Kelseys Original Roadhouse — Restaurant in Ajax

My mom and I decided to order dinner at 8:45 PM on a Saturday Night. It didn't go through until like 8:54 PM but not a huge deal it said it would be ready by 9:16 PM and because we paid through their website they said we were VIP and they'd provide curbside pickup.

We arrive outside and pulled up to the curb to wait. We were already out running errands so we just decided to wait for a little bit outside the restaurant. At 9:10 we messaged into the restaurant using their website to let them know we'd arrived. They ask for the make and model of your car and license plate. At 9:24 I decided that since we hadn't received our text that they were coming out I should call in. Thank goodness I did because the girl let me know that their app wasn't working so they didn't know we were out there. She said we should have parked in their curbside pickup spot which a) the app doesn't tell you and b) there's no signage to designate except for a dark black sign with really awful dark writing. I can say honestly I would have noticed it if I was standing in front of it and on top of that they apparently state on the sign that they don't get texts from the app which is ridiculous. Fix your system. This is your business.

So whatever I offer to just go in and get it and the employee says no no we will bring it out whats your name? So I tell her and 5 minutes later she comes out its now 9:30 PM and says "Hi guys um your food isn't ready yet" and I look confused and say "It was suppose to be ready by 9:16" so she responds "oh well they are packing it up right now I saw them" and so she goes back inside.

15 minutes later we are still waiting so I pull into their horribly signed curbside pickup spot and get out of my car and walk to the door to find the employee coming out with our food. So i stopped her and she realized I was the person in the car. She handed me the food and didn't apologize which would have been nice even though a) it wasnt her fault and b) where the hell is your manager who should care a lot more about the horrible service her customers are getting.

Id also like to stop and say I work in a competitive restaurant. Dinner times are 15-18 minutes. So 45 minutes to complete 2 meals and an appetizer isn't even in the ball park. At the restaurant I work for my supervisors would be horrified and wouldn't have allowed any of that to go out without one of them connecting with the guest to make sure that they acknowledged the issues. Which is why I asked the employee for the name of the manager on shift which I won't post because I also recognize that you don't need someone to call you out to know who was the manager on shift.

So I take the food it's luke warm and I think - I really hope I get it home and Its hot and not warm despite what I think I'm getting.

I paid $60.00. I treated myself for the first time in over a year. I am attaching pictures of the food I got. I will be posting this review on Facebook too. And telling everyone I know. Everyone I come in contact with.

The restaurant isn't even at half capacity and if this is how you treat your guests at this level - I don't want to imagine full capacity.

The spinach dip was cold and had this thick layer of dried up dip on top.The fried pita chips - which I ordered extra of - were stale and soggy from the oil and gross.

The Fish and Chips was ice cold inside, the shell was almost impossible to crack a fork through, the fries were cold and soggy and I got no coleslaw which was suppose to come with it.

Thankfully my moms Balsamic Chicken was still steaming. Thank god you didn't ruin her meal. Just mine.

I don't know if I'd ever go back to this Kelseys or any other one at this point. I can't even begin to understand how horrendous this whole thing was. I don't know how you care so little and if I get a response telling me that you cared I'll feel even more insulted then...

Love Kelseys food, visit many different locations and usually its a great time but unfortunately at this location it hasnt been the case. Thats particularly upsetting because its the closest one to my home.

Went once about two months ago for dinner. Waited over an hour for our food and the restaurant wasn't even that busy. By the time we got it, half the food was cold. All in all our server raised it to the manager, didn't really do anything.

I went again tonight with my wife and daughter hoping to enjoy some wings. Again, the food took almost an hour when all we ordered was wings. When we got the wings, half of my wings ended up being undercooked and still had blood. I told the server about it who offered to bring me a new meal but I told him I didnt want them taking my food away to replace it (at the time I was only about 4 wings in and 3 had already been undercooked so I was trying to be optomistic about the rest) because I was starving and I didnt want to wait another 40 mins when my 14 month old daughter was already super restless. I ate the half which were cooked properly and left the rest. By the end of it, he raised it to the manager who just offered to remove my wings from the bill and only charge us for my spouse's meal.

Not only did they serve me undercooked chicken but I only ate half a meal and it ruined my entire appetite to the point that I didnt even want to argue it. My spouse was also upset because we dont get to go out much to eat and today that we got the opportunity, it was ruined by the food. I was trying not to let it show but it was pretty hard especially after waiting so long for wings. I paid the bill, tipped the server over 20% of the bill and left. (I've managed a wing joint in downtown Toronto so I don't let food or management impact the server since tips are their livelihood.)

Needless to say I doubt I'll ever come back to this location and have to give the Whitby location a try. Twice now management here had the opportunity to do something right and comp the food which usually isnt even a big part of their revenue, most of it comes from alcohol, but instead they do the bare minimum. The least you do is comp any meal which is not cooked well or served cold and give your patrons a gift card or wing card to hopefully get them to come back and give your location another try but nothing. The server even asked me if comping my meal (which was alrdy half off because its wings night) was ok almost if knowing that it should have been more.

Anyways it is what it is, hopefully others have better experiences but...

Updated review July 19 2025.

Our most recent visit to Kelseys Roadhouse was a bit disappointing. We had an issue with the chicken fried chicken. The chicken had an unusual crunchy texture. This appears to be a frozen chicken breast not fully cooked through in the deep fryer. The server was really nice and asked us what we wanted to do. We asked her to get the kitchen to make a new order. The second order came out piping hot and chicken cooked all the way through. No crunchy or rubbery pieces of chicken this time. The lemon pepper calamari was part of their summer menu. There's mixture of calamari, Jalapeños, bell peppers. The breading was crispy and tossed in lemon pepper seasoning. The breading was slightly too heavy. The best part of the meal was the beef tenderloin fajitas. The beef tenderloin was served on a sizzling skillet. This dish is good for sharing and filled us up.

Overall, the service was really good and our server checked on us regularly. I feel the food didn't hit the mark this time around. Perhaps an off day for the kitchen today.

We celebrated Valentine's Day at Kelseys. We were gravitated towards the 2 for $55 dinner for 2. Great deal for date night and Valentine's Day. We were lucky to also get a half-price bottle of wine as well! The starter to share was pita and spinach dip. Very large portion and spinach and cheese dip. The pitas were baked too long and too crunchy. The dip was really good, though.

We ordered the chicken fried chicken, which comes with broccoli and mashed potato. The breaded chicken breast was covered in gravy. Very juicy chicken and large portion.

My wife ordered the chicken parmesan with spaghetti. The pasta was cooked some whole tomato sauce. I would have liked a little more tomato sauce for the spaghetti.

To finish off the meal, we had a caramel cheesecake. We were so full and could not finish the spinach dip and chicken parmesan.

If you are looking for a great deal on Tuesdays, then check Kelseys and try their dinner for 2 deal. You can upgrade to steak or Atlantic salmon for $4 more. The server was friendly and checked on us regularly. The restaurant managers were also walking by to ask if we were enjoying our food.

The only thing I could critique was that the server brought our bill without asking us, and she forgot to serve our dessert. She apologized after I reminded her about our dessert. Aside from that minor setback, it was a great experience. Keep up...