Persis Grill-Preston — Restaurant in Ottawa

I booked a reservation for 10 at Persis Grill on Monday, September 2nd, excited to celebrate my partner’s birthday in what I thought would be a fabulous setting. The restaurant, while empty at 6 PM, looked stunning—little did I know that the beautiful decor would be the highlight of the evening.

From the get-go, it was clear that PANIZ, our server, was in way over her head. I get it—everyone has to start somewhere, but when you’re the only server in the entire restaurant, struggling to keep up with basic drink orders, it quickly becomes a problem. Oh, and let’s not forget that the lone cook in the kitchen had to step out to mix cocktails too. Efficient? Not in the slightest.

After an excruciating hour, food finally started to make its way to our table—cold, of course, because PANIZ was busy seating new customers while our plates got cold. By the time she dropped the last dish on the table at 7:40 PM, I knew better than to wait for the bill to magically appear. I asked for it immediately, predicting the slow-motion train wreck that was about to unfold.

And unfold it did. We waited a solid 45 minutes for the bill, and when it still hadn’t arrived, I had to stand next to the cash register like a forgotten purse until PANIZ finally printed it. Imagine my shock when I saw an 18% gratuity automatically added for “parties of 8 or more.” Really, PANIZ? For that level of service? As if that wasn’t enough, she charged us for a flat beer we had sent back. But by that point, we were so late for our comedy show, we just paid and ran out.

We arrived at the show late, the birthday celebration thoroughly ruined by what can only be described as a dining disaster. When we confronted PANIZ, she just laughed and said she was busy. Busy doing what, exactly, remains a mystery.

Persis Grill, you have all the makings of a great restaurant, but with service like this, your potential is gathering dust. I wouldn’t recommend you to anyone unless PANIZ gets some serious customer service training—or at the very...

Unfortunately our whole group had a very frustrating experience here recently. Our friends held a big event and while the staff kindly rearranged the tables and created a dance floor amid the classy decor, there weren't enough seats for everyone; so we had to wait 30min for extra tables to be set up for about 10 of us. Meanwhile tickets were sold in advance so it wasn't a surprise that that many people were there.

Next, this place is not at all like the Persis Grill of Orleans. The menu is much more expensive but especially, the dish comes with no bread, soup nor salad (which it does at the Orleans location). Also, there is a grand total of about 5 Persian items on the menu :(( the rest is all Italian food but there are so many Italian restaurants on the same street so if people are coming to Persis Grill, they're expecting Persian food, not primarily Italian...

The calamari was pretty good and the vaziri was quite tasty; meat was prepared and grilled well. But there was very little rice which is atypical for a Persian dish.

What really bothered us though, was the incredibly poor service unfortunately. The waitress was loudly arguing with a guy at our table due to an order mix-up... They also charged us all before bringing any food - I have never seen that before... Some of us were performing so we weren't at the tables all the time and the waitress kept trying to take our food. In the end, I only ate half of my 40+$ dish because she put bowls and stuff from another dish into mine, to take it away; then when I told her I hadn't finished yet because we were still clearly performing, she stuck her hands into my plate to take out the extra stuff she had put in and expected me to eat what remained... Needless to say, I left the place hungry after paying $$$

Plus, there were other basic things that were missed (no spoons, no extra water, etc) but I will...

I was really looking forward to introducing my non-Persian friend to Persian cuisine, but unfortunately, this experience was extremely disappointing. We chose our orders from the menu based on the photos posted on their Instagram, which showed generous portions—but what we received was nowhere close. The food was barely enough for one person, even though we ordered two skewers.

It took nearly two hours for two skewers to arrive, and when it finally did, the food was cold. The service was inattentive, and we struggled to get any support throughout our visit. When we raised our concerns with the manager, their response was essentially that nothing could be done to address the issue.

For what we paid, the experience was incredibly disappointing. We left hungry and frustrated. Definitely won’t be returning or recommending.

Note regarding the restaurant feedback:

To be clear, the issue wasn’t just the wait time as it took longer than 49 minutes despite your statement; it was the lack of attentiveness. We tried several times to get our server’s attention and couldn’t, which made it impossible to share concerns in real time.

We did not ask for complimentary food; as we declined your dessert offer. Referencing how other restaurants handle such situations was about customer service; not compensation.

What’s most telling is the tone of your reply. Instead of acknowledging the experience, you chose to deflect and misrepresent our intentions. That alone speaks for itself if this is the way the owner chooses to...