Blue Chair — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

So disappointed in our brunch today! Entered and was greeted promptly and sat right away. Server came by shortly afterwards and took our order. We ordered bacon and eggs which is an off menu item for breakfast apparently? I had mine with fruit and my mom had hers with potatoes. The food came in a timely manner as well, no issue there. Once we actually started eating the food, literally each item had an issue. The bacon was cold and floppy, the eggs were ordered over easy and came out beyond over cooked, it was basically a flattened hard boiled egg at this point and the fruit had rot on it. The pineapple was especially past it's due date by several days. When the server came for a quality check I told her my issue with each item, she offered to replace the breakfast, but as we were pressed for time and the restaurant was full by this point we could not wait another 20 minutes to hopefully get a corrected order. I told her I would eat it and if she can pass along the feedback. Bill time, it comes...without a single adjustment of any kind. Nor did a manager come and speak to us after I related the feedback to our server. My mom goes to pay the bill and mentions again her disappointment in the breakfast at which point our server recoils negatively with her offer to have brought us a another breakfast, my mom mentions again that due to our time constraint the better option could have been a bill correction at worst and that she will pay the bill and leave gratuity as its not the servers fault, at which point the server walks away from my mom...all the while I assume the portly gentleman with glasses is the manager is witnessing this transpire in the corner. My mom pays and signals me that we are leaving...upon leaving this same manager takes it upon himself to stare me down as I exit without saying a word. Now I'm sure the establishment will read this review and probably chalk this up to an inexperienced guest with nothing but complaints. However, this could not be further from the truth as I have over a decade of restaurant experience including restaurant management experience in fine dining. Having dealt with literally thousands of customer complaints, I found the way this establishment decided to deal with this complaint beyond unprofessional and quite frankly, insulting. I have no future plans to frequent this establishment, nor does my mom for that matter and will ensure to relay this experience to any potential friend or family member should this establishment come up in future plans. I hardly ever complain if ever, nor do I take the time to ever write a review...this experience demanded the time to write this out as I hope they will take this feedback and perhaps treat their guests with a bit more...

Let's start with the positive: the music is usually very nice. Eclectic and ever-changing lineup of artists at almost any time of day (even brunch), so if that's what you're going for, then full steam ahead.

However.

I went here three times and I have to say that the food is at best OK. The benedicts are fine, but nothing revelatory. To be honest I found it somewhat overpriced all three times I went, but Edmonton is generally that way and I lived in Montreal for a long time where things are cheap. So it goes.

Things were generally worse for the folks I went with. The vegan options here are atrocious here, frankly. The tofu ranchero costs the same (!!!) as the original dish (huevos rancheros) but has nothing substituted for the cheese or sour cream that is lost in making it vegan. Want a few slices of avocado? That'll be $4 please. Insane.

I don't expect a full alternate menu of vegan options, but come on guys. It is not hard to make a decent dish without dairy, and it's insulting to charge the same price when you don't offer anything to replace the missing items. And $4 for a quarter of an avocado would make the floor manager at a Whole Foods blush.

Service was variable most times I went there. I've received the wrong item before, and I found service to be rather slow on all the occasions I went. Because of the latter, I didn't send back my incorrect meal when I got it. Too hungry.

The coffee is also not great. Not terrible, but considering Transcend is a hundred metres away, I see little reason to bother with the coffee they serve here.

With a few simple changes this place could be great. There is nothing irredeemable about Blue Chair. They have a patio now and with a few simple menu changes things would be a lot more enjoyable. But until I hear otherwise I'd say...

I have been here a few times because there were good artists playing there. First time I was there, I had to sit at the bar to wait for a table. As I watched the staff, who were short handed struggle to get everything done and the bartender, who said they had never don't this before struggle to keep up with the orders, you had the manager yelling and breathing down everyone's neck. I thought that the staff themselves were friendly but I wondered why anyone would want to work here if your managers didnt support nor appreciate you. I returned a few times after because the music was good -- if you don't mind waiting a long time for the mediocre food. Another time I was in, I overheard the owner giving the manager a tough time because he didn't like a few servers (Maybe you should give your staff a break instead of breathing down their neck every moment when it isnt staffed properly). That same evening, I overheard the manager talking to staff about how terrible the hostess was, as well as seeing the manager talking down to the hostess as if they were a piece of garbage. Honestly after seeing how terrible they treated and talked about their staff behind their backs, I will never return. With that being said, the owner I have seen be really nice from time to time, but I have also seen him be really rude and even UNAPPROACHABLE -- even the manager is the same. For a small business, it is really sad for someone to be there for the music, and notice your lack of appreciation for your customers as well as staff. I am in this industry and I would never work here nor eat here. I can see why this venue is constantly looking for new staff, almost on a...