Dixon's Public House — Restaurant in Calgary

Bf and I arrived at 9:15 on a Monday evening. We ordered colossal nachos with xtra cheese, beef, plus guac, & 1 order of wings. Colossal Nachos and wings arrived. Nachos had a sprinkle of cheese on top. Not even kidding about a sprinkle. I was shocked and asked if that was normal. Our server said “that does not look like xtra cheese”and then said she would check with the kitchen because she was new. She then had a young blond man about mid 20’s arrive 2 tables away from us while pointing and looking at us and then away. Awkward 🤷‍♀️ Wings were decent. They had the nachos “redone” which was placing a SMALL, and I mean SMALL, sprinkle of cheese on top, then putting the “nachos” in the microwave which is a sanctuary for places to die. I wish they had cared enough to “layer”. We could have microwaved nachos at home I guess. The “redone” nachos still weren’t even 50% melted. Please please please teach your staff to read their bills! If they can’t read then maybe this isn’t the job for them? Or maybe a phonics teacher is in store? 🤷‍♀️ When people pay as much as we do nowadays. I simply want to receive what I order. Xtra cheese is super simple. If I wanted “easy cheese”, that would be different. But come on 🤦‍♀️ Please! Was our first time here and I’m shocked! Is there no quality check? Before it leaves the line??? Someone should have said this isn’t right before delivering it...

We went on a Saturday, around 4pm. They were getting ready for a busy night as it was the night of the Tragically Hip's final show. Because of this, we had the worst service I have had in a long, long time. From the time we sat down until we were served our first drink was at least 10 minutes. There were about 3 tables with people in the whole place, so no excuse for the poor service.

Then, we settled on what to order, an appetizer and 2 entrees. After a normal amount of time, our entrees showed up, delivered by someone from the kitchen. We asked about our appetizer and he had no idea about it and was actually going to take out entrees back to sit under a heat lamp while it got sorted out. We told him to leave them there so we could eat and cancelled the appetizer. My wife had beef and bison stew, which had just one problem. The whole bowl, had 2 pieces of meat and this is not an exaggeration as she searched a lot. So, we called the waitress over, who took it back and then she ordered fish and chips.

Meanwhile, I had the boxty, which was actually pretty good. She got her fish and chips which were fine as well. The manager came over and we talked to her about the service issues and the food issues and she apologized and took care of our bill. We told her that wasn't necessary, as that is definitely not what we were after, but...

I’ve been going to Dixon regularly, especially every Monday, and I’ve observed a consistent issue with one of the staff members. On several occasions, I’ve noticed that she doesn’t seem very friendly or welcoming—not just to me, but to other customers as well. She often stays in front of the bar, busy arranging plates and napkins, but rarely acknowledges the presence of guests who are clearly looking for assistance or interaction.

What concerns me the most is that she doesn’t make any effort to engage with customers. She never checks in to ask how everything is going or if we’re enjoying our meal. One time, she even served my table, and her behavior was very impersonal. She simply placed the food on the table and walked away without saying a word. When she brought drinks, it was the same—no eye contact, no smile, no simple courtesy like asking if we needed anything else.

It’s disappointing because good customer service is a big part of the overall dining experience. Based on what I’ve observed multiple times, this staff member doesn’t demonstrate the warmth and attentiveness that many of us customers...