Passed by this place and saw that it was open for early bird breakfast. Menu - $$$ regular breakfast menu is from $18-20. Early bird breakfast is from $11-15 and available Monday to Friday from 8am - 10am Ambiance - I was the only customer on a weekday morning so it was quiet. Ample parking space in a large parking lot. It was dimly lit but I took a booth seat close to the main entrance so there was enough lighting. Service - the service was fair. I got seated quickly and was given the menu shortly after. I asked for water with no ice but I guess she misheard me. I was trying to say I haven't been to symposium before and wanted to ask for recommendations. She only heard the first part before I could finish my question. She told me all of the breakfast items are very good and left me to the menu. After she took my order, food came quickly and came to check on me a few times. Food - I got the early bird 3 egg omlette with green peppers and ham. You have up to 2 choices. Chose rye bread. It also came with a side of home fries. The food was good. It was seasoned adequately for my taste so no additional condiments were required. read more

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Good service, good manual and have weekly daily special and price is reasonable. My favourite restaurant,

This is what happens when the owners and workers don't give a damn at all. You have a terrible restaurant. The service is offensively slow even when there's nobody else dining. The burgers are soft and taste like maybe 8% of it is actual meat. Inattentive. Not friendly. Slow. Would not return. They also removed items from their menu. The only good ones. The countdown is on for when this dumpster fire of a restaurant closes forever. read more

Food and atmosphere are acceptable and above average. Unfortunately, the service of the waiter's name Ron is so unpleasant and unprofessional. We (10 people) have not finished our food yet. He has already taken out our salad and spinach dip. Luckily, one of us stopped him to take out the spinach dip but not the salad. Then he gave us the take out box so quickly even though we didn't ask for it. He rushed us to pay the bill at 8:05pm, even their closing at 11pm. Unfortunately, one of our friends heard that Ron and the other staff just discussed at the corner and found the way to rush us to go! All the dinner he was like a grumpy, no smile, unprofessional hospitality like serving hot stuff just past over the other customer; no asking for any dessert or coffee after main course and rushing for bills; no asking before take out for unfinished food. I will give NO STAR at all and strongly NOT RECOMMEND read more

I've been to a few Symposiums before, this one is a new one for me, up in Aurora. The space is huge - both indoors and the outdoor patios. They have the typical table/chairs and the more like lounge patio chairs. The sever was super friendly - patient as we kept deciding what we wanted to order. I ordered the chicken teriyaki rice bowl. It was ok. There was some vegetables and chicken pieces, but mostly rice. The portion was pretty decent for the $16. My friend had their chicken quesadillas. I had a few bites and found it a bit too dry and lacking flavour for me. They do have happy hour specials from 4-6pm for drinks, as well as 33% off their starters. Overall, not a bad happy hour deal if you are looking mostly for drinks and some nibbles. This is a good spot in Aurora to get your drinks on the patio and chill for a bit. read more

Had the mussels, it was delicious but everything was super expensive. The service was great but food and drinks can be better. Their sandwiches were a-okay. Loved the atmosphere, the place is clean and super welcoming located right in the St. Louis plaza. Lots of parking. Don't think I would come here again. I was happy to try it but nothing really stood out to me. Happy eating fellow yelpers! read more

I thought this place was alright. I was hesitant to visit after seeing the lackluster reviews for the Oak Ridges location closer to home, but gave in at the urging of a friend - no regrets though, always up for something new and this wasn't bad! First, service - our waiter was present throughout our dinner and seemed nice. No real complaints there! The decor wasn't quite my style but that's fine, I came to eat :) The menu is truly extensive and I appreciated that it provided caloric info for every dish (I was mildly horrified that the pastas I usually opt for elsewhere were close to 1,500 calories! :0) I went for a grilled vegetable flatbread ($14 and change pre tax/tip), which was fine for a light dinner and tasted pretty good (if you like goat cheese, it's a nice choice) despite its less exciting appearance/presentation. I'm not entirely sure it was made fresh, but the taste was fine. My friend worked through a giant vegetarian pad thai with remarkable speed, indicating to me that it was a decent choice (approx $15). Overall, I found Symposium to be okay. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant - Grilled vegetable flatbread - tasted much better than it looked! :p - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Aurora, Ontario

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Sadly I think even 2 stars is generous for Symposium. I went there tonight with a number of friends for dinner. We meet monthly and get together to chat about books. We figured we would give Symposium a try. I am biased as I don't love Symposium as it is over priced. Tonight I ordered the 5.00 burger and asked if it was possible to order a soup for a side. She said no problem when the bill came I was charged 14.95. I asked her about the 5.00 special and she said it was only 5.00 if I ordered a burger and there no side option for the soup. She should have charged me for the side or advised me what my choices were instead she just charged me full price. My bill came to 25.10 with a tea, burger with cheese and a side serving of soup. Pretty expensive. Seemed awfully expensive. The hot water for the tea was not super hot. The soup was bland and tasted like a reconstituted powder. Strange thing about my bill. The waitress reluctantly said when I put my cash down. You didn't want change for $30 did you? Guess what the restaurant conveniently surcharged us for the tip and intentionally didn't tell anyone and was then going around asking for tips from everyone. It was when I got home and manually tallied it up I realized there was an additional surcharge. Which was not clearly listed on the bill. Shady. To top off two women who ordered cake were served stale dry cake. The manager's approach was what do you want to do ? Give you another piece of cake or refund your money? We asked that they dispose of the cake and not serve stale cake he walked away and left the stales cakes for sale. Go here if you want to be pressured to tip, shamed when there is an issue. read more

It's not me, it's you, Symposium. Again with the interesting service...? My same group of girlfriends and I returned here this evening for a mixture of appys, desserts, tea and brews. While my beer & carrot cake were good, I still can't get over how poor their service is. Although we hadn't asked for our bills, I can understand a shift change and having to settle up. What irked me is that after about 45 minutes of being server-less, we were given the boot! Our previous server had said there was no rush and that they were open until 1am for business. The owner, who possesses poor people skills, came to ask how things were. My girlfriend responded saying if we had a server, we'd be better. We sat for some time and could've enjoyed a second pint. He then told us it was time to go because another reservation was coming in. The five of us watched from the window outside and saw four servers clean away our table. Four. Why couldn't one of those four help us? Lord knows symposium can't get a clue. That all, folks. Their carrot cake can't redeem this one. C ya never. read more

Gotta love a good Eggs Benny in nice surroundings, with good service at a good price. Isn't this what the game is all about? I knew lunch would be around 3 PM, so I needed a Brekky to hold me over. Symposium was on the way, and looked better than your typical Daybreak. Better interior, better coffee, and just a better overall experience. I asked my attentive server if the Hollandaise was fresh made or synthetic. I was assured it was fresh, so I was in. My Benny arrived with crisp potatoes and 3 eggs on thick back bacon and English muffins. Normally I see lesser joints charging more for only 2 eggs--this is a deal! In comparison, I will never again eat Eggs Benedict at Cora's or Bagel World or Daybreak or Sunset Grill. They are all great places, but real Hollandaise for less cash is a win anyway you serve it! read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant - Swanky! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Aurora, Ontario

We ordered the fusilli pasta and steak Wrap with the broccoli and cheddar soup. We had a trainee serve us which was shadowed by an older experienced staff. It was a pretty awkward experience for us as the older staff had to tell him the "right" ways every time he finished talking to us. Tbh I think he did fine on his own, and you could sense the pressure he was feeling. The pasta was very simple - could have definitely had more vegetables instead of just a few olives. The pasta portion was also pretty small for $15. The steak wrap was ok; they overloaded it with the sweet bbq sauce. The broccoli cheddar soup was just ok too - pretty thick than usual. They do however seem to have great specials and I do remember eating their burgers, which are not bad. Will probably come back just for their burgers, drinks and desserts. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant - Fusilli pasta and steak wrap - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Aurora, Ontario

Went for brunch and were seated very quickly, waters came quick and order was put in, everything was going good, 45 mins later we got our food, we were about to ask if our order didnt get out in as the restaurant was barley a quarter full On top of the long wait the food didnt come as ordered, for fear if waiting so long again it was eaten as is Was very tasty, food quality and service was great but perhaps more people in the kitchen? read more

Horrible food, poor value. Will never return. The calamari was deep fried junk and zero calamari. The tacos were horrible . The wings too deep fried. read more

Congrats, Symposium Aurora. You have received my first 1-star review. I went here with 4 other girlfriends, tonight. Yes, I left that upset that I had to write my review right away. My crepes and ice cream were fine. Nothing above average, but fairly priced, so no complaints. The service however, was atrocious. Our server was barely audible and had a really blasé attitude. She wrapped up her shift so we cashed out at about 6:30. At 7:15, after no one had checked in on us, one of the managers approached us asking us how much longer we'd be. After seeing our shocked faces he proceeds to tell us he has a reservation he'd like to sit here. Well, let me tell you, it wasn't exactly hopping, there were LOTS of other tables. But I was wearing my work sweater so I couldn't exactly be aggressive about it. Our convo went something like this: Manager: How much longer will you be because I have a reservation in 10-15 minutes and I'd like to seat them here: Samm: We would have ordered another drink if a server had come around. M: ...... *stares at me* S: We were told by our other server that we could stay here till 1am if we wanted!! M: *laughs at my comment* S: The service here is very poor.... M: I'm sorry you feel that way. We proceeded to leave vowing never to come back. I know I'm not the first to write a bad review, but seriously.... SOMETHING needs to change here. ***I have updated this post saying that the first of our friends was told when she arrived that this man was actually the owner.... need I say more about that general attitude? If his people skills are that lacking, no wonder the service is that terrible. read more

Food is okay but has a good selection; from burgers to bowls to salads to seafood. The staff isn't too friendly from my experience, they give off a weird vibe, and the service is kind of slow. I like the decor of the restaurant and the patio in the summer is a nice touch. read more

I grew up in Woodbridge, home to the first symposium Cafe. Now that my family lives in Newmarket, I was delighted to find a symposium Cafe here! Recognizing that it's a franchise, the quality of food and service can differ however, it is not the case here. The food was tasty and very well priced. Their home fries are my favourite. Deliciously seasoned and crunchy to the last bite. Our server was prompt and friendly. She asked how was our first bite, came back again to ask if we needed anything else, when we finished, she promptly came over to remove our plates. My family loves it here and will be returning customers. read more

Found the service extremely slow. Breakfast not that great home fries are store bought, ordered an Americano was very watery. I would not recommend very expensive for what it is. Went there for brunch and it easily took well over an hour with very few guests at the restaurant. read more

Came here in the evening...they have a beautiful patio that is perfect for lounging. We only had some drinks, but service was friendly, environment was nice. I like it. I will be back to try some evening food. Again, the décor inside is quite breathtaking.. I'm sort of stunned every time I walk in. read more

Didn't have a good experience here. Coffee brought with no.cream. I was never offered a coffee refill and had to ask to get any. Soup was absolutely tasteless and my steak was overdone. Server was usually nowhere to be seen. Won't be going back there. read more

Came with friends for a quick hot beverage after dinner before heading to the theatres for a late show. Service was good. Nice decor and atmosphere. Prices are decent. Haven't tried the food yet. read more

I like their outdoor patio, they have daily specials and the sunday dessert special is best. Enjoyed the fish tacos and chicken wraps. Another favorite is their Caesar. The service is usually good too. read more

Very nice atmosphere, great service. I ordered the breakfast Cuban sandwich, which was a fun alternative to the typical big breakfast you get around here. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant - Breakfast Cuban sandwich. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Aurora, Ontario

came with a group of friends to celebrate my friend getting engaged. We ordered drinks that took forever to come, personally the burger that I ordered was dry but that was the least of the experience. After waiting for about an hour for someone to come to get our Desert order my friend decided to go up to the cake display and order one herself. After doing so the manager brought our bills I thought it was a miscommunication and said no we didn't ask for the bill we were waiting for desert. Then he proceeded to say we are refusing you service and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. I walked up to the manager by the name of Denis who was the rudest and had the worst customer service I have ever recieved by a manager in my 10 years in the industry. He proceeded to curse at me infront of other people in the restaurant and started to count down the seconds we had left to leave. By this time we have not yet paid I asked for the bill and I was refused Denis told me to just get out and leave he doesn't want my money and that the cops were called. We all left to sit in the car waiting for the police to arrive we didn't want to leave because we did not pay. After waiting for quite some time we decided to follow up on the call. The police advised that the call was dismissed but feeling shocked, verbally abused and disappointed by how the night ended up I requested them to show up to resolve the matter Long story short this was THE ABSOLUT worst experience I have ever had in any restaurant and would not recommend anyone to go there for their special occasion as I know mine was absolutely ruined Also strong recommendation for the owners to fire Denis and find a more adequate personal to handle customer services and satisfaction. read more

This place is where I go for a decent breakfast. Everything tastes great and the service is excellent and pretty fast everytime. The only thing they could improve on really is portions and to be a little more careful of their cutlery in terms of cleaning. Im pretty picky when it comes to cutlery tho, I cant stand even seeing water stains on my fork. read more

I tend to review when things are either great or very bad. As the single star indicates, my experience at Symposium was the latter. 7 adults and 3 children met for brunch today. 4 adults were served their food an hour+ after arriving while the remaining 3 waited an additional 45 minutes for theirs. Of the 4 initially served, two omelettes were stone cold, although the plates were warm so it was obvious they had been sitting under an ineffective warmer for ages. The cold omelettes were removed, subjected to microwave treatment and then returned, which for my seat mate meant the microwaving of everything on her plate including the salad, fruit and toast. If you have never eaten microwaved eggs, salad, fruit or toast, please spare yourself and don't. The 3 kids meals of grilled cheese were not grilled and better resembled a cold cheese sandwich with one slice of crappy cheese each. The waitress kept telling us the kitchen was having a bad day, which happens, but she took no responsibility for our experience other than saying it was the kitchens fault. Why her excuse rings hallow is that other than being friendly and often overly so, she was not very good at her job. We sat without cutlery, water and coffee/tea was not delivered after multiple requests, plates were not cleared, request to speak with the manager never materialized in any action until we got up to go look for one. The net, of the 10 dishes ordered, 3 were comped. It should have been 5 - the 2 microwaved omelettes as well as the 3 dishes which were delivered 45 minutes later than the others. PS - we were celebrating a cousins soon-to-be-born second baby. Our reservations were made in advance and of the 3 adults not delivered their brunch within 1.5 hrs, was the 9 month pregnant lady. PPS. There were two managers on the floor and neither of them came to our table to check in or apologize PPPS It wasn't busy and there were a substantial number of open tables although our waitress kept telling us they were sooooooo busy ??? Perhaps dinner is better but if you are considering brunch, I urge you to reconsider. read more

Disappointed. Service: Inattentive server and slow to take order and bring meals Food: Overcooked and burnt steak on Steak Sandwich; Drenched Pesto spread on Pesto Chicken Sandwich (soggy and overpowering); Delicious Ice Cream Sandwich (light, fluffy and fresh) Overall unpleasant dining experience read more

Really enjoyed this new restaurant. Excellent service, very good tasty food, and not out of this world pricing. It's so clean inside. The decor is beautiful and so welcoming. It's definitely my new spot. read more

If you're looking for 5 stars you might find an old DVD of Titanic from the former occupant Blockbuster hiding in the back. Bang average food at a not so average price. read more

Went on a Bumble first date here last week. I've been to Symposium several times before but not at this location. It's a really big restaurant and the server was wonderful! I can't comment on the food as we only had drinks, but they had a pretty good tea selection. I also appreciate the long hours (there isn't too many places open late in the GTA). read more

We had a very bad experience today at the Aurora location. Starting with the fact that we needed to wait almost for an hour for a table, which is fine, since we knew that the place is all full. But when we finally got the table: 1. It took around 25 minutes to get a glass with tap water. 2. The table was dirty and smelled terrible even though it was wiped. 3. It took an HOUR !!!! to get our servings from the moment we ordered the food. 4. The chicken was overcooked and dry. Fish was overcooked and dry, pork was overcooked and dry The ketchup was awesome(probably was bought in Superstore)!!! 5. Tip given was $0. It was my first time that a restaurant did not receive a tip from me. This was my first and last experience with Aurora Symposium location on July 21,2015 at 7:20 PM read more

Oh this cafe. I really dislike giving negative reviews. This was my second time visiting and my last. Myself and four girlfriends met up after work on a Friday, just before 5pm. Amongst us we ordered lattes and beer, while waiting for our 5th member to arrive. We then went on to have some apps and dessert. While our server was kind, we were asked strange questions - "the cook is wondering if you're ordering from the menu or having dessert" which begged the question - is the chef looking to head home? We were then asked if we would be on separate bills - normal question! But then our bills were brought to us. The server explained we were welcome to stay until close (1am) but she was heading home for the night. Afterwards, we had one woman poke her head over but no one else returned to see if we needed more drinks. Just over 30 minutes after our server left, a gentleman who I assume is the manager asked how we were doing - my friend mentioned that no one had come around to offer us another round. He then asked us how long we were planning to stay - that a reservation was coming in 10-15 minutes. When said friend then mentioned the poor service, there was no real compassion. We were only there for 2 hours and would have loved to stay and chat with another beer! Sorry symposium. I was iffy to come back, and my feelings served true. I will not be returning! read more

Last night I went to Symposium Café in Aurora with 13 of my friends for a 20th birthday celebration. Our waitress yelled at us and was very disrespectful, she even called us names. From the beginning of the night we told her that all of our bills were separate, she seemed very unorganized all night as she never knew what drink belonged to who. By the end of the night she had 1 bill for approx. $500. We were waiting for 1 hour to pay our bills, offering to help her and tell her what we ordered. When one of our friends complained it was taking so long, she yelled at him. I told her that "if she recorded the bills properly from the beginning, none of this would be happening". The waitress came over and repeatedly yelled at me and clapping her hands in my face saying " BITCH YOUR DRUNK " , when I was not drunk at all. When I proceeded to pay my bill I gave the owner a $50 bill for my $28 meal, as I was waiting for my change the waitress came back and yelled saying "Why are you here?! Have you paid!?" , I said yes , she yelled again "so why the fuck are you still here" , and I told her I was waiting for my change! At this point the owner finally stepped in and apologized to me, but I do not accept his apology. I am not the only one she yelled at and disrespected. It was her poor service that caused this mess and my friends and I patiently waited to pay our bills for 1 hour. I am appalled by how the night ended and very disappointed for the birthday girl. read more

Have visited this location many times to give them a chance to redeem themselves but to no avail. The only reason they are getting two stars is that their lovely servers try to make the best of a poorly managed kitchen and a revolving door of management who apologize more than they do any sort of management. This will be the last visit to this location. read more

Okay so I was here about a year ago. Said I would never return (due to slow service and shit food) but then I did(well attempted too) only because the people I was with wanted too. So, we wanted to sit on the patio, it was a Wednesday afternoon in July. We chose to sit on the patio because I had my 4 pound maltipoo dog with me and you know you can't leave your dogs in the cars!!! I did not think it was a big deal because I've been to several restaurants across town who let you have your dog(mine especially since she is purse sized) on the patio. So we sit down and the server guy comes out and was SO RUDE! Instantly says "no dogs on the patio" I thought he was joking because of how rude and stern it was. So before I had a chance to reply he then said again "no dogs on the patio" I am a server too and he easily could of said it in a much more polite way! Maybe something like "hey guys how are you, unfortunately due to health regulations we aren't allowed to have dogs on the patio" Its not so much the fact that they don't allow dogs on the patio that pissed me off, it's mostly how damn rude and unwelcoming he was! HE COULD OF BEEN SO MUCH NICER AND POLITE ABOUT IT! I WILL NEVER EVER RETURN! read more

Very disappointed with the Symposium in Aurora... Which dessert place doesn't have Nutella??!!! Really???!!!! Then we order a crepe with ice cream and when the plate came out the crape was the size of a tennis ball and the ice cream was the size of a golf ball with half a strawberry and a bit of chocolate syrup... Will not be coming back. Not worth the money. Disappointing! read more

I have been here a few times now and I'm honestly not sure why I continue to come back. I really like the patio at this restaurant it is my favourite in the area but other than that nothing has made me leave happy. All three times I have come I've been seated right away but only to wait 15-20 minutes for a server to even acknowledge my table. The first time we came my friends salmon was completely raw. The server seemed pissed off that we even asked her to fix the problem. 20 minutes later we finally got the salmon with nothing more than an insincere apology. The next time we came we ordered our favourite dessert the Ice Cream Cookie Sundae which was nothing like the past ones we had it was hard and did not taste right. Lastly, I tried one more time and sat for 25 minutes waiting for my dessert at which point I needed to leave and cancelled my order. Also not to mention, every time I have came I've looked at dirty tables all around me the entire time. This could be such a great restaurant if only they picked up their service. I am yet to have a great dining experience her at symposium. read more