Symposium used to be a favourite of mine, but unfortunately it is not what it used to be. The service is not the greatest, and it takes quite a while for your order to be put there and for your food to come out. The food is mid at best, I wouldn't say there's anything that I would come back for. I have previously ordered the French Onion Soup and the Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl. Not the greatest in terms of flavour or plating. 4/10 recommend! read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

Really good service, and such good prices on drinks and food! Highly recommend. I got the eggs Benedict with salmon and my friend got it with ham. The sides they offer are really good, I didn't want fries so I got fruits. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Bennys - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

Yesterday my Mom and I returned here for brunch. We arrived around 12:20 pm and again it wasn't crowded, resulting in our quickly being seated. We both ordered omelettes; I chose their Spinach Feta omelette and Mom chose their Western. Mine also had feta cheese; both were 3 egg omelettes and came with breakfast potatoes and whole wheat toast. I've started a comparison between spinach omelettes at different restaurants; each one has been better than the previous one and this was no exception - the feta cheese is definitely what brought this one over the top in quality for me. The potatoes and toast were very good and Mom quite enjoyed her meal too. Again I consider my meal a pretty good value considering both the quantity and quality of the food. We had prompt service as well and overall my 2nd visit to this restaurant was quite enjoyable. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

Friendly service, lots of parking in a small Thornhill plaza Food was excellent and portion was great, home fries not too salty for seniors Comfortable seatings and good environment read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

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My family and I celebrated my aunt's birthday today with Rovina as our server. it was wonderful! We all liked our meals and the dessert was also great. read more

My friend in the area suggested this place for meet-up as he spent quite a bit of time chatting and hanging out with friends during his younger years. And he was right! We had a pretty big table for the two of us to work on some stuff on our laptop. The free WiFi at the restaurant didn't work and we had to hotspot from our own devices. I ordered a iced moccachino for drink. It was very well made and definitely better than Timmies. During dinner time, we ordered perogies, chicken burger w/fries and clam chowder soup to share. Food tasted great and portion size was above average. We ended up spending about 4 hours here. Air conditioning can be a little strong so be sure to bring a jacket. read more

vegetarian Wrap -delicious vegetarian option - at a great price for Lunch specials- substituted sweet potato fries for a bit more $- tasty and crunchy wrap . very clean washrooms btw and bright patio umbrellas- took a piece of hummingbird cake for home . read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Cake display at Symposium Cafe restaurant Thornhill - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

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Enjoy coming here for the eggs Benedict potatoes and coffee. Excellent service. Nice menu. Cozy ambiance. Ordered and took home vegetarian pad Thai but it wasn't very good. I will order it another time when I'm in the restaurant. Perhaps it will be good read more

Great meal. Great service. Lots of choices. Also the carrot has five layers. Sarah was our server. Both she and the manager made sure we had a great "Date Night". read more

Dorsa served us. We liked how she treated guests. Atmosphere is just OK. Seats are neither comfortable nor Uncomfortable. Food is OK. Nothing fancy, but OK. read more

I visited this restaurant with a friend on a rainy Sunday. We had a delicious and tasty lunch! I had the burger which was really huge and tasted juicy. It wasn't dry at all. My fries were so yummy and there was a sauce that accompanied my fries that I wanted to jar up and take home. This place is so yummy and the interior is friend and warming. They have great deals on drinks and appetizers. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Burger with fries - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

I had the salmon teriyaki bowl with the garlic dressing very tasty and filling my friends had the pasta special also very tasty. read more

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Dorsa was very nice and helpful, the dining space was really nice and tidy, the food was pretty good. The wings were really nice but they could be spicer and the ribs could have been done medium but I felt like I should have asked prior. Apart from it all it was a good experience. will be returning. read more

Menu is extensive with a variety of options. (Food, drinks, and desserts). Food was just okay and portion size was reasonable. Service was good. read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Clam chowder - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

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We came here before the modified stage 2 was announced. This location has a large outdoor seating area. The evening we came, many people were sitting outside. I hadn't brought a jacket & it was getting cold so I asked our group of friends if we could sit inside. Besides the servers & a couple we were the only people inside. Inside the cafe/restaurant it's spacious. The decor is wall murals with marble looking columns. It's clean & they put plexiglass barriers between the booths. The booths are along the perimeter & tables in the other spaces. They have a nice display for the desserts by the cashier. Waitstaff were friendly, & efficient. Their desserts, coffees & teas were delicious as usual. There's actually another, smaller location closer to us but it hasn't opened up yet because of covid. I'd come here again for sure. read more

I would give ZERO stars if I could but I cant. Would not come here again. Where do I begin, first the waitress took over 10 minutes to ask for our drinks. Second when finishing up and packing our left overs, waitress was too busy cleaning off table and swept our dirty napkin onto our leftovers. Thirdly charged us extra on happy hour wine and blamed that the wine was punched in after 6:00pm. I didn't realize until after I paid the bill and the waitress was not apologetic. As I looked at the time I paid for the bill, it stated 6:08 pm. Now let's work backwards if I had ordered the wine at 6:02pm, it usually take 2mins to get a bill from time of asking, 2mins for the bartender to get the order for the wine and 2mins for wine to be brought to the table, meaning I drank the 6oz glass of wine in 0mins or less. Accountability and customer service is greatly needed at this eatery. And hope they improve, but based on the previous posts it does not look like the case. On the upside, portions are big and food was hot. Good Luck read more

Symposium Cafe Restaurant Thornhill - Time and date of paid bill. - Desserts Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

I've been here several times and will keep coming back. The host at the front desk asked if we prefer a booth or a table since both were available. I like that. The server was very fast at taking our drinks order, returning with the drinks and taking our food order. The menu has a wide range of choices. I've never had a bad meal here. The decor is nice and there's adequate parking including spots on the side and back of the building. The new manager sometimes comes by to chat. He is clearly proud of the business and enjoys what he does. read more

This place is so trash. The hostess was friendly, but all the other staff aren't. We came on a Thursday evening, the south Asian waiters attitude was so awful. He was on his phone the whole time, I had to go up and pay for the bill because he never bothered coming by our table. Not to mention there were like two tables occupied around 8pm. read more

Food was good. Service was great. Next table over was ridiculously loud. Not the restaurants fault but the place was pretty empty and we didn't all have to be so close together. read more

Had visited this location a few times and were very happy, so when we decided to try their Brunch, we went with high expectations. We were sadly disappointed. While the food was good, the service was terrible. We waited for someone to show up, and when they did, we asked for a water, tea, and a coffee while we decided what we wished to eat. After about 10 minutes, the fellow finally came back with my water, a tea and a coffee (but no milk or cream was brought or offered. We had to ask for it. Even then, it was about five minutes before he came back with the milk and cream! When we gave our order, it took well over 20 minutes to show up. Then we had to ask for flatware! He never brought tableware until we asked for it!!!! French fries were not hot, and bread on one meal was hard and barely toasted. Luckily, my eggs and potatoes were hot and toast was OK. After we were finished, we waited again a very long time for someone to clean the plates away. We had to ask another waiter to get our server to bring the bill. Even that took over five minutes!! So if you get Amrit as a server, ask for someone else. Even if he is new server, he is extremely slow and unorganized! I think we will stick with dinner there and not try brunch again. read more

Mahyar was the best and friendly server Food was good we had brunch there and smoky salmon recommended ! read more

You won't be disappointed. Great food with excellent services. Our server Dorssa is one of the best ever seen.

Back here for their $4 Martinis on Wednesday! Love the experience this time as I sat with my friends at the bar and of course we have good services as the bartender made sure we have all the drinks we need tonight and more... I ended up having 4 martinis including one off the menu and my favourite for the night is the Almond Pleasure, just love those dark chocolate chips in the drink! Calamari ($10.95) is on Late Night Happy Hour Special with 33% off was not bad. Sadly their 50% off Wednesday Special Mussel all sold out by 10:30 pm.. so if you are into mussels. I can drink 10 of those martini especially those creamy sweet one, they just tastes like liquid dessert... read more

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I've had breakfast here. I've met for coffee here. I had lunch/dinner here. It's a nice place to hang out. This place was a McD years ago, then a Kenny Roger's Chicken Place, then a Lick's burger place (the order of appearance might be wrong) and now a pretty nice cafe. The food is OK here. I find the temperature and seasoning off for me but you really can't go wrong if you need a nice place in Thornhill to meet some people. There are a few Symposiums around the GTA and they look like they are doing well. I like going there for breakfast - they are well priced and as long as you get the eggs over easy (which is the best overall since I don't like my eggs burnt) you will have a decent meal. read more

Food is good for an everyday meal. We go here about once a month for a casual dinner. Had a new waiter named Josh who definitely went the extra mile and was extremely pleasant. A great local restaurant. read more

This place is close to me so I frequently see my friends there. It has never been a five star coffee shop but it had better days. This last Saturday, Feb 4th 2023, went there to host two different sets of people. An Iranian girl was waiting our table and she looked fine and nice, not going above and beyond but a very basic waitress. We even asked her opinion about our logo and we were speaking Farsi. The reason I mention her background is first she never introduced herself and second I am persian too. So I don't think it is racist just for the management to identify her easier. Then, later when I was hosting the second party, I asked for a cappuccino. The cup was dirty and had a dark red lip stick mark on it. I asked her to come and showed her the disgusting cup and asked her to change it in English. Instead of apologizing, she aggressively said: " Why do you speak in English when you want to complain? " It was so unexpected that I couldn't believe her reaction. If a waitress thinks she is above waiting tables, she has to find a new job. Hospitality business is for people who has the manner and politeness needed for this profession. read more

Great food - love the Benedict's

Do not order the Terriyaki salmon salad. It looks nothing like the picture, did not come with crispy wontons and cucumbers as described, and the amount of broccoli, tomatoes and mushrooms was pathetic (like 5 of each). The salmon was definitely not grilled. It was a deep fried fillet that looked and tasted like it's been sitting in the freezer for days and then dumped in the deep fryer for too long. The fish was dry and hard to eat. I didn't complain to staff as I was with a large group for an engagement party and didn't want to make a scene. The only good thing about it was the honey mustard dressing. The staff did come by our table multiple times to check up on us but did not refill our water glasses until they were asked. Also I find the price of a tea, almost $5, to be ridiculous. Will not be coming back. read more

Inside was cozy and inviting Food- good menu selection. Would come back to try more. Initially ordered the fish & chips (special on a Friday), mussels and calamari. Fish and chips weren't the greatest I had but pretty large portion! Mussels was also a meal in itself and was a huge portion!! Was good, but got a little overwhelming at the end. Didn't finish it. Calamari was average. Nothing outstanding about it. Would definitely come back to try other things on the menu like their desert. Service- pretty good service. Attentive and clears tables. Only thing I would complain about is the flys flying around. I know it's hard to tame them but it's kind of a turn off when eating :/ not necessarily their fault, but overall good experience! read more

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We Went here because I figured they had more patio seats. Indeed they do! Food was okay and acceptable. Very lousy service from our server. We felt like the server didn't want to work. My coffee cup had some lipstick stains left, I told the server. He picked it up and gave me a new one, no words of apology. Silence. It certainly felt like I was disturbing him. Reading past reviews on Yelp, looks like this location is notoriously known for crappy customer service. Won't be returning to this location again. read more

This is a nice gem of a place! Food was amazing and cozy, conducive to working as well! Rosie was our server and she was amazing in making sure we are well taken care of! Will definitely come back again!! read more

We went there last Sun. I went there several times and all was well. This time however the cake was not fresh at all, perhaps from several days before that. I felt stomachache right away. The service was awesome. We had two kids they did such a mess and there were so patient with us. The vibe was and is always positive. I will come back again but wont otder cakes . read more

Aryan was a great sever will be back again. food was nice! Need more tables but honestly other than that the placement was nice. Cheap mimosa read more

Definitely one of the better Symposium locations! I've been to numerous locations and this one is by far my favourite location. My cousins and I decided to come here after I was done work because I was craving dessert! Out of everything we got, I would say the Vanilla Milkshake and the 7 Layer Chocolate Cake are to die for! Both of them were delicious and I'll definitely come back just for those two! The service itself here was amazing, I mean, I do know that sometimes you may not get as good service as others did, but the day we went it was quite packed but our server was super helpful and friendly! read more

Had a lovely lunch yesterday with mom and my husband to celebrate her 88th birthday at the Symposium in Thornhill. Our server Dorsa was most delightful, excellent service! which made our outing even more special. Food was great and was enjoyed in a very pleasant atmosphere. Thank you Symposium and Dorsa! read more

The spot is like R.Kelly's remix to ignition because it's "hot and fresh out the kitchen" - because it just opened Yesterday (how's that for a fresh FTR). I've been a fan of the symposium brand (yes yes yes I know it's a chain), since my years as a student in Waterloo when taking a girl you met at the bar a week earlier meant that things were "getting serious". Enough about my lusty days as a co-ed (save those for another day). The topic at hand Thornhill's newest edition, Symposium Cafe. Taking over the location where the failed Licks Home-burgers, Kenny Rogers Roasters AND even McDonald's before that (ya I've lived around here for a long time) used to be, I've got my fingers crossed for this classy little joint, First off walking up you cannot miss their huge signage, BUT your attention is quickly diverted from the signage to the elegance and sophistication that is their front patio. Black on Black neuvo patio furniture is surrounded by a black iron fence and large ornate gates also inscribed with the Cafes name. Walking inside this place continues to be class class class all the way. Gorgeous fixtures, a mix of rich wood and marble table tops and tobacco coloured wing back leather chairs. This place is really done up to the nines! As per the norm with other Symposiums the desserts and the bar are the main focal points with both on display and an impressive sit down bar area which is uncommon from other locations. My colleague and I took a booth near the front to discuss worldly issues (the Olympics) and other things of that sort and were quickly offered menus. Being that it was likely 5 o'clock somewhere I decided on a Caesar (with a kick) and a flat iron steak house salad, while my friend ordered up a cappuccino. The bevvies took time to come but when they arrived and while attempted to make a Caesar to my taste it was essentially just clamato juice and celery salt (forgettable) - the garnish was a lemon and lime wedge, not even a celery stalk. WTF? My coffee addicted friend seemed content with the Cappuccino but did mention that he prefers to be asked whether or not he'd like cinnamon or chocolate on top instead of it coming standard. As for my Salad, I am honestly torn on which way to go with my opinion here. The handful of steak pieces I received were cooked and flavoured amazingly. YUM. But I literally got 5 teeny tiny medallions. The mixed greens and veggies were super fresh and there was a lot of them however I had to ask for dressing because the salad came bone try (other than the sauce which rubbed off the steak). Lastly we shared in a slice of their Carrot Cake. Can you say MONEY MAKER!!! This is what Symposium is all about - wowza! This thing was 2.5 normal slices of normal carrot cake compacted into 1. It was moist and creamy and even had cranberries mixed in for a secret X-factor. DAyyyuuummmmmmm girl!! The food and drink may have made Symposium take a hit on score, BUT given that it literally just opened yesterday they are A-OK in my books and can only go up from here :) I shall return and I know they will impress. I see this place being a new summer work spot and night time patio hang out, come with me :) ** Wifi is password protected so make sure to ask your servers read more

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I wanted to like this place. I really did. I went with a group of 13 and we were quickly seated on a busy night. My friends had the deserts while I had a main since I was starving. I had the Pesto Salmon which was unimpressive. I barely tasted the pesto and the salmon left a lot to be desired. I was also disappointed as the menu indicated rice as a side and I got fries instead. I would have mentioned something to our waiter but hew was almost non-existent to our table so I just sat there and ate it despite it not being what I ordered. I also had their cafe mocha which wasn't something that was great. It was average at best. I will say that the decor and mood that is set in this place is great and its one of the few reasons as to why I really wanted to like this place. Here's the kicker though. It was mainly 2 things that ruined this place for me. The bathrooms were small and lacking the facilities to support the amount of people in the restaurant. The floor was slippery when I used the washroom and felt like there was a thin film of oil on the ground. But the worst part of what happened that night was that my friends ordered a pitcher for mojitos and they found a live earwig in their pitcher. Naturally the staff replaced the pitcher and didn't charge us at all for it. But that should never happen....ever. Their deals look great and I've heard their breakfasts are pretty good. I'm just not sold on it from my experience. read more

I'm not a fan of this restaurant. The waitstaff are not friendly and the menu is not great. They do not accommodate anyone with food allergies. I'm both lactose and gluten intolerant and the only beverage I can purchase is tea. How difficult is it for a restaurant to purchase a milk alternative? In addition to the above, this location does not carry any lactose & gluten free desserts. I find this ridiculous. If you are a cafe, I honestly think you should have options available for people with food allergies or intolerances. read more

Family of 5 went for dinner 7pm Friday night. The restaurant was empty. This should have been a give away on what would follow. Our server was grumpy/unfriendly, but got the job done, But it did feel like he was rushing us. I am starting to resent that you pay gratuity regardless of how you are treated. 15% minimum is like a tax on the meal. The food: Curry chicken - large portion, bland and wort part... encountered a slimy unidentified mouthful that resulted in a spit out and off putting experience. Vegetarian pad Thai - meh, large servings, but borderline acceptable. Chicken souvlaki - chicken average. Fries nice. Greek salad nice. Burgers - teenage boys said they both enjoyed their burgers. For an average of $30 per head, there are many better options ( better food and or value). I have no intention to return. I am willing to bet this location will be closed within a year (before end 2019). read more

I have come here about 3 times now, and to be honest, it's been 3 times too many. One thing that's prevailed throughout my 3 visits, shitty ass service. It's as if the servers forget you exist, and just ignore you after taking your order. Forget about getting a refill for your drink, getting extra napkins or lord forbid you drop your fork on the ground. You might as well just eat with your hands. Also, I think the third time's the charm because lucky me, I found a long piece of hair in my salad. Yay! Avoid this place, unless being ignored and having hair in your food is your kinda jam. read more