A&W Canada — Restaurant in Barrie

On November 22, 2018, at 4:30 PM I stopped by this A&W to enjoy my usual order... Papa Burger, root beer and rings or fries. Now, over the years, one of the major draws regarding their Papa Burgers has been the full, usually thick, slice of onion they provide on the burgers. However, over the last couple years I've noticed that some of their outlets have begun to get a bit skimpy on the onion servings, so I'm in the habit now of specifically requesting they put a "nice, full, thick slice of onion" on my burger. And that's how this order went down as I detailed the rest of the meal to include onion rings and a small coffee (which they were out of, and seemed hesitant and ill-prepared to brew more, like as if they'd often heard about brewing coffee, but never really had to do it yet).

Meanwhile, as I looked around while waiting for the order to be prepared, I was moderately surprised to see how the "edge" seemed to be coming off the store, appearance-wise. I know it's a "casual, fast-food" place officially, but this was looking so neglected as to be approaching "derelict". Displays were cracked, signs broken, junk left on the condiments table, napkin dispensers cruelly savaged, and a sheen of light dirt was evident in all the places nobody had bothered to dust for the last few years. (See included pics.)

Anyway, the meal was finally prepared and I went to sit down and enjoy. And then... disappointment!

Every time I came here, it was a very mediocre experience to begin with every time. Floors sticky, or even the washrooms are very nasty. The cashiers are always looking miserable and always get your order wrong no matter what! I've had to come back many times because it was close but also because they kept forgetting an order not to mention because it's hella expensive. I ordered a double buddy burger combo and the burger did not taste like it usually did. It tasted icky and it was missing a lot of its components. The sweet potato fries I ordered were soggy as always and when I dug into one, I instantly gagged and threw up on the spot. It was a rotten sweet potato fry. Not to mention that they always underfill the fries or anything like onion rings. They added a self serve drink machine but I was finally excited because every time I ordered a root beer or drink, they only filled it 3 quarters or less even! WHAT A SCAM!!! As I took my root beer from the machine, I noticed that it didn't taste sweet and at the same time, THERE WAS NO CARBONATION! It was the flattest watered down root beer ever! Don't come here as your first choice, just come here if you're desperate and just...

I very rarely review a place, especially if I have a negative experience; unfortunately I feel the need to leave a review today. I came in to get lunch and use the washroom. When I went into the ladies washroom, it had been very obvious it had not been cleaned for a long time. One of the toilets had multiple dried urine states on the seat as I was leaving the washroom I looked at the cleaning sheet and saw that it had not been cleaned since 3:30 the day prior. This annoyed me, however with staffing shortages and everything else going on I thought I would just let the girl at the counter know. When I let the girl at the counter know the state of the walkthrough her words, her words were "I am so sorry, these homeless people come in and make a mess everywhere and make my life hell, I literally just checked it half an hour ago and it was fine". There is no way that washroom was checked half an hour previously. Please do not blame a vulnerable sector of our community for your shortcomings. Absolutely...