I arrived to discover that the restaurant was closed, and no one had called to inform me.

One of my top places in Toronto - #1 for outdoors!

Had an absolutely incredible time at against the grain. The bubbles that they have set up were the perfect setting for a date night. I couldn’t have asked for better. ❤️

In this time of Covid, when we want to support the restaurants we love, it's so unfortunate when they do not keep their communication with customers up to date. We made a brunch reservation the day before, showed up and found out they were closed. They had changed the hours, we decided not to wait the 40 min. till opening after walking a bit... Moral of the story phone ahead!

I ordered the Nasi Goreng, which to my surprise was extremely salty—it was doused in soya sauce. I could not eat the rest of it. I told the server about it and they apologized and kindly allowed me to re-order. This time, I ordered the Jerk Chicken. To my surprise, the chicken and rice were heavily spiced and I had a hard time finishing it. Against the Grain unexpectedly did not charge me for the meal. That was a very kind gesture that I appreciate.

Efficient and friendly service. Lovely lunch

Service was slow. Not horrible, but slower than usual at each step - taking the drinks order, taking the meal order, bringing the drinks,... Probably won't go back soon.

Inattentive servers who show no enthusiasm because they are overworked (4 waiters for a full patio, really?) . The food was sub par to be honest, the chicken sandwich was super burnt and used chicken thigh meat, big no no, this is not Popeyes.

Ate on the patio, tables spaced out well, food and service were good.

Service was really slow. I didn't mind waiting for the food. But waiting for drinks, especially for refills was annoying.

Don’t go to this restaurant for the food, it’s mediocre at best. But it has a beautiful terrace with a great view of the lake.

Amazing food. Great service.

food is good and chefs are flexible, but menu is quite limited and rarely changes.

The food and service was awesome! The hostess made sure that we were comfortable as we had a baby with us!

Servers need to be more nice

Nice setting, tables well spread out due to Covid, and the staff were all terrific. Food was good at average price

I felt like there was a lot of confusion and delay at the host station. I think when you are waiting in front of the host station they should at least acknowledge you and say “Good afternoon, we will be with you shortly.” We stood there for over 10 minutes in front of the desk with many working there looking at lists, taking phone calls and coordinating tables without acknowledging that we were waiting

I had read the recent reviews and was hoping that by now the service issues would have improved. Unfortunately this was not the case. Although all servers were very pleasant, since all servers were working together, they seemed uncoordinated. Not sure this is the best approach, especially in light of the current pandemic situation to have multiple servers attending to you. Our starter took 25 minutes to arrive, and there were only 3 other tables that were occupied (for lunch), and within minutes our main courses arrived. Very frustrating. The food was quite good, however, and the ambience being by the water certainly makes this a great place to go to.

Apart from the rain, it was a good time. We love coming back to this place! Our server was very friendly. I was not impressed with the fact that I had to reach out 3 times and received no response back regarding the nutritional menu ahead of time due to dietary restrictions.

Fantastic patio by the lake with lots of space for each table. Very good service and all felt very safe and following the rules, wearing masks etc. The food was about a 3 or 4 out of 5 depending on what you ordered. The fish in the fish and chips was hard as rock, the chiken burger got rave reviews, hummus and fish tacos good. Would go again just for the location, space and service. I agree with a past review that the busker playing electric violin right next to the patio is too loud.

Very impressed with the way COVID protocol is being handled. Good spacing at the outdoors tables made it possible to feel "safe" and enjoy the beautiful Lake Front atmosphere on a lovely Toronto summer night. Our waiter handled the busy place well and tried his best to be friendly amidst the heat of his mask. The food was good, although the sauces were somewhat excessive, masking the natural flavours of the vegetables.

All things considered, it was amazing to be outside, with people we love, eating good food, with a terrific Toronto island view. What could be better?

Server most keen and engaging, although a bit "hurried"...odd that our dinner, while pushed out timely, arrived a few minutes BEFORE our drinks....need to get the bar better aligned as that delay inexcusable

Love your patio...very happy to be able to enjoy it again.

We were told at 9pm there would be about a 30 minute wait. At 9:50, we returned to ask how much longer we would need to wait and it was clear the host (who we had spoken to initially) had forgotten about us / lost us in the system. She finally apologized when I pressed her a bit on the subject. If she had simply apologized it wouldn't have been quite so frustrating. We also waited over 10 minutes to pay after we were given our cheque.

Perfection all around. Only small issue is the buskers that are allowed to play beside the restaurant. The electric violinist was too loud and many customers were wincing. Our server said it sounded like dolphin calls - accurate!

Service was polite but confused, drinks were great, food was average pub fare and there was no special effort made to sanitize anything (we had brought our own disinfecting wipes anyway), but we chose the restaurant solely for the incomparable location and patio and were highly satisfied in that regard. It was a great time, and we will be back!

The staff were very friendly and accommodating...the food was very good...managment does a very good job carrying out their buisness ..would definately recommend.

Staff and service was great. The weather was perfect to cap off the experience. It was nice to see the staff practiced covid terms and the seating was laid out as well as could be expected.

The ambiance was really nice, the patio is right on the water. Our waiter was nice, although extremely lax. It was hard to tell if that was just his vibe or he just didn't care. I ordered a burger and my boyfriend ordered the chicken sandwich. My burger was borderline under cooked, but it was beef so I wasn't too concerned. The bun was brioche and it must have been left sitting too long because my bottom bum was soaked with juices ad sauce that it was legitimately falling apart. My boyfriend had the same issue. We had to eat without the buns which was inconvenient to say the least. Other than that, everything was good and served in a timely fashion!