Shoeless Joe's Sports Grill — Restaurant in North Grenville

Have been here on numerous occasions. It can be either hit or miss, not sure whether to point at the staff who were working or just situations that they've been presented with. I've eaten here solo and with family, doesn't seem to make a difference. I won't give the food a poor rating, it has always been tasty, but the portions vary wildly from reasonable to "um, is that a child-size portion?". As touched on earlier, the staff has their nights, I suppose. Hey I was young once, and I remember working and chatting with co-workers, but I mean there's a difference between comments in passing, and standing in one spot for minutes at a time gabbing with a group of co-workers. I think that the management needs to keep an eye on things. Not to nail the help to the wall for stopping to scratch an itch, not to crack the whip, but to make sure that customers who are footing the bill are being looked after. Should be noted that in probably between a dozen and 15 visits, I've / we've never experienced any rude or confrontational staff, so that's a great plus in their favor. But in those visits, maybe once has someone stopped by our table/booth and identified themselves as a supervisor or manager to inquire of our experiences. Usually Shoeless Joe's is the choice of place to go for a sit-down-take-your-time sort of outing, rather than grab & go fast food, so when I/we go there, we're not in any great hurry, and yes, when the place is busy, it takes a bit longer. For me/us, it's not an issue, we expect to be inside for a while and be served in turn, as does everyone else either there before us or come after us. Place is usually clean, seating and tables sometimes need a quick wipe where something spilled and went un-noticed. I guess that can happen into the evening, especially in lower lighting into the evening. Lots of TV's to see and follow your sporting events. Washrooms are bright, clean, sometimes out of soap though, and needing just that bit of attention. Place is wheelchair-accessible. Ample parking in plaza lot. Overall, few complaints, but the ones I have seem to be things that management should be on top of, if there is any...

My wife and I were travelling on May 3rd 2024 for a concert in Ottawa. We were travelling from Kingston to Kanata and at around 430 PM we decided to attend your Kemptville location for an early supper. The restaurant was not busy in the least. A couple of people were there. We sat down in a booth and the first thing we noticed was the seat cushion was ripped open with fabric coming out. Not a good first impression. Secondly, we were given menus and they were filthy. They were literally sticky with visible food stains on them. It was very obvious that they were not cleaned or sanitized before they were given to us. The table was also dirty. There was visible food stains on the table, and again, clearly indicative that the table was not properly cleaned and sanitized before your staff seated us. The drinks came out in reasonable time but our food took approx 30 minutes. Why would a restaurant that is dead take 30 minutes for a simple food order? Waiting 30 minutes was ridiculous. Now the food, well my wife ordered the chicken tenders and fries and they were good. I, on the other hand, had horrible food. I ordered the steak Caesar wrap, and it was the most bland, disappointing wrap I have ever had. It was more wrap then steak. The steak was thin and not good. There was barely any sauce and spice to it. It just literally tasted like wrap and iceberg lettuce. I didn't even finish it. Not to mention it was only small so it goes to show how tasteless and bad it was. This plate cost me $19. I don't think it was worth more than $5 , if that. I have been to several Shoeless Joe's locations and this is the worst one we have been to. Maybe the management doesn't care and they don't care if we ever come back. We did tip our waitress 15% as we don't think she should be punished for lack of management's oversight on cleanliness or the kitchen's food quality. There were several staff members just floating around not really appearing busy. Why weren't they cleaning tables, cleaning menu's, etc. We travel to Ottawa for various events throughout the year and it seems this Shoeless Joe's location is now off our list of places...

If you have a food allergy stay FAR, FAR away. My daughter is allergic to eggs. We asked about the meal she was interested in and the waiter claimed he checked twice before the food was ordered. It was confirmed no eggs. Then when the food came out there was a suspicious sauce in the rice. My daughter called the waiter over and asked about the sauce specifically, stating that it suspiciously looked like a mayonnaise sauce and perhaps the sauce contained eggs. The waiter went back to the kitchen and again she was assured there was no egg. So she started eating it. Then a different man came out and said don’t eat it…..we think it may contain “traces”of eggs. My daughter then said “ Well I’m usually ok with traces of eggs but not egg” but by now she is getting freaked out and is not really enjoying her meal and is feeling uneasy about eating it. So she is just sitting at the table not eating and starting to freak out. Then the same man comes back stating there is for sure 2 oz of egg whites in the sauce, that my daughter had previously thought looks suspiciously like egg. So she jumps up and runs to the bathroom to go and throw up her meal as quickly as possible. We left the restaurant with her eyes swollen and her throat swelling after throwing up. We drove to the hospital which was another nightmare ( there we NO employees anywhere in emergency, just a housekeeper trying to help the people in emergency my husband had to run into the back to go and get someone…. but that is another whole story) in any case…. Just a nightmare. All of us had drove a long way and met at this halfway point in Kemptville to finally see each other after two years and THIS was our two year reunion celebration. Not a lot of catching up …. She spent the night drugged up and sleeping off her allergic reaction and us checking on her, now she is gone again for likely another two years. Perhaps next time we plan a meet up we will actually get to talk to her about something other than if she can...