Summerhays Grill — Restaurant in Ottawa

If I could give this place negative stars I would! Horrible experience I went on Thursday April 17th it was our first time. We had a show we were going to so my hubby ordered first because I was still on my way ! Full burger meals. When I arrived we ordered even more a pitcher of beer and wings the pound of wings special! We ran out of time and my hubby was full. I finished my entire meal and my hubby left half his burger we ate 3 of the 7 wings! When I asked to pack up our food the server said I can pack up the burger but not your wings! I'm like why??? she's like it's a dine in special! Which wasn't mentioned to begin with!! And I mentioned how are we supposed to know? She's like it just is!! She's like you have to pay for them but can't take them home! I have never been to a resto that charged me for a meal and wouldn't let us take it home! She mentioned it's a special and you can just order pounds of them and take home for dinner - okay! But we ordered meals and one pound and ate! So clearly that's not the case lololol!!! where I understand that maybe the case for someone only ordering multiple pounds of wings and not eating them may be the clientele they attract cause the place was pretty trash ( we obvi didn't know! I just thought it was a cute mom/pop resto) But we ordered dinner with wings and drinks. Just ordering food to try their menu! Not only was she rude to use she spoke shit about us to the table next to us while we were sitting there! The manager was a complete douche bag with zero customer service and our server told us she didn't care about our disappointment cause she does a hundred covers a night! I wouldn't be surprised at this point if they just reheat the wings and re sever them to other guest on a Thursday night for their special! I have never seen a resto so adoment about "not allowing guests to take food home they paid for, actually never seen this ever and I have travelled the world" I have worked in restaurants for 15 years and never seen a owner or manager accept or condone this type of "customer service" or lack of!!!! But than again they haven't updated their resto since it opened! The manager also mention it was on the sign outside that the special was dine in only! But when we left (I wish I took a pic) but it said Thursday special " 4.99 pound of wings with a purchase of a Labatt beverage" ... if it's dine in only have your server mention it when you ask about the specials - this is about principals at this point not $5.00 .... plain and simple disgusting food, disgusting management and horrible service! But than again I only worked fine dining where when customer pays for food they get to eat it!! And customer service is on the highest level! After all without customers we wouldn't be in business! And we let them bring it home if they're full! AND PAID FOR IT!!!! Lol ...Should have known what I walked into when the server didn't even check on our meal, didn't even introduce herself or look like she had showered in a week!!!!! Never again!!! Completely disgusted!!! Please go get your...

My family and I just went out for a late lunch, and unfortunately made the decision to dine at Summer Hays. What we just experienced, was the most disgusting customer service I have witnessed in my years of not only dining, but also serving and bartending. Initially we were greeted and seated by a host, who took our drink orders. We had a couple of coffees and some juice. We were served our drinks, but our actual server who then carried out our order, her name was Kate. It took 20 minutes to receive a check in or refill to which I had to myself approach our server and request more coffee. Upon approaching the server alley I was greeted with attitude and dismissal. We then waited again, another 10 minutes before the coffee came around. Which is whatever. Restaurants get busy normally… except at this time there was maybe three tables seated other than us and multiple servers on the floor. When our food finally arrived, three out of 6 plates initially, every single plate was cold. I can only assume that was because our meals were sitting waiting to be served while the servers gossiped at the POS. We then tell Kate our food was cold.. and I have never experienced so much attitude from a customer service industry in my life. She not only gave myself and my parents attitude about it. But my younger siblings as well. The sarcasm, dismissal and looks of disgust she wore on our face was enough to make everyone want to leave, despite being starving after waiting an hour for our cold food. As if the food being cold was our fault in the slightest. At this point a young gentleman with glasses took over. He did everything he could to recover our experience and had it not been for him we probably would have walked out before our replacement meals even got to us. I regretfully didn’t catch his name, but he deserves recognition as he went above and beyond to make it right. Every time Kate walked by us afterwards we received petty looks and sighing. Which for a server who lives off of the tips she makes is unbelievable. At the end of our meal, my mother in law approached the counter to ask for our bills. She politely said (excuse me) to Kate, which respectfully I wouldn’t have been so polite, and Kate turned around, didn’t say a word and motioned for the young gentlemen to handle us, after waving her off. Not so much as a dessert was offered in compensation. Our family and extended family are frequents at this establishment, our friends are as well. We typically go every weekend for brunch and we bring in a fair amount of business. After this I can assure you we will never be returning. If you’re looking to feel disrespected, and eat cold overcooked food, this is your spot! Otherwise don’t bother. Take your money to McDonald’s before your...

We recently moved near College Square Mall and have been checking out local restaurants to find good places to take our friends and family. We tried Summerhays Grill for dinner, and while the food and drinks were excellent, the service unfortunately ruined the experience.

Our server, Joseph, never introduced himself and seemed completely unprepared. He forgot parts of our order, he mentioned that couldn’t read his own handwriting. We even joked at the table, wondering if he was drunk or just completely lost. One of our drinks didn’t arrive, and we had to remind him again to bring it.

Despite the odd service, we were still enjoying the food and talking about coming back next time with our extended family. My husband went to pay the bill discreetly because we were treating our guests and didn’t want to make it awkward by splitting.

Then things got worse.

The server came back to the table complaining about my husband like we are not a part of the same team, that the tip was too low. He told us that a 15% tip is “compulsory,” which is simply not true. Tipping is customary, yes—but it is earned, and never mandatory. To make matters worse, he typed in an additional tip amount himself. My friend saw it but didn’t want to cause a scene, so she let it go—but we all agreed he didn’t even deserve the tip we originally left.

Looking through other reviews afterward, it seems this kind of entitled behavior from staff isn’t uncommon at this place. It’s disappointing, because the kitchen is clearly doing a great job—but the front-of-house service is driving customers away.

There’s a restaurant right across the street—Chances R—and they have better manners and a better overall experience. We definitely won’t be coming back to Summerhays, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who expects basic professionalism and respect from...