Wainwright Hotel at Heritage Park — Restaurant in Calgary

My family enjoyed the entire park very much, but this place pretty much ruined our experience today. When we were at the restaurant, we were seated at the very front table right by the entrance. We asked for another table but were immediately refused by the hostess (wouldn’t name her here) saying that there were no other tables available. But there were numbers of empty tables and other people came in (we knew they didn’t have reservations since we could hear the conversation being right by the entrance) were seated at the tables inside. I also noticed that a family who sat near us asked to be moved to another table and they were moved to the desired table right away. Umm, didn't she just tell us that there were no tables available?? So, I asked my server very politely if she could move us to a different table. She said she would check with the hostess, then she came back and said that we would have to wait for 20-30mins if we wanted to be seated at a different table. I was a bit confused because there were NUMBERS of empty tables and people were being seated as they walked in, but we couldn’t be moved. Our server, then, talked to another server who could eventually help us move to another table. Not a pleasant experience. During our stay, we couldn’t help noticing that people were just being seated where they desired and NOT ONE guest was seated at the table we were initially seated at. I am not sure what it was about. I really don’t like taking this type of unpleasant experience personally but also couldn’t help noticing that we were the only non-Caucasian people there and were the only people seated at the table right by the entrance. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Well, that had me thinking back when we first walked in, the hostess didn’t greet us with a smile like she did with other guests. Additionally, as my server was trying to resolve the seating situation, the hostess didn’t seem to want to be involved in person as she passed by us several times but showed no eye contact or anything at all. We felt that we weren’t welcomed there.

Well, for the food, my soup was ruined when I mixed in the crushed cracker served with the soup, because the cracker was STALE. My caesar salad barely had any dressing on it, I couldn’t finish it. My sister had fish ‘n chips, she said it was good. To be fair, our server did come and asked how the food was. I told her nothing about my food because I was already exhausted with the table issue and didn’t want to complain. I really think the restaurant has good potential for being such a beautiful place. But my family will never return knowing that we won’t be welcomed like other guests who the hostess prefers to see. Other staff members seemed professional...

Disappointing. Not only did we have to argue with 2 servers and a "manager" to get a table that wasn't right outside the door to the kitchen, we then had to switch chairs at the table we were eventually given because it was wobbly and seemed unsafe. The young server rushed over and rudely confronted us for changing chairs and asked us to explain. Really embarrassing by this point and not because the place was packed. Plenty of open tables. There were lots of food choices but nothing notable except the freshly carved ham, decent coffee and fruit and berries. I was told when we made the reservation and pre-paid a few days ago that the food is freshly made for each sitting. That did not seem to be the case as the cheeses and deli meats were already dried out and the pastries were soggy and/or semi-frozen. Bacon was barely cooked, tiny slices of ham on the eggs Benedict and a tsp. of hollandaise. Definitely not worth $45 a person.

UPDATE: emailed as requested but no response or phone call from Heritage Park food services, in spite of public declaration here that they wanted to discuss...

I brought my girlfriend for the breakfast brunch at the bakery yesterday and it was a complete embarrassment. The food was horrible a mediocre cheap and pathetic buffet and the service was horrid. The wait staff didn't clear the table if we wanted to go get a second helping. There was no coffee brought unless you asked and they never refilled the waters at all. I could have gone to the Grey Eagle for twice the variety and half the price and a million times better service. Do better for the amount that we paid. I don't think anyone should waste their time. Nor their money at the heritage...