Locals favor the signature thick and juicy sandwiches and homemade comfort dishes, such as meat loaf and mashed potatoes or sweet-and-sour beef short ribs. You can visit the takeout window for lunch and dinner express service or eat in the funky dining room, with exposed brick walls painted an eye popping green, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. During Festival season the lines form early.more...See more text
York Street Kitchen was THE place to go for sandwiches and while visiting Stratford for our annual trek to the Shakespeare Festival, we put York Street Kitchen on our list of places to eat. We have done take-out from York on previous visits so were eager to try their new location on Erie Street. What a disappointment! I have never witnessed so many screwed up orders! Every single customer in the long line ahead of us had problems with their order: wrong items, order given away to another customer, items left out, too many items (we ordered 2 sandwiches and they gave us 3), etc. One customer returned to the ordering window three times before his order was correct. The staff is pleasant and helpful but the system they use certainly needs fixing. At least in the old location on York Street, you could sit near the Avon and enjoy the view. Now you stand on a crowded sidewalk in the hot sun for 30-40 minutes waiting for your order only to have to have it corrected. The sandwiches also weren't as good as I remembered or maybe I was just put off but the frustrating experience. I'm not sure I would return to find out.
My wife and I love York St. sandwiches. The butcher paper wrap is a nice touch too. I particularly enjoy the Canadiana sandwich, though the Mennonite is a close second!
I had been a regular customer there for years and also referred a lot of business there through my job. I usually get carry out. But lately have had a lot of mistakes with my orders, which isn't easy to address when your not in a position to bring it back. On my last visit, again something was missing from my sandwich and also saw and heard two customers turned away as they came in 11 minutes before closing. I was also approached by the server as I ate to ask if I had paid yet, because 'she couldn't remember'. I was the only person in there. So I left feeling rushed. I informed the owner via email of my experiences and was told "I completely understand and support your wish in not returning to York Street Kitchen. Regarding the other couple who you "presume" were turned away, I fail to see how that may be any of your business, and perhaps you do not have the details totally accurate. You rushed your dining by choice, you were not asked to eat faster, that was an assupmtion on your end. Even though we are starting our off season hours, it does not mean the staff would ever ask a customer to leave". I was shocked by the response of a restaurant owner who doesn't have the social skills necessary to address valid complaints from their customers that want to support them or just don't care.
Sandwiches excellent overall - meat sort of tasteless on it's own, but with horseradish mayo and caramalized onions it all came together to become a very generous sized sandwich full of deliciousness.
I'm a sandwich aficionado and I think York Street...
I'm a sandwich aficionado and I think York Street Kitchen (YSK) serves up some of the best sandwiches found anywhere in the world. YSK has a quote by James Beard printed on t-shirts, " Too few people understand a really good sandwich" - and it's true. Most places just slap some low quality meat and cheese on some bread and call it done - YSK truely tries to make each sandwich a taste sensation, and for the best experience, stick with their specials.
YSK gets VERY busy in the summer as it has its cafe seating, a to-go window, and will often be preparing large orders for tour buses - so before ordering it's wise to ask how long the wait will be that day.
But, as much as I praise their sandwiches, I can't recommend dinner at YSK - I've tried it a couple of times and they don't seem to put as much care into the dinner menu.
It was 4:30 pm on a Saturday, and we were visiting Stratford for the first time. We wanted a place to have some coffee and hot chocolate for the kids and eat something with it. We walked in and a server helped us put some tables together. We sat down and minutes later someone came to tell us that they were only serving the dinner menu, and that if we were not eating dinner we had to leave. They didn't even showed us the menu or gave us a moment to decide if we wanted to eat something from the dinner menu. They just kicked us out. Many lessons need to be learned about customer service in this place. And the truth, after reading the reviews, good thing we didn't stay. Shame on them.
We stopped by an hour before the 8 pm performance and ordered 3 sandwiches for take out plus 2 iced teas for total of $30
Food was as usual good, maybe not excellent after visiting it a few times, but it was healthy content, okay portion, and a good sandwich better than fast food
Very famous/popular destinations for tourists and...
Very famous/popular destinations for tourists and play-goers. Typical 5~10 minutes wait for take out
Sandwiches are really good, above average. Dolly was too sour but their Thai Chicken, Curry, Daily specials are worth trying
Aninteresting and very small restaurant with a funky ambiance. The short wine list is served in small water glasses, and the water is served in plastic glasses. Definitely not fine dining. The dishes were very tasty, and somewhat innovative, but thrifty on ingredients. The seafood stew was very thin on seafood, a little talapia, two shrimp, and about six very small scallops .... but tasty. The mexican lasagne used beans in addition to the pasta and ground beef ... and the menu listed guacamole consisted of a very thin slice of avocado. So in summary, tasty, innovative food, a bit too thin on the main ingredients for the $15.95 per plate in my opinion. Most meals are served casarole style, and while tasty are not, I suspect, freshly prepared.
The food was fabulous. The pizza app alone could've fed me. The rhubarb pie was heavenly - exactly like my mom's.
If you are a PlayOn member through the festival, you can also get a 10% discount on your meals... yum! :)
Love this new discovery! Fresh, creative food; young, hip but attentive and kind service; and great ambiance. The place was hopping but servers were gracefully managing while still smiling. The owners obviously love what they do- totally disagree with the other poster. Our new favourite in a city of exceptional restaurants.
The food appeared bulky but was not very filling...
The food appeared bulky but was not very filling at all. The taste of the food was nothing special, pretty much stuff that you can easily make at home. However the food was not bad at all compared to the service. I suggest that the owners of this restaurant, Ms. Palach and Ms. Day, brush up on their customer service skills. Just because you own a restaurant that is constantly packed, it doesn't give you the right to be rude and be disrespectful to your customers. Try smiling a bit more and not say everything with a sneer.
