Red's Diner in Ramsay — Restaurant in Calgary

My husband and I have been visiting Red's in Kensington every weekend for a few months now. We decided to switch things up and check out the Ramsay location. We joined the wait list, the estimated wait time was not accurate, we waited a really long time for a table, but I think I know why we waited so long. When my notification came in that our table was ready. We immediately went in and stood at the door waiting for the hostess. She told us she would be right with us and then went behind us in-between the doors to let a couple know their table was ready. Then she came over to us and I said we got the notification that our table was ready, I told her my name and she looked confused and said something along the lines of the last person she sat and my name were the same, but that didn't make sense to me. She said she would get a table ready for us and did so in between doing other tasks, so we waited awkwardly for a few minutes in between the coffee stand and the table she was going to sit us at. By the time we sat down I was very uncomfortable and wanted to leave but we decided to stay since we were waiting so long to get a table. A little while later a group of 3 came in and I overheard the hostess telling her that there's a wait list but then immediately said something along the lines of "oh what the heck, why not" and gave them a table right away even though there was a wait list. So that just goes to show that they don't actually follow/honor the wait list. It was very frustrating because everybody's time is important and it is only fair to everyone that they actually use the wait list properly. The hostess was very pleasant but my issue was the unfairness. Our server was very nice also, and had great customer service skills. The food and coffee were good but the potatoes were not warm when we got them. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be returning to this location.

*Edited to add in the picture of the glass of water we received that has...

I really liked the food and the service as well except for the read head hostess from yesterday, On Monday 12th I’ve arrived at 12 ish with reservation, it was busy as I expected and I don’t mind waiting because I knew it was worth it, even though I work in a restaurant and I’m very conscious about busy days specially on holidays are the worst. This is my first time on this location, once I’ve arrived I waited outside for a few minutes just to let the hostess know about my reservation and confirm, while I was waiting for her, I sat in that little spot beside the entrance just to keep myself warm because I noticed most of the people were waiting on their cars, I was there along with my partner inside, after a few moments she came and confirmed my table and also she asked me to wait outside which I didn’t mind and then I waited across the street for half hour or so, and then I noticed one couple arrived and the hostess was with them(outside), I didn’t really pay attention what they were saying until she said very clear and loud, If you want you can wait inside! to the couple. I was surprised and disappointed because I saw many people walking out the door because of her. She didn’t let people stay inside for some logic reasons, I understand but the way that she treat people should be equal; 5 minutes later my table was ready and asked her why you didn’t let me sit inside or others? She said, I can’t let people sit there because numerous reasons and I said alright! And what’s the difference between them (the couple) and the others including myself, she was giving me excuses such as they were grabbing a coffee to go which I didn’t believe because afterwards they were eating just like anyone else! I just told her, that was really shady from you and I left, she tried to redeem herself after the incident but definitely I won’t come back again! Because of the shady hostess and I don’t want to wait one hour outside...

First let me start this off by saying I actually think this place is pretty decent and most of the service and quality of food is good. This review is more based on one experience that I had today that really soured my taste in this particular location. When we got there we were already signed in on the "No Wait" app, but apparently something was wrong with the app and after waiting 30 minutes and seeing many people go past us when we we're next in line we went and asked the server what happened. She said that we had to inform them when we got there if we wanted to use the "No Wait" app, which we've never had to do at any restaurants that support that app. Okay, so 15 min extra no biggie. We got seated and the waitress was great. She came back to take our order and I asked if with the "Big Red's Breakfast" I could substitute the pancake for more bacon or more sausages. I figured this was a pretty straight forward ordeal because on the extra side menu a single pancake was $5, and extra side of bacon was $5, seems fair no? After going back and forth to the head cook who apparently was having a bad day he ultimately decided there was no way we could substitute this, not even less bacon. I really think this is a reasonable request....I mean, maybe I'm making a big deal out of this? But when you start looking at the other caliber of breakfast restaurants in the Calgary area this shouldn't have even been debated. With such competition in this industry, customer service is honestly the biggest thing that's sets these places apart. I think the cook must have been mad at us or something, because our food took forrrevverrrr, many other people were seated and served before we got ours.

So I dunno, decent place, decent food. But this one experience really turned me off. When we're talking something this simple, it doesn't take much to keep the customer happy.

What do you think? Am I overreacting or...