mediocre at best
question: How is the food?, context: A Jack of All Trades, but a Master of Noneis the perfect figure of speech to describe the the Pickle Barrel at Young and Dundas.The first thing that you notice when sitting down is that the menu is roughly 10 pages long and they have nearly every type of eats from thai and chinese, to all day breakfasts and seafood, not to mention Rose Reisman's healthy choices (which are undoubtedly the best picks on the menu, albeit slightly more pricey, and are excluded from a lot of the bashing the rest of the establishment is about to take from me). The large selection is about the only good thing about this particular restaurant. Which isn't especially saying much since the large selection comes with the large prices, with most entrees looking to put you back $15-30.The service... I don't even know why they bother hiring the hostess (VERY loosely used term) upstairs because she's obviously there for show. The last two times I've entered through the upstairs entrance I had to wait for the hostesses (these were two different people by the way) to finish texting before telling me to walk downstairs and through the restaurant in order to have the downstairs hostess put my party on a list for a table.I can deal with that, just enter through the downstairs entrance through the Atrium, better service. Once in the basement though, which is sort of drab, dreary and just uncomfortable as fine dining atmospheres go, all the waiters I've had have been excellent.Now the food... All I can say is mediocre at best.Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer. Yet beware, their batter is incredibly rich and takes on a lot of oil (over-fried) so expect to feel some bloating.I personally had their eggs benedict today which was horrendous. If you want a benedict, go somewhere else (yes, even Golden Griddle who had a surprisingly good benedict last time I dropped by). Eggs were overcooked and didn't seem like they were freshly made, the bacon was obviously heatlamped, and the english muffin tasted stale. The only good point of the breakfast was the potato latke which was nothing like a latke and was more like a hashbrown, yet it tasted good, albeit a little salty. In the past I've had their a few of their steak and pasta items. I'd highly advise against the steak (dry, overcooked, tasteless), though the pasta is definitely passable.I saved the best for last. The dessert.I'd personally recommend the Killer Milkshake at $4. It's massive. You'll probably be able to find a better milkshake in town, but not one that size, and not one for that price.I know a lot of my friends love their brownies and cake, I haven't tried them though so YMMV.In closing, Pickle Barrels isn't a place I'd particularly recommend to go. It definitely has the menu, but the food ruins it by being mediocre. There are so many better eats for better prices in the area. 
How is the food?
All I can say is mediocre at best .Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer.
A Jack of All Trades, but a Master of Noneis the perfect figure of speech to describe the the Pickle Barrel at Young and Dundas.The first thing that you notice when sitting down is that the menu is roughly 10 pages long and they have nearly every type of eats from thai and chinese, to all day breakfasts and seafood, not to mention Rose Reisman's healthy choices (which are undoubtedly the best picks on the menu, albeit slightly more pricey, and are excluded from a lot of the bashing the rest of the establishment is about to take from me). The large selection is about the only good thing about this particular restaurant. Which isn't especially saying much since the large selection comes with the large prices, with most entrees looking to put you back $15-30.The service... I don't even know why they bother hiring the hostess (VERY loosely used term) upstairs because she's obviously there for show. The last two times I've entered through the upstairs entrance I had to wait for the hostesses (these were two different people by the way) to finish texting before telling me to walk downstairs and through the restaurant in order to have the downstairs hostess put my party on a list for a table.I can deal with that, just enter through the downstairs entrance through the Atrium, better service. Once in the basement though, which is sort of drab, dreary and just uncomfortable as fine dining atmospheres go, all the waiters I've had have been excellent.Now the food... All I can say is mediocre at best.Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer. Yet beware, their batter is incredibly rich and takes on a lot of oil (over-fried) so expect to feel some bloating.I personally had their eggs benedict today which was horrendous. If you want a benedict, go somewhere else (yes, even Golden Griddle who had a surprisingly good benedict last time I dropped by). Eggs were overcooked and didn't seem like they were freshly made, the bacon was obviously heatlamped, and the english muffin tasted stale. The only good point of the breakfast was the potato latke which was nothing like a latke and was more like a hashbrown, yet it tasted good, albeit a little salty. In the past I've had their a few of their steak and pasta items. I'd highly advise against the steak (dry, overcooked, tasteless), though the pasta is definitely passable.I saved the best for last. The dessert.I'd personally recommend the Killer Milkshake at $4. It's massive. You'll probably be able to find a better milkshake in town, but not one that size, and not one for that price.I know a lot of my friends love their brownies and cake, I haven't tried them though so YMMV.In closing, Pickle Barrels isn't a place I'd particularly recommend to go. It definitely has the menu, but the food ruins it by being mediocre. There are so many better eats for better prices in the area. 
All I can say is <hl> mediocre at best <hl> .Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer.
A Jack of All Trades, but a Master of Noneis the perfect figure of speech to describe the the Pickle Barrel at Young and Dundas.The first thing that you notice when sitting down is that the menu is roughly 10 pages long and they have nearly every type of eats from thai and chinese, to all day breakfasts and seafood, not to mention Rose Reisman's healthy choices (which are undoubtedly the best picks on the menu, albeit slightly more pricey, and are excluded from a lot of the bashing the rest of the establishment is about to take from me). The large selection is about the only good thing about this particular restaurant. Which isn't especially saying much since the large selection comes with the large prices, with most entrees looking to put you back $15-30.The service... I don't even know why they bother hiring the hostess (VERY loosely used term) upstairs because she's obviously there for show. The last two times I've entered through the upstairs entrance I had to wait for the hostesses (these were two different people by the way) to finish texting before telling me to walk downstairs and through the restaurant in order to have the downstairs hostess put my party on a list for a table.I can deal with that, just enter through the downstairs entrance through the Atrium, better service. Once in the basement though, which is sort of drab, dreary and just uncomfortable as fine dining atmospheres go, all the waiters I've had have been excellent.Now the food... All I can say is <hl> mediocre at best <hl>.Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer. Yet beware, their batter is incredibly rich and takes on a lot of oil (over-fried) so expect to feel some bloating.I personally had their eggs benedict today which was horrendous. If you want a benedict, go somewhere else (yes, even Golden Griddle who had a surprisingly good benedict last time I dropped by). Eggs were overcooked and didn't seem like they were freshly made, the bacon was obviously heatlamped, and the english muffin tasted stale. The only good point of the breakfast was the potato latke which was nothing like a latke and was more like a hashbrown, yet it tasted good, albeit a little salty. In the past I've had their a few of their steak and pasta items. I'd highly advise against the steak (dry, overcooked, tasteless), though the pasta is definitely passable.I saved the best for last. The dessert.I'd personally recommend the Killer Milkshake at $4. It's massive. You'll probably be able to find a better milkshake in town, but not one that size, and not one for that price.I know a lot of my friends love their brownies and cake, I haven't tried them though so YMMV.In closing, Pickle Barrels isn't a place I'd particularly recommend to go. It definitely has the menu, but the food ruins it by being mediocre. There are so many better eats for better prices in the area. 
A Jack of All Trades, but a Master of Noneis the perfect figure of speech to describe the the Pickle Barrel at Young and Dundas. The first thing that you notice when sitting down is that the menu is roughly 10 pages long and they have nearly every type of eats from thai and chinese, to all day breakfasts and seafood, not to mention Rose Reisman's healthy choices (which are undoubtedly the best picks on the menu, albeit slightly more pricey, and are excluded from a lot of the bashing the rest of the establishment is about to take from me). The large selection is about the only good thing about this particular restaurant. Which isn't especially saying much since the large selection comes with the large prices, with most entrees looking to put you back $15-30.The service... I don't even know why they bother hiring the hostess (VERY loosely used term) upstairs because she's obviously there for show. The last two times I've entered through the upstairs entrance I had to wait for the hostesses (these were two different people by the way) to finish texting before telling me to walk downstairs and through the restaurant in order to have the downstairs hostess put my party on a list for a table. I can deal with that, just enter through the downstairs entrance through the Atrium, better service. Once in the basement though, which is sort of drab, dreary and just uncomfortable as fine dining atmospheres go, all the waiters I've had have been excellent. Now the food... <hl> All I can say is mediocre at best .Their calamari is decent as a large appetizer. <hl> Yet beware, their batter is incredibly rich and takes on a lot of oil (over-fried) so expect to feel some bloating. I personally had their eggs benedict today which was horrendous. If you want a benedict, go somewhere else (yes, even Golden Griddle who had a surprisingly good benedict last time I dropped by). Eggs were overcooked and didn't seem like they were freshly made, the bacon was obviously heatlamped, and the english muffin tasted stale. The only good point of the breakfast was the potato latke which was nothing like a latke and was more like a hashbrown, yet it tasted good, albeit a little salty. In the past I've had their a few of their steak and pasta items. I'd highly advise against the steak (dry, overcooked, tasteless), though the pasta is definitely passable. I saved the best for last. The dessert. I'd personally recommend the Killer Milkshake at $4. It's massive. You'll probably be able to find a better milkshake in town, but not one that size, and not one for that price. I know a lot of my friends love their brownies and cake, I haven't tried them though so YMMV.In closing, Pickle Barrels isn't a place I'd particularly recommend to go. It definitely has the menu, but the food ruins it by being mediocre. There are so many better eats for better prices in the area.