La Belle Province — Restaurant in Montreal

I've been here a few times (roughly 4 times) since my friend mentioned it to me and I really like Italian Poutines and I work relatively close by.

Previously I would have ranked them as 4 stars but during my last visit, I wasn't sure whether to give them 1 star or 2 stars (reduce their 4 stars which I was planning on giving them for my earlier visits to 2 stars). I decided to give them 1 star.

For my previous visits, I didn't have this issue (there was a lady manning the cash register those times) but during my last visit, I ordered my usual large Italian Poutine and this time I asked to have smoke meat on top of it for an additional $3+tax extra. The person told me how much it costs (I wasn't paying too much attention) and when I went to pay with my credit card, he self-tipped himself 25% and passed the credit card pad to me. So when I tapped my card on the machine, I got charged the cost of the item with a 25% "tip" on top of that which he selected. He also didn't give me the credit card receipt to hide the fact that he did this.

Normally unless I sit down and they give me the food to my table (or it is a buffet), I will rarely tip (except when paying cash and when I have loose change at these types of places). I feel that it is similar to tipping at a McDonald's or any other fast food place where I order at the counter, pay for the meal right away, they make my order and put it on the tray while I wait and then I take my tray to an empty table and eat.

For my last visit, after being told the price, I wasn't really paying much attention as I mentioned when the guy at the cash mentioned how much it costs since I was speaking with a co-worker. I saw a value on the credit card pad when he handed it to me so I tapped my credit card on their credit card machine pad. After I finished my meal, I took a look at the receipt from the cash register (which is a different receipt from the credit card machine receipt) and saw the itemized cost of everything. Looking at the charge on my credit card online when I got back to work, I noticed that I was charged ~25% higher on my credit card. As far as I could tell, the tip buttons went 15%, 20%, 25%, and $ where I normally tap $ and then hit the green button for no tip and the guy pushed the 25% button before handing me the credit card pad.

My itemized bill showed a cost of $16.50 (large Italian poutine with smoke meat on top along with a large drink) yet my online credit card showed a charge of $20.50!

As someone else who also rated them 1 star previously mentioned, IF YOU PAY BY CREDIT CARD AT THIS PLACE, YOU SHOULD BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHAT THEY MIGHT TRY TO PULL ON YOU!

Other than that, the Italian smoke meat was good (which explains my previous visits to...

Do not waste your money in this place! I heard good things about the franchise which is why i wanted to give it a shot, but avoid this location at all costs. The food is bad but the unprofessionalism from their employees was startling.We bought 3 poutines ($50 which is expensive in my opinion) and we asked for take out containers and the guy initially didn’t want to give us any, and said “we should’ve told him that in the beginning”. They were also not happy when we asked for an extra fork which was ridiculous. I don’t know what kind of restaurant charges so much for food but doesn’t like to provide forks and take out containers for their customers???? The older man with a grey beard was clearly a racist (he wouldn’t tell us what his name was since he knew he’s in the wrong) because i’ve never been to a RESTAURANT that is so cheap they don’t want to give their customers some measly forks and takeout containers which probably costs their business $0.50. Now for the food, the fries were dry and there was barely any cheese curds and there wasn’t enough gravy either…definitely not worth $50 for the 3 i bought. So disappointed with our experience here, please give your employees a training on how to treat their customers because the professionalism...

Absolutely disappointed.

Paid $18 for a regular Philly cheesesteak poutine which is incredibly expensive and overpriced for what was received. See pictures for reference on size. Taste wise nothing good worth mentioning. Fries were soggy, mushy and burnt. Fully solid chunks of cheese, not slightly melted at all. There was barely any steak(thin slices were used to cover the top layer and hide how little there was). Unfortunately it seems the quality and quantity has gone downhill over the past year or so and nothing is being done about it. Some reviews seem questionable and inflated if you ask me. If you are looking for a good poutine go to La Banquise or Ma Poule Mouillee instead. Otherwise please do your own research so you are not disappointed like I was.

Cheers.

UPDATE: Got food poisoning and stomach was in pain the whole night after eating. Persisted throughout the next day as well. Raised concerns regarding the freshness/cleanliness of the...