Kelseys Original Roadhouse — Restaurant in Ontario

I was going to review this place after my first time going, but figured I'd give the place another shot to be a bit fair in case they had a bad day. Plus I have a family member who frequents here so I figured there must be a reason.

My first experience the food was terrible, second experience was a solid "okay", and now my third and last experience was overall bad. First all the different meals:

Fish and Chips. Apparently they were on a good day with the fries because they were fine. Nothing special but good enough. The fish however, was the worst I've ever had. I make it a point to try fish everywhere because I find not a lot of places do it well. The fish here has the worst batter in the history of batter, and once you dig through the batter (which is double the size of the fish itself), you get to an overcooked flavorless meal. Overall, stay away from it if you like being happy.

Chicken Ceasar salad. It was fine. Nothing to brag about but not worth really mentioning. So at least if you get it, the only thing noteworthy is that it is overpriced.

Bacon and Cheese burger with fries. Burger was actually decent. I'd have it again for sure. It wasn't too oily which was nice, and was pretty loaded with flavour. Fries however I think were extras that were sitting in the sun all day, and they forgot my fries so they decided to get those fries for me.

Experience:

First time going, waiting staff wasn't too bad. This was right before the most recent lockdown. My girlfriend got fries instead of onion rings but the manager was on that mistake right away which was nice. He seems to be pretty solid guy.

I don't actually remember any bad experiences or stand out good experiences so, good on them here.

After having my empty water glass on my table for 15 minutes, and my girlfriend's for 10 minutes, we actually never got a refill. My girlfriend asked for 2 seperate parts (1 app and a salad) to be brought out at the same time, but she got the salad out about 10 minutes after her app which kind of defeated the purpose of our original request. Can't really blame the fact that chicken takes a bit longer to cook, because even if that is true, you time your cooking correctly to appeal the request of everything coming out at the same time. Pretty basic skills there.

Also never got a refill on my pop, and I believe the napkins are half-ply toilet paper.

Overall, I don't give 1 out of 5 star because the manager seems to admit faults and fix them right away, and their food seems to have a 33% chance of success. In London we honestly have a crazy amount of fantastic options for food, so we are very lucky here. With that in mind, expectations are raised because there are 20 restaurants I can think of that easily out do anything Kelsey's does and at the same price. Just wish it was better since they are so close to where I live so the convenience is nice.

Unless friends/family invite me out to dinner so I feel obligated to go, I don't see myself ever wanting to come back here unless it's to the bar because alcohol is pretty easy...

I took my mom and daughter here for my mom’s 77 th birthday!!! She chose the restaurant. She loves Kelsey’s. And this particular location. First we were sat by the door and we were all freezing. They moved us but it was still cold. My mom and I ordered the steak with Cajun shrimp. Our waitress was nice and everything, but we could never find her. She would disappear for really long periods of time. Poor hostess I had to keep bugging to find our server. So we both order medium rare. Our steaks come. Mine is huge, juicy, cooked to perfection. My mom’s is fairly smaller and is medium. So of course she doesn’t want to say anything, but it’s her birthday! So I finally find our server they say no problem we will fire up a new one. Someone came to our table to inquire, don’t know who because he never introduced himself. He was also dressed as a server. After some time the new steak comes. However she’s full, and the rest of us have all finished our meals. So we just get it to go. I asked the server to bring a slice of cheesecake with happy birthday as a surprise.

The problem with bringing home a med rare steak, when you reheat it. It’s still NOT going to be medium rare. So the bill comes and they comp the cheesecake. Seriously? We had drinks, apps, my daughter had a quesadilla. We had the steak n shrimp. My mom was so disappointed. I was too because of all the meals to mess up…It had to be hers. My daughter and I came from out of town as well. It was a really special occasion for my mom. Very disappointed that they didn’t take the steak off the bill or give her a gift card or something more than a slice of cheesecake. Plus don’t you give free dessert on birthday’s anyway? That didn’t make up for the bad experience. Poor customer service. The only reason it got two stars is because my steak was great and the spinach dip is phenomenal. Thank you for reaching...

I've been visiting this Kelsey's as long as it has been in its current location and even longer when its previous location is added. I first discovered Kelsey's after a health scare required that I start a lot more walking. Lunch at Kelsey's was the perfect distance and I have been visiting at least weekly for a very long time.

Why? Several reasons. First, the food is very good and very consistent. Yes, the menu occasionally changes, but the quality does not. Second, the staff are both attentive and knowledgeable. I have only very rarely had a bad experience with Kelsey's staff. All of those limited bad experiences were dealt with. Third, the locations and decor are outstanding.

To this I will also add that I have never felt rushed to finish my meal and get out. I will regularly spend 2 hours over my lunch and even after I've finished eating, my coffee continues to come until I've finished whatever I was working on or reading and decide that I need to move on.

Kelsey's north (1395 Fanshawe Park Rd. W.) has just completed a renovation and the interior has a class and comfort that is hard to explain. Yes, it is still a bar and restaurant but being there always feels like I have stayed home. Comfort food? Perhaps.

I must admit that I have not tried everything on the menu but all of the dishes I have tried have been excellent. Among my favourites I must mention their Chicken-Caesar salad and their Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger. And the Broccoli-Cheddar soup is also good. And their fajitas and... Everything is excellent and consistent and I do not plan to stay away while they are open.

Yes, Kelsey's is a chain restaurant. But when the owners, management and staff go out of their way to ensure that their customers get what they want and enjoy the experience, then a sort of magic happens and the chain itself becomes less important than the people...