Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken — Restaurant in Nanaimo

I hate to write this, but it needs to be mentioned.

I went to the University Village location in Nanaimo and ordered a chicken burger to eat in.

First, went to use washroom, was told out of service. I asked if I could wash my hands maybe, and she said, sorry, I don’t want anyone in there, because the floor was just mopped, and to use sanitizer instead. Sure. during my visit, staff proceeded to use the washroom, and toilet.

I then ordered, and asked for mayo and pickles, noting they had forgotten the pickles before, to which the server just said, it was someone new, and I politely just said, no it was just the regular cook that’s on now, and then I said to the cook, because she was listening, “but yea, all good, it just may have been a mixup, so no worries.

I sit down to eat, and noticed the patty seemed very old, cold, dry, and discoloured. (The batter gets all dark brown and dry looking when they are older, or past time) I used to work there, so know what the difference is, and have been a cook for most of my life. It definitely looked / tasted past time to me, although I obv can’t prove that now. Even if it wasn’t, it shouldn’t have been served. Also, there was literally so much mayo on it that it was comedic, like an absurd amount. I can’t even think of words to say how much mayo was on this thing. It wasn’t just a bit heavy, and it was literally so much that it almost seemed like a cruel joke. I hate to say that though.

I showed them the burger, and politely said, this chicken is very old, and not sure what’s up with the mayo, to which server said, no it’s fresh, and then sarcastically gave the feedback to the cook, but I asked for a fresh one, and they made me one. It was just fine.

I didn’t take a pic of the burger, because I wasn’t planning on writing this, and have better things to do, but here’s why I’m writing this….I ended up having a couple bites of that first burger, and I’m now sick with food poisoning in the bathroom 2 hours later. It’s also the only thing I’ve eaten today, and it hit me hard. No coincidence.

I really just hope for the sake of others you take your food safe, and warmer times seriously. If this was something personal, because you got defensive, that’s not cool either. It did seem like it, but I honestly hate to think that someone would do that. If you took my complaints personal, they weren’t just FYI. I’d complain no matter who you were. At any rate, I...

Came to this location yesterday around 4pm or so. Understandably it was busy, but not overly. My friend and I made our order but the young lady working the counter was getting very overwhelmed and I suppose forgot to put our order into the kitchen. So after about 45 minutes of waiting and getting passed up by multiple customers we figured we’d ask what was going on (it wasn't a small order so we were patient as we figured it’d take a bit.) after a little ordeal of them trying to find our receipt they realized and did remake our food but overall about an hour long wait that should’ve been 10-15 minutes.. I’ve worked retail so I get how frustrating it can be. However, the employees just have to understand to take a breathe and deal with one task at a time. I didn’t expect any sort of compensation but the employees did remake our food. After voicing our frustrations they were kind of passive about the situation and all I got was “well, you can come back and talk to the manager if you’d like.” Not an easy task when I live in the Northend.. Also maybe tell the young lady behind the counter that after a rush and 4 more people walk into the store, maybe don’t say “oh wow” out loud in front of the store condescendingly. Not very welcoming. 3 stars only for food as it was...

August 15, 2023

It’s been more than a year since I have been in and decided to stop in and give them another try.

Wow!! I am floored. The best fried chicken I ever had was today. Big plump and juicy pieces with very crispy coating, no oil saturation just exactly as it should be. The chicken tasted fresh and delicious. I am so happy you redeemed yourselves since my last visit.

The lady at the drive through was cheerful and very efficient. Keep here.

Gravy still needs tweaking. Too much pepper is overwhelming. Anyhow the main feature, the chicken was nailed perfectly!!

Older review is below. Over 1 year old

Down grading to 2 stars from 5

Chicken is great, everything else goes down hill. They changed their French fries to something cheaper. They taste aweful. They cannot serve a consistently good gravy. Actually haven’t had a good gravy for months. When I called to ask about the lousy gravy, didn’t sound like I talked to someone who really cared. Lay off the black pepper, your gravy tastes lousy and not even amateurish just terrible and unedible.

Lastly todays drive through order. 2 thin napkins with 5 piece chicken meal??? What’s going on with this place? Management? Bad bad bad. Listen to your customer and taste your damn food...