Mandarin Restaurant — Restaurant in Guelph

Overall a really terrible experience. I have been to this location a few times, and it was alright, but never as bad as it was my most recent visit. To start, we asked for water with no ice no lemon. Got water with ice and lemon. Asked for it to be changed. They took the water back, and didn't return a water with no ice or lemon for almost 10 minutes... we asked for a water for my daughter at the time of first ordering water, and hers didn't come. Still didn't come even when they brought the proper water we asked for. It only came after we asked another waiter for it, about 20 minutes into our visit. We then ordered a drink, and waited another 10 minutes for that. They were mostly quick to refill our water and take our plates, but the overall service during our meal was very poor, especially with how much they charge. During our dining, there were multiple occasions food trays were nearly empty or completely empty, and for quite a while. For example, the toppings for icecream was almost completely empty at 6:55(see photo attached), and at 7:13, still empty. This is completely unacceptable. Plates were also completely empty at one point, at both dinner sections. Bowls were completely empty at ice cream station. Pickles were completely empty as well and caused for a very disappointed toddler who loves pickles. The chicken wings were so overcooked and dry. The grilled chicken was so overcooked it was inedible, steak was like EXTRA well done.

At this point I was like screw it let's just go home, this is so disappointing. We were evidently done eating and was waiting for a waiter to ask us if we want the bill. The waiter was not serving anyone, he was just taking his time cleaning tables. I made eye contact with him several times, tried to call him over, and he still didn't come. It wasn't until I gave a very unhappy look to the manager that the manager told him to attend to us. We waited at least 15 minutes for him to come over to ask if we want the bill, then to wait another 5 for the bill to come. Issues with the machine, but couldn't tell anyone because he walked away and clearly had no intention of coming back because the manager had to come fix the issue.

Safe to say I dont think we'll be returning to this location, because the lack of good service, terrible food quality, and the price we pay, does not go hand in hand. Im more than happy to pay $100 for 2 people when the service is good and food is good, but this was so...

Our experience was great until the manager Otto berated our servers Pat and Yvonne (unsure of spelling). Service was quick and they were friendly and polite, drinks were always refilled and constantly checking in on our table. Everything was going alright until the end of our meal because of the manager.

The room had 3 parties dining in including us and when the 2 bigger parties left he started yelling at them for messing something up while our party was still in the room eating. He ended up making one of them cry and was very rude and condescending to them, even saying “don’t cry in front of people” to the server after yelling at them in front of us. I didn’t understand most of his comments but whatever the servers messed up on was not a free pass for him to berate them in front of guests. He didn’t even pull them aside to a separate room, he just yelled at them in the same room while we were still eating so we witnessed the whole thing. When we mentioned there was a birthday in our table we understood they needed to check the birth date for the discount but he just rudely asked “Birthday? There’s a birthday here?” instead of asking properly (at least a little nicer) for an ID to verify. We witnessed very unprofessional service to customers and unprofessional management from him to our lovely servers.

The atmosphere was completely ruined because of him. The servers were clearly trying their best to hold their composure after being embarrassed by their manager. It was disheartening to see our server cry while she was working. I’m rating the service 5 stars only because of our servers Pat and Yvonne who served our table politely and efficiently while also serving other parties who were larger than our group. We had 7 people and the other 2 tables had probably 10-15 and we were still taken care of and served properly. It also seemed like there was a bigger group before us (20+) based on the other tables and plates they were cleaning so I’m sure they’ve been busy and working hard before we dined in. Genuinely felt so bad for our servers by the end of our meal. I’ve read other reviews saying the same thing about the same manager so I hope this behaviour isn’t encouraged and should be...

Food was okay, average dishes youd expect from the mandarin. Some of the desserts were very undesirable the flavours were bland. Most dishes were okay, nothing amazing just average.

Heard a table say their pizza was undercooked beside us, glad I overheard because mine was as well. The whole bottom dough was raw. Plates weren't very clean. Specks of unknown stuff on them... found some plates at a different part that looked cleaner.

The seats in the section we were in were well worn. I hated how the waiter creepily paced around the few tables that were there. I get it, its a buffet but I felt constantly watched while I was eating and even when I put my plate down for a second there was his hand just there. Like give us maybe a minute before you grab it.. not 5 seconds.. felt so invasive for a buffet. Been to many before but it was almost too quick as if I was being watched 24/7.

The bathroom taps were horrible! Im talking like high speed water coming out and splashing against all your clothes. I feel bad for anyone who used the accessible washroom too because if youre in a shorter wheelchair good luck reaching the soap! The fish pond had spider webs and live spiders living inside. Not that hard for them to clean!

And it was hot/muggy in the restraunt. Not sure if the ac wasnt working or they turned it off after lunch but ugh it was hot. I honestly won't be back to this location for a while till things are fixed and will definatly be taking the extra drive to Hamilton location instead. I didnt get any food poisoning so that's a positive. Hopefully their kitchens cleaner than their bathrooms and dining room and more well taken care of. Maybe instead of spending $$$$ on the robot walking people to tables they should focus on cleaning up their store and update...