East Side Marios in Niagara Falls- Caveat Emptor !! [Archive]

auto-m8

Jun 14th, 2012, 10:14 AM

Just a quick warning to the East Side Mario's patrons from the GTA.

Be aware that the Niagara Falls location/s prices are very inflated compared
to our local eateries . A 19.99 steak dinner here was 25.99 there.There other
items were equally overpriced.

To make matters worse, they will add in the DMF fees to your bill to support
the local attractions,advertisement,etc. I really don't have a big issue with the
DMF as it does make sense but when the ESM eateries begin gouging on prices,
the quality is less and the East Side Marios customer service will not respond
to any email inquiries or complaints, that clinches it for me.

Go to the Falls to SEE , don't go there to EAT.(unless it's the Casino, hehe !!)

XtremeModder

Jun 14th, 2012, 10:19 AM

Not so much anymore, but my gf and I used to go to the falls view casino quite often and stay in thr Hilton or embassy suites.

We've been to the tgi Fridays, macaroni grille, east side Mario's, keg, that place along thr falls beside the bird kingdom (food was terrible) and I will 100% agree on the east side Mario's there. Terrible service, over inflated prices but our service/waiter was pretty good.

Try tgi Fridays in the embassy hotel. Damn good.

jimmy-j

Jun 14th, 2012, 10:53 AM

east side mario quality went waaay downhill years ago

Winkle

Jun 14th, 2012, 11:12 AM

It's a tourist area, of course everything's more expensive and the prices are inflated.

I agree with the service though, from my experience it's generally pretty crummy there. That whole area's been hit quite hard by the recession, even the casinos are suffering quite a bit.

starboy869

Jun 14th, 2012, 11:45 AM

You know east side and most main stream eating places are. Pretty much reheated prepared food.

Jun 14th, 2012, 12:16 PM

To make matters worse, they will add in the DMF fees to your bill to support
the local attractions,advertisement,etc. I really don't have a big issue with the
DMF as it does make sense but ...

Four years after being rebuked by Ontario's provincial government for charging a three per cent "destination marketing fee," most of Niagara Falls' hospitality businesses continue to charge the fee under different names, with little or no scrutiny or oversight, a CBC News investigation has found.

The scheme, which has existed since 2004, pulls in an estimated $15 million a year from tourists who are likely unaware the fee is voluntary and can be removed from their bills if they ask.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/06/13/niagara-falls-destination-marketing-fee.html

Basically pretending it's a tax to raise the prices 3% on the customers despite being called out by the province on it?

BigJonsson

Jun 14th, 2012, 04:47 PM

Its the falls, everything is jacked up

And its true, a lot of chain restaurants don't make much stuff fresh or from scratch

boyoflondon

Jun 14th, 2012, 05:14 PM

We once went to TGI Friday's there .. once we saw the menu, we just walked out. I wasn't about to spend $28 for a chicken dish from there.

rsasp

Jun 15th, 2012, 12:36 PM

You know east side and most main stream eating places are. Pretty much reheated prepared food.

Ewww, yuck...

Manatus

Jun 15th, 2012, 01:05 PM

I've noticed that Mario's is one of those chains where your experience can vary wildly from location to location. I used to go to one in Ottawa that was pretty good, for what it was. The one closest to me now (Dufferin/Steeles) is terrible. The only restaurant I've ever been to where I've been treated badly enough to actually get full-on angry (as in, ready to pick a fight with them).

Kuurgen

Jun 15th, 2012, 01:36 PM

Last time we went to Niagara Falls we got gouged at every turn. Funny you mention East Side Mario's.

A dish i usually get locally is $13. In Niagara Falls it was $19. Sadly, the only places that seemed to keep their prices in line was Denny's & Golden Griddle. (I am not a big fan of Denny's)
Now if the talk ever comes up, I just suggest crossing into the States.

auto-m8

Jun 15th, 2012, 02:21 PM

Heaven's forbid that we should want to go to the states... to shop....or eat...or to even think about saving money !!

nooooooooooooooooo, (he he)

auto-m8

Jun 15th, 2012, 11:39 PM

Still no response from their customer service

score remains the same- 0/10

Scott84

Jun 16th, 2012, 12:19 AM

all restaurants down in that area are overpriced and taste worse.

Jun 16th, 2012, 06:13 AM

Still no response from their customer service

score remains the same- 0/10

I'm not surprised. I'm vegan now so everything there is forbidden but when I ate meat Italian food was my favourite.

ESM basically tasted like supermarket packaged food I could make at home and the service wasn't much better. Both the customer service and quality of food was *much* better from the Olive Garden.

I'm still baffled that Olive Garden failed at expanding into Canada while ESM thrives. It's almost proof that Canadians *want* an inferior product.

figment

Jun 16th, 2012, 01:05 PM

I've been to that East Side Mario's across the street from Fallsview before, worst experience ever. It did cost a lot more money and the chicken Parmesan I ordered was burnt, dry and flavorless. Lately I'm almost certain that big restaurant corporations such as BP and ESM don't even "cook" anymore, but it comes frozen and is reheated in a TurboChef oven or microwave and served. Despite a poor ESM experience I did enjoy my stay at Niagara Falls though.

jaysfan4life

Jun 17th, 2012, 09:27 AM

Little Caesars wtf at the falls it's cheap

auto-m8

Jun 17th, 2012, 10:18 AM

3rd email to ESM customer service.

Still no replies. Score = -2/10

Lawcheehung

Jun 17th, 2012, 10:24 AM

Pretty much every restaurant next to the casinos, near the falls, and on clifton hill will gauge you on prices. If you take a 5 min drive up to Lundy's lane, which is pretty much Niagara Fall's main street, lots of eats at regular cost there.

auto-m8

Jun 17th, 2012, 10:29 AM

I tried the Red Lobster up there and it was amazing........
........amazing that shrimps that small could be caught in a net ..........

hagbard

Jun 17th, 2012, 11:18 AM

If they're west of Toronto doesn't that make them West Side Marios? :lol:

daddyho24

Jun 17th, 2012, 12:03 PM

Let's put it this way. The East Side Mario's here in St. Catharines (15 mins from Niagara Falls, for anyone not familiar) was closed down a few months ago due to health and safety issues.

Jun 17th, 2012, 12:21 PM

Let's put it this way. The East Side Mario's here in St. Catharines (15 mins from Niagara Falls, for anyone not familiar) was closed down a few months ago due to health and safety issues.

I'm not saying I don't believe you but do you have a source link on that? (newspaper, prov website listing etc)

starboy869

Jun 17th, 2012, 06:04 PM

I tried the Red Lobster up there and it was amazing........
........amazing that shrimps that small could be caught in a net ..........
Your sadly mistaken if anything you ate at red lobster is caught in a body of water that's not made by man.

No Frills

Jun 17th, 2012, 06:34 PM

It's a tourist area, of course everything's more expensive and the prices are inflated.

This.

I don't think food franchises like that are worth complaining about their services.

Insider

Jun 18th, 2012, 09:49 AM

what are you expecting from your query to the company?

they'll send you a voucher, say sorry, and we'll try our best to improve.

auto-m8

Jun 19th, 2012, 10:16 PM

what are you expecting from your query to the company?

they'll send you a voucher, say sorry, and we'll try our best to improve.

Maybe , Maybe not !

How about this for a novel approach to a customer's complaint.
READY ?:

Sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction ?
How can we improve our service and food ?
Perhaps we should look into this franchise's MO ?
How about just plain damn well answering a customer's complaint by courtesy of a reply ?

Historically, ignoring any problem has never been the best solution. I t only makes for a worse
situation !

Based on your quoted reply, .....you don't happen to work for ESM's, do you?

Insider

Jun 20th, 2012, 11:04 AM

Maybe , Maybe not !

How about this for a novel approach to a customer's complaint.
READY ?:

Sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction ?
How can we improve our service and food ?
Perhaps we should look into this franchise's MO ?
How about just plain damn well answering a customer's complaint by courtesy of a reply ?

Historically, ignoring any problem has never been the best solution. I t only makes for a worse
situation !

Based on your quoted reply, .....you don't happen to work for ESM's, do you?

yes, I am employed with this organization because I asked you a question. that's brilliant, hats off to you sir, are you a private investigator? if you're not, you should be. amazing detective work.

x95zsk

Jun 20th, 2012, 11:40 AM

This location SUCKS!

We were there with 6 other families about a month ago.

we all have kids and ESM have kids eat free promo.

The location charged us HST of 15%!!! after speaking with the manager, he disagrees with us and said that HST was 15% and the system is always right. I went on the smart phone and looked up HST on the ontario government and federal goverment website and showed him it was 13%. he says the system is never wrong. I did the math on a napkin and showed it to him and he just walked away. the worst part is, because the tips were already added, we could not even reduce the tip. and the tip was based on the TOTAL food purchase as if we had paid for the kids meal.

This location:
Management Sucks
Staff ok
Food stunk.

auto-m8

Jun 20th, 2012, 05:37 PM

auto-m8

Jun 20th, 2012, 05:38 PM

yes, I am employed with this organization because I asked you a question. that's brilliant, hats off to you sir, are you a private investigator? if you're not, you should be. amazing detective work.

Am I detecting a hint of sarcasm..............

x95zsk

Jun 20th, 2012, 08:59 PM

Exactly how did the tip get added into the bill ? Did they automatically do this ?

Typically, I would just use the "tax" paid amount as the tip amount.
Tip always on the total before any taxes or DMF fees,etc
Is the service or food is poor, let the tip reflect that.

because we are a party of 8 or more people (24 people) it was 15% auto added. so the calculation went like this:
meal + tax = sub total + TIP (15% of subtotal) = subtotal - kids meal = FINAL $$$,

let just say that is the first time i went to east side mario and the last time i will be going there. they lost 6 families to ever coming there again

auto-m8

Jun 21st, 2012, 08:10 AM

Nest time, tell them up front that you want separate bills with no tip added in .
That is, if you ever go there again.
If they refuse, simply and politely leave.

They will get the message.

x95zsk

Jun 21st, 2012, 09:52 AM

damage is done. so no more ESM for us every again.

Nest time, tell them up front that you want separate bills with no tip added in .
That is, if you ever go there again.
If they refuse, simply and politely leave.

They will get the message.

figment

Jun 22nd, 2012, 12:53 PM

Jun 22nd, 2012, 01:18 PM

I would of only paid what my napkin math said i owed minus any form of tip and walk out. I know you were with a group of people but they should of treated you better

Can a business legally enforce levying a tip on customers or is it another BS thing like that fake tax for "area marketing"?

ccyk

Jun 22nd, 2012, 07:45 PM

I would of only paid what my napkin math said i owed minus any form of tip and walk out. I know you were with a group of people but they should of treated you better

i will just walk out and tell them to call police and make a big mass of it hahhaahahahaaa /sarc

HotYaris

Jun 24th, 2012, 06:45 PM

Let's put it this way. The East Side Mario's here in St. Catharines (15 mins from Niagara Falls, for anyone not familiar) was closed down a few months ago due to health and safety issues.

I heard it was so bad that even the mice suffered food poisoning....

auto-m8

Jun 28th, 2012, 10:15 AM

based on the replies from RFD members, the East Side Mario's in Niagara Falls is a big

FAIL

figment

Jul 1st, 2012, 12:23 AM

Can a business legally enforce levying a tip on customers or is it another BS thing like that fake tax for "area marketing"?

That's a good question, I personally don't think it's a law but more of a restaurant policy that comes into affect provided they let you know about it before hand. I read somewhere that establishments end up getting better tips overall if there is no forced tip.

i will just walk out and tell them to call police and make a big mass of it hahhaahahahaaa /sarc

Oh it's happened before as seen here and as a family situation too: http://www.click2houston.com/news/Family-says-restaurant-locked-them-inside-over-tip-refusal/-/1735978/12440464/-/bymkr4/-/index.html