The MAC Shack — Restaurant in Ottawa

Unreliable and extremely disappointing.

I placed a scheduled order at 6 PM to be picked up between 12:00 AM–12:30 AM. The restaurant opens at 10:15 PM and is open until 2:30 AM which is plenty of time to either prepare or cancel in advance if they couldn’t fulfill it.

Out of the 4 orders I’ve attempted to make 2 have been cancelled my last cancelled order was on June 20.

When they cancelled today, they waited until the actual pickup window to cancel my order around 12:10 AM which, my order was estimated for 12:08 AM and I was on my way. The cancellation reason claimed they were “too busy.” If they had two hours of prep time, how does that happen?

I stayed up late and skipped dinner specifically for this meal, thinking it was confirmed and timed perfectly. I could’ve easily ordered from literally anywhere else earlier in the night, but I chose this place. Now it’s past midnight, and I have no food and I am very limited for options due to the time.

The first time I ordered, the mac & cheese was amazing I was genuinely impressed. Second time, it was dry and underwhelming, but I decided to give them another shot, hoping it was a one-off. Clearly, that was a mistake.

I’ve never been this disappointed with a restaurant. Completely unreliable. If you can’t handle late-night orders, don’t take them. This was mind-blowingly frustrating, and I won’t be ordering from here again.

Also, I was really turned off by how unprofessional the owner was in another review I read. The customer made a small typo with the time (which they corrected), and instead of responding politely, the owner was rude, defensive, dismissive of their concern, and even insinuated that they were lying — despite it being during posted business hours. That kind of attitude toward customers says a lot and that behaviour from a customer service/business standpoint is beyond unprofessional regardless of your frustrations with the review.

EDIT in response: I’m not deleting this review — your continued poor service earned it. And yes, the cancellation came from your end, not once but twice — the other time being June 20. I received a cancellation notification for this most recent order, so the phrasing in your response referring to my “attempt to order” is misleading — the order was placed successfully and then cancelled during the scheduled pickup window. That part is not up for debate.

I do appreciate that you suggested reaching out to resolve the issue, but your tone throughout the response came off as defensive rather than understanding. This was a clear service failure, and instead of owning that, your reply focused more on denying fault and discouraging negative reviews.

As for the other review you called “fabricated,” the customer made a simple typo (writing 10:15 AM instead of PM), which they corrected — yet they were still accused of lying, even though they were clearly referring to showing up during your posted business hours. That kind of response is unnecessarily hostile and dismissive.

From the way you respond to customer feedback, it’s clear that you tend to shift blame rather than take accountability. A little humility and professionalism would go a long way.

Here are the photos as proof of your two cancellations.

Edit to 2nd response:

*I just want to clarify to anybody reading my second response. The owner edited their 2nd response, took out half of the original reply that I was replying to - which is totally fair because it really put them in a bad light (rude, demanding, dismissive).

To the owners response:

If you’re responding to me I will reply.

If by analyze you mean read your response and responded yes, I absolutely did. At the end of the day the cancellation came from your end, not once but twice. I never leave a negative review unless it is earned - which you can see on my review page which is flooded positive 5 star reviews, and very little negative reviews. I would never go out of my way to hurt a business - all of my reviews come from a fact,...

I walked into Mac Shack at 10:15 AM — the time clearly listed as their opening hour. The doors were unlocked, so I assumed they were open. Instead, I was met by the owner who rudely snapped, “Does it look like we’re open?” because the lights were still off. There was no signage indicating otherwise, and the attitude was completely uncalled for. If you're not ready to serve customers at your posted opening time, lock the door or put up a sign — don’t take it out on people who are just following the hours you advertise. Totally unprofessional, and I won’t be back.

Edit: I apologize for the typo. I meant 10:15 pm. This most definitely did happen. Please do not deny it and lie to your customers. It is also common courtesy to lock your doors if the restaurant is closed. Take this as a lesson to improve your customer service skills as I want you to do better since you are a young...

The service, food selection and quality all absolutely amazing yet unexpected. We came from Toronto late at night looking for a non-Mcburger, pizza pizza or Timmies option in Stittsville. Found this place online and was impressed with the reviews. We called and they picked up right away! Placed an order and was ready at the agreed upon time. They even offered complementary beverages cause I mentioned our kids will be eating. It was still hot and fresh by the time we brought it home. The munchies were delicious and tasty. We ordered jalapeño poppers, deep fried pickles, chicken bites (honey hot!) and onion rings. Every item was incredibly good. They didn’t have any poutine but told us to come back as it’s a must try. We definitely recommend L8 Nite Bites if your GPS can’t find it look up...