Review The Open Cork - Mississauga

This is one of my favourite Italian eatery. There are two sides to Open Cork, there is the dine in and then the lounge in the other room. I've only been to the eatery side and it's beautiful. Food was amazing as usual. I had the jambalaya, mussels, and fried calamari. Jambalaya - Pasta is cooked Al Dante, sauce was flavourful and they don't skimp on their protein. Mussels - tasted great, sauce very yummy and can use it as dipping sauce for bread. Fried Calamari - I always make sure I get the fried calamari when I'm here. It has a nice light crunch from the batter and I like the thickness of them. Looking forward to dropping by the lounge area next time I come by.

This place was pretty good. I ordered the bruschetta with feta which was 👌 and the fried calamari. The bowl of calamari was huge and was cooked to perfection. The server was nice and the restaurant appeared to be new and well taken care of. This was the first place I've eaten in Canada and I was very pleased.

Very beautiful place and nice atmosphere with amazing staff ✨ Foods were delicious and fresh, I would just say pastas’ sauces were quiet heavy 🍝 Chocolate cake was delicious and rich in texture 🍫🍰 - Follow me on Google Maps for more reviews ☺️

We went there in a group of friends. Only One person had their vaccine status checked. Later the person who checked the vaccines was walking around without a mask. Very inconsiderate these days. The noise level was very high and it was quite impossible to talk. We had to leave early. The waitress was ver friendly and caring and the food quite delicious. Just follow the rules please.

If you like waiting this place might be for you. The food is very tasty and worth the wait. The service not so much! Grumpy inattentive and in violation of many Covid rules. In the pictures you can my sad water glass that it seems can only be filled once despite requesting. All in all the tasty food and reasonable price out weight the poor service, but it would be nice to have both.

Food is very tasty and comes in large portions. We ordered the Poseidon Calamari and Pan-Roasted Scallops and Tiger Prawns. The latter came with one of the best tasting rice I ever had and I am Bengali!

I’d give it zero stars if I could. The service was abysmal… we had to wait a long time for the waitress to come around and give us water, never mind for her to come around again and take the order. She seemed very impatient while my mother and grandmother were deciding what to get. While we were eating she did not bother to check on us or ask if we wanted to get anything else for the table. We ran out of water while eating the main course, not once did she come around to check. Flagging her down was also difficult, she seemed to lack spatial awareness. I ordered the pork tenderloin and it did not taste palatable (I’ve had many pork tenderloins in my day, this was the first one that did not taste like pork), my grandmother picked up on this and quickly requested to get a new item for me. The waitress did not immediately take away my plate of barely eaten pork tenderloin after we mentioned it tasted “off”. In fact, when she came back around, she asked if I wanted a box to take it home with me… take home the meal that we clearly stated was not good. I told her to please take the dish away. She piled up my fork, knife and side plate on top of the main plate (while it was still in front of me) and took it away very briskly, almost as if my request was a chore. I ended up ordering something else, by the time the bill came around she charged us for the pork tenderloin, I barely touched it! My grandmother got into a confrontation with the waitress and the waitress actually snapped back at us saying we should have a “valid reason” for them voiding the meal charge… as she mentioned, only if the meal was “too spicy or had too much salt” as an example. The pork tasting like dish soap clearly wasn’t valid. My grandmother asked to speak with the manager and the manager never came around. I’m not even certain she spoke with him or her… Overall, the waitress was very rude and had an attitude. How dare she snap back at us when we the paying customers had a complaint. Very disappointing and I shall never return.

My boyfriend and I have been coming here for years, even before we knew each other! The girls are super friendly, the food is good and consistent in quality, and prices are great. There are some menu items that are just okay, but the rest are awesome. Prices are extremely fair. Even when you want to McGuiver a dish they will do that for you. Service beats everything. It’s nice that they are conveniently located close by. This place is a hidden gem.

Made reservations with a friend to have dinner here for the first time. Very bad first impression. We walked in only to find a crowd of people waiting to be seated. No one around to help. Waited for about 10 mins before Mark the host finally showed up. He was very rude. He did not acknowledge the fact that we had reservations and continued to ignore us and help others to their table. The food was terrible and service was poor. Would never come back again and would not recommend this place to anyone.

We went to The Open Cork this past Saturday and had the worst dining experience ever. <br/><br/>Dirty Wine Glasses (sent back 3 times!):<br/><br/>We had to send our wine glasses back because they were dirty with lipstick stains (3 times). <br/><br/>Mediocre wine knowledge & another dirty glass: <br/><br/>We also asked if someone had some knowledge about the wines offered by the bottle on their list so that we could choose the most appropriate wine for dinner. Not only did it take forever for someone to come (because he was the only server with wine knowledge) but when he did, he brought over two wine samples to taste and one of those glasses was ALSO dirty.<br/><br/>Dinner:<br/><br/>We had the whole seabream dinner which came with a side of rice and vegetables. The fish itself was great, the rice was stale and veggies were made from frozen.<br/><br/>Dirty Cocktail Glasses:<br/><br/>We ordered 2 Manhattans...yup - dirty glasses...this time MUCH MUCH worse. The glasses were cloudy white with dirt. You guessed it, we sent those back too and asked for our cocktails to be remade in CLEAN cocktail glasses.<br/><br/>Attitude of staff:<br/><br/>Majority of staff had a very bad attitude when it came to being told their glasses were dirty and they caused a very unprofessional scene at the bar.<br/><br/>I know what you're thinking - why did we stay...we hadn't eaten since 9 a.m. that morning, had a very long day, missed lunch and were famished by dinner AND we didn't have a car to drive to the next best restaurant...that is the only reason why we stayed BUT we will definitely NOT go back there again. <br/><br/>This restaurant is for those who don't mind paying for ambiance (beautiful restaurant), dirty glasses, staff with horrible attitudes and mediocre food that you can pull out of a freezer and re-heat.

Very poorly managed.<br/>The restaurant was cold and they couldn't seem to get the idea to keep the door shut. Even though we had reservations, when we came in they didn't seem to know what to do with us. It was like they didn't have any seating organized, and they sat us at a dining table in chairs made for a lounge. The staff was running around with no direction. The service was extremely slow through every aspect of the meal. A waitress showed up and poured our water without saying a word about any specials, or even asking us what we would like to drink. I eventually got up and went looking for a wine list, and when I asked the staff they had trouble getting their hands on one. When I asked if I could get a certain wine that was on the list, the waitress took the list said she would have to check and see if they have it. She came back 12 minutes later with the wine and four glasses. I guess she thought that no one else would like to order anything. When the meal came 35 minutes later, my vegetables were cold, my mashed potatoes were barely warm and my steak was hot but over cooked. I would have sent it back but I didn't want to wait another half hour for a replacement. The biggest laugh was when she brought the bill, and the print was so faint that she couldn't even read it. We didn't stay for coffee or desert, we just wanted to get out of there. Several of the tables around us were just as disgusted as we were. The Keg would have been a better selection, their food is usually delicious and their staff is a hell of a lot more professional.<br/>and will I go back? You gotta be joking!

Ambiance:<br/>There are multiple section in this restaurant you can sit at. The dinning area, the bar area with blue lighting, there is even a secluded area in the back for a more intimate setting.<br/><br/>Food:<br/>The Italian salad: it was large cuts of vegetables, with minimal dressing. It was difficult to eat.<br/><br/>Salmon: this was absolutely delicious, the salmon was done to perfection, the sides it comes with were really good too!<br/><br/>Penne Arabiata:<br/>Flavourful.<br/><br/>Staff: very attentative, we were there with a very large crowd and they consistently checked on us and the food was always warm when it arrived on the table.<br/><br/>The only thing I found odd is that the bathroom are located where the entrance is. Without a jacket it was so cold to walk into that area to go to the washroom.

MAGGOT IN MEAL!!! - Was just there for a holiday team lunch today, December 23, 2016. Was initially seated in the back but moved to the bar because of a foul smell. Came here because my colleague had been there many times over the years and enjoyed it. We ordered grilled calamari, seafood antipasto, and caprese for appetizers. For mains we ordered 2 veal piccata, linguine of the sea, and a penne in rose sauce. My colleague who ordered the veal piccata found a maggot in a tomato. We all lost our appetites, only being half way into our meals and majority of the food we ordered contained tomatoes. The owner was hardly apologetic, did not even attempt to compensate us for our meals until we brought it up and then offered to remove one appetizer. <br/><br/>We then discussed how a maggot could be there, perhaps the tomato was not properly inspected and that can be understood from all parties considering the volume of food handled but more than likely it has to do with kitchen cleanliness. <br/><br/>Had the situation been handled properly with a bit of class we may have been more forgiving but I will recommend all those in my network to avoid this place.

This place advertises itself as a nightlife restaurant and because my husband and I work late, we came around 10:30pm on a Saturday but found the place to be completely deserted. We sat in the dining room and not only were the chairs uncomfortable, they didn't exactly fit into the table and were impossible to move around on the carpet flooring. We ordered the fried calamari for an appetizer, which was very plain and bland, but was a huge portion which was nice. The waitress was nice, but seemed exhausted and it felt like she was forced to take our table. I ordered the seafood fettuccini and my husband ordered the chicken parmesan and spaghetti. Both of our food was very plain and unseasoned, tasting like it was a frozen dinner cooked in the microwave. The pictures in this app showed the food as a classy-modern Italian restaurant but either the pictures were fake or from years ago. The total cheque was only $45, so I guess we got what we paid for. We were extremely disappointed and definitely not coming back.

Came here today for take out was greeted by server and took a quick look at the menu. I am very impressed with their vegetarian section on the menu as well as the gluten free pasta substitute option. I was craving eggplant lasagna so the closest thing to that was the eggplant Parmesan. So I got that as well as an Italian salad and they both came up to 20.00. As I waited the lady asked if I'm ok and then a little later I received the food. Now that I think about it I should have asked for water while I wait. Anyway the place was elegant and clean - it seems to attract a high class kind of business crowd at lunch hours. People are dressed decent and you definitely get the classy vibe. So I took it to work and was glad to find some bread that came with it in a separate container which was really fresh as well as butter. However there were no cutlery in the bag. It's cool though. So the eggplant Parmesan had zucchini in it which was cool but it tasted slightly burnt or something even though they weren't. Don't know how to explain it and the cheese was plenty. Any cheese lover would have been in heaven but it was a horror to my waistline lol. Anyway, I didn't eat the cheese out of discipline for my diet but I'm sure what I did eat was packed with calories anyway. Honestly the Parmesan gave me a pizza pops vibe. Thank god the eggplant and zucchini themselves are healthy. Overall I think the dish was ok. I just don't think I would get it again. I honestly thought I was tasting some fish at times it was weird. I can't wait to try their vegetarian pastas ! The salad was not great at all. I really disliked it although it was fresh the leaves were kind of dry even with the sauce. I just wasn't a fan. I will definitely return to try the other items though.

The food is fine but the service is terrible. I hosted a birthday lunch. The waitress was a little slow but nice, I left an extra tip because in my opinion speed is less important than warmth. After the party I agreed with the waitress that I could leave my cake in their freezer and pick up that night or next day (half of a $200 cake so I wanted to enjoy it a second time with my family). When I went to pick it up the owner didn't know where it was and assured us he would call our waitress and ask. 20 hours later I followed up with a phone call, asked one of the managers (Mark) for an update and was told the waitress is "just a waitress" and said flat out it was my fault that I didn't ask the manager for permission to use their freezer. He then stated they didn't charge a cake cutting fee. So I guess he wanted me to thank him for saving me money or something, as a way to justify their mistake. He didn't apologize once until I asked him why, at which point he said he did but "I didn't hear him." Cool. The restitution offered was dead air after a forced apology. <br/><br/>Anyway a bad manager isn't enough of a reason to blacklist a good local spot with reasonable prices. Just don't expect anything crazy from this place if you are thinking of doing an event here and make sure you run every detail by a manager because "a waitress is just a waitress."

The Worst Service I've ever Had. I came here for a friends birthday and she had a table for 20 reserved. When we arrived it was clear that they did not have the table ready and the waiter was scrambling to put together a very crammed table for 20 people. We could barley move after they seated us. We had waited half an hour to be served water and a long TWO hours for our dinner. When our dinner arrived most of it was cold and half the orders were wrong. My friend had asked for no pork in his pasta due to religious reasons and he still got it in his food. I had received my chicken pasta without chicken and was still charged for it by the time i got my bill. I can understand that it was a busy night, we were all patient for those two hours but the waitress was not accommodating and neither was the manager after we had complained about our terrible service. By the time our dinner came we were all too tired and hungry to even enjoy the food. Everyone wanted to leave but of course we had to wait an additional 45 minutes for our bills to arrive. If you are looking to dine with a group of people do not go to this restaurant because it is obvious that they cannot handle it.

If you have no taste, this is your place !. Service ... mediocre to okay.<br/>Food ... absolutely horrible.<br/><br/>We ordered an appetizer and 2 entrées, one no worse than the other.<br/><br/>If you remotely enjoy good food ... stay away !

Fast Food is better !. Me and my wife were looking for a casual dinner place and decided to check this place out. Service staff, okay, kept pushing for drink orders. Food, ordered grilled calamari, burger and penne gorgonzola. Calamari was not good, smelled very fishy and they give you the full tube, not cut up in rings - we left it all on the plate and the server asked if food was ok, we told her politely that calamari was not good ... she did nothing about it, not a problem from our end. Burger, it had whole peppercorns, I got like 5 ... if you like whole peppercorns go for it. Pasta, lacking everything except ingredients. <br/><br/>Long story short, if you like grilled calamari, don't have it here as you will never want to eat calamari again. If you like burgers that will give you heartburn, this is your place and to top it off with a bland pasta.<br/><br/>We will not be returning, nor suggesting this place to anyone as we walked away very disappointed with food. Save your money and try another place.

Went here for dinner for a birthday. The wine was nice, atmosphere and staff was great. The food on the other hand was just okay. Oysters were amazing, but 4 of us had meals and everyone could have had better. I wouldn't recommend the steak. Go to the Keg if that's what you would order. The lamb was tough and all the sides were under cooked (VERY crunchy). 2 meals were sent back because they came out cold. The veal was good. And dessert and the special coffees were also excellent. I would suggest trying the pastas or fish. Stay away from the meat. I will probably skip this place next time.

Worst Food Ever. Went for dinner on a Tuesday night. Party of 10 and server was great. Food was absolutely horrendous. Ordered stuffed mushrooms and they were literally mushrooms topped with cream cheese. The pasta was very bland. Kraft dinner would have been a better option. Not a single one of us was impressed with our meals.

The service is terrible. The food is not exceptional. Save your money or eat somewhere else.

Don't Waste Your Money. This restaurant doesn't even deserve a star, let alone 5.<br/>Don't waste your money.<br/>We read a review that said the food is frozen. But we didn't believe it, and thought it was a disgruntled ex-employee or something, and decided to go anyway. <br/>BIG MISTAKE. Should have listened to that reviewer. <br/>The food is definitely frozen, and the waitresses readily confirmed it was in fact frozen...with an embarrassed look.<br/>The waitresses were nice and tried to remedy things, but the food is just so sub-par, it's not worth a cent to go in.

Great Dinner and Great Time!. Our much-traveled dear friends invited us to The Open Cork (one of their favourite restaurants) last night for a special birthday dinner for four and we were certainly surprised and delighted at this wonderful new (and for us fairly local) discovery. The spontaneous welcome we received from both the owner and his staff was warm and inviting and the service splendidly friendly, helpful and efficient. Of course the meal was second-to-none and we had such a great evening in this gem of a place. Thank you - we'll be back for more!

Very poor food. We went to the Open Cork for the first and last time yesterday. On the positive side, the décor was pleasing. But the food was appalling and the service disappointing. I ordered the grilled calamari with Pernod caper tomato sauce for my appetizer and my husband ordered a Caesar salad. The calamari arrived and it would have easily fed three people. Three slabs of charred overcooked calamari. My first bite tasted like charcoal and it had that unfortunate texture that all overcooked calamari has, rubber. But this was burnt rubber. I couldn’t eat it and when the waiter came to ask how we were enjoying our appetizers I told him that it was overcooked and burnt. He then explained to me that this was the way it was meant to be cooked. Sorry, but it’s not. He took it away and quickly came back to ask if I wanted another order prepared and I said no. He said, ‘no charge’ so I agreed thinking that I would see how they prepared it a second time and if it was equally as terrible it didn’t matter because I wasn’t going to be charged. The second order appeared quickly and it was not charred. It was tender and decently cooked, so my focus changed to the sauce it was floating in. Imagine cheap thick bottled tomato sauce with 20-30 capers thrown in, then add some undercooked green peppers and that was the sauce. It was terrible. For a main course I ordered Mediterranean Spaghetti and my husband ordered Fettucini Primavera in a cream sauce. The sauce in his dish had the appearance of brown soupy broth. Note to the ‘chef’, if you cook mushrooms in a cup of milk, it will turn brown. And you have to THICKEN a cream sauce otherwise it will be soup. Under cooked vegetables completed this dish. My poor husband managed to get through half of it before putting down his fork. My dish was awful. More thick tomato sauce from a jar with under cooked vegetables and clearly the cheapest spaghetti pasta that they could order in bulk. How any chef could send this food out to customers was beyond me. When the bill came, of course the calamari was on it. I guess his ‘no charge’ meant that I wasn’t going to be charged for two orders. It was a $70 waste of calories. My kind-hearted husband tipped 15%. I have never written a food review before but I could not, in good conscience, let this go. One of the worst restaurants I have visited in a long time.

Awful service but good food. Pastas are good but the service is crap. They really should do something about their service, the servers have attitude and not friendly at all.

Their calamari are the beat for 8$ you get a huge plate and they are very fresh<br/>I have been to this place many times and I love it

Amazing outdoor dining, as well as indoor. Great value, Mediterranean food, always fresh. Very very good.

Ok, nothing special. The layout of the restaurant is really nice. Great patio and nicely decorated inside. However, I find the food is just ok....nothing special. My friends and I went there a few nights ago and the service was awful. The older man working the patio took forever to come and take our order. He wasn't very friendly or nice. Probably shouldn't have tipped him, but we did.<br/>I was considering hosting a private event at the Open Cork, but I think I will forgo the restaurant and find another place in Mississauga with friendlier staff.

Ok food and service. Came here for a group dinner with a fixed menu (have a few choices of entre) and I had the veal marsala. The veal is not bad but not spectacular. The antipasto consisted of a few cold cuts, some olives, a procsciutto wrapped melon and some lettuce - nice and refreshing. Dessert was Tirimasu- not bad, it's ok. Overall the food is not bad, but not spectacular. Would come back if someone chooses to come here for dinner. The patio seems really nice and lively. The service is courteous and efficient.

Good Place!. We came here for a gathering and we were pleasantly surprised with this place! When we walked in, we were stunned by the beautiful decor, it is really breathtaking.The dining room is very spacious with ample seating for everyone. We sat down and was greeted by our waiter, his name was Peter. He was very welcoming and he also knew how to speak Italian which impressed us being that we are Italian. He gave us enough time to choose our meals and took our orders promptly. The appetizers came out first. I was a little disappointed with the bocconcini salad as it only had a few bocconcini balls, and the rest of it was lettuce. I was hoping for the entire salad to be bocconcini, at least I will know better for next time. The posedoin calamari was amazing, it was nice and crispy and the dipping sauce was fabulous! The complimentary bread was nice and soft, it melted in your mouth. The main dishes came shortly after the appetizers. The main dishes were good, except for the meat cannolini, which had veal instead of ground beef which I was hoping for. Otherwise, the main meals were great, and they tasted fresh! Then came the dessert. Peter recommended the tiramisu since all of the other desserts are purchased from a local bakery and the tiramisu was the only dessert that was homemade The tiramisu was good, but very liquidy, and you could taste the strong liquor. The presentation of the dishes was very professional, and Peter kept us entertained throughout our meal. The price wasn't too bad either, for three dinners, appetizers, and a few fancy drinks, it only cost about $80, can't complain about that! I will definitely be back to this restaurant, and I recommend you all give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Horrible service and bland food. I recently went to the Open Cork to celebrate my friend's birthday. The waiter was rude and completely disengaged. We remained in high spirits nonetheless as we were there to celebrate. However, things quickly became worse as the waiter seemed to have abandoned us. We waited an inordinate amount of time to be served our food which was bland and poorly cooked. One of my friends did not receive her food until we were all done. When the birthday girl had had enough, she spoke to the manager. This made the situation worse! He treated us as if we had done something wrong and scowled at us from time to time. It seems as though he eventually told all of the other waiters because they were all staring at us and whispering until the bill came. Needless to say this was the worst experience I have ever had in my life and I vow never to return to this establishment. I am sorely disappointed because I had high hopes for this place as it is close to home and the decor is beautiful. The entire internal staff needs to be replaced and the menu revamped to save this joke of a restaurant.

Good food, really nice ambiance. Came here on a Sunday for a girlfriend's birthday. The restaurant only had a few customers for lunch, so the food came out really fast. The service was average. The food was hot and fresh - great prices at this restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised to walk in and see how nice it was inside! The dessert was definitely cake from a box that was still frozen when brought to our table so that was a disappointment. But the land and sea pasta I ordered was a large portion size for lunch, and had tons of scallops and chicken in it. I would definitely return here and would recommend it as the food is good for the price.

Service was real slow, steak was flavorless. The only upside was the Russian Spy waiter.

Excellent!. The seafood was awesome, very tasty, well cooked and a huge portion. It was also priced reasonably. Our waiter was a bit "cocky" but overall, the service was good. If you want a very good seafood restaurant, then I suggest you try this place.

Average Food, Horrible Service. If you're looking for a restaurant with a nice atmostphere and good service, this restaurant is definitely not for you! <br/><br/>After our server seated us, we waited 15minutes to get our menus and another 15-20 min for him to take our order. And the place was not even packed! Finally, after taking our order, he brings in the wrong entrees! We had to wait another half hour to be served the correct dishers, at this time, our drinks had ran low, with no server in sight. We had to ask another waiter for a refill. He told us, he will get our server - who was still no where to be found. <br/><br/>Finally our entrees came - The pastas were dry, the pork sirloin was hard and stringy, the veal was over sauced. <br/><br/>After dinner, our waiter shows up to just give us the bill without asking us if we wanted dessert or coffee.<br/><br/>Such a disappointing dinner experience. Needless to say, we are never going back there!

Amazing gem.. This is my new favourite place to eat. This decor is simply stunning; it beats BY FAR all the other restaurants in Mississauga. This is a fantastic place for a date or for a night out with your friends. The prices are such a deal; I payed a mere $15 for a huge, delicious pasta dish and a coffee. The waiters are very kind and prompt. I can just go on and on about how amazing this place is. The atmosphere and decor is similiar to Moxie's, but is quieter and FAR nicer. <br/><br/>I had the Eggplant Parmiagiana, which was splendid. Please, do yourself a favour and try this place!

As long as you stick with pasta, you're good to go. Veal medallions are bland and they come with veggies served the same way as in......a standard breakfast eatery. Other then that... Great decor, staff and overall atmosphere.

Try this place out! give it a shot, remember that the service is not like regular restaurants but the food is great so figure it out and go!

A co-worker recommended this restaurant out in Mississauga ~ Open Cork. It's like a hidden place but until you go there, you discover how good the food is. I've love risotto and it's hard to find a place with risotto that is not just mushroom risotto. And when I find one, it is so overly priced. But they have one here... seafood risotto and at reasonably priced....it is delicious!!!! <br/>

My coworkers and I volunteered to sort toys for the CHUM City Christmas Wish back in December. After an afternoon of sorting toys and lugging bags around, we all went to a nearby restaurant called Open Cork. It's easy to miss as there weren't any lights in their parking lot and their sign was really dim. Inside, the bar area was also very dim. The decor was nice, and I can see people coming after work to have drinks. We ordered some appetizers to share. The vegetable plate was really good. It had roasted vegetables and some cheese on top, which of course, I didn't try. We also got a large platter of deep fried foods - calamari, wings, mozzarella sticks, coconut shrimps and chicken fingers. Someone also ordered Bruschetta, but I didn't try any. The food wasn't bad, and if I was in the area, I would check out this place again. Previous Next Categories: Appetizer, Deep Fried, Seafood, Comments: 2 Comments close Comments You would or wouldn't check out this pl