We were strolling down Graffiti Alley when we saw that this place’s patio looked animated, with lots of people, we decided to stop by to have a couple of drinks.
We were seated immediately, the waitress was very nice and friendly and the poor girl was alone for 15-20 tables, she was running everywhere!
The restaurant itself on the inside and the outside is not the cleanest and quite frankly, going to the restrooms was a little bit of a scary experience.
However, the drinks we had were very good and more than affordable!! We ordered a white sangria pitcher (17$) and 2 gin tonics (4$ each) and everything was great!
Little Surpised. Stumbled upon this place and must say I am pleasantly surprised. What looks like a graffiti ridden little hole in the wall actually put out some decent food and a very low cost. Granted the thai inspired dishes are not high quality nor absolutely authentic...they are however a rather tasty take on them. Thai pub food?
The prices are low which seems to bring in a lot of student life. The decor is rather eccentric and somewhat ghetto (graffiti on all walls....worn out furniture etc). You need to walk through the actual kitchen to use the washroom...so their cleanliness is on spotlight.
If you want cheap pub food with some asian flare...recommend this place.
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Good... As long as you don't bring up any issues with staff.. We go to Java House quite a bit - why? Well, I'm gonna start with the Con's first...
Con's: The Italian dishes - meh. The Singapore Noodles are not good at all. And if you don't like eclectic dives - this is not for you. The real face slap at Java House is service... Servers overall are usually pretty nice - as long as nothing takes them out of their comfort zone. No one at Java House can deal with something going wrong, even minor easy to fix issues. They just go into panic mode or get defensive or start telling you stupid policies or plain aren't polite about mistakes. And they all seem like they've become that way because they're scared of management.
On one occasion, (my very first dish I had ever felt compelled enough to complain about - the Singapore Noodle's) no one tried to make it better. By all means - we were overly polite about the situation and the staff/manager were overly rude. I worked in Hospo for 6 years from schwanky restaurants to dive/student bars and know how respectful/polite/professional you should be in a situation like that, both as a patron and a server. The first waitress, half way through me saying "Excuse me, I'm really sorry, but my food is... " cut me off with "You'll have to talk to the manager." and sped off. We spoke to two staff members who nether apologized or offered a solution to the situation until finally the manager came over. Manager there needs to change his occupation/bad attitude. He's never a happy man and has a permanent expression mixed between "I don't like my life" and "Really... Effort? For you?". He looked outraged at me when I explained that my meal was overcooked and threw the full plate into the clean up container a few meters away from us. It crashed so loudly it made everyone at my table jump.
Pro's: Crazy cheap food/drinks and the space is a reasonable size so it's suitable for groups. Huge street level patio in summer - super points there. The place is definitely divey but the atmosphere overall is laid back. Again, we return here for the price point. The daily specials are usually really good value. The food is also for the most part pretty decent, with some dishes being far superior to others. The Chicken chow mein, sandwiches and curries are very good. Perogie's, soups and salads are nice/decent too. I also enjoy that you receive a simple salad before an entree.
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Overall: A low price point doesn't mean 'You can't complain when we screw up'. You're still paying for a product/service... *Sigh*... Possibly, I'm a masochist's for cheap food 'n' booze.
Being aware of the pro's and con's - every time we go in, we go armed with expectations/mind set = know what to order and what not to order. And knowing how the staff can be like. Positive 70% of the time this place is good. The other Negative 30% of the time goes purely to poor/disgruntled/lacking service.
Unreal Prices. The prices at this place are super low! The food is awesome and the drinks are good.
Obviously since you can really only have 2/3 (It's either good food, good service or good prices) the service is definitely lacking. But I'll gladly pay half price and wait a little longer.
Unbelievably Good. Your mind will be blown at Java House. The food is out of this world and the waiters/waitresses are incredibly hip. It also fits any budget. This restaurant has the ginger stamp of approval.
My TO Fav. I love this place. Growing up in Toronto this place is one of my favourite places to eat any day of teh week. Prices are great, food is excellent, and the service is good.
I love it! All the staff are super cute and are friendly. I kinda wanna sleep with all of them! And that waiter Matt. Take me in the back yer so foxy.
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Best In Its Class. I don't find this place very aesthetically pleasing, but I'm willing to overlook it because of their prices.
First and foremost this place is for cheap drinks. 11.25 pitchers for domestic, and 13.25 for imported. They have Blanche de Chambly as an imported (one of my favourite beers), but their selection of domestic includes Amsterdam Blonde, Mill St. Organic and Tankhouse, Steamwhistle, and a couple others, so I think everyone can find a good pitcher without settling for the same ol' boring stuff.
This is also EVERY DAY. I don't think you can beat that.
Their menu also has quite a lot of items on it and everything is $8 and under. Although I did not eat anything myself, I would say at least half of the people on the patio were eating food, so it much be decent at least. There are quite a lot of Asian dishes on the menu, which were most of the dishes that were being ordered it seemed.
The zaniest thing at this place is the washrooms. To get to them you literally have to walk through the kitchen. It is so weird I don't know weather to be grossed out or feel comforted. On one hand you are walking through the kitchen, to relieve yourself and you see someone cutting up the vegetables and people on the stove's doing their thing. But on the other hand, you get to see your food being prepared and know that they wouldn't want to be caught dropping your food on the floor.
Other reviewers have commented on spotty service but I found it really good. On the patio there were 4 girls constantly walking around looking for things to clear off the table or looking out for people trying to get their attention. We were never left waiting for a server.
If you want some cheap drinks and cheap food, and aren't the pretentious type, this place should satisfy you.
Remember: CASH ONLY
Great time with some friends and a cheap beer and great food!!!!!
Cheap food and drinks. This cafe's menu is as random as the crowd. I go here for cheap pitchers of beer ($11.25 for premium domestic), but the food is definitely hit and miss.
From one angle, it's a regular cafe with sandwiches and all-day breakfasts. Then add all your pub fingers foods like nachos and chicken wings. Now this is where it gets weird. Manning the kitchen is two Asian women, so dishes like Pad Thai, Singapore-style fried noodles, and stir-frys dominate the entrees portion of the menu. We couldn't help but laugh at the soy-sauce marinated strips of beef that topped our order of beef nachos. This is not intentional Asian fusion - this is just weird!
Nevertheless, with entrees averaging about $6, its prime location on Queen West, and did I mention the CHEAP BEER??... it's still a good place to start off your night.
They a have nice little patio. The place gets pretty busy so the patio was really our only choice considering we were still transitioning from Spring into Summer.
We only stopped for a little drink and a snack so didn't really sample too much of the menu. The sangria is really good; not too strong or sweet. Their Java House Fries were just unsalted quartered potatoes, so that was quite a disappointing choice.
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