Chez Francois Restaurant and Patio — Restaurant in Alberta

Don't trust the good reviews people, it's a total sham. We sat in the patio where all the tables were empty except for one next to us. The sun was blinding our eyes so we asked our waitress if we could move to a different table that I pointed out - for some reason, she failed to understand what I was trying to say despite me repeatedly pointing at it and then forced us to sit at a different table where the sun wasn't any better. She then proceeded to use the umbrella at the only other patron's table to give us a sliver of shade (almost useless) and they were nice enough to allow it even though they specifically wanted to be under the sun themselves. It was such a bizzarre situation that left both parties not getting what we wanted and she had the audacity to say they weren't able to accomodate us unfortunately (???).

I could tell she was annoyed based on how she threw our menus on the table after that and how she looked miffed when we asked for a few more mins to decide what we wanted. She ended up getting another older waitress to serve us for the rest of our time, who was nicer but rarely checked up on us. The most annoying part was how barely five minutes after we were seated at our new and still too sunny spot, another couple had arrived and taken the seat behind us that I had requested earlier when it was empty. Ridiculous. We waited a very long time for our food to be served, getting it after 3 sets of new patrons had arrived after us and already received theirs. The original waitress we had kept giving us bad vibes, even looking annoyed when I asked her to direct me to the bathroom later. The whole experience made us extremely uncomfortable from the get go and was soured more by the extremely subpar food.

We got the chicken and mushroom crepe which used the most bland, low quality, pre-boiled chicken straight out of the freezer I've ever had (shocking considering the expectation they serve with their website and prices) and had next to no seasoning. The mushroom sauce and potatoes were alright but it didn't make up for the overall taste. The caramel iced coffee was also not great and The Albertan's steak was chewy, scrambled eggs dry and uninspired. All this for a whopping $60!

Will never be going back and don't recommend to anyone else either if you're looking for a satisfying breakfast or brunch in Canmore. Just wish I got the server's name because she totally ruined what could have otherwise been a somewhat decent time on our special...

Oh man, now where do I even start...

2 friends and I went here for brunch on Sunday (July 17th). We were immediately greeted by a very nice lady who was super polite and welcoming. Our server on the other hand was not so welcoming. She was snappy and ready to storm away from us every chance she got. I gave her the benefit of doubt and brushed off her rude attitude thinking that she might just be having a rough day. She then went to serve the tables around us in the politest tone and with a smile on her face. When she was taking our order, she was rude and seemed to be in some sort of rush… but with other tables she took her time to explain the menu and even offered to take pics of one of the groups she was serving. At this point we were ready to leave but then we decided to just ask for a new server. I called the supervisor over and asked him for a new server. He immediately took it upon himself to serve us. The food came out and once again… extremely disappointed. My smoked salmon sandwich was missing the salmon. The fruits it came with had a hair on them and the side order of waffles was rock hard. My friend ordered French toast which had a piece of plastic on it…. At this point we were done. We gave our feedback to the supervisor (since he was insisting on it). Along with the feedback my friend casually mentioned that he should give me a discount on my food, since my order had so many things go wrong with it, to which the supervisor responded with “You don’t need to tell me how to do my job, I was already going to do something for her.”

Now, I understand that the place was busy and mistakes happen (apparently several with us…) but one thing they could have controlled was their rude and dismissive behaviour. All in all, we’ll never be going here again and nor will we be recommending it to anyone. Huge lose for them because I’m always travelling to Canmore with big groups during the summer and we usually end up having...

THEY DON’T EVEN DESERVE A ONE STAR SERVICE, IT SHOULD BE 0!

Edited review:

There was no “threat” or “personal attack” in my review, just a clear description of what happened. Your reply here only proves the same unprofessional attitude we experienced from the server and the manager. This was never about free food, it was about food safety and respect. Instead of taking responsibility, you dismiss and deflect. That says a lot about your standards. Good luck with your business 👋🏻.

Original review: We came here for brunch and unfortunately had a very unpleasant experience. When we were about to finish our meal, we found out that the tomato was moldy. We waited about 10 minutes before our server came over, and when we asked her if customers could get sick from eating it, her response was a careless: “PROBABLY.”

She later came back and told us she had deducted 10% off the bill. We politely requested that the moldy dish simply be removed from the check. At that point, the manager came over. Sadly, both the server and the manager showed poor training in customer service and even came across with a dismissive, borderline discriminatory attitude toward us (we are Asian). The manager told us, “you don’t have to pay” without any professionalism.

To be clear: we were not looking for free food. We were ready to pay for the rest of our meal, but were instead treated rudely and left feeling very unwelcome.

For the sake of other customers, especially since this is a tourist area,I hope the owner takes action to properly train the staff in food safety and customer service. Moldy food should never reach the table, and staff should know how to handle such situations respectfully.

I will also be reporting this to AHS. Please clean up your leftover and serve better food...