Flying Saucer Restaurant — Restaurant in Niagara Falls

(First things first—the steak was actually good. It looked lifeless, sure, but the flavor was great. As I mentioned, it was probably cooked sous-vide and finished on a grill. The fries were good, too. Now, about the leftovers. You’re right, I did take them. Where I live, there’s a large park with stray cats, raccoons, coyotes, and other wildlife. They’re used to eating literal garbage anyway, so those ribs and that chicken didn’t seem like much of a stretch. As for your server checking in twice—that’s fine, but it doesn't really change my perception. Eight minutes might not seem like a long time, but when the meal isn't great, it feels longer. And as I said, I don’t complain in person because I don’t want compensation. My experience isn’t for sale, and a free meal or replacement dish wouldn’t change the fact that I had a bad one to begin with. You mentioned that no one else had issues with the ribs or the chicken parm that night. That’s great for them, but it doesn’t change the fact that my meal wasn’t up to par. Not every bad dish is going to happen across multiple tables—it only takes one for a bad experience. I leave reviews honestly, whether I love a place or not. If you look at my other reviews, I’ve given positive feedback to places I wouldn’t personally choose to eat simply because my family enjoyed it, and the quality was there. This one, unfortunately, missed the mark. Oh, and one last thing—"Call me Devon" isn’t a name, it’s literal instructions.)

Almost a week ago, I decided to hold off on posting a review, wondering if my opinion might change over time. It didn't—and even if it had, my experience remains unchanged. I've driven past the Flying Saucer in the Falls dozens of times, always tempted to stop in and eat here.

I loved the atmosphere. The look and feel of the place immediately transported me back to old 1950s diners—even though I never had the chance to experience one in person (and probably never will). That's the best—and the only—positive thing I can say about this restaurant. A fitting tagline for my review might be: "Flying saucer restaurant makes me want to be somewhere else."

The service was okay. There was a table of four behind us, and once they left, we were basically forgotten about, which was okay I suppose.

For that visit, my wife and I ordered a variety of dishes:

I ordered a steak (rare) with a rack of ribs, accompanied by fries and vegetables. (a rare food picture as I don't usually partake in such things) My wife ordered a chicken parm. We also shared a house salad and mozzarella sticks. Let’s break these down from best to worst:

House Salad (mine): A straightforward mix of lettuce and assorted vegetables with French dressing—nothing to mess up, and it was good.

Mozzarella Sticks (shared): Deep-fried, battered cheese that was well-executed—nothing offensive here.

Caesar Salad (wife's): Unfortunately, it arrived with someone else's hair. Given our ranking from best to worst, this slip-up placed it third.

Chicken Parm (wife's): The highlight was the pasta—it was cooked in water as salty as the sea, just as it should be. However, the chicken was more like a rubbery block with melted cheese atop, and while the sauce was acceptable, it didn't make up for the other shortcomings.

Steak and Ribs (mine): The steak was grey and lifeless—probably cooked sous-vide and then thrown on a grill just for show. A bit more effort to achieve a proper sear would have been appreciated. But the worst part of the dish was the ribs. I took a single bite and found them to be the worst I've ever eaten: tender, yes, but clearly old, spoiled, and freezer burnt. This was especially disappointing since the smoky BBQ sauce was excellent.

I’m not one to complain directly to the restaurant—I prefer to share my honest review here rather than risk ruining my evening by confronting someone.

food - 1 star Service - 3 stars Atmosphere - 5...

This place is affordable. The food was large portions. This was the best homestyle burger I had in years! It was called the saucer burger and it was the best tasting beef, all the fixings, double patty with cheese that has flavour and melted. It had weight to it and I had to cut mine in half to be able to take a bite.

These are also THE best fries I had in years! Fresh oil, crispy yet soft to chew. It was also used in the poutine. The gravy was rich, fresh, hot and flavourful. The cheese was to be believed a marble cheddar and enough in it to make it super melted and gooey.

Our bill for both poutine, saucer burger with fries and two large soft drinks (the only size that has free refills) came upto $36. I added a $10 tip because staff were hustling trying to keep up with the flow of people. There was a line up to get in and we arrived at 11:30am thinking we beat the lunch rush not realizing the breakfast brunch crowd were on scene. We waited because my kid whose now 17 waited 10 years to eat here. The wait was maybe 15 minutes outside but it was an extremely hot day. I still thought that was super fast.

The tables and place are clean, my only concern were the bathrooms down stairs. The entire dinning area is air conditioned and cold but you open the door to the steps for the bathroom and you are hit with an over powering wall of humid hot air. Then the bathroom (female), one sink out of two did not seem to work but the soap dispenser was full. There is a diaper change table and only two normal sized stalls. The humid hot air was still consistent while there and with the air freshener trying to spray an empty can: the smell was a bit much. Hot bathroom garbage and if any former musty spills or moisture caused a very funky smell and with the heat, I could now smell, taste and feel that bathroom as someone with autism and ADHD I tend to have issues with bathrooms.

Summary: So it's the best food I had in a long time, best prices, the bathroom is lovely renovated and looks clean but accessibility is something to call ahead about. The heat of the day, lack of air flow and being a basement bathroom made that part of the experience a little off putting. I've been in some very bad public restrooms so this place did not come close to a worst case situation, just the stale uncirculated air down there did not help. If I did not get the free refill option I would have never used the restroom. My daughter also found the heat down there bad as she has TBI and TMJ with migraines and concussion status: the heat presence and no air flow with mild smells started to bring on dizzy spells and migraines until she came back up to the air con dinning room.

Again, best tasting burger, staff were friendly, cooking staff did their best and manager Jenna I think it was, she was on-top of things along with another staffer.

We were fine for the wait time to get our food. The freshness and flavour was worth it.

High end fancy pants places that charge triple for their tasteless burger can keep it. The drive/walk up Lundy's Lane is worth this great taste and customer service.

They also have cheese cake, milk shakes and ice cream.

So to try and follow suit with the puns and theme of this restaurant: "your tastebuds will be transported to new heights".

I don't want to go back to other burger places in Niagara (Canada) after this.

Ps. I love the fact they hired employees of diversity from all intersectionalities. I am so happy to see inclusion celebrated by equitable employment opportunities.

Sorry my photos were taken after we began to eat but look at the size of burger for...

Upon entering, I hoped for a relaxing meal, but the atmosphere quickly proved otherwise. What immediately struck me was the audible conversation between two managers, one of whom was a female. They were openly discussing a table that needed fixing, a topic that, while relevant to their operations, wasn't something patrons should be privy to during their meal. It felt unprofessional and disrupted the expected peaceful dining environment.

Adding to this unsettling ambiance, I overheard one of the male waiters complaining loudly about his shirt having shrunk in the dryer, complete with what I would describe as "fowl language." While I understand staff grievances exist, expressing them so openly on the dining floor was certainly not the mark of a well-managed front-of-house. The only silver lining in terms of service was our dedicated waitress, who was genuinely friendly and tried her best, despite the surrounding chaos.

With the atmosphere already making me question my choice, I hoped the food would redeem the experience. I ordered an open-face sandwich, which, to be fair, was just "ok"—nothing remarkable, but certainly edible. The real issues arose with the side dishes. The fries that accompanied my daughter's burger were alarmingly greasy. They arrived glistening with so much oil that I immediately sent them back, hoping for a better batch. Unfortunately, the replacement order was not much of an improvement. Despite being a fresh batch, the fries still contained an excessive amount of oil, so much so that my daughter ended up using an astonishing six napkins trying to blot away the grease. It was quite a challenge just to make them palatable. My mashed potatoes also left much to be desired; they were surprisingly watery, lumpy in texture, and clearly overloaded with butter, making them far from the comforting side dish one would expect.

Throughout our meal, the female manager, whom I had earlier overheard discussing the faulty table, seemed highly visible. What truly cemented my negative impression was her reaction to our feedback and her overall demeanor. Instead of empathizing or offering a genuine solution to the food quality issues, she primarily offered excuses for the kitchen’s shortcomings. While excusing the food, she also took the opportunity to casually boast about the restaurant's "4.3-star Google rating." This felt incredibly tone-deaf and disconnected from the immediate, tangible problems we were experiencing. It was clear that her perception of the establishment’s quality was vastly different from the reality we were observing, particularly regarding the food.

In summary, my visit to this Niagara Falls restaurant was profoundly disappointing. What began with an online recommendation quickly devolved into an experience marred by unprofessional staff conduct, significantly subpar food quality, and a clear disconnect from the management regarding customer satisfaction. While our waitress Seneca was undeniably kind and efficient, her efforts alone could not salvage what was an overwhelmingly negative dining experience. Based on my visit, I can confidently say that this spot is definitely not worth it; the food quality simply isn't there, and the overall management of the dining area leaves much to be desired. I would strongly advise others to look elsewhere when seeking a pleasant meal in...