Moxies Kitchener Restaurant — Restaurant in Kitchener

There seems to be a management and staff training problem here.

Went to Moxies Kitchener at about 2 pm on a Friday in October. Asked to be seated on the patio, even though it was a bit cool. Asked if the heaters could be turned on, immediate answer "of course!''. After 10 minutes, no heat seemed to be happening, so I asked if they had been turned on. "Oh, I asked someone to, I will check.". After 10 more minutes I could feel some heat, so all good.

Nice young lady waiting on us. Very chatty and personable. We ordered a few appetizers and asked about a few wines. She wasn't very familiar with them, but when we asked to taste them, she was happy to oblige. My wife chose the one we liked and ordered a bottle.

Here is where the training part comes in. Server was uncomfortable opening the bottle (not her fault if she has not been exposed to this much), but made her way through it. She then started pouring into my wife's glass. My wife said, "please let me try it" from this (newly opened" bottle. Again, where is the training for pouring a bottle of wine?

We enjoyed our wine, ordered more food, and then ordered another bottle. Server was a bit more comfortable opening this one, and we chatted while she did so. However, she reached over to pour into my wife's partially full glass, so my wife said, "could I please have a fresh glass to taste this bottle." Very obligingly, server went and found a fresh glass, and all was good.

Again, this is not the fault of a young person without experience. This is a training problem, which is a management problem.

About 20 minutes later, our young server came over to say, "I'm actually done for the day, would you like me to transfer your bill to another waitress?" We said "no, we'd like to settle up with you, and if we need something we will ask". She thanked us, and said she would have the other young lady to come out and see us in a minute (introductions and all that). Nobody came out to check on us.

We sat for about 40 minutes, finished our wine and thought we might have a coffee. Several of the wait staff came out to serve the 3 other tables (at the far end of the patio area). We couldn't get their attention. No one looked our way, walked past etc. I didn't feel like shouting or wandering inside to find someone, so we left.

Food was excellent. Service was...ok... but it is obvious that these young people have not been trained, or had the training reinforced.

We didn't see a manager walk by any tables, or asking people how their experience was. This is the exact opposite of our experiences at Brown's Socialhouse in Waterloo, and the new one in Cambridge. The staff is well trained, and attentive. They know the wines, and how to open and pour them. There is always a manager (or an owner) walking through, checking on things.

It's a shame, because Moxie's will be beat (just as State & Main Cambridge is) by people having better experiences at places like Brown's. Food at Brown's and Moxies are very comparable. It's the little details (like be acknowledged, paid attention to etc.) that will make Brown's the winner.

I hope the management team at Moxies's Kitchener read this in the spirit it is intended.

Please train the staff, and be present for them and the customer. That small difference will drive more repeat business, instead of making people like us...

First, the food was fantastic as usual. However the service was severely lacking. A friend had called to book a res for 16 to celebrate an 18th wedding anniversary. The staff member on the phone said "no problem, we can out 4 tables together". When we arrived, they seated us in an area with 4 separate booths near eachother...not what we expected. Before the anniversary couple arrived, I explained to our waitress that we wanted their bill devided between the other 14 guests (we all agreed to pay for their meal). She said "sure no problem". Over the course of the evening, the guest of honor waited 10+ minutes after her food arrived for cutlery...no one came to the table...I had to get up and walk to the server station to ask for cutlery. The waitress rarely came by the tables to see what was needed. Dessert was never offered. A glass of water was ordered and never came. I ordered extra sauce for my meal and it took 15+ minutes, when the waitress came to serve something else I had to remind her I was still waiting on the extra sauce...another long wait before it arrived. Over all a very disappointing experience. Guests in our party stated to get restless at the end of the night. No one was even coming to clear the tables. Some stood up and held their jackets to perhaps send a signal, but no one even noticed. I again had to go to the waitress station to ask for our bills and remind her that the anniversary couple bill was to be divided and put on the other 14 guests billed. The waitress had not kept track of who was on what bill from the beginning so it took another 30 minutes for her to figure out who ordered what and process this with the manager. None of us were thrilled to see an 18% tip automatically added to each of our bills. The only person who deserved a tip that night was the cook. When the manager asked how was everything, I was honest and said things were very slow and we weren't too happy with the service. She then gave us all a card for a free appetizer (with the purchase of an entree) for our next visit. This was almost insulting. I've had good experiences at Moxies in the past, so I'm really hoping this is just a one-off and not becoming a trend at...

Went to this location on a July Tuesday night to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday. I had called a week ahead of time in order to make a reservation and was told that my family (of 6 people total) would be able to sit together at a table not under the patio with the roof and that if it rained we would be able to move to tables in the covered section at 2 tables right next to each other. Keep in mind " the right next to each-other" part. When we arrived we were seated at two separate tables in the covered section. I asked our server why we were not be seated at our originally promised table in the uncovered section so we could all sit together. She responded at said that they were seating NO ONE in the uncovered section due to the potential rain, keeping in mind our reservation was at 6:30 and it wasn't supposed to rain until 9. We were not given the option of sitting in the uncovered section and then were forced to sit at 2 separate tables that were not even close to each other despite all of us being from the same household. None of the staff seemed to care that we were not seated at our originally promised table and a table near us had 5 women seated at one table clearly not all from the same household so not sure how that makes any sense. My mother was not able to sit with my brother and sister at dinner and we were so far away we couldn't even speak to them. Near the end of our meal a party of 6 who were once again not from the same household were seated at OUR original table in the uncovered section. Overall very disappointed with the lack of communication and effort towards this birthday dinner we had planned. Our server Taylor was very kind and was very attentive I understand this was not in her control, but confused as to why someone got our table and we were forced to sit inside when I was promised priority seating when I made the reservation a week in advance. Wouldn't recommend going to this location if it is for a special occasion since it completely ruined the birthday...