Kelseys Original Roadhouse — Restaurant in Niagara Falls

Aside from being in the heart of Clifton Hill activities, this place was nothing special and left us feeling like it was the lowest part of our trip to Niagara Falls - especially since there were so many other restaurants we could have chosen.

First - I called them to ask if they could seat a party of 11 for lunch time on a Thursday (because they don’t do reservations). The lady who answered said that, while she wasn’t actually at the restaurant, she had access to the cameras and could see that there were plenty of open tables and wouldn’t be a problem. I was 5 min away, according to GPS, so we went over.

When we arrived, we found that yes - most of the restaurant was empty. I told the hostess we were a party of 11 and she told me to hang out for a second while she went to verify a table or something. She comes back, grabs the menus and tells us to follow her… she then proceeds to take us to an area and sets menus on two different tables (2 six-seater tables). I was like “Wait, you can’t seat us all together? What about this table right here that’s empty and can seat us all?” I pointed to the long table literally right next to the two separate tables she wanted us to sit at.

You guys - she looks me in the face and says “We don’t have a server for that table for another hour.” I’m sorry - what? You have a server for these two tables, but not the empty long table right next to these?

Irritated - we sat down. But first, can you please train your hostess to communicate that at the hosting stand before taking us back to be seated? If she told us at the hostess stand that we wouldn’t be sitting together, we would’ve gone elsewhere so we could have a better family experience.

We felt like the staff wasn’t friendly to us after that initial table experience. My mom received a cocktail with a wasp in it (it’s an open air bar, so we understood that can happen). However - We’re fairly confident that instead of remaking her drink, they removed the wasp and poured the cocktail into another cup. The fruit from the previous cocktail was now at the bottom of the new cocktail, and new fruit sat on the top of the cocktail glass.

The chicken wings (which is supposedly a big hit on their menu) were chewy and had the squeaky pieces (iykyk). The margaritas were mediocre. The other adults in our party said their food was mediocre.

Oh - and halfway through our meal, a party of 12 was sat next to us at the big long table.

Not a great experience. Probably would’ve been completely different if the first 5 minutes had...

We are a group of and come to Niagra every year! When it comes to our meals we have a dinner (the flying saucer)that we enjoy for our meals this year we chose to have dinner closer to the falls as we had plans- We were going to check out Ruby Tuesday’s however on the way there we seen Kelsey looked at the menu something for everyone and Kelsey’s being a well know place to eat we decided to dine there!! HUGE MISTAKE!!! The lady the greeted us was friendly, however our waitress who didn’t even introduce herself and I am unsure if she knows how to be friendly or if she understands the meaning of “customer service” right from taking out drink orders to when we left she was rude- there was a 45 min wait for food- this is to be expected at 630pm in Niagara Falls however one person ordered a soup and when asked the waitress just said it’s coming with the meal- to be fair we didn’t specify - however she never asked- shortly after our food came out- 2 of us had ribs and wings when advised to waitress that our dinner was cold she rudely asked what you want me to take it back and bring a new one? She took one plate left with it! Never came back for the other plate! As a matter of fact didn’t come back at all till she brought the bill- we called the manager over as we felt this was unacceptable as she never came back and one of us ate a cold dinner, the diner that had the soup with there salmon the soup was hot but the salmon was dried out and cold and rice would have been warmer if taken out of the fridge to be served- the manger took his meal to have remade as well. Both meals that were took back we brought back warm not hot and Salmon was still dried out- The manager did take 20% off our bills and when we still went to give the tip a little something she didn’t refuse the tip nicely she just said I don’t want it!! And walked away! The only thing that was good and hot was the mushroom melt burger! That was delicious! Never will go back should have stayed with going to Ruby Tuesdays or went back to the...

We recently visited Kelsey’s in Niagara Falls, and while I really wanted to love it, overall, it was quite a disappointing experience — especially given its prime location.

First, let’s talk about the good. The location is fantastic. You’re right on the lively strip, surrounded by all the action, which makes it an easy stop for visitors. The atmosphere inside is also warm and welcoming, and they have a nice patio setup for people-watching.

Some of the food items we tried were actually okay — nothing to rave about, but decent enough to enjoy. The highlight of our visit was actually our server. He was super friendly, polite, and did his best to make sure we were taken care of. You could tell he genuinely cared, but unfortunately, he was clearly stretched too thin. It looked like he had more tables than he could reasonably handle, and as a result, service was quite slow.

Now, for the letdowns. The nachos were a complete disaster. They arrived soggy and lacking flavor, with barely any toppings — they honestly looked and tasted like something thrown together at the last minute. We were really looking forward to sharing them, but ended up leaving most of the plate untouched.

As for the drinks, my beer wasn’t cold at all. There’s nothing worse than expecting a refreshing, ice-cold beer on a summer day and being served something lukewarm instead.

Overall, we chose Kelsey’s because we had visitors from overseas with us, and we wanted to show them a fun, casual Canadian spot. While we did enjoy spending time together and the location added a lively vibe, the food and drink quality simply didn’t match the price or the expectations.

In the end, it felt like a missed opportunity. With a better handle on service and more attention to food quality, this place could easily be a go-to spot in Niagara Falls. Sadly, based on this visit, I’d have to give...