I am biased, as I live just around the corner, but I was thrilled to read about Alice's Restaurant (I just wish I had found out on my own, since I walk right by.) Anyway, dinner there last night was a nice treat. But, I do agree - the interior could use a few dollars on it.

Not bad. I agree, the space could use a little sprucing. But overall, it's worth the drive.

Alice has its good and its bad nights. In general, the restaurant is definitely worth the drive to Parkdale. But, the dishes are still a bit inconsistent. Give it time.

My husband live in the area of College and Dovercourt with no shortage of restaurants to go to. But in a sea of mediocre restaurants that mostly cater to hip club-goers who aren't too picky about food, finding a quality meal is not always so easy. We were optimistic about Alice's restaurant as it was a new place to try and had an atmosphere that didn't "try" too hard that had more of a "neighbourhood bistro", rather than "club", feel. We dropped by for brunch one weekend morning when we didn't feel like joining the queue at Boom. We were pleasantly surprised. I think my husband had french toast and I had poached eggs with smoked salmon on a crispy bed of rosti. We both really enjoyed the food and the attentive staff. It didn't have the hustle & bustle atmosphere of Boom and we were okay with that. We were enthusiastic about coming back for dinner which we did about a week later but unfortunately our experience was slightly dampened by lackluster food that was a tad overpriced. Now my husband and I don't mind paying extra for good food (Chiado is one of my favourite restaurants) but we found every dish needed slightly extra attention. We both shared a baby arugula salad which to me looked like dandelion leaves. Perhaps it was a rather pointy-leaf variety of arugula but that was ALL the salad consisted of: arugula leaves lightly tossed in a light tart/sweet dressing. There were a few toasted square things on the side of the plate but it was more decorative than part of the salad. Then my husband had an elk dish while I had the lamp chops at $29 & $27 a plate. Two of the 3 lamp chops were on the very small side and medium rare (as I requested) but 1 was even smaller, missing the bone, was well done and had no flavour. It was almost like I got a piece they didn't know what to do with so instead of tossing it out in the garbage, they served it to a customer. My husband's elk was just okay. I can't pinpoint what was wrong with it but it wasn't very tasty and we're both pretty open to new flavours. The waitress was very nice and attentive but she asked us how everything was about 10 seconds after we got our entrees when we didn't have much of an opinion yet. Maybe one evening we'll give the restaurant another try but we'd be slightly hesitant about it when we know we'd get a better meal at Karuchie or Grappa. If Alice's Restaurant wants to continue to serve food at their current price point they really have to step it up a level.

I went here when it first opened, and it was like .....eh. I'm glad I gave it another chance though, and another, and another. It's really been growing on me. They make simple plates very well, and seem good at throwing a little unexpected sumthin in there.

Make sure to pay special attention to the specials when you go - it's your best bet.