Grand Electric - Queen and Dufferin

[andrewrg]

I'm not sure why you're complaining about the wait at Grand Electric. There's no lineup because they take your cell number and call you when a table is ready. You were warned about the long-ass waits.

The food is totally worth it. Also, I found the staff at Grand Electric to be pretty nice and timely once you were sitting.

[Malcolm]

Ha! the 15 minute wait at the Rhin'ole doesn't surprise me- I bet I know who the bartender was. Same thing for me last week. And the hipsters probably stared because they hadn't seen an adult since the last time they went home for dinner. Which was the night before, most likely.

[cratez]

You were warned about the long-ass waits.

Yep, just pointing out that killer beer and food can be had a few minutes down the road and you don't have to wait, put up with Rhino's half-assed service, or be grimaced at by sleazy hipsters. The two experiences were night and day and I don't see the need to make an effort again when it's so much easier to have a great time elsewhere.

Ha! The 15 minute wait at the Rhin'ole doesn't surprise me - I bet I know who the bartender was. Same thing for me last week. And the hipsters probably stared because they hadn't seen an adult since the last time they went home for dinner. Which was the night before, most likely.

LOL!

[JeffPorter]

Yep, just pointing out that killer beer and food can be had a few minutes down the road and you don't have to wait, put up with Rhino's half-assed service, or be grimaced at by sleazy hipsters. The two experiences were night and day and I don't see the need to make an effort again when it's so much easier to have a great time elsewhere.

Better beer selection @ Bellwoods (hell, they make the beer they sell at GE.)

Also there's almost as much buzz about Bellwoods right now, and we got a seat within 15 minutes on a Saturday, in a place that can only seat 40 people.

Mind you, I'm an impatient guy. I won't go to a play that's more than 90 mins, and I'll walk out at the half-way point if they have an intermission. A 2.5 hour wait just isn't for me, at least for food and drink.

Finally, I wonder if the cell phone thing is part of the problem here. Too many people can get on a list, and just go away for 2 hours. I imagine if they had to hang around the soup kitchen in a line, the wait would be less.

..but then, there'd be less buzz about this place.

[jrenihan]

I've been to Grand Electric twice. The wait can be bad but the food is excellent. I have also had nothing but good experiences with the staff.

The trick is to get there almost immediately. I have arrived just after 6 both times, which led to getting a seat around 7-7:30, which is pretty much exactly when I want to eat. More than happy to kill some time at the Rhino beforehand.

I am a big fan of the cell phone approach. Compare Grand Electric with Khao San Road, the Thai place on Adelaide (also excellent). Like GE, they do not take reservations and get very packed very quickly (although the wait is much shorter- 30 to 45 mins or so). They do not have a cell phone policy. The result is a mob of people standing in the entrance, making your wait extremely uncomfortable. If you go to a nearby bar you risk missing your table. Not a fan of that approach.
Ren

[atomeyes]

...we needed a table for 6 and i think we would have been sat at the last table available, but the rest of our friends weren't with us.

we ended up waiting 1 hr for our table.

I know people feel they have the right to just show up anytime after the agreed time, but this doesn't work when there's a demand for tables. It kind of screws over the people that got there earlier.

oh, no, we actually asked to be on the 2nd rotation. we're not going to make ppl wait for tables.

[atomeyes]

You were warned about the long-ass waits.

Yep, just pointing out that killer beer and food can be had a few minutes down the road and you don't have to wait, put up with Rhino's half-assed service, or be grimaced at by sleazy hipsters. The two experiences were night and day and I don't see the need to make an effort again when it's so much easier to have a great time elsewhere.

Ha! The 15 minute wait at the Rhin'ole doesn't surprise me - I bet I know who the bartender was. Same thing for me last week. And the hipsters probably stared because they hadn't seen an adult since the last time they went home for dinner. Which was the night before, most likely.

LOL!

if you two want to think that way, then by all means, please do.
it was absolutely KILLER there on Tuesday night. the tacos were off the hook tasty. the Bellwoods on tap was great. the service is great. the bartender is great. the front of the house manager is great. i have few to no complaints about the restaurant.

i'm not a hipster nor was i ever a hipster. and there were some hipsters at GE. but you know what? they don't bite...unless you're a taco or spicy squid. you're there to eat your food, not eye-fuck the table next to you. leave the animals alone and you'll be fine.

just don't bitch because you knew there was a wait and then were subjected to the wait. instead, plan an evening where you go BEFORE 6 PM or after 8:30 PM so you don't have a 2.5 hr wait.

i think i've eaten there 5 times since they opened and was turned away once.

i will agree with you about the Rhino. that place has to figure out what they are - resto, beer bar, local dive, bar for 19 year olds. because it has a mix of all and i feel like they don't execute any of them particularily well. shoddy service, a beer menu that's never accurate, a food list that sounds gross ("FOOD ON STICKS") and a smell to it that smells like the carpet's never been cleaned.

[cratez]

if you two want to think that way, then by all means, please do. it was absolutely KILLER there on Tuesday night. the tacos were off the hook tasty. the Bellwoods on tap was great. the service is great. the bartender is great. the front of the house manager is great. i have few to no complaints about the restaurant.

i'm not a hipster nor was i ever a hipster. and there were some hipsters at GE. but you know what? they don't bite...unless you're a taco or spicy squid. you're there to eat your food, not eye-fuck the table next to you. leave the animals alone and you'll be fine.

just don't bitch because you knew there was a wait and then were subjected to the wait. instead, plan an evening where you go BEFORE 6 PM or after 8:30 PM so you don't have a 2.5 hr wait.

i think i've eaten there 5 times since they opened and was turned away once.

i will agree with you about the Rhino. that place has to figure out what they are - resto, beer bar, local dive, bar for 19 year olds. because it has a mix of all and i feel like they don't execute any of them particularily well. shoddy service, a beer menu that's never accurate, a food list that sounds gross ("FOOD ON STICKS") and a smell to it that smells like the carpet's never been cleaned.

Bottom line is the place isn't for me; not the atmosphere/clientele nor the 7 Steps to Success that you need to take to have a good time. But I don't doubt that most of the people who have posted so far have had great experiences. Also, we were the ones being "eye fucked," not the other way around. I have little patience for that type of BS so we usually just head somewhere else if that's the vibe. Luckily Bellwoods worked out (and then some).

[JeffPorter]

Bottom line is the place isn't for me; not the atmosphere/clientele nor the 7 Steps to Success that you need to take to have a good time.

"The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Taco Eaters!"

...um...yeah...

[Malcolm]

if you two want to think that way, then by all means, please do.
it was absolutely KILLER there on Tuesday night. the tacos were off the hook tasty. the Bellwoods on tap was great. the service is great. the bartender is great. the front of the house manager is great. i have few to no complaints about the restaurant.

i'm not a hipster nor was i ever a hipster. and there were some hipsters at GE. but you know what? they don't bite...unless you're a taco or spicy squid. you're there to eat your food, not eye-fuck the table next to you. leave the animals alone and you'll be fine.

I was just taking a poke at hipsters for a laugh - they're endemic in Parkdale anyway (2 of them live in my house) and I couldn't care less where they eat \drink. Relax.

[lister]

I've been to GE twice and haven't felt out of place. Or perhaps the hipsters don't bother me. I actually find them kind of amusing seeing what ugly ass shit they recycle from 30 years ago (which was ugly back then too.)

I encountered lensless glasses for the first time last year in Taiwan. One of my mother-in-law's employees was wearing them. I was dumbfounded for the rest of the evening. Still am.

The only time where I felt out of place was our first visit to 416 Snackbar last year. Other than a brief visit by a man in his mid-to-late 50's, I was easily the oldest one there (40 beckons!) I don't look it mind you but getting old sucks. We've been back a handful of times and I'm still almost always the oldest person there. *sigh* (The GE visits came well after the 416 visits so perhaps I've gotten used to eating/drinking with early to mid 20 somethings.)

[Rob Creighton]

Luckily. I get away for an overweight late '30's which allows me to blend in - alllright....no comments from the rest

[JeffPorter]

The other thing about hipsters, is that no one admits to being a hipster, but everyone accuses everyone else of being one.

My glasses are kind of boxy and Malcolm Xish. And I have a couple of silly t's I wear too. Plus, I have a graduate degree in English and social theory, so I can see how I've been accused at times.

Course, the thing that might ruin my hipster cred is my NON-28 inch waist, and the six month old strapped to my chest.

I have a kick-ass messenger-style diaper bag though.

[atomeyes]

The other thing about hipsters, is that no one admits to being a hipster, but everyone accuses everyone else of being one.

My glasses are kind of boxy and Malcolm Xish. And I have a couple of silly t's I wear too. Plus, I have a graduate degree in English and social theory, so I can see how I've been accused at times.

Course, the thing that might ruin my hipster cred is my NON-28 inch waist, and the six month old strapped to my chest.

I have a kick-ass messenger-style diaper bag though.

dude, you would be a hipster if it was 1998 and you were going to a Sebadoh concert.

want to be a wQw hipster? Watch "The Breakfast Club" or "Pretty in Pink". Note hairstyles, fashion and eyewear. Add some piercings and tatoos.
Voila. 2012 hipster.

[JeffPorter]

What about "Sixteen Candles"?