Moxie’s Grill & Bar

I’ve been here many times because it’s a nice place to come to while shopping at Yorkdale, and I really like their herb chicken alfredo, but this place also has some huge cons.
For starters, the food isn’t anything special. I feel like you’re paying for the ambiance (which is really nice), but is unfortunately ruined by miserable staff. On my most recent trip, the boyfriend and I stopped in for a late lunch. We were seated in the bar, and a waitress came over and had attitude oozing out of her (bad day, perhaps?). She asked what I wanted to drink, I said «water» and she just walked away without even asking my boyfriend what he wanted to drink. It took her ages to come back, she placed two glasses of water on the table, then disappeared again without a word. Her miserable attitude and poor service went on throughout our visit. Sorry, but short skirts and plunging necklines aren’t going to make people like you & give you good tips if your attitude sucks and your behaviour is rude.
The food was decent, I had my usual herb chicken alfredo & my boyfriend got a burger, which he was satisfied with. I’ve had their white chocolate brownie here many times, and it can be hit or miss. Sometimes it’s wonderful, other times it can be very dried out.
Overall it is a very pretty place with okay food, but the staff always behave like they hate their lives & you’re to blame. Would it kill them to smile once and a while?

The only thing that really stood out was the ice cream chocolate brownie. I used to like Moxies 7 years ago… but as I grew more picky the «land, sea grill» and the overall food experience has gone more «meh». It feels like a Joey wannabe yet it is not quite one. It tries to steal the Keg’s thunder but it is only a KEG-​in-​Training.
So what is its identity?!
I don’t know… I like to refer to restaurants such as this as the «break restaurant». What I mean is that, it is not a complete failure, but it is not the first thing that comes to mind. You’d rather go to Joey’s and the Keg, but like all good things, too much is sometimes too much. So you think of a restaurant in a similar class to take a break or have a breather.
Moxie’s is it.
I had the arctic char this time and it was pretty disgusting. I don’t know if that’s the arctic char’s taste and texture but it felt warm-​ish and tasted smoked and canned… i’d rather pay for an expensive can of «Ocean’s Wild Sockeye Salmon» than to eat this crap. Seriously. I totally missed out my chance in Yellowknife to eat some real Arctic Char, oh wells. It’s the most fishy and disgusting thing I’ve eaten inside a restaurant… yes worse than the metal/​mercury tasting fish and chips at Brits downtown.
Yech!!!
Go to the Keg nearby for dinner and come here for dessert and some lounging.

Why Moxie’s? Why do I need to give you an A-​OK review? This used to be my favourite restaurant. However over time, the dining experience has gotten worse and worse. I’ve rated this Moxie’s location 3 stars strictly because I enjoy the atmosphere and the food is good. However, the service here is just awful. I could go on and on about the bad experiences I’ve had here but I’ll just talk about my last visit. My boyfriend and I decided to go here for dinner. We ordered our drinks and appetizer (Med Bread) at the same time. My caesar was way too spicy and I had a second opinion from my boyfriend that it was not good. So of course when they remake it they’re frustrated and decide not to add any seasoning or flavour at all. Finally, when my dinner entrée came it was totally gross and I didn’t end up eating dinner at all.

Ordered the chipotle mango chicken. Chicken was burnt. Disappointed, Yorkdale sucks. The best one is the one in Vaughan besides the theatre & Earls.

I am never a huge fan of chain restaurants, and avoid them when I can, opting for the smaller, local spots, but I have to say, my last few experiences with Moxies have been impressive.
Situated close to my office, I have visited here a handful of times in the past year for client lunches and work dinners and each time have left satisfied.
Last week me and my guest both ordered pasta dishes, and they were both better than some Italian joints I’ve been to. Try the mushroom ravioli or the lobster shrimp pasta if you go. Amazing. So good we not only finished the whole dish, but almost licked the bowls clean at the end of the night.
Their drink specials are also a huge selling feature and you can’t beat Wednesday evening… ½ price wine bottles! :o
If you are at Yorkdale, and want a change from Food Court or Joeys, give Moxies a try. They have stepped up their game in the past few years and the quality of food is worth your time and Money, and if anything, just head there on a Wednesday for some after work drinks :)

I don’t normally gravitate toward chain restaurants by choice. On the rare occasion I do, Moxies is it! Met another family of four here for saturday dinner. They gave us a huge table in the back… which was great since we had kids.
We ordered the calamari, Beef dip sandwich and the chicken parm sandwich. Ofcourse, we ended with the white chocolate brownie! All of this was amazing. The calamari had this amazing garnish on it with the spicy mayo sauce. Yum. Both the sandwiches were very flavourful and filling. Despite my being full I ordered the brownie, because lets face it, its a waste to go there and not get the brownie. It was as I remembered, ahhmazing!!!

Worst Moxie’s location!!! Waitress was slow in our order and when we spoke to the manager they did nothing about it. I ordered a bottle of wine for a celebration which NEVER came. Who waits til the entrée in finished to remember the wine. Even escalating to head office is useless. They take their time with responses. Worst of the worst Moxie locations!!!

Good food just very shaking waitress spilling beer, forgetting guacamole with our nachos. Only saving grace is good company.

Very busy on a Saturday evening and a small waiting area but friendly and enthusiastic wait staff along with good food.

This Moxie’s is in the Yorkdale Mall. I’ve been here several times over the years as it is the go-​to place that one of my friends and I go for dinner when I’m in Toronto. The food is good, but it’s our go-​to place more because it’s conveniently located for both of us and there’s lots of free parking. We always go on a weekday evening.
Like all other Moxie’s locations, female hostesses and servers wear really short skirts and/​or really tight shirts with plunging necklines and it is my belief that they are hired more for their appearances than their abilities to work in the restaurant industry. Usually they give us a male server (my friend is female. I’ve noticed that when you’re an all female group, they try to give you a male server, but if there is just 1 dude in your group, you’ll get a female server…), but sometimes we do get a female server.
Service is always fast and the servers are generally nice, but are often flaky and aren’t too knowledgeable about the menu items.
Anyway, the food is consistently good for a chain restaurant. My favourite used to be the Citrus Chicken Salad which I would order almost every time, but they’ve removed it from their menu. I’ve also tried the salmon (about $ 25), beef vindaloo (about $ 18) and the beef dip sandwich (about $ 15). I also often get the «bite of brownie» for dessert (currently $ 3.75), which I’ve noticed has shrunk in size over the years but has gotten more expensive, but it’s still good. I’ve never been disappointed with the food here.
It’s not too well lit in the restaurant. The décor is modern. If you are claustrophobic you may want to avoid the washrooms. The stalls are more like little rooms with really high doors (and no big gap at the bottom) — you really feel closed in. In the women’s washroom they have 2 sofa-​like chairs with vanity mirrors attached so you can sit there and do your makeup (weird).
I feel that Moxie’s (all locations) are geared towards a certain demographic which I can best describe as «people who like to go clubbing.» I do not fit into this demographic, but I’m sure they are glad to accept my money nonetheless.

This Moxie’s is located at the Yorkdale Mall, across from the movie theatre escalators.
Taking a different set of escalators you arrive in a very well laid out restaurant away from the hustle and bustle of a busy mall.
Given the choice of the bar area or restaurant area, we chose a booth in a quiet part of the restaurant.
Service was fast. Menu lots to choose from.
I had the steak salad… Truly delicious and the steak was cooked perfectly, medium.
They offered a brunch menu which I think needs to be resurrected. Had a good time, our waitress was very nice. No complaints from me.
Oh I knew I forgot something… Ladies wait to you see the washroom with a large plush chair and magnifying mirror to touch up your makeup. Washrooms were clean and quite modern. Just when you think you gave seen it all. Great spot to relax after shopping. Located at the entrance across from the movie theatre.

I’ve been to this location a few times, most recently right after New Years, and have always had a good experience. Honestly a little surprised their service gets as much flack as it does. Went on a Friday night at 8:30 and only waited 10 minutes for a table — not bad considering the mall was just about to close. Our server was very friendly and attentive, even though the restaurant was pretty full. I got the Corona bottle (on special) and it was massive for the price ($ 7 IIRC). Shared the calamari app and a salad with the mom, and both were tasty and came out quickly — perhaps because we didn’t order mains? My mom loved the sweet chili sauce that came with the calamari, while I preferred the spicy aioli, but we both agreed that the fried candied ginger was on-​point.

If you don’t want to stand in line and find a spot at after shopping at Yorkdale this is the spot! Its dark and beautiful but this location is huge compared to all the other locations.
Food:
Nachos: being a fan of nachos of course their nachos were amazing but the double cheese was a little overbearing making it hard to chew on but other than that excellent.
White chocolate Brownie: must try, it’s warn with chocolate bites in it, also chocolate syrup under the brownie, topped with French vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Every bite is heavenly but may not finish all by yourself since the piece is huge.
Chicken Madeira rigatoni: The chicken pieces are crispy with amazing flavour and the pasta is creamy and buttery. I ended up finishing the whole bowl surprisingly.
Penne Toscana: The sausage is cooked just right not chewy and every bite is full of flavour. Just a tad bit too salty for me.
White peach Bellini: since it was a Wednesday I gave it try, only $ 4.99 and it was amazing. The drink tasted exactly like a peach smoothie. Although the size was small I’m definitely getting it again.
Customer Service: The few times I came here I have always been seated right away. The servers won’t disappear, they’ll always be checking up on us and if they have to make a run to another table or something, they’ll let us know! Excellent customer service.
Downfall: You will have to wait in line if you’re coming here around 8ish, the place gets jam packed especially during the holiday season since everyone is coming straight down after shopping.

First time eating hrre, on a sunday evening, a full house, very busy. The haddock was amazing, simple sweet and tangy, flavourful. The pasta was typical, oily and similar to any other chain restaurants, nothing special. Upbeat restaurant, nicely rennovated and great date place, a lot of privacy. They were nice enough to allow us and sit for hours, after dinner and paying but was rude of them for not giving us water. Kind of indecent of them, afterall we did tip them for the service… overall, mediocre

From beginning to the end, our service was poor and very slow.
We came in on a Friday night around 1030pm and ordered drink specials that were recommended. I ordered a soup to start and pesto penne but instead of penne I wanted rigatoni.
Sadly our server brought me a glass of water but did not ring in my gin and tonic and it took a really long time. The service bar (guy) was nice enough to get me my drink asap, which in retrospect was probably the best service I received that night.
My soup literally came a minute after we all received our drinks. Once I received my pasta, I realized that my penne was not changed to rigatoni and the pasta dish did not taste like pesto. The worst part of my dish were mushrooms. I thought they looked a little burnt but still decided to eat it and literally it felt and tasted like ash in my mouth.
It took my server a long time to check up on us — to the point were one of my other friends were almost dome their own dish. At that point my friends were done with their meals and I didn’t want to order anything else. My server apologized and took away my plate. The manager came around to ask what had happened to confirm my story (I guess?) and apologize. The thing about this place is that the servers don’t really care if you’re unhappy or happy. If a guest is unhappy, you as a server should do all in your power to make them happy when they are leaving.
It took another ten minutes which I timed for her to come around again just for us to ask for the bill and another 7 and a half minutes to bring the bill out. To me, that is unacceptable service. So I am happy to say I am never going to a Moxies, ever. Over priced food and girls who think they can get away with slow and poor service because they look good.
Where’s a place where there are pretty girls that have common sense and a brain?

Came with my girlfriend and one of her friends. The restaurant is inside the shopping mall and downstairs. Anyways, we were waiting outside for her friend to show up and one of the guys downstairs must have seen us so he came up and told us that if we came in, we could get a free dessert for each of us. We told him we were going to be coming in anyways but were just waiting for her friend to show up so he ended up giving us 3 dessert coupons. So when the group was finally ready, we got in and quickly got a table because it was a Tuesday night. I ended up getting a burger while my girlfriend got a pasta. Service was decent. Décor was ok. Food was ok. Nothing to brag about here but nothing really to complain. You’ll get your mix of American food with some Italian dishes. The dessert was free which was even better but again, it was nothing to brag about.

I was here yesterday with a group for our gift exchange. I took off a couple stars because there are no reservations and the waiting area is quite small. We were told the wait would be 20 minutes but we ended up waiting for an hour. As more people came, the waiting area became very crowded and it was evident than a few of the servers were getting annoyed that there was little room. Several of us waiting were given attitude and exasperated looks from three servers for «blocking the way» when we were just told to stay in that area by another server.
Just that experience alone created a bitter mood for everyone waiting.
Our server, (I can’t remember her name) but she’s blonde and has a nose ring, was absolutely amazing and definitely made up for it. She was funny, kind, and recommended great items on the menu and described all of our orders.
For appetizers some ordered calamari, bruschetta, and some sort of flat bread with a spinach and cheese dip.
Half of the group got the new york steak holiday special with a side of mushrooms that was recommended. All of them enjoyed it very much and found the portion satisfying.
One person ordered the ribs, but I was told the steak was a far better option.
I ordered the starter salad and the citrus arugula salad (without meat or fish or dairy). They were pretty good! For me, a restaurant has great food if everything on the menu has had effort put into it. Other restaurants I’ve been to charge a ridiculous amount for a salad that really sucks. Moxie’s arugula salad was different than anything I’ve tried before. It was warm and sweet, there was crunchiness from the asian noodles and I love that the tartness from the cherry tomatoes and the creaminess from the edamame and the figs or dates that was used.
For dessert my friends said that the chocolate cake is a must have. For myself, I had the blueberry tea that had such a nice presentation and ended off my meal nicely.
Overall, the food is really good, and our server was amazing. I would give 4 stars for that alone. However, judging by our initial experience, the other servers are not at all like her which made all of us waiting feel extremely really awkward and close to walking out.

There is no reception down in the basement of yorkdale at this moxie’s location.
Came in here for a meal before some shopping, my cell phone had no reception (was not able to check in on Unilocal!) maybe it was my specific table, but I can’t live without my phone. But the booths were good distances apart.
There was no lunch special, just the regular menu, a bit overpriced, and it did not taste really good. I tried a Mexican dish and the steak, the steak was cooked nicely medium rare, but a bit chewy and hard to swallow.
I don’t think I would return to this location, even good at the food court is better and better selection.

Located in the Yorkdale mall, there is entrance from inside the mall. You can either take the escalator or elevator down to the restaurant. This place reminded me a lot of Rockford restaurant I went to in BC. It’s nicely decorated, modern and intimate. We originally planned on going to Joey’s, but there was an hour wait there and no wait here at Moxie’s.
The menu is pretty diverse offering burgers, steaks, pastas, and Asian dishes.
Red Thai Chicken Curry — Chicken and stir-​fried vegetables over jasmine rice & curry-​buttered naan bread. All of this was very good.
For dessert:
White Chocolate Brownie — Warm chocolate sauce, french vanilla ice cream & real whipped cream. This is the sole reason my friend comes here, and I can see why. This dessert is awesome!
They have a daily drink special and I took advantage of Tuesday’s half price wine by the glass. I ordered a glass of Cabernet Savignon and the waitress came back with a glass of white wine. She quickly brought me back the right wine a few minutes later.

Second time coming here.
Worst. Customer. Service. Ever
Get there, the host was too busy talking to another girl for a few minutes, so me and my boyfriend just stood there awkwardly. She asked how many people, i said two. She said 10 minute wait. HAH! What a joke. I waited for literally 30 minutes. When it was our turn to get called up, the couple before us made a scene and took our place because they were there first (i don’t really blame them, i’d be pissed off too if i waited 40 minutes only to have someone who came after me take our place).
So once again me and my bf stood there awkwardly with NO apology from the hostess who screwed up.
We get called up again, and once again, they messed up! And so we stand awkwardly again. After me rolling my eyes and giving her the stink eye she apologized.
Now onto the food. Ordered the brushetta, that was amazing, as usual.
For our mains, I had the burger with cheese and bacon added on. Fries were COLD, COLD COLD COLD! But the burger was good.
boyfriend got the herbed grill chicken. By far the best chicken i’ve ever had, the white sauce they put on tastes strong though, something you have to get used too. He just scrapped the sauce off. But overall it was alright.
Manager was helping serve dishes, so i asked her for mayo and ketchup, she said sure. And i’m pretty sure she forgot about it. what kind of manager does that?
Anyways overall
The waitresses are dressed as if they’re going clubbing, and look like it too. Make up is packed on, heavy.
I feel like i’m at hooters. Probably get better customer service there too.
What is up with their cold fries? That’s something i’ve noticed each time i’ve been to movies.
Overall food ³⁄₅
Service ¹⁄₅