Mackenzie Pub — Restaurant in Ajax

I want to start by saying that the serving staff at Mackenzie Pub are amazing people. Always smiling and chatting with us while also on top of anything we needed.

My two friends and I have been going to this establishment for a few years, usually 3 times per week. We’ve also introduced others to the pub who continue to go with their friends.

For years the food was excellent and we never had one complaint. However, over the past couple of months, there have been many issues with our food. The salads have been inconsistent and lately have been dripping wet and lacking flavour. When we brought this to the owner’s attention (Raj) he treated us like we are people who have sent our food back regularly. I stress that for years there has been no problem at all.

One evening we ordered two of the platters they offer (over $100 worth of food). All of the items on both platters were over cooked and in some cases flat out burnt. The manager, Suji (possible spelling mistake) was extremely reluctant to do anything about it. Eventually, he decided to replace the chicken fingers ONLY. We didn’t touch the rest of the food and we requested he do something about. Reluctantly, he gave us a 50% discount.

Why did we keep going? The serving staff are amazing and when Ceylon is in the kitchen, the food is perfect. (He makes the BEST steak - perfectly cooked every time!)

This evening we arrived and near the end of our meal a large group of 30 people came in and were seated behind us. Two of us went out for a cigarette break while the 3rd in our group continued to consume their meal. While two of us were outside, a manager came and removed one of our chairs to give to the group without even asking our friend if we were done with it. The staff and managers are accustomed to two of us having cigarette breaks every time we are there (again - a few times a week). On top of that, the manager told my friend that my friend had to move our table to give the others room. We confronted the managers to point out how disrespectful they were being and they just giggled, smiled and said sorry.

We tried to speak with Raj and he tried to dismiss us. When we told him we will not be coming back he just nodded and said “ok”.

Several years; several times a week; thousands of dollars; recommending to several friends and treated like our business doesn’t matter.

We will not be back. Furthermore, we’ve spread the word and six of our friends also will not be returning. 9 people; several times a week; appetizers, dinner and sometimes dessert. None of that business matters to the dismissive managers/owners.

We will miss the serving staff and hopefully our paths will cross some day. They’re...

Our first visit at this pub located close to downtown Ajax. It's located in a strip mall beside McD's. When we entered the place was quite empty. Most diners were on the patio. We chose for the air conditioning indoors. It took some time for a server to come by and take our order. Another server who was handling the patio came by to check on us and took our order. My wife ordered pork souvlaki dinner and I ordered the daily special which was any pasta entree for $13.95. I ordered the seafood curry pasta which came with lobster, black tiger shrimps and scallops. Two slices of Garlic bread were served with the pasta. The bread was foccacia and could have been toasted more. It was a big soggy. The fettuccine was cooked al dente and had enough of the curry coconut cream sauce. There were quite a few pieces of lobster and scallops and 3 tiger shrimps. I thoroughly enjoyed my pasta and cleaned the plate.

My wife's order was entered incorrectly as the other server miscommunicated our order and gave his chicken souvlaki. We didn't say anything as it wasn't a deal breaker or anything. The chicken was not souvlaki grilled skewers. It was basically marinated chicken breast chopped into pieces to make it seem like souvlaki chunks. Not an authentic greek dish but for a pub we shouldn't have such high expectations . The rice pilaf was bland and dry with some frozen carrots bits on top. The greek salad could have had more dressing, feta and red onions. My wife didn't enjoy her as much. We did end up finishing the meal. Overall, not the greatest first impression for us. Maybe it's an off day here. It's long weekend and staff were not motivated to work. Service was barely adequate. When we got the bill we paid cash and the server stayed by the table while we were giving the tip. Not proper etiquette. We still tipped well as we know servers depend on the tips to supplement their income. We probably won't come back due to wife's order was...

We came here with our toddler for dinner around 6:10pm on a Sunday. The host was very friendly and got my child a kids menu/coloring page. They mentioned that it was "a bit crazy tonight" and someone should be with us shortly.

We ordered: Half rack Ribs with fries Jerk chicken with Greek salad and veggies Kids hamburger meal with fries and lemonade

Here is my assessment:

Cons: We waited 15 minutes to even be acknowledged. When someone finally came around to our section, they seemed surprised to see us and asked if anyone had seen us yet. We waited 45 min for our food after that point The ribs were dry and lacked sauce. I stupidly asked for some extra sauce which I never ended up getting. The coleslaw that comes with the ribs was cabbage sitting in a soup of dressing. The wait. For everything. Even water.

Pros: There are TVs everywhere which is great if you're going to watch sports games Fries are great Kids burger is an adult sized burger so great value Greek salad was good Jerk chicken was decent but not great (to be expected) The servers were all very courteous, friendly and professional

We would come back here with some conditions: Childless! even though it's child friendly with coloring pages and crayons, the wait is just too long for a kid Come with no rush or time constraints Sit in a visible area as you'll be forgotten if you sit in the booths by the window

To be clear, the workers were great in terms of their demeanor and politeness. My issue is with the neglect and the long wait times for anything needed; water refill, extra...