Carmen’s Steak House

We really enjoy the dinner here. Steak and scallops are my favourite. Service here is wonderful. I would definitely return and try other dishes in the future. Highly recommend.

I was soooo disappointed! I loved the Origional Carmens — the food, the atmosphere, the service — were all top notch. Sadly not anymore. Food was mediocre at best, staff were kind but unprofessional. We would have been better off going to The Keg. Unfortunately — Carmens is no more…
To be more specific as per the managers request — the steak was terrible. You can on all you want about he quality, but it was awful. The best part (or worst depending on how you look at it) — was when the table across from us barfed all over their booth — and then ran out. Now — I know you can’t blame the restaurant for that — but the open, very loud scene /​argument that ensued between the staff — as to who was or wasn’t going to clean it up. Well that just topped everything off.
Hope the additional feedback was helpful

Very delicious. Have high quality and great value. Will continue to go there. Worth the drive even for ppl far away

Wow! First thing I’d have to mention is the beautiful building. The interior is done an old tudor style and lit with a wood burning fireplace — very cozy!
The staff was friendly and really knew the menu, ordering was a breeze.
The food earned five stars as well. I really enjoyed the cod dish and my boyfriend raved about his tenderloin all the way home!
If I had to correct one thing I’d play more modern music, bit because that’s more of a preference thing I won’t dock this restaurant a star.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would return.

Spent an enjoyable evening at Carmen’s. The atmosphere was cozy and perfect for the holiday season. Got the tasting menu, which i found to be a great deal. Really enjoyed the miso black cod. The server was very knowledgeable about the steaks. Overall I had a great time and will gladly return.

We wanted to grab a good meal without battling the crowds on Friday night and this place delivered. They recently reopened we found out while dining that’s probably why they are ranked the 17^th best steakhouse in Toronto. I have eaten in many high end steakhouses over the years and these guys rank in the top 10. James our server was excellent. The steaks were cooked to perfection. I would recommend they serve fresh bread with an olive oil n spread or even butter instead of the bought garlic bread. Was bummed when we took the lava cake back to the hotel and it was upside down in the awesome to go box and they forgot the ice cream! Oh well that cost them a star otherwise great experience.

Wow, just came here for dinner with my parents and had incredible service and food. I had the black miso cod and it blew me away. The atmosphere is very warm, inviting and cosy. I got the seat closest to the fireplace which was lovely on a rainy day.

Well, it’s difficult to say.
Whatever this place is, it is NOT Carmen’s for anyone who remembers the original.
That said, it’s still pretty good.
We had steaks; mine was medium rare as it should be. My wife’s was medium, at best, and verging on well done.
The black cod was absolutely superb, but the spinach risotto in which it sat was a little too al dente and not that flavourful.
The service was ok, but no up to par of some of the other steak houses around.
But, the big issue for me was as much as it looked like the old Carmen’s, it just wasn’t the same. So, I may be rating it more harshly than I should simply because I loved the old place and the new one can’t help feeling like an imposter.
All said and done, the food ranges from OK to quite good, the service from unenthusiastic to OK, but there are other steak houses that provide equivalent quality with much better value or similar prices but much better food.
I had to go once — it is at least CALLED Carmen’s Steakhouse — but I doubt I’ll be back.

Tried the tasting menu during thanks giving days with my long time no see friends. I was impressed by not only the taste but also the creativity behind each dish from which I can find the time and efforts the chef has put in. It’s unique, a combination of great taste and visual presentation, and I call it art. My friend was quite satisfied and surprised since she never thought she could get close to such an experience if I didn’t bring her there. I highly recommend this place!

Dinner was a disaster! I would NEVER go back!
We ordered Caesar Salad to start. The dressing was flavourful, but overwhelmed with garlic (In a bad way!) I love the garlic in the Caesar salad at Jacob’s & Co. But this was ridiculous! And the so-​called croutons were dozens of tiny cubes of stale and dry Wonder bread! But that was not the disaster!
The nightmare began after the waiters cleared the appetizers and the wait began! 10 minutes… 20 minutes… and the steaks were nowhere to be found! After 30 minutes, we asked a waiter where the steaks were and he claimed that they were being plated, as we spoke! 5 minutes later, a different waiter brought out a complimentary «scallop» for each of us, as the steaks were going to be delayed further, he confessed! I don’t know if the dish presented was a scallop or not, as nobody at our table would dare touch it. The dish contained something swimming in what appeared to be a coagulated milk sauce and it had the most foul and pungent of stenches — like the smell of dead fish in Lake Ontario on a bad summer day! A few minutes later, the untouched plates were removed and there were still no steaks in sight!
40 minutes had passed since our salads had been removed! And our steaks were nowhere to be found. Ridiculous!
45 minutes came and went! And then the steaks finally arrived — cold, mixed up and not as ordered! Those who ordered sauce, didn’t get any! Those who didn’t want any «au jus» found their steaks covered in it! I had ordered the Ribeye, done «medium»! It was served freezing cold and beyond well done! It was like of piece of shoe leather. One of my dinner guests had ordered her steak «medium well» — And it arrived cold and bleeding like it had been freshly slaughtered! It was so rare, it was almost blue! These two steaks had to be sent back, as the others at our table forgave the sauce mix ups.
The waiter was very apologetic and clearly recognized that the two steaks had been very wrongly cooked. He took them back and promised new steaks immediately. We waited another 25 minutes before the second round of steaks appeared. And they were cooked wrong again! My medium steak was blood rare and my friend’s «medium well» steak was medium rare, at best!
I would never go back and would never recommend this restaurant to anyone! Some of the staff were great, but we never had the same waiter or waitress twice in a row. They kept sending different servers to deal with each course and each issue. Some of the staff could barely speak English and could not understand simple questions. At the beginning of the evening, one of the servers, who brought us an hors d’œuvre, referred to them as a «bush-​bush», instead of an amuse-​bouche, and did not know what she was serving, when asked!
All in all, it was a disastrous evening and a genuinely horrible meal! And I still cannot get rid of the over-​powering taste of garlic in my system from the Caesar Salad, even now!

Tried Carman after my friend recommended it. I just loved my experience! Service is wonderful. The black cod I had is just a dream come true!

Me and my wife had a wonderful dinner here! Food was well presented and sophisticated! Excellent service. Their long standing reputation is well earned and they didn’t disappoint

It was an amazing experience to eat at such a fine establishment. The interior was breath taking and everything about the experience was definitely worth it.
It was quiet and the lighting was nice. The food was amazing. I would definitely go again!
If only everyone know what a gem this one in the city!

I had high expectations for this place since the review was so high and the chef was granted with Michelin 1 star. But it was all a miss from the food to the atmosphere, although our main server was trying his best with the heat wave, since the A/​C had malfunction so we were eating in a sauna room. The steak was overly seasoned, the plating was dull, and the sautéed veggie was just a big mess, some undercook others were over. Nothing came out right from the moment we sat down. The only reason I am giving this place a 1 star review is for our server.

I’ve heard a lot about this restaurant since they have 50 years old history. The place was very decent when I first stepped in. I felt something not right when I sat down. A mid forty Chinese man with poor English was serving us while a young Chinese lady was serving another table. I’m wondering is that a Chinese restaurant or a western steak house ?! The waitresses didn’t have unified uniform. I expected the services and the atmosphere should be similar or better than The Keg, Buca, café Boulud, Joso, and etc. since they have 4 and half stars in Unilocal.I kept persuading myself that the food must be good even they didn’t have professional services. The price is not cheap when I went throw the menu. The tiger shrimp cocktail was $ 38!!! My friend and I ordered the scallop, shrimp cocktail and foie gras. And lobster & rib eye for our main dishes. The scallop and foie gras were fine, very normal compared with other restaurants where I went to. I was shock when I tasted the shrimp cocktail. I don’t understand why they charged so high for four shrimp and tasted worse than the one I bought from Costco (maybe I expect too high for this restaurant). Forget about the appetizer. The funny thing was they served my friend black cod instead of lobster. Yea, the «waiter» placed the wrong order. My rid eye was tasteless!!! I didn’t expect they could made my steak like Café Boulud or Jacob, but please, at least better than the keg !!! I was so disappointed!!! Oh and the wine was awful too. The restaurant is not very big. Only two table Canadian, and the rest (5 – 6) were all Chinese (Asian). It’s not about the discrimination. It was something not right. I asked the «waiter» is the restaurant Chinese own ?? He didn’t answer my question but he said oh, we have Chinese chef, and Canadian chef. One last thing was, we asked the bill, the «waiter» brought out the machine without cleaning up our table!!! My half of the steak still on the table !!! I really don’t wanna waste my room to finish that. At the end I find out, they used to have very good food since they reopened last year winter and owned by a Chinese people. If the quality of the food (everything) is good. I don’t care where they from. I don’t think they deserve 4.5 star! It just misleading ppl going there!!! tt

The steak was very good, but it is not the old Carmen’s. It’s been interestingly (and lovingly) restored inside the building — so the décor feels like Carmen’s. But for those who remember the blast of garlic bread, the giant pickles, the garlic drenched steaks — this isn’t that. So, very good steak, unique décor, but not the Carmen’s of old.

I am not sure how people have written such great reviews to a restaurant that is clearly sub par and not worth the price.
I made a reservation and went today (Valentine’s Day). The staff was nice and greeted us, took our coats and then seated us in the ground floor dining room.
This dining room was at about 60% capacity. We were seated at a table for 2 on an angle in front of a fireplace. It was quite cold out this evening but that is no excuse for a cold dining room. I mentioned this to the so-​called manager who said he would get someone to stoke the fire. There were 4 or 5 different people trying to tend to the fire interrupting my evening yet they were having issues due to ignorance.
We started with the $ 17 French onion soup which was decent enough but it was lukewarm halfway through due to the cold room.
We then proceeded to wait about half hour to receive our salads. Nobody addressed this delay and nothing was said as I sat there twiddling my thumbs. I ordered the Caesar salad which again failed to impress. The dressing was a simple vinaigrette sprinkled with powdered Parmesan with a flattened bacon wheel and pickled anchovy. This was not what I was expecting for a traditional Caesar salad.
I also ordered the rib eye to be cooked medium. When I received it on the plate the upside of the steak was charred without grill marks and looked much overdone compared to what I had ordered. The steak tasted ok and want dried out since the rib eye is a fatty cut.
The accompanying vegetables were well done and tasty. The presentation was also nicely done. The one thing that completely turned me off was the double baked potato. If you have tried a twice baked potato at the keg you would expect something rich creamy and delicious. The potato I was served was flavourless with some strange textures which was completely unpalatable.
At the end of the meal I asked to have my meat packed up to go. I paid my bill expressing to my server Frank that
I had a substandard experience. He apologized for the delay on the salad, the cold room and there wasn’t much he could do. I think service can do a lot more than simply play lip service and apologize for the terrible experience. The manager also failed to do anything to rectify the situation.
We went out to the front after paying the bill to get our coats and the concierge could barely understand how to match a name to a table to get our coats. I had to point out my name on is reservation sheet. My to go bag was nowhere to be found so completely fed up I walked out of this restaurant.
This was not the experience I was expecting to pay for and especially on Valentine’s Day.
Please save yourself time, aggravation and money and avoid this pace at all costs. The Keg is so much better than this place for a fraction of the price.

What a great experience!
Let me start by stating that I never went to this steakhouse when it was owned by others, so this is not a comparison.
I had stopped by a few weeks ago after working out (so not dressed up at all) and one of the waiters was very pleasant and took me on a tour of the restaurant. I thought it was a nice gesture and decided I would try this place soon.
I was waiting for other people to post a review because I knew it would be pricey, but I still hadn’t seen any recent reviews and it looked interesting, so I finally decided to try it out myself.
What an amazing experience! from the moment I stepped in, the staff were very attentive and friendly. I sat at a large table (that had very nice plates and cutlery) in front of the chimney and the environment felt very cozy and elegant. I even felt like I was somewhere else, nowhere near a busy area downtown Toronto.
The food was delicious! the complimentary garlic bread was warm and very tasty. I got a medium rare barrel cut tenderloin, which came with 3 side dishes. I was very pleased with how perfectly cooked my steak was! it was slightly salty for mi taste, but I tend to eat with low salt, so it may be perfect for other people. The side dishes were very good as well, particularly the mushrooms and spinach.
I had ordered a glass of wine (it’s served ¹⁄₃ bottle) which unfortunately I was not very excited about. I made the comment to Mike, one of the servers, and a few minutes later the manager or sommelier (not sure who it was) came to my table and offered to change it for another wine. A great gesture added to the list!
The chef also stopped by my table to ask how I was enjoying my dinner. He was very friendly and I complimented him on the food. At the end, he sent me a delicious complimentary cheese and dessert table. Another great gesture!
In summary, I absolutely enjoyed my experience at this restaurant. Obviously it’s pricey, but it was totally worth it. I felt like I was in my own private dinner with amazing service and food. I will return to try other dishes.
I think a lot of people still don’t know this place has re-​opened (different owners), so it’s still a bit quiet. However, if you’ve thought about going, you should definitely go!

This is a fantastic steak house, although some might find the atmosphere a little outdated, I enjoy it’s old charm. Nothing quite like enjoying a nice warm fire and eating one of the best steaks that I have ever had.
Sad to see places like the Keg doing so well when we have a true steakhouse like Carmen’s in the city

Carmen’s is old-​Toronto. I’m sure it was very popular back when doing out for a dinner meant something more than wearing your best LaCoste golf shirt with the collar popped. Sadly, this time is no more and Carmen’s has really fallen by the wayside and clearly been unable to keep up with the times.
The service and the food was excellent but atmosphere and waiters are almost gimmicky. I realize it used to be a very formal place but I think you can keep the classic ambiance and still update a little. The silverware and flatware are all pitted and likely as old as I am. Same goes for the Menus, what are they doing with these. You really just need to see these books, I mean, menus.
When I attended on Wednesday evening there was only one other party in the restaurant. Not exactly a happening spot anymore.
Regardless, I would like to go back on a Friday or Saturday. It would be nice to see if its busy on the weekend. You might even be able to wear a suit and tie at this place without getting the stare down from other patrons with confused looks on their face.