Gare de l'Est

I love this place. Well space tables, great service, and a great take on classic French bistro.

I was at Gare twice last week
Both dinners were delicious
Lovely service
Very friendly atmosphere
Would recommend it to all

Nice find in Leslieville. Excellent food, great staff and the bartender can pour a fine draft beer!

I had high hopes for this place and was really looking forward to dining here. We started off having a terrible female server with an attitude and no people skills whatsoever. She was dismissive and unapologetic every time we interacted with her. She was slow and stood around talking to the kitchen staff. She did more socializing with the other staff than attending to her customers. It really ruined the evening as I was out with my husband celebrating a special occasion. At some point, I saw her put her coat on and leave for the night. We finally got our main course after almost two hours. We were served by a kind attentive gentleman. Unfortunately by the time he took over my mood was already soured by the previous server and I was hangry. Overall it was a terrible and upsetting experience.  

I truly love the service and vibe here. The food is delicious and I love all the Monday specials. My favourite is to tuck away at the bar.

Very good experience. Only complaint was the music was a little too loud for only 12 to 14 guests

Good atmosphere, good service and excellent food. We had the steak and the chicken and both were tasty and well prepared. A reasonably priced wine list . We look forward to our next visit.

I confirmed my reservation via the app the day before. The day of the restaurant called me to confirm, I get it, it’s Saturday night. That said, it is incredibly off putting to be told that “your table is reserved for 8pm”. Look, if your kitchen can feed us in two hours, no problem, if you’ve got turtles cooking, that’s on you. I dunno, it just put me off the whole night. I would rather you put a note on Open Table when I make my reservation than to hear an anxious hostess worried about flipping tables. People who reserve at 6 on Saturday night generally aren’t malingerers. And get over yourselves, it’s Dundas and Carlaw, not the Ritz. The food was fine, nothing at all memorable except the kinda weird and not in a good way devilled eggs. I came, I ate, no need to revisit.

Our waiter and the team who supported him were excellent. They did everything we asked of them....they knew their beer and wine, they kept my water glass full they were in the moment and attentive. The food was excellent. We love this restaurant in the east end. Thank you.

One of the best vibes for a sophisticated yet relaxed dinner in the whole city. Eating here before going to the Crowsnest Theatre is a must.

From greeting to friendly farewell this was a great experience for us and exactly what we were looking for. Unpretentious delicious with friendly kind and informative service. Charcuterie was outstanding.

We had the Prix Fix menu before seeing a performance at the theatre. The staff made this such a special night out. The service was great and the food was amazing. It was great.

Too Noisy.
Dinner took 40 minutes to arrive after order - could only eat 50%
Server was accomodating.

Terrifc staff and steak frites were mouth watering. Dessert was heavenly.
Would definitely return.

A wonderful meal, one of the best we've ever had in Toronto. We've been twice before and each time we appreciate the beautiful and modern ambience, yet still French. We shared the seafood platter and several appetizers and felt the love in the food and service. The French wines and even the cappuccino were delicious. Our thanks to the entire team for the experience.

Delicious evening !

Great place to dine, French comfort food at its best.

Excellent service and a delicious brunch. This was the perfect stop before catching a matinee performance at the Crow's theatre

The tables (for 2) are a *bit* close together, especially especially at the west end of the resto, but I understand about wanting to maximise revenue with the pre-theatre crowd.
Food was great- the frites are some of the best I’ve had. Burger was very good. Bottom portion of the bun did get a bit soggy with all the goodness loaded on it. My partner’s schnitzel was very good (we tasted each other’s, of course).
Dessert- we shared the cheesecake. It was quite good, but I’d say to bump up the fruit flavour in it. More lemon zest in the cake, and the lemon curd drizzle could be even more lemon-y.
It’s a great date night place, pre-theatre spot can’t be beat & the prices are what you’d expect.

Big change from delightful luncheon last year. Dinner service is overwhelmed when there is a big pre-theatre crowd all eating at the same time, worrying about a deadline. Waited almost an hour, food poorly cooked. Lots of stress on part of waiters and diners.
Charging for bread is chintzy. Last year, there was a special, fresh in-house bread (or so they said) which was pretty good. Now, it’s a small, warmed-over strip of those Ace mini-bunnies available everywhere.
Very disappointed.

This was not our first visit to Gare L’Est. We are regular theatre goers and appreciate its proximity and the food quality. That said, we were sure to be there at5:45 as we had a 7:30 show and did not want to be rushed. We ordered our food by 6pm yet did not see our main course until 7 pm. We repeatedly asked for bread with our starters and we did not see it until long after the plates had been cleared. No apology and still charged on our bill. There were other small annoyances such as having to use our phone flashlight to read the menu, and the fact the wine list starts at $60 a bottle, with only a few choices before jumping to $90. The food when it arrived was delicious. We will think twice before going again....Disappointed.

This is a great for pre theatre dinner before heading into Crow’s theatre, next door. They were solicitous of our time, making sure we got finished in time for curtain
The food is always amazing and the staff a delight!!

Reliably good food!

It was great

While the food was not bad, the service was wanting. For apps, we ordered the shrimp and the small charcuterie board. The popcorn shrimp was delicious and the charcuterie board was fine, nothing stood out especially. 2 of us ordered the steak frites, med-rare and we also got the pork schnitzel. The steak frites and the schnitzel were very good, it was lovely.

The waitresses however, seemed preoccupied and often left us alone for very long periods of time without checking up on us. As it was a busy night and it seemed like there was a large group that were going to watch a show, it did seem like our table in particular was receiving far less attention than others in our vicinity of the same number of guests.

I wish she came to check up on us just a bit more as we did want to order drinks.

Absolutely lovely people all round, and the food was to die for. We sat at the counter and the chef spoke with us and explained dishes to us – clearly super passionate. Highly recommend!

Great family meal.

One of the few places in TO that you can get real French food and a properly made Kir!

Great food, service & ambiance. I love that delicious french food is a 10 minute walk from my house :).

Gare de l’Est never ceases to shine. The atmosphere is ideal every time, the staff is a delight, the drinks are crafted to perfection and the food is indulgent bliss. Thank you dear GDL. Thank you especially Pauline for setting the tone of welcome, Will for spectacular service end-to-end and the outstanding chef and kitchen staff as always.

Delicious meal at fair prices. Nice ambience for a date night.

It was most enjoyable

Sunday night anniversary dinner. Wonderful food (the scallops needed something to brighten them, but the chicken liver mousse, bouillabaisse, and schnitzel were amazing. And overall a great value for the quality.

Friendly, relaxed, great staff with a good knowledge of wines and food was excellent and I would recommend the steak tartare.

Great food. Menu items are unique. Flavours are good and the food looks stunning.

Had an amazing brunch experience!

Took my boyfriend there for his birthday brunch and didn’t know what to expect aside from the fact that it was French cuisine (Chef’s favourite).

The staff was awesome the food was awesome and had the best time . It was perfect

I can’t wait to go back and experience the dinner menu.

One of my new favourite spots in the East End of Toronto 😍

Service and food quality was excellent. We liked the ambience too. First timers and will go again

Since the opening a few yrs back I have been more than a few times! Currently, the chef and kitchen has changed for the not-so-good! Dinner was below average for the impression this French bistro provides! If you want burger and fries this is the spot tho! However , not at the prices listed! We will not return!

Steak was not prepared properly. The restaurant immediately offered to correct but I preferred to continue with my meal.

Service was pleasant. It was overpriced for what it was.

My wife and I had not been to Gare de L’Est in a while and were quite disappointed by our experience. The food was fine and reasonably priced for what it was. The wine list featured many unknown items at ridiculous prices, anything from France started at $120. Our main disappointment with our experience was the chef yelling loudly and continuously directly at our table For anyone who have traveled experienced fine dining it is well known that no noise is emitted from a Michelin starred kitchen.