Cornerstone is Schrödinger's restaurant. Some of you smirk while others desire an explanation…read more Alas, the word budget compels me to ignore those pleas and continue.
Cornerstone neither bad nor good. It is neither ugly nor particularly attractive. It exists in both states simultaneously and taking inspiration from the Copenhagen interpretation, the superposition ends when you walk in and have a meal.
The metaphor somewhat breaks down at this point as honestly, what really happens is that the good and the bad meld together into a rather unsatisfactory gray, their ultimate sin. Cornerstone is melancholy. The ironic use of red in places doesn't detract it feeling colorless. It's a stunning shade of gray, but like the depressing trend of recent movies, that may not be the best course of action.
Cornerstone doesn't offend the eyes--it's just refuses to color outside the lines (despite the aforementioned limited palate). I have made comparisons before about there being some manufacturing line where a machine extrudes the same pedestrian restaurant that anyone can purchase. I'll take 60 feet of restaurant, please. They roll it out, bring down the cutter, and you walk off with your portion.
Cornerstone is the Hyundai Accent of restaurants. You don't need to look further than the menu as proof, lacking any panache or originality. Nachos, chicken tenders, lettuce wraps, burgers, wraps, pizzas. And not even funny names...I mean I hate amusing names for boring dishes but here, nothing, just "stir fry" and "steak bites" and "beef dip." Hold me back. The delivered dishes were equally uninspired. I opted for the Cornerstone burger while my friend ordered the Steak Sandwich. The descriptors were bullets points. "6 oz. Sirloin. Garlic Toast. Fresh cut Fries. Frizzled Onions." My burger saw that simplicity and raised it with "House made Beef Burger, Cheddar Cheese, Mustard, Relish, Cornerstone Sauce." That's not a sales pitch--that's an ingredient list. They can't even be bothered even to sell their dishes. My friend's plate was exactly as listed, basically, take those items and place them on a plate and hand it out. The steak was chewy, and the portion was small, especially for seventeen dollars.
Mine was sixteen dollars, and I can say with confirmed certainty that there are better burgers nearby for less. My plate was just a burger lacking elegance, speared with a toothpick, fringed by the soup special, and dignified with a single package of stale saltines sitting slightly off edge, almost forlorn like the fat friend in every romantic comedy. How sophisticated. The burger was good; there's no denying that, but there was nothing setting it apart from any burger you could make with your own two hands. I had a burger from the White Goose food truck that was half this price and included bacon, a $2.50 add-on at Cornerstone. My only other garnish was the napkin.
About the only aspect of the décor I thought was worthy of praise was a slightly unbefitting centrally-located wine display sparingly seasoned by some striking bottles. There is also not an overabundance of televisions, meaning this place is inadequate as a sports bar (which is what it replaced). So, given that evidence, we have yet another Moxies clone that is desperately hoping people won't leave the hotel to search for any better. Heaven forbid they walk thirty feet to Karahi King or Crossroads or walk down the street to Twisted Cork. And if customers have a car, forget it. It's not so much I dislike Cornerstone, it just falls into a category of restaurant that is getting larger and larger, ones I am indifferent to.
I could not care about this place. My apathy towards Cornerstone removes any reason to visit it compared to the competition surrounding it. Even the donair and poutine joint across the street is more desirable than this. Cornerstone obviously cost a lot of money, but they phoned in a monotonous menu and dishes lacking any originality. This could be expected of a restaurant under a hotel, the need to pander to the largest demographic resulting in such a compromised menu, yet I have seen better restaurants under lesser hotels. Look at Rockford; look at Hummus Brothers. Granted, those two not that much better than Cornerstone, but they are.
Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Presentation: 3/5
Value: 2.5/5
Recommendation: 3/5
