers are a bunch of idiots on some kind of power lick since they failed high school. Stay away

What to begin with. I’m not one to write reviews but feel the need to after our horrible experience. Terrible service rude staff. Will never return

4 of us Went just after they opened. It has a ton of potential and fills a void desperately needed Burlington but, and it’s a big but! We quickly got the sense that they think they’re way more than they are. The food was better than decent, the cocktails were good not great and the atmosphere is cool and inviting but the staff must think they’re working in Manhattan or LA. Nothing ruins an evening more than attitude from servers and greeters. It is us who come and spend our cash to ensure you have a job and make your minimum wage! We may try you again, once the taste of the uppity staff and a poor old fashion has left my mouth.

I was really looking forward to eating at Ivy and hopefully writing a very positive review. Unfortunately this place seems to be extremely pretentious and exclusive. We called Ivy twice over the course of 48 hours and were told both times that a manager would have to approve/​confirm our reservations. Well, we never received a return phone call and we gave up attempting to make a reservation. I doubt we will be trying this restaurant in the future.
EDIT 4÷28÷12:
So after I wrote this review, I was contacted via Facebook by a member of Ivy’s staff, as I had posed a question on their Facebbok page regarding the lack of contact. The staff member was very nice and accomodating and requested that I make a new reservation so that I could have an enjoyable experience with Ivy. Our reservations are next week and hopefully I will be able to post a positive review at that time.