This place is awful. If quick and dirty brunch is your thing they definitely have the dirty part down pat--everything is filthy--but service is extremely slow.
FILTHY. Dust everywhere, dirty cups that were poorly washed and still have lip stains on them, and food that looked worse than you could make yourself at home while hungover weren't even the worst part of it. And don't look up unless you want to gaze at the dust bunnies living in the paper lanterns above your head. Not sure how they passed a health inspection looking like that.
The slow and rude service was the worst part. Our waitress was nice; the problem was with the manager or owner dude, who I will now refer to as 'Bruh' (pronounced something between 'bro' and 'bra'). It was taking a really long time to get my order. The waitress came by and put an order that looked like mine in front of me. Seconds later she came back and took it away. She had mistakenly brought it to the wrong table. She seemed new. No big deal. So the manager/owner, Bruh, was quite rude and started yelling at her across the restaurant as if to make her feel stupid that she didn't know where table 6 was. I thought that was unprofessional and felt bad and embarrassed for her. I don't support places that treat their employees disrespectfully, especially so openly in front of customers. Not cool.
Several minutes later when he was coming by I got his attention and told him that it's been over half an hour since I ordered my food--though in retrospect I'd say closer to 45 minutes--and that waitstaff keep coming by and telling me it's coming, that I haven't seen it yet, and that if he could refund me my money so I can go eat somewhere else. He said "F*** yeah bruh!" and stormed to the cash register. He was so mad! It was a definite "what the heck?" moment.
I went to follow him, somewhat confused as to what was going on and if I was imagining how mad he was right now. I heard him angrily say something like "that GIRL over there," as if to purposely be condescending and disrespectful. When I got to the register I tried to calmly explain that I was leaving because it was taking a really long time. He yelled "I don't care!" He was really mad and rude, making a huge scene, as if he took it personally. His behaviour was so ridiculous that I asked "Why are you so mad?" and he responded that I was mad and giving attitude so he was mad back. Great answer. The professionalism and maturity definitely shined there!
I was trying to calmly rationalize with him to calm him down, then he started raging, saying that his place is organic and that I could go to Egg Smart across the street and be served faster, which sounded like he was trying to act like his place was better than Egg Smart. And I'm pretty sure organic eggs cook just as fast as factory farmed eggs. I buy organic eggs, Bruh, and make them at home and they don't take that long to make. Organic food doesn't take longer to cook; I eat at local, natural and organic restaurants all the time, and Saving Gigi takes the (organic, dust-covered) cake for the worst place I've been to in a while.
His behaviour was completely unwarranted and irrational. He was blowing it out of proportion. He was so mad, extremely unprofessional, and seemed to take everything personally. He was rude to me and dropping F bombs every few seconds. I was really shocked. I've never seen anything like it. I think I was more confused than offended. I decided to stop trying to rationalize and calm him down because people like that are incapable of rational thought. He was a total jerk, extremely loud and obnoxiously overreacting. Very dramatic. This guy is ridiculous and needs to chill out.
This was one of my only "hipster" impressions and it left a bad one for sure. We left, checked Yelp and ended up going somewhere else, which also seemed to be run by hipsters--if the definition of hipsters was mid-rise tapered jeans and plaid--but they were friendly, polite and clean, so I know that this dirtiness and rude attitude wasn't a hipster thing, this was just a Saving Gigi thing. I will never go back here or the sister restaurant Saving Grace.
If price is your reason for going here, it's not even that cheap. The value is not there. We went to Union on Ossington and paid $4 more for a much better dish--naturally raised, freshly ground beef burger--so if you're broke and that's why you're thinking of going here, I wouldn't even count that as a pro, bruh. It's low value. This place is expensive for what it is (which is crap, if I wasn't clear).
Cole's Notes version:
If waiting 45 minutes for eggs and pre-made sides, slow service with a rude unprofessional manager, dirty glasses with lip stains, hair stuck to water carafes, and an ambiance full of dust bunnies is your idea of weekend brunch, then definitely hit this place up! Maybe if you're lucky you'll get to be called "bruh" and referred to condescendingly and experience some F bombs and watch him rage at his staff! read more