Signs

Toronto was in the midst of its annual Summerlicious event, where restaurants across the city offer special prix fixe menus, typically cheaper than their regular menu, albeit only slightly, in most cases. My husband and I decided to look for a restaurant that was marketed as both good for kids and wheelchair accessible (for stroller purposes).

Restaurant: Signs
Location: Downtown Core
Meal: Dinner
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 14 weeks

Signs is an interesting restaurant in that the servers are deaf and the menu teaches you sign language. It helps create awareness and gives people a chance to try their hand at sign language in order to communicate. There is also a "cheat sheet" at every table that teaches you how to sign things like "thank you", "water", "everything is good", etc. I think it's a really cool concept, and I would love to learn sign language beyond the chorus of Savage Garden's Crash and Burn (check out the music video - so much love!)

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This restaurant advertises itself as wheelchair accessible, which usually bodes well for strollers. The entrance has a ramp to get in, and they had us fold the stroller and put the car seat on the seat next to our table.

The table beside us had also folded their stroller against the wall, but their baby was old enough to sit in a high chair. The washroom is also indeed wheelchair accessible and quite large.

I struggled with how to rate this because the restaurant is very good for strollers and babies; however, as you can see, there was no change table provided and no counter top I could have used instead.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you are concerned about any language barriers, don't worry. The service was great and the servers were very friendly and interactive. We were greeted at the door by a hostess that explained the concept of the restaurant and then introduced us to our server. My husband and I struggled with some of the signs but she quickly caught on to what we were trying to say and demonstrated how to sign correctly. She did comment (via sign language) on my decision to order a glass of wine, asking if I was breastfeeding my son since that wasn't advisable. While I'm not a big fan of commentary on my choices as a mom - I've learned that you just can't please everyone and someone always thinks you're doing something wrong - she was friendly about it and she didn't withhold my wine when I insisted that I still wanted it. It's actually quite surprising how much we were able to communicate without talking. I also did not have any issues when I ultimately did have to breastfeed my son during dinner.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As far as the food itself, I found that everything was quite good, but not particularly memorable. I started with the escargot and garlic bread.

It was tasty, but not a standout as far as escargot goes. I followed this up with a main course of grilled lamb tenderloins with mashed potatoes and ratatouille.

As a mother, I very much appreciated that the lamb was served off the bone, as this made it significantly easier to eat while holding my son, who at this point decided he didn't want to sit in his car seat anymore. Other than that, everything was fine, but not outstanding. Finally, for dessert, I ordered the mango sorbet.

I should probably disclose that I live really close to delicious gelato and sorbet, so perhaps I am just not easily impressed, but again it was fine but not amazing. My husband's meal consisted of the Caesar salad, fried frog legs, and chocolate avalanche, and he had the same assessment of his food as I did of mine.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
This is a restaurant where the service is great, the accessibility is good, and the food is decent, which overall contributes to a pleasant experience eating out with baby.