Hideout Lounge & Bar — Restaurant in Calgary

Trio Cafe has to be one of the most unique and enjoyable restaurants in all of Calgary. The food is delicious and fresh. Trio serves, by-far, the most authentic Egyptian food I have ever eaten outside of Egypt. You truly get the sense that you are eating on the streets of downtown Cairo. I would highly recommend any of their wraps, or their absolutely incredible Trio Signature Grills for a higher price. The head chef is immensely hospitable and generous. When not hard at work in the kitchen, he helps the servers and interacts with customers in a way that truly animates Trio’s already vibrant atmosphere. George, one of the owners, always greets me when I come to dine, and never fails to put a smile on my face in the process. He personifies the Egyptian-style friendliness I feel when visiting family back home. Tony is also a hilarious shisha waiter who is always a pleasure to see working. This restaurant is my go-to spot to bring several friends for a fantastic night out.

However, I do have a bone to pick with the service I have received the past few times I’ve went. It seems that, 8 out of my last 10 times at Trio, there was only one waitress serving a restaurant full of hungry people. When I ask why this is, the staff will say that 2 other waitresses couldn’t make it tonight for whatever reason. However, if I have experienced this the majority of the times I’ve dined here, I am led to question whether this is simply my bad luck. Rather, it seems like some sort of systematic issue they are having. This has a very negative impact on the overall customer experience. It is simply irregular to have to order the same shisha 3 different times over a span of 45 minutes before it arrives, for example. Such labour shortages also stresses out the lone waitress working. My last experience at Trio was tainted by an arrogant, and quite frankly, rude waitress who drastically failed to display any signs of hospitality, warmth, or true customer service. Believe me, it was clear she was stressed. However, her stress should not have been re-directed towards customers who are simply trying to enjoy their time. She also messed up several orders on the receipts, causing double or triple charges that shouldn’t have been there. She then proceeded to blame this on the customers, which is truly absurd. With 10+ friends with me on the occasion, all of them noticed the clearly bitter attitude.

The reason I am writing such a lengthy review is because I truly, from the bottom of my heart, LOVE Trio Cafe. I gave them a 5-star rating not because they are there right at this moment, but rather because with better service, they would deserve a full 10 STAR RATING. I have so much faith in the manager’s and owner’s ability to make such improvements. It is my sincere hope that these chronic service issues are addressed in full, so that all customers may walk into Trio, and walk out gaining a full, warm, and authentic experience with the rich Egyptian culture and cuisine. Again, I cannot stress enough how great of a restaurant this is. Be it for lunch, dinner, or simply a casual late-night shisha hangout, this place is fantastic. Managers/Owners of Trio Cafe: THANK YOU for providing such an incredible and special experience to...

I was excited to try this place based on the great reviews. Unfortunately I had a rather disappointing and depressing experience here. First, I would like to start with the one good thing: the karak tea was very nice. Moving onto the problem areas:

1. I was in during a very slow time when there were only 6 customers in the restaurant (3 different tables). There was evidently plenty of space to spread out the parties and yet the server seated all the parties right next to each other, crammed in the back. There was some plastic screening but it did not fully cover the entire divide between tables and so I was not protected from the next table which was definitely less than 2 meters away.
2. The tables were extremely close together and the customer next to me ordered shisha. The shisha was put right between the tables which then made me unable to navigate out of my seat. I had to then awkwardly squeeze myself between a small gap between the table and the wall to get out. This would not have been possible if I was not skinny. The server should have seen that this would inconvenience me, but did not do anything about the placement of the shisha or the table.
3. They claimed not to serve tap water due to COVID - I have been to many restaurants during this time and none did not serve tap water in a glass. I don't see how this is any different than serving tea or hot water in a mug... so they provided water bottles which we were charged for instead.
4. The food is nothing to write home about. I had the lamb kebab and it was very thin. At any other schwarma place I could get more filling for a better price. Fries were bland and below average.

Overall I will not come back here...

I honestly do not know why there are such positive reviews for this place. We did not have a great experience here. First and foremost, there where FLIES EVERYWHERE. There were so many that it completely ruined our meal experience. The staff looks like they've recognized the issue and have hung fly paper along the tops of the chandeliers in an attempt to combat the issue. Very unappetizing to look at these rolls COVERED in flies and pests. The staff where not to our forte, we felt like we were having Sheesha pushed on us alot, and simple requests for things like cultelry were forgotten, and then when reminded, were not apologetic in the least. Our server didn't want to let us pay at the front, explaining that we had to pay at our table, but was cut off by who we thought might be a manager or owner telling her that we could infact pay at the front. We found the food okay. Humus was good, bread was stale, the appetizers were over priced, salad went untouched at the table, the meat dishes were good thankfully. Not to make any claims against the business because I don't know the whole story, but it looks like if this was ever a successful business it is quickly declining into another bankruptcy case. Most concerning was that the only female in our party was skipped when orders where being taken,this made us feel uncomfortable, awkward...