Ali Baba Steakhouse

A Dreadful and disappointing experience‎ - ‎ - 2009-11-21
There were four of us and we all had a poor and embarrassing experience. The service was poor and unbelievably slow and two of our meals were so bad we couldn't eat them at all. The owner showed us to our table and made a point of telling us how wonderful they were and the awards they had won. He also ran down all of the local competition in the process.
Our waitress was new, pleasant and tried hard but she didn't have a hope given the lack of care and awful food. We waited a long time to get appetizers and my escargot were forgotten. After an hour with nothing for three of us, I asked for mine and it finally arrived. However it was smothered in cheap cheese and the snails were cooked together with bits of shell. It was the worst I've ever had.
In the meantime, we were told that although the Caesar salad was on the menu at $10, the price of lettuce had gone up and it would now cost $15! Do they really expect that they can charge 50% more because of a bit of lettuce? Besides it was listed on the menu at the $10 price.
We were the guests of the other couple who were becoming embarrassed at this point. One of us ordered an entree and asked for french fries with it as described in the menu only to be told that they were extra and not available. When she protested, the waitress went to check and came back to say they would make an exception this one time, but not again. Unbelievable.
Two of us ordered their specialty, roast beef. It arrived one and a half hours later and was stone cold. There was no gravy for the cold dry Yorkshire pudding and the meat was so tough that we had trouble cutting it.
We spoke to our waitress who left to get the owner. He never appeared but the manager did. He apologized, defended their policy about the 50% charge for the lettuce and offered to get us two more meals. Since we had waited far too long and received something inedible, we declined.
No other compensation was offered and the manager made a big deal of telling us he wouldn't charge us for the two meals we couldn't eat. How kind.
The gracious, attentive owner never put in an appearance and we all left vowing never to return.

This is the worst dining experience I have ever had.

When we walked through the door, there was no one to greet us. We waited for about 5 minutes before I even saw a server in the dining room.

We reserved a table earlier in the day, and when we told them what name the reservation was under, they said that they didn't have a reservation under that name. The way that the hostess spoke to us was almost argumentative, and I felt like we were really putting her out.

The service was terrible throughout the night. The wait time was way too long for a nearly empty restaurant. The owner, [name removed], was lumbering around the restaurant barking at the servers, and being completely unprofessional. As a former server, I found this appalling. The thought of seeing him again is enough to make me never entertain the thought of returning.

The food was terrible. It was cold when it arrived, and it looked like the vegetables were frozen. The prices are really unreasonable considering the poor food quality and preparation.

Even worse than the awful owner and rude hostess, was the decor. Anyone who has experienced this restaurant, knows what I am talking about.

Horrible service. Horrible food. Horrible experience. I definitely do NOT recommend this "restaurant".

We have eaten here many times over the past year, but this was probably our last visit. The service has been getting worse each time and was really slow this time. There was only one waitress in the whole place. Paul the Manager/Owner was helping but they needed at least one more waitress to keep up. You could tell the very cute waitress was trying very hard but there is only so much you can do on your own with 6 or 7 tables of people. Our main dishes of food were overcooked, and cold when it arrived to the table. The exception being the lamb chops which were good as always.

I have never dined at this establishment before and I recall that they had a great reputation at some point but this was the WORST dining experience in my life! We called for reservations a week before dining. But when we got there, we got seated in the middle of a drafty room, way too close to the couple at the next table, despite the room being practically empty. The base of the table was the same size as the table top, and when my chair was pulled in, I either had to sit with my legs spread completely apart or feet resting on top of the base! The room was dark and my date could not even read the menu. Perhaps the spider crawling up her leg was a bit of a distraction. The waitress started us off with some water. I had a glass that looked like someone was already drinking out of it but I was assurred that it was only ice cubes that had melted over a period of time. (What is the point, then?) We ordered 2 courses off their Valentine menu. My date had the romaine salad with slabs of dry parmasan on top, and whole slices of bacon that were definitely on the fatty side. I had the bisque which was way too small of a portion in a way too large bowl. It had a dry piece of crustini bread plopped in the middle and was almost impossible to cut or break with my spoon without showering the neighbouring guests with soup. We were also started off with some warm buns that were small and quite crusty on the outside. After the first course, I went to get my shivering date her coat from the coat check attendant. He asked me how our evening was going, and without being too vocal, let him know that we were not having a good experience at our drafty table. He said he would speak to the host (who we later found out was the owner) but he was not available. He passed on our displeasure to the seating hostess whom also said would speak to the host. After waiting a minute, I told her that I was going back to my seat as my date was expecting her coat. The hostess assured me that she would speak to the owner and that he would come and see us. Back at our table, the main course arrived. My date had the tenderloin that was supposed to be medium cooked but was extremely dry. There were 2 small roasting potatoes, cut in half, and a chunk of bock choy as a side. I had the chicken, with skin on, smothered in a sauce and a piece of bock choy as a side. The quality of my chicken was average and both portions were extremely small. In the meantime, the seating hostess walked by our table several times without acknowledging us, and the owner never did appear at our table. After waiting a short time for our bill, we proceded to the cashier desk. We waited there several minutes before I decided to get our coats from the coatcheck. Once again, the attendant ask me how our visit was and I told him that our experience was quite disappointing. He handed me a $25 gift certificate for our next visit. (I have the feeling this was not because of our experience, but was standard fare for all guests this particular evening) Our waitress finally met up with us at the cashier desk and we let her know of our disappointment. She did admit that they were having on going problems with the temperature in this particular area of the restaurant. She called the owner over and we finally got to speak to him face to face. She told him that we were not satisfied with our experience and he said to us, and this is a quote, "So what would you like me to do about it?" We could not BELIEVE the lack of empathy this man had! We were clearly disappointed and flustered at this point, and once again, trying to be considerate of other guests; trying not to "make a scene". I said to him that at this point, we just want to leave. And his response was, and this is a quote, "Okay, fine" as he walked away! On our way out, we handed the $25 gift certificate back to the coat check attendant, asking him to give it to someone else as we did not intend to ever come back.

Our bill came out to $110 in total and was a complete waste of money. The service rating I am giving is strictly for the service we received from our waitress. The other staff was either paying lip service to our concerns, or making us feel "invisible".

The food was AMAZING!!! I will be going back for my next fancy dinner.

After a very disappointing first attempt last night to get fed at another establishment, we arrived at the Ali Baba to find the tables full and what looked like a longish wait. Decided to wait as they said they would do what they could to get us a table soon.
We took a seat at the bar and were very pleasantly served while we waited. The bar tender responded to our concern that the wait staff would think we had left by asking someone to check on our table. We were updated within a couple minutes and then again a few minutes later told that although there was a table open, a booth would be open very shortly if we wished to wait for that.
Upon being seated the service level continued to be stellar. The food was excellent and the server made us feel like we were the only and most important guests she had.
Thank you Ashley! You made our night!

The service and the food was absolutlely incredible. Makes you wonder about some of the reviews that indicate otherwise. I have never found this restaurant to be anything less than incredible. And speaking of incredible the plans for the renovations are what Waterloo has needed for years. GREAT JOB!

My wife and I went to the Ali Baba for my birthday dinner on a tuesday evening. I ordered a bottle of Shiraz from the wine menu which they did not have in stock, also ordered the prime rib which they were out of. My wife told the server that she was a vegetarian and ordered a twice baked potato, it was filled with bacon. Slow service, shabby decor, will not return. It was perhaps the first time that I have left a restaurant feeling angry. The Keg or Golf's is a much better choice.

Absolutely wonderful.
I hate to see such poor reviews of the food and service, because that certainly doesn't reflect my experience.

I took my boyfriend here for his birthday, and it was a fantastic. Some of the best food I've ever had in a restaurant. The steaks were by far the best either of us had ever had. Stuffed mushrooms are highly recommended.

Our waiter was amazing, and treated us like VIPs. He even offered to run across the street and purchase a bottle of wine for us before the liquor store closed after we told him how much we enjoyed it.

My significant other treated me to a birthday dinner here at this wonderful steakhouse. She is a vegetarian so there was some concern about finding her a suitable meal. The online menu listed Fettuccine Alfredo, but the menu in house did not. The waitress offered to make it for us anyway, and the chef even added in some seasonal vegetables, which he thought my friend would like.
Our seating position was awkward as we were seated beside each other facing out of our booth onto the dinner floor. However, my steak special was cooked to perfection (medium-well), and I thoroughly enjoyed the pint of Stone Hammer. My sides of mashed potatoes and vegetables were outstanding, while the complementary bread was good. Great steakhouse experience.