Tutti Frutti breakfast & lunch — Restaurant in Ottawa

If only i could give a zero star. Customer service was atrocious. We are a black family of four. My husband and i and two kids. Walked in and waited at the door. I saw two staff milling about and other attending to customers at a table, they just looked at us when we walked in and said nothing.Anyway after waiting and glancing around to be acknowledged a young lady walked up to me and asked how many we were and proceeded to show us a table. The table she took is to was right in the middle of the restaurant in a high traffic area right in front of the food service area. So i looked around saw an empty corner booth by the window and asked for that table. She said sure problem. She proceed to direct us to the table but soon discovered that the table was messy as patrons had left and the table was not yet clean and ready new customers. She quickly turned around sighed and directed us to sit at a different corner table not by a window at all and with no polite explanation like "oh the table you want is messy can i sit you at this table instead. She did not say anything along those words she simply directed us to sit at a different table. I then said "no i would like to sit at the table by the window, its dirty could you please clean it?" She stared and then walked away. She sighed and huffed and proceeded to clean the table. All this while sharing her thoughts and feelings with other staff members, who all eventually congregated around the service area, kept looking at our direction, snickering and making comments. While we were standing right there still waiting to be seated. We witnessed the whole thing. Finally when the table was ready she approached us directed us to the table. I thanked her but asked to speak to a manager before taking our seats. It turns out the manager was part of the staff that was snickering and staring at us. I informed her that we just wanted to sit at the booth by the window and enjoy our breakfast but for some reason this request has turned into an open snickering fest by her staff. Instead of asking me what happened, the manager proceeded to tell me that the reason why her staff was snickering was that i has used the words "no i want that table and i want you to clean it now." I tried in so many ways to explain to the manager that yes i did ask the hostess to clean the table but i did not use the word "now" and did not demand that she clean the table. I denied her second table offer, and asked if could please clean the table. In no way would i demand that someone do something and use the word "now"...the manager simply "replied that her hostess was a sweet young 16 year old and had never known her to lie" then i replied with "so that means that you are calling me a liar". I informed that manager that she still hasn't bothered to ask me my side of the story. She said she didn't need to as other staff heard the exchange. She proceeded to call one staff who witnessed the exchange but the staff couldn't and wouldn't confirm that i used the word "now". She then asked the hostess to confirm but simply stated that she did not recall that i used the words "now" but that she found my request rude and did not appreciate being spoken to in that manner. At this point the whole interaction had turned into bizarre i cant believe this is happening scenario for our family so we decided to leave and dined at allo coco on woodroffe ave. Customer service experience and food was excellent. It made our family forget the whole bizarre and atrocious experience at tuitti fruitti. Not sure if it was a race and culture thing. Whatever it was, it was poorly handled by the manager. If service is poor and staff are rude it is a result of poor management, and we experienced that in the worst way at this establishment yesterday . All i can say is that i am never stepping into that particular restaurant or any tuitti fruitti's again as this is how they treat their patrons, especially those who are of a different race and culture.

Get...

Today was a lovely sunny Sunday morning, we felt so excited to begin our day by trying for the first time breakfast from Tutti Frutti. I ordered through the Skip app for a pickup.

I almost got home empty handed as I was told my order didn't go through despite trying to show my order confirmation pickup number on Skip.

As I entered the restaurant, one of the staff approached me and as I mention 'pickup', instead of giving me my order, she referred me to this guy behind the counter (whom I believe is the boss of this restaurant). He just refused to check or confirm my order number but told me instead that their 'online order' has closed for 2 days and that my order didn't go through and insisted that my payment didn't go through as well.

I'm obviously puzzled as I know Skip orders require confirmation from restaurants so customers know that their orders have been confirmed and are being made.

For some reason, this guy just continue to assure me that my online order didn't go through and that I didn't pay for my food, without listening to the fact that I continued to tell him to look at my Skip confirmation and that this restaurant, whoever it was, confirmed my order! He then tells me I can replace the order and wait for it to be done.

I went back into my car to double check my bank account whether the payment has been made. And sure enough it has!

So I went back in again, this time along with my adult daughter who has been waiting in the car, to show proof of payment of my order.

Long story short, this guy once again shouted from the behind the counter that they don't have my order and that I should check my order date.

Another lady came and checked my order date which is today, and tells me that they'll make my order immediately.

Immediately, one of the staff took my Skip order to me and confirmed that all this while my order was already ready on the pickup table for pickup orders!

Boss guy continues to say in self-defence that he thought that I meant 'online order' being orders made on their website which they've closed. And the lady had to tell him that ordering through Skip is an 'online order' as well.

I conclude that:

This boss guy has an arrogant, self righteous, prejudiced attitude which I think is harmful for any kind of business. Being busy or swamped is a lousy excuse for bad service. He was prejudiced from the beginning and assumed that I 'ordered online' and didn't pay. How could I possibly make online orders on your website when you yourself said you closed all website online orders?! If you think I ordered on your website and mistook the date, you could have confirmed it with me where my order is from, if my order date is correct, etc. That is customer service. This guy just didn't want to listen to the fact that I continuously mention Skip order and just assumed my order didn't go through! Obviously if a customer says they've paid for an order for pickup, you need to confirm what that order is. Too busy for that? Get a staff to serve me instead of just telling me off that I didn't make an order and worst, that I didn't pay!

The whole situation could've been avoided if staff is well-trained and had led me to the pickup table instead of referring me to the boss guy and cause this whole mess. Excuse that the staff is 'new staff' is a lousy excuse. You already have a system for a pickup table, so use that system! Your staff need to know where to get their pickup orders!

*P/s: My daughter wanted McDonald's breakfast in the first place this morning and I told her we should support our local small business eatery and try out this restaurant instead. I don't have complaints with the food, but honestly this bad customer service experience has ruined the food experience.

Also, upon double checking our order receipt, the multigrain toast is missing from the...

UPDATE (2023-10): Tutti Fruitti has now become our favourite local restaurant, especially for breakfast. We go there for almost all special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, Father's Day & Mother's Day)

We have especially enjoyed the "special" seasonal menus for Strawberry Fest, Apple Fest, and the like

One small tip: as mentioned below, there is a Seniors' Discount on Tuesdays (of 15 % off). Be sure to check your bill before paying it. Occasionally, it does not get applied

Enjoy!!

Having enjoyed my first visit a few weeks ago, I returned today with my wife

Here are a couple tips we learned from this visit:

1. if you're not aware, Tutti Frutti provides seniors a discount on Tuesdays

2. should the Healthy Breakfast ($ 12.75) sound appealing to you, you could always consider the Fresh Fruit and Eggs as an alternative choice. For the same price, you get essentially the same meal EXCEPT the former has one poached egg and cottage cheese while the latter has two eggs that are prepared any style - so, presumably you can order poached eggs if that's what you prefer

3. on this visit, I ordered the Eggs Benedict. My wife makes incredible Eggs Benedict (EB) and, as a consequence, one or both of us has ordered EB at more than two dozen different restaurants around Ontario, across Canada and the US. Though the EB from these various restaurants have never been as good as that made by my wife (and, in fact, many have been very disappointing), Tutti Frutti's EB is the BEST we've found, though still not as good as my wife's (the Hollandaise sauce needs more lemon)

4. their chef who prepares the EB knows how to poach eggs. I was given the choice of having my eggs prepared either firm, medium or soft; and they were delivered just as I ordered

5. in my earlier review (below), I noted that I was surprised by how little fruit was included in the meals offered. I'm not certain if the menu has changed since my first visit or I just overlooked this on the menu; BUT a fair number of menu items include the option to replace part of your order with a "mountain of fresh fruit", so I stand corrected

6. finally, as for the restaurant's COVID protection and response measures: they record a name (first only) and phone number for each dining party; you MUST wear a mask at the time of entering, leaving and any other time you move around the restaurant (e.g.: going to the washroom); and the tables are well and comfortably spaced out. A few tables are even large enough that you could share it with another couple who are NOT in your "bubble" while maintaining social distancing of 2 m (Previous review from 2020-08)

This place has a very pleasant, sunny atmosphere. It is fully accessible and has lots of free parking available. It also does NOT require reservations

They have a broad range of options for their breakfast menu. The one surprising detail was that there aren't more fruit-based options, given their name. Should you really want to lean into lots of fruit in your meal, I would suggest you find the nearest Cora's

But, if you didn't have your heart set on lots of fruit and you don't want to wait in the lineups at Broadways, Tutti Frutti won't disappoint. Good food. Good service. Bright...