Denny's Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

This hurts for me to do because I know in my heart most of the employees here really work really hard to make this an enjoyable place to eat but there are several issues that have forced me to drop this from my previous 5 star review.

I just moved back to Arbour Lake and have been to this Denny's about 3 times in person and I have had a couple deliveries to my home in the past 2-3 months.

My complaints are in regards to the in the in store restaurant experiences.

The 3 times we visited, weeks apart, there are chronic understaffing issues.

This last visit we were missing ingredients in our food and missing condiments on the table so it had to eventually be remade, drinks were not refilled for 20-30 minutes while we had our food and we were extremely thirsty and as soon as our food was delivered our waitress disappeared for that length of time.

Traditionally wait staff comes along to ensure everything is ok food and drink wise within 5-10 minutes. Possibly she took a break and then it appeared then went to wait upon other waiting tables, then returned to us. Understaffing issues, management issue or training issue. There was available staff cleaning tables but there were many empty tables. They seem very focused on only using specific tables over and over instead of customer experience.

The food we did receive did taste good overall but myself and one other from the party actually get ill this last time. Not food poisoning level, but not sure what occurred.

This is the first time we considered not leaving a tip but we still did as when the waitress realized how bad everything was when she finally returned she had my daughters food recooked and we got drinks, condiments etc.

Unfortunately due to us having issues all 3 times in a row, 3 separate times and due to the level of my sickness this last time (we suspect the breakfast sausage as we are the only two who ate it, got sick and they tasted funny) we should not be returning.

Also, seating... when we came there was a LOT of space but they crammed us between two tables of small children to the point the person across from me actually kept getting hit in the back of the head and we actually had to request to move to the table directly to our left (I didn't want to embarrass the parent who was struggling to control their baby and toddler by going further because honestly, he was trying, as he waited for his other guest to arrive). We had some absolutely lovely interactions after.

I just think all of this could be corrected from upper management.

#1 You need more waitstaff #2 You need to clean the dozens of gum attached to the bottom of nearly ever table, its very disgusting and unsanitary. #3 Consider hostess training and where you place people with a bit more thought vs just speed. If we wanted speed only we...

Trying this place out after a bad experience at Denny's Crossroads, where I had gone several times in the last 2 weeks. So I am now a "Denny's 55+ menu veteran" because I work at Denny's on my laptop and have 2 sometimes 3 of those smaller meals.

The food here is great, and unlike Crossroads, you can see into the kitchen here, where a lone chef is knocking out my meals as well as doing all the cleaning. Bravo, madam. I had two great servers - Digpal and Abhi - who are so eager to please, but also nervous. I would like for them personally to be more confident about the good job they do, and eventually take on that swagger that great servers who know they are doing a great job for their customers develop. Digpal and Abhi still get 5* though, for their effort and achievement, but for their own sakes I want them to develop the self-confidence and swagger that great servers have, and that customers love to experience, and return for over and over. This will come in time.

This restaurant gets lower traffic than Crossroads (which grammatically makes sense as much as looking at a map) so the waterless urinals that rely on ice cubes to drip away and clear the p-trap is not enough. There is not enough fresh pee to melt the ice and push through the pee in the p-trap. Other restaurants may also have extra cleaning steps like hydrogen peroxide or similar in their maintenance routine before the cleaner/dishwasher goes home for the night. This restaurant needs to find a solution to clear the p-trap 24/7 or they will lose customers - I am confident they will do so, and look forward to returning here to smell truly clean without coverup fragrances. Maybe the cleaner could leave a pre-arranged, premixed neutralizing solution in a bucket that the server could pour into the urinal, while respecting restaurant hygiene and their own role definition, until the place is busy enough for overnight cleaner.

All the pieces for much success are in place. The infrastructure is very good, and this Crowfoot loop is a quiet neighbourhood with services rivalling that of downtown – without the negatives of downtown or Crossroads. Maybe people are in the habit of driving to Crossroads after clubbing - they should come try this place out. For a few hours overnight I was alone in the restaurant - I should have been joined by a steady stream of people who are up at this hour after clubbing or work, or working on their laptops like me for an overseas client at this hour.

Hope to see, and experience, this place as it kicks into...

A few months back my boyfriend and I visited and had a lovely meal. Upon the end of the meal at paying, we did not tip. This wasn't because of the service, it was standard at best, but merely because we didn't allocate money at the time to going out to eat and weren't able to tip. Upon completion of our transaction the server came back to the table and asked my boyfriend if the service was bad or if he had a bad time to which my boyfriend responded "no". The server then stormed off with an entitled attitude. At the time, my boyfriend and I thought nothing of it and went on with our day. This Denny's is a restaurant that we frequent and we have interactions with all kinds of waitstaff they are lovely and we tip well. Because of this one time, we didn't happen to tip, upon our return to the restaurant recently, we had the previous server who we encountered a few months prior. He was rude and disgruntled, particularly at my boyfriend, we went out with two of our friends. He continuously walked past our table so many times after clearing out plates and not once did he ask us if we'd like the bill it was so hard to get his attention as he was standing at the front talking and not coming by our table. As I previously mentioned when he came by our table he just walked straight past. When it came time to pay, he asked my boyfriend if he'd like to pay cash or by card to which my boyfriend responded "Card", then a literal moment later my boyfriend changed his mind saying "Actually, can I pay cash sorry" and the server then responded with "this is why I asked" to be rude and disrespectful in this manner is so unnecessary and to be treated like that in a place we are coming to eat is ridiculous. So many of the servers are wonderful and kind and I do not in any regard appreciate or tolerate being treated so disrespectfully. Upon retrieving the change, the server slammed it in front of my boyfriend with the receipt and stormed off. Extremely unhappy with this treatment and this is unbelievable. Not to mention that we were there to celebrate my best friend's birthday. Rude and unbelievable treatment by this individual! I will most definitely be taking my...