Au Vieux Duluth — Restaurant in Dollard-des-Ormeaux

I had the worst experience at this restaurant. The food was absolutely horrible.

Let me tell you my experience, I came into the restaurent with a group of 8 eight on Sunday night. We placed our order to a very nice staff member who was very attentive to the table's needs.

The appetizers arrived, w had the calamari and it was done very well. But when the main meal arrived, that's when it all turned south. My self and one of my dinning companions order their Spanakopita plate, another two ordered dishes with shrimp and the fifth ordered a Chicken Cesar salad.

Well the first problem is that on the menu, it says " that all meal come with home fries, salad and Rice." The two of us realized that we didn't receive either the salad of potatoes. We asked the Server that I think that they forgot, only to be told that our meals didn't come with them. I asked why and she said it was indicated and I asked where and was told by the Asterix. I told her out right that it was not clear, no where on this menu did it way meal with out asterix are exclude as a main dish. If it has said " Meal with askerix come with potatoes,, etc" it would have been clear and we would have understood that ours did not, but it didn't and we felt cheated.

Second problem was the meal it self, as I am accustom to and have had be served many time, Spanakopita is served hot, with a light salty taste of feta and and the Filo should be light and crispy, this was not the case, the Spanakopita was stone cold, extremely salty and the pastry was oily. This was served with a brochette of grilled vegetables were brunt and all you can taste was a terrible burnt taste. The rice was mushy and also very salty. I couldn't even get through two bites I was so disgusted.

The Third problem, was the two that ordered shrimp came in a batter that was undercooked and pretty much looked like raw dough.

The Fourth problem was the Caesar salad, the girl who ordered said that it has so much salsa dressing on it, that it was like eating Caesar salad soup.

We tried to flag down our waitress but she was so over whelmed, because there seemed to be only two servers on the floor, that we gave up trying. When she finally did come around, we told of the problem and said she'd talk with the manager, she did apologize on their behalf. .

But She came back a few minutes later took away the plates and then gave us the bill. No mention of anything from the manager/owner, no table visit from them either. I mean if a client is unhappy and word is sent back to them you'd think they would have at least come to the table and apologized, I would have accept that. But got nothing at all. So we got the bill, paid just under a 100$ and left, we received no deduction ( I wasn't expecting anything, but you know the meal was even a quarter eaten, but that's beside the point.) or apologies from anyone with authority except once from the waitress, who was only doing her job. When asked by my dinning partners and I told them nothing had been done, they were shocked. I will never go back to Au Vieux Duluth as long as I live and breathe. It was absolute garbage.

But my theory is the Management/Owner sees us nothing more than rubes to cheat us out of our money.

My recommendation is that you go anywhere but to this restaurant, there is a Chenoy's and a Scores down the road or A McDonald across the parking lot that could prepare a better meal...

Before getting into what transpired on my visit to Au Vieux Duluth Restaurant, id like to disclose that I was employed as a waiter and busboy at several different AVD's around Montreal for over 10 years. This franchise was an example of the strong work ethic of a once hungry Greek community who were making their mark on the Montreal restaurant scene. Providing excellent quality service, cleanliness and great food for all.

I walked in on a Monday at 8:10pm. Monday night, as an ex-restaurant employee i can confirm that this is the quietest day and time of the week. The server greeted us at the front entrance by saying "hurry up, we are closing soon". This immediately ruined the mood. If you are considering a career in waiting tables, I advise against this as an opening line.

The wall which our booth touched up against was full of stains and spots of food splatter. It was awful. My water glass had a piece of lettuce stuck on it. The busboy promptly changed it and apologized.

The waiter came over to take our order, before I was done ordering my meal he already began to walk away from the table. I had to shout out my appetizer while he was already 5 - 7 steps away from our table.

After about 15 - 20 minutes i started to feel like i was not going to get my appetizer. However i was wrong. The waiter brought my escargot. As a former employee i can tell you that an escargot takes no more than 5 min to cook. When he brought the escargot over he told us that "i did not forget you" he then told us that the meal was also ready.. and should he wait or bring it out right away. What a ridiculous question... We said bring it out. The escargot dish which is placed in the oven when it is cooked was not hot. The escargot must have been sitting on the counter for at least 10 min.

On to the main course. Parts of the salad were discolored and the rice was barely warm. On the plus side the chicken and shrimp were tasty and the feta cheese was delicious.

I get no pleasure in writing a review like this. It is upsetting to me how a business that at one time cared for its customers now treats them as a nuisance.

• EDIT

I have since gone back, the service during my last visit was excellent. I hope...

Ate here yesterday for my 40th birthday with my family and it was so-so to ok. 1) Very nice restaurant, clean with modern decor. 2) Waiter did not come often to check if we needed more water, bread or if everything was ok. 3) Food took extremely long to come and my son had to wait 15 mins for his food to get served, after ours was served. So his sister shared her food with him because he had nothing served until 15 mins later. 4) Very hard to get the attention of a waiter when we needed more water or wanted to order more food from the menu. 5) Au Vieux Duluth Dorion is 20 mins away and has very fast attentive service with the food tasting even better. 6) My 6 and 3 year old kids were served watery orange juice in tall wine glasses, filled to the brim with straws. What was the waiter thinking to serve these to children! This was a spilled mess disaster waiting to happen. At the Dorion restaurant, they are always given apple juice in a child appropriate bottles. Overall, we came to the DDO location to make it easier for my West Island family to attend. But next time, we’re sticking to the Dorion location which offers a better customer experience...