Portly Piper Pub Ajax — Restaurant in Ajax

Mar.5.22 - I'm hoping our next visit will be a better experience. The food was great, kudos to the kitchen staff! Issue came to our waitress. Let me sum up this up in the most realest form. We could have made the decision to leave without paying the bill and she wouldn't have noticed, but I made sure to find someone that worked there to pay the bill because our waitress was non-existent. It wasn't the busyness of the establishment it came down to customer service. There were 2 of us who dined here and there was a party of close to 10 next to us. I ordered a drink - she says they do not have it & she was adamant that the establishment did not sell the drink. I looked at the menu and it was on there. She seemed shocked it was there. It is either the menu completely changed or she did not know the menu at all. She checked up on all other tables, especially the bigger group next to us and not once turned around and asked us if we needed anything. We asked for water, it took her a couple of minutes to provide the water and upon receiving it she slammed the water glasses on our table and then turned immediately right away to the bigger table next to us and asked them if they needed anything and if they were okay. This was extremely off putting and completely rude and unacceptable to the point we asked for the bill. We received the bill and were waiting for her to come by and she didn't appear. so we gathered our left overs and proceeded to leave to find someone so we could pay the bill.

I tip base on experience and this was just completely unacceptable. The sheer lack of neglect is unacceptable. We understand that it was a busy night, and staff is getting back to having busy periods during covid, however in this case, I could not justify using the return to pre-covid as a reason. It came down to party size and who you choose to serve. We were a party of 2, the party next to us was a party of 10+, our waitress made the choice to attend to the party of 10+ more than to the party of 2 (us). It should not matter if you are a party of 1, a party of 2 or a party of 10+. The level of customer service should be equal to all to have a good if not great customer experience. Unfortunately we did not have the same equal experience that parties of 4 & 10+ had. Please keep in mind that anyone who walks into any restaurant could also be a food critic, an owner of a competing business, a cleaner, etc and this type of level of customer experience and behavior is a reflection on an establishment. I hope this is a one off because my first visit was not only a great one but a memorable one. Previous update was 3 weeks ago - For my first time this past Wednesday, it was a great experience. My best friend and I had some quality time, with good conversations, good food and our waitress was just the best! We will be sure to come back with more friends! Advance warning we will probably be having lots of laughs and we may be a little louder. 😊 Thank you for a great Wednesday night,it was very...

4 stars My most recent visit to Portly Piper pub was on the busiest day of the year St Patrick's day.

We arrived there before 6pm and it was already packed. We checked in with the hostess, and they took our phone number and told us we would receive a call when our table is ready. We waited about 20 minutes, and the hostess decided to give us a seat in the back of the dining room.

My wife ordered the chicken souvlaki dinner $18 which comes with greek salad, rice, and lemon potatoes. The rice portion was rather small compared to the large helping of Greek salad. The chicken were grilled cubes from skewers rather than chopped grilled chicken breast. The chicken was cooked well, done and a bit dry. There is tzatziki sauce to dip the chicken. My order was Garlic Jalapeños chicken. It came with Greek salad as well. The dish consists of a breaded chicken cutlet covered in garlic and buttery Jalapeños sauce. A generous helping of basmati was provided for this dish. We ordered 2 pints of Coors light $6.50 each. The bill came up to about $55 taxes in. Overall, we enjoyed the food however the St Patrick's day crowd was a turn off. Lots of loud, obnoxious, drunk people. If you want some delicious traditional pub food give this place a try. Their food has never failed us yet. Prepare to wait on Fridays and weekends.

Updated review 3 stars Latest visit on June 10, 2023. We came here after watching a movie. Saturdays are chef's specials and $20 rib and wing combo.

My wife ordered the korean short ribs $21, and I ordered the Supreme Chicken $20. The short ribs came with potato salad and sticky rice, which was not cooked properly too mushy. You get 3 full racks for beef short ribs. The ribs were seasoned well. However, some parts were chewy.

The supreme chicken was a big disappointment. You get a half roasted chicken stuffed with a little bit of feta cheese and spinach. The dish was very underwhelming and lacked seasoning. The chicken was dry and would have helped if there was a sauce on top of the chicken. I was very surprised when the food came out so fast. Kind of wonder if the food was made for another table and then served to us.

We usually enjoy their food, but this time, the food did not meet our expectations. The total bill with 2 pints of Coors light came up to $61.02. Maybe this was an off day for the kitchen, because the table across from us had to send back their order because the prime rib sandwich was raw.

I hope they take note and train their kitchen staff to season the dish properly and ensure it's cooked properly. I will probably come back but maybe in a few months or so. Too...

The reason for a 1 star review is because PP knows they have a problem with stolen food and is doing nothing about it.

I Ordered pick up. $180 bill (7 meals). Prepaid.

Get there, bit of a crowd waiting for seats. Maitre d' seating people ahead of me. I ask a random server walking by if I can grab my food, it's prepaid, here's my name and order #. He checks the only take out bags there, most likely mine. Confirms name, but goes to maitre d' to get the ok. As this is happening, 2 teenage girls push there way through the crowd of people, go straight to the table of take out food, grab the 2 large bags of food (most likely my order) and run out the restaurant. I don't want to accuse them for stealing as I am not 100% sure it's mine, but it didn't look right. I followed them out the restaurant, they are running through the parking lot, giggling and laughing to each other. That's when I realize they did steal the order. I'm not worried to run after them, the restaurant will make the food again, I'm just thinking I will have to wait another 30-45mins. As I turn back to the restaurant, the server I first spoke with comes running out. I showed him where they were and he took off running. I went back into the restaurant, other patrons are telling the maitre d' that someone stole the take out food. Another staff member runs out the restaurant after the thieves.

THIS IS THE 1 STAR MOMENT AND THE REASON FOR MY RATING. The maitre d', responding to the other patrons says "this has been happening a lot lately...more than once a week"

Portley Piper: if you know this has been happening frequently, why leave the food unattended in the same place by the entrance? You are losing money and cause paying customers to wait for their food twice. Maybe keep the food by the bar?

So the first server who went running after the thieves actually caught up with them and got the food back! Hero, and his name is Joe. I made sure to get his name from the other staff.

Portley Piper: please do right by Joe. He ran after the thieves, in the cold, no jacket and got the food back. This saved the restaurant $180 plus time cooking the food twice. I will change my rating as long as something nice, or something extra is done for the server named Joe working tonight.

Also correct this problem so it doesn't happen again. Don't leave opportunities for thieves to act, because they will.

As always the food is...