The Rec Room South Edmonton Common — Restaurant in Edmonton

Overview: Had a horrible time dealing with their planning staff, but the onsite manager saved the day (thank you, Ryan, for pulling things out of the fire).

Details prior to the event date: I was trying to get information to plan a grade 6 farewell gathering for about 40 kiddos, so I submitted an online inquiry as per the website' directions for a gathering of that size, approximately 1 month ahead of time. I got an initial response fairly quickly (1 day wait), but the information provided to me wasn't very clear and my questions weren't directly answered (they didn't even answer my question if I could order pizzas off the group food menu instead of getting game+food packages). In summary, there was a few back and forths, and I felt like they were really putting an emphasis on booking/paying for a private room (which we didn't need. We just wanted to get some tables at the onsite restaurant, which was free). The planning staff also kept requesting a contract and a credit card number to put on file for the charges; I just wanted to ask questions to ensure the venue and options would suit the group and gathering. Time ticked on, and there was always a delay in their email replies (I kept asking for a quick phone call so I could more efficiently ask questions and get clear answers, but they never called nor did they offer), and with not a lot of time left to event date my group just decided on gaming only since we didn't have time to pre-order off the group food menu. When I asked if we needed a contract to get the group gaming pricing including the $18 dollar 1 hr time play bands, and also if we needed to pay ahead, the planning staff's answer was 'no, no contract was required for gaming. Just show up'.

Details of event date: We arrived and were very unsure of how to proceed. The hostess was also confused so she radioed the manager, Ryan. After some discussion about the groups' needs, he took a quick look at my email conversation with the planning staff and the response I received about gaming for a group. He seemed a bit surprised when he saw the email conversation, but in the end Ryan honoured the $18 1-hr time play for our group, and let us pay individually.

In the end I think all the kids had a good time, but trying to work with the planning staff was painful and they were not helpful; I would not recommend using this venue if you wanted an easy event planning experience. But, the onsite manager was very understanding and helpful, so I would probably come here again if I wanted some...

Honestly, I should have spoken with a manager... But it was a work function and I didn't want to cause a fuss, and wanted to enjoy SOME of the time we spent there on games rather than escalation of issues... Having said that, I have a very sour taste in my mouth and feel that an honest review may remedy that...

The food was fair, nothing spectacular. The fries were soggy, so another minute or a double fry would be great. My wife ordered the bacon avocado burger with the addition of onions... They missed the avocado and onion. I had the spicy chicken burger, not very spicy, actually quite sweet.. not my preference but I won't dock marks here. Dessert was overly sweet, but it's expected of a chain like this... Otherwise the food was fine. 3/5

The atmosphere was an arcade... But the music was louder than it needed to be... Can't hear the person next to you when you're eating dinner... Again, this is pretty par for the course for bar type restaurants so 3/5

The main issue was the waitress. We had a table of 15 people, we were the only people she was serving... She did not check on us as people arrived. We had to flag her down to order. Once our food came, she did no other table touches... I went to the bar to order drinks from that point on... She only took one order at a time, then ran it to the computer, waited for 2 other waitresses to put the order in, then waited for the drink. To bring one beer back, and repeat. She had a 10 minute meeting right behind our table when it was full of dirty dishes and empties...Honestly some of the worst service I have ever seen in my life.... I asked her at the end of the dinner, if she was serving other sections and if she was new. She confirmed that we were her only table and she had been serving for 1.5yrs at the rec room.. at this point I thought she may realize why I ask these questions... 100% oblivious... I never got her name, as she didn't introduce herself to most of the table, she was a red head with a red bandana on May 10th.. definitely needs work and some serious self evaluation... I wouldn't write this much of a review if I didn't have extensive experience in the restaurant industry but I would hate to see a fun place like this fall because of some bad policies, procedures...

Absolutely the WORST experience I ever had at REC ROOM !!! The food was Not good but I decided not to complain because I know cooking can be overwhelming, BUT when I was called a LIAR by one of the employees that’s when I knew this place is absolutely horrible !!!!! I purchased a 25$ play wrist ban and later went to help my friend purchase hers. She was told she had to pay a 5$ activation fee which I found weird cause I was not told that Info when I purchase my wrist ban eatier, my friend was charged 32.70$ I asked why the prices difference if we purchased the same 25$ play ban. Instead of the lady asking me for my receipt or probing the conversation to understand why I had my particular ban she instead called me a liar and said I know you’re lying because we no longer sell those bans…. Interesting enough SHE WAS WEARING THE EXACT SAME WRIST BAN I HAD ON !!!!!!!! so after I showed me receipt proving I purchased the ban that very same night she decided to back peddle on her words and then lied and said she never said I was lying !!! So I requested a refund for her blatant disrespect towards me. The manager came and solved the entire situation and then informed me that she never should have charged the 5$ activation fee because they ran out of bans and was offering premium bans with no 5$ activation fee: so not only was I called a liar but my friend was over charged !!!! SAVE YOUR TIME AND DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE AT ALL !!!!!! If they aren’t going to take the time to hire people who deserve to be in the customer service industry then they don’t deserve to be open AT ALL !!!!!! Take my foolish advice because why spend your money somewhere when all employees don’t even allow you to feel safe in the environment . I left spending 124$ ( food+tip ) because the server was a sweet heart regardless of how the food tasted , she did her job well. As for the game shop …. -5 Stars on my behalf . I will continue to complain about this situation because no one in the customer service industry should EVER !!!! Call a customer a liar especially before knowing all the facts !! Now that I proved her wrong she had nothing to say except can “I explain myself” … I said “ no “ and took my refund because I will NOT tolerate disrespect from...