Carens Wine and Cheese Bar

We ordered a $ 17 bottle of beer and were very excited to drink it. The waitress poured the beer into what looked like an IKEA water glass, like an amature leaving a full glass of head. We were willing to let that slide — she was nice, she apologized and we laughed it off. Then a second waiter came to top of the glasses and did the same thing. We were annoyed, but again laughed it off.
The bar owner then came up to us and went on and on about how that is how one is supposed to pour a beer. We joked and said that is not how we like it, and that this is not how we drink our beer. He proceeded to become quite aggressive, and basically treated us terribly.
I have never seen a bar owner treat customers so poorly at what should be a classy establishment in Rosedale. All the best to this terrible Resto/​bar in a tough market in a nice area. We will never go back and will make sure our friends avoid this place. For those looking for a bar in the area, try Boxcar social, the Monks table, or Rebel house for a much better experience.

This is hard for me because the original Carens is one of my all time favourites and I was beyond excited to see the new location open so close to my house. I have gone three times since it opened, and resisted posting my review hoping it was a fluke but it has to be said.
+ve:
— wine list is good with some nice choices in each category. Not as long or varied as I expected but have been happy with each selection.
— food quality is high and seeing the tar tar, mac and the french onion soup on the menu makes me happy.
— steak frite is well done.
–ve:
— service is terrible. Like really bad. Friendly but totally frazzled. I mean empty wine glasses and ignored tables and generally totally disorganized. On one visit they left the credit card machine and just didn’t come back for 15 mins. We almost left without paying. On another I ordered a glass of red to go with my steak and it didn’t arrive until I had finished my meal. Had to remind them multiple times to bring drinks or food we had ordered and in a group one poor friend just didn’t get her main while we all had ours.
— too fishy. I would guess that 60% of the menu has some sort of seafood. Works well if you are in the mood, but wish there were a few more options.
— no liquor licence on the patio. Huh? I am sure they will try to resolve that.
— no cheese! Their other place has some of the best cheese and charcuterie in the city and they just had three to chose from.
— not open for lunch or on Mondays. They totally misunderstand the Summerhill crowd. We live lunch and afternoon wine. Just look at Terroni’s! Always busy. We want local places on Monday nights.
LPC was fun and I will miss them, but Carens has the potential to pick up their game. Need a new manager to drill the servers in to shape and some menu tweak and I think they could thrive. I’ll be rooting for them.