Swiss Chalet — Restaurant in Ontario

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction and frustration with the treatment my family and I received during our visit to your Swiss Chalet location in Belleville, Ontario.

As long-time patrons of Swiss Chalet, this experience was not only disappointing but also deeply distressing, both in terms of service and the apparent racial discrimination we encountered.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a host who appeared severely overwhelmed, and after a long wait, we were eventually seated. While the restaurant was more than half empty, we were made to feel unwelcome and out of place, with several patrons staring at us as we entered. It felt like an intentional act to make us uncomfortable, which only heightened our sense of unease. Given that my family is of Guyanese descent, and we’ve experienced racism before, this situation stood out as particularly painful.

This experience has deeply affected us, especially as parents of young children. The racial tension we felt left us in a position where we had to explain to our 3-year old why some people can act unkindly. The emotional toll of this experience cannot be understated.

After being seated, our server took our drink order and expected us to immediately decide on our meals. When we asked if we could begin with the drinks and have a few moments to review the menu, she seemed unwilling but accommodated our request.

Our drinks were eventually brought, but by that point, the service had already begun to feel rushed and dismissive.

We waited over an hour without any updates on our meals. Despite this, multiple other parties who arrived after us were served, ate, and left before we received our food. At no point did anyone offer an explanation for the delay or check in on us, particularly on behalf of the toddlers in our group, who were left without meals. The children’s food was not brought out first, which is normally a standard practice in family-friendly dining establishments, and this only added to our frustration.

My husband asked for the manager, but they did not come to speak with us. When we requested that at least the children’s meals be brought out, no effort was made to address this request. Eventually, our food arrived when the restaurant was closing. The food was cold, poorly prepared, and several of the orders were incorrect. Despite the poor quality, some family members were forced to eat due to health concerns and medication requirements. However, I was so disgusted by the treatment and the state of the meal that I did not eat a single bite.

At no point did our server check on how we were doing, offer dessert, or even complete my daughter's meal, which was missing a toy or dessert that is typically included with kids’ meals. We felt completely neglected.

In the end, we paid the bill and left, but this experience has left a lasting negative impression. The failure of the manager and staff to provide adequate service, address our concerns, or take responsibility for the poor experience is inexcusable. What should have been a simple family dinner turned into a painful and uncomfortable ordeal that we will not forget.

Other Swiss Chalet locations have apologized for the behavior and treatment we experienced at the Belleville location, but the lack of accountability from the management at that site is troubling.

I urge Swiss Chalet to take immediate action to investigate this location. We also expect a review of your staff training and customer service policies to prevent such an experience from happening to others.

We appreciate your prompt attention to...

This has to be the worst Swiss Chalet in Canada! I waited more than an hour at the takeout to get my food! And when I got it it was cold! Stay away from this Swiss Chalet! People that work there don't give a damn about you once they take your money.

I visited Swiss Chalet in Belleville Ontario one more time and let me start by saying this is the second review on this place I do and it only gets worse! This is definitely the worst Swiss Chalet in all of Canada I can assure you of that, they have employees that don't care and don't like working! I went there at the takeout section because I had placed an order online and when I got there to pick up my order, the lady that I will include a picture of, was working there, she was the same lady that made me wait just over an hour the last time I was there! She says to me "I'll be with you in 2 minutes" because she was with another lady, there was only one person there at the takeout who was in front of me and that was it there was nobody else there it was empty, nevertheless, 2 minutes turned into 20 minutes before she asked me what I was there for and I told her You waited 20 minutes to ask me what I'm here for? I told her "to pick up my order" she said fine it should be ready soon, only to come back 10 minutes later to tell me or ask me rather what was my order we can't find it? Can you believe this? This is a half hour later she did this, She could have told me this initially not way to half hour!! ,And I had other food in the car that froze to death and went to waste! Remember, we're in the middle of winter now so the food getd cold quickly! This person does not like her job! She walks lazy, She works lazy, drags her feet, You can tell she doesn't like to work!

I have no idea if this is a franchisee that owns this Swiss Chalet or if it's a corporate store, but regardless, I will be filling a complaint along with my previous bag experience with her to corporate head office asking them to remove this lady from her position! She couldn't care less about takeout yet they have her working at takeout and most of the time it's just her!! Last time I was there I wasn't the only one waiting for an hour so I wrote a review and there were more people there too waiting just as long as me.

The order I was picking up wasn't even for me I will never order anything from this restaurant after my first experience let alone after the second one! It was for two old ladies that I have at home my mother and my mother-in-law and the food that was in the car froze for one of the two ladies unfortunately so money down the drain!

The laziest animal on Earth is the sloth. Sloths are mammals that live in the forests of Central and South America. They have a very low metabolic rate, which makes them move very slowly and sleep for up to 20 hours a day!! So I'm willing to bet that in a previous life this lady was a bloody sloth!!

So I pre-warn you, stay away from this Swiss chalet at least at takeout because if you go there and get served by the same lady you will be waiting a very long time and I...

Swiss Chalet is our go-to restaurant. It's never been a 5-star experience at the Belleville location, but generally OK. Last Saturday, my fiancé and I took my mother out for lunch there with a gift card we got her as a Christmas gift. The hostess was lovely. Our waitress was not so lovely, and did everything possible to create a negative experience.

My mom, who has an extreme sensitivity to tomatoes requested a wrap with tomatoes removed. That's it, and that's all. At any restaurant, let alone any S.C. location, it wouldn't even be a second thought to accommodate. Our lovely waitress decided that this was the time to "put her foot down" for some reason, and tell her that was absolutely not possible as the wraps are made that morning. My mother questioned her about it, no budging. I suggested mom get the quarter chicken because she knows she can eat it.

The waitress returned with the drinks and slammed them down.

Our meal came: 2 bones in my wrap that took a half hour yet was "pre-made", stringy chicken and burnt fries for my mom. Fiancé's chicken was about the same, but ribs were good.

Fiancé has a CAA card which he tried to hand to the waitress 3 times after our meal was done. She brought back the bill, and he tried to hand it to her once more. She nearly snaps and says, "Oh, no, I don't do that now - I do that before I run your bill." Stare down ensues, fiancé simply says, "Well, that's why I kept trying to hand it to you." Aggressively grabs card from him and receipt from mom which almost hits me in the face. Returns with corrected bill and we pay.

What a great day out, that we had planned for my mom for a week, who had just lost a close friend.

Did I mention this is our go-restaurant, my dad's favourite, who passed a year ago and we go there to commemorate him as well?

I never post one-star reviews publicly, but this really changed that. You never know why someone has an outing or what it means to them. I couldn't imagine we were the only good, honest people who got treated that way, when just trying to enjoy a meal out together. My hope is that our waitress gets the help she needs, and whatever caused her to act out in such a way is addressed at a...