Hawthorne - Toronto, Ontario

One word I could come up with to describe the meal? Confused The bloody caesar flavour completely overpowered the flank steak, and the whole dish. The flank steak I'm sure was medium rare but sitting on hot mash and hot dressing kept cooking it to more medium/well done. Came with ... celeriac/potato mash but again all you could taste was Caesar. 27$ yowza Pork scnitchel salad, pork was barely warm and the salad was just an assortment of pickled veg and cold roasted potatoes. 16$ Service was good but that doesn't really save a very disappointing meal Read more

This little brunch spot is amazing! Such a soft and sweet atmosphere. Pleasant for those slow and relaxing mornings. The staff is so nice and accommodating. The breakfast sandwich is a definite must try.

Personally I have always had great experience here—not to mention the fries are amazing here!!! This time, my review is based mostly on my experience as a sole diner during Winterlicious. I decided after a long stressful day at 1.45 pm (after being in the office at 7am) to go ... and enjoy lunch. The menu was decent at Hawthorne and it being the last day of Winterlicious I decided why not ☺️. Walking in I was greeted with a friendly smile and was given the option of sitting at a table by the window or the bar, I opted for the bar. The host and the bartender were very friendly and attentive. A bit awkward (I assume the host was quite new) but with good intentions. The Kale salad I ordered was quite large but delicious. I ate about half and left it there, took some time but the host/waiter realized I was not going to finish it and asked if I wanted to keep working on it or clear it—I told him I would work on it with my main and he said Ok! The main was brought out promptly thereafter, burger and fries which was a huge portion. I ended up packing half the burger, half the fries and the rest of my salad in a take out box (and boy was it still delicious for that nights’ dinner) ☺️. The dessert I tried was a coconut bread pudding which was alright—I was never a fan of bread pudding but love coconut. All in all I wasn incredibly full and had a lovely experience. $23 was well spent! Hawthorne is a social enterprise of Hospitality Workers Training Centre (HWTC), a non-profit organization based on a sectoral workforce development approach. It was created as a partnership between the Hospitality Workers’ union (UNITE HERE Local 75) and major hotels in Toronto and modeled on the Culinary Training Academy of Las Vegas. HWTC works with Toronto’s hospitality and food service employers, existing workers and new entrants in need of work to train, support and strengthen the industry’s valued workforce. In 2015, HWTC trained 300 participants at Hawthorne and other industry partner facilities, including unemployed youth and those in receipt of Ontario Disability Supports and Ontario Works. Out of these trainees, 80% were successfully placed in jobs in the hospitality industry of Toronto within the same year. Read more

The hostess was extremely hospitable and catered to my every need. I stopped by to get breakfast to go around 10am and only one other customer was there. The food was served fast and was extremely tasty. I used a groupon that was $11 redeemable for $20 of food and ... was really happy with my purchase. I would have never found this gem if it weren’t for groupon. I don’t know how busy it is at other times of the day or what the service would be like then but I had an ideal experience. Read more

Love this place! It's a non-profit restaurant that trains at-risk youths and those receiving money from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program and links them to jobs in the hospitality industry. All the ingredients are sourced from local farmers & prepared with minimum wastage. So by eating here I ... did a good deed today! 😇 Food looks artsy and tastes really good! Would come back! Read more