Kelseys Original Roadhouse — Restaurant in Ottawa

My friend and I came in tonight at 9pm and sat down on the bar side (first booth on the right). When we sat down we had to wait 10 minutes before the waitress came to ask us what we wanted to drink. The only reason she came to check on us was because another waitress from another section said "have you checked on them yet". When the waitress came from behind the bar she said “oh sorry I didn’t see you” even tho we were right in front of her.

Anyways, we ordered our two drinks and our spinach dip and asked for the bread lightly toasted. When the dip came our bread was so burnt it was dark brown (wish I had taken a picture) we told the waitress it was to well done and asked for it lightly toasted. She took it back and we waited another 6 minutes. When the dip came again it wasn’t cooked at all just the bread covered in oil. At this point we were very upset and felt awful having to send it back again. We had ordered chicken tenders as our main and by the time we had sent the dip back again the tenders had arrived.

We ate the tenders and at this point the staff were visibly upset with us for sending it back twice now (dip). The waitresses were pointing at us and obviously taking about us. Two separate cooks had come out to see who the “two girls complaining were” and it was honestly humiliating and I was so uncomfortable. I just wanted to leave but we hadn’t paid so we were forced to sit in awkwardness. At this point it had been another 15 minutes since sending the dip back and it was obviously a stament of them showing their frustrations with us.

During this 15 min period we both witnessed staff eating extreme beans behind the bar with fingers in the jars, one staff chugging a corona in the back booth while on shift in her uniform, staff talking about us and laughing, kitchen staff laughing and speaking about us so loudly we could hear it.

Finally after all of this one of the cooks (was in black cooks uniform) came out to us and said the bill was covered. I don’t know why he would have covered our entire bill unless he was covering up for his rude and belligerent staff. I think it was his way of saying “hey don’t tell on us” but I don’t care this experience was utterly disgusting and I will be taking this complaint as far as I can.

So after speaking to this cook about EVERYTHING that went on he told me the staff member who was actually the hosted for the night (low messy bun, septum piercing) that I witnessed chug a corona at the back booth was underage he kept saying over and over “I don’t believe that, it must have been a Starbucks cup” I’m a 24 year old female with 20/20 vision I know what a corona looks like, what do I get out of lying? (I recorded the entire conversation secretly on my phone and the entire evening because I felt so uncomfortable) I’ll be happy to show anyone.

Finally there was a girl at the bar wearing a baggy gray sweater who had long blonde hair and was pretty short she was wearing black platform converse she overheard the conversation we were having with the cook and then as we were leaving she started to yell at us from across the bar trying to fight or something. I’m completely disgusted with what I witnessed tonight and I was ready to call the police because I felt so uncomfortable and unsafe.

The staff were acting so confrontational and aggressive I was worried they would follow me out or follow me home. Underage staff drinking while on shift and on the floor and in uniform? Chugging a corona like it’s water? Arguing with customers? Gossiping about customers in-front of them? Trying to start a fight with customers? Is this a family restaurant or a...

We went out on Father’s Day as family outing. We came early (around 3 p.m.) to avoid waiting. The restaurant was pretty empty. So they were not in rush and not busy with the orders. So… first of all for those who loves the traditional old Kelsey’s: it is not any more. They have renovated and Kelsey’s with its cozy stained glass and brick is no longer there. The new look is less homey and definitely feels more formal and cold. It was a bit of a disappointment, since for our family who are Kelsey’s clients for 20 years the atmosphere was one of the key factors to go there. Well, with a new look we were hoping for good food. But unfortunately we were very disappointed here as well. I ordered Chicken Alfredo and this is very simple dish, nothing exotic. It is very hard to mess up Chicken Alfredo and yet they did: the sauce was NOT Alfredo. Not sure what it was but it was not. Alfredo is milky and creamy, on a thicker side. This was pinkish and watery. The chicken was pure rubber. My mom ordered Thai Pasta with broccoli and shrimp. Well to tell you the truth it was the most tasteless Thai ever. They forgot to put even salt, not mentioning the spices… Broccoli was not steamed enough and my mother could not really eat it. We did not complain about these two dishes, because we simply felt uncomfortable since we HAD to complain about the famous Kelsey’s Fajitas (Fajitas - that is what we always went for for these 20 years). We ordered them for my husband and they brought the chicken and veggies burnt. No, there were not grilled – they were burnt. With a grey cloud of smoke coming from it and a distinct burnt odor. We had to ask to replace (although I never ever do this in restaurants…and I was extremely uncomfortable). But since that was Father’s day – and that Father’s treat, we had to ask. They brought us another portion in about 15 minutes. They were polite about it, I must admit. However unfortunately the second portion was even worse… It was absolutely flavourless: they took peppers and onions and instead of grilling them – they microwaved them. They also did not add any spices or salt. So the chicken (also not properly grilled and pretty rubbery) was sitting on top of a watery mushy microwaved veggies… Kids meals were average, not the best. Service was polite. We regret we went there for Father’s Day. It was a big $$$ and pretty miserable gastronomical experience. Overall : I would not recommend the new...

Editing my original review. I returned to Kelsey’s Kanata tonight and was thoroughly pleased. We were seated promptly, and our waitress Carmen was delightful. I do have food intolerances, and found she asked great follow up questions to what I may not be able to eat, and she checked back with me after speaking with the chef to ensure I would be happy with my meal, and the omissions required. We all ordered burgers, and they were perfect. Carmen checked in with us during the meal which was very much appreciated. I am happy to report that I look forward to returning to Kelsey’s another night soon- especially with patio season approaching.

I have visited this restaurant three times this summer. The first two times, the food and service was spectacular. The service we received tonight was the worst I have ever experienced. I recognize that people have bad days, but our waitress was not up to par. There was confusion over our drink orders, and a backward moment when the waitress realized she had brought my friend 10oz wine rather than the 8 she ordered, and the waitress tried taking away her wine, when she has had a sip. Our meals came out at different times. My Alfredo pasta had obviously been sitting under the heat lamp for a while. It was dry and bland. One of the salads came out with onions, when it had been requested that they be left out. It took quite a while for a salad to be brought back to the table, and rather than remake it, it had obviously been riffled through to remove them. They missed some. Our food was served, without any cutlery. We had asked our waitress when she left with the onion salad to provide us with cutlery, but after many minutes, we got up and asked a different server for some. Our waitress checked on us only once, only after we were done eating. I tried to leave a comment via the Kelsey’s website- I would select the location, and when submitting, it would blank it out so the comment...