The Great Canadian Bagel — Restaurant in Pickering

Went for a bagel (and a reminder of my usual pre-pandemic routine) - ordered a toasted Cheddar Jalapeño bagel with cream cheese: $4.20.

The cream cheese was fine but the bagel was still partially raw dough inside.

Great Canadian Bagel used to be the best around - now they're a study of a business in decline.

What a shame.

Edit: please see the response from GCB below. Instead of apologizing & making a commitment to improve, they've chosen to attack me for not keeping my concerns private.

Again, a textbook example of how to fumble a missed opportunity to retain one of their most loyal and longstanding customers.

Instead, they're chosen to blame the customer and imply cowardice in a feeble attempt to deflect.

How much better to devote half of that energy into, for instance, actually cooking the dough they try to pass off as food?

Business owners like this are precisely why Google Reviews are so valuable.

(If you're headed downtown, check out the CGB at Bay-Adelaide Centre- THAT franchisee knows how to live up to...

I've been a loyal customer of theirs for about 2 years now. I find it mind boggling that a number of these reviews criticize their pricing. Please consider this - these bagels do not arrive on a truck, pre-made and frozen. They are made DAILY and by hand - in other words made with LOVE hence why they taste amazing... every single time. Same reason why someone would be willing to purchase a $7 latte made by a barista rather than a $4 latte made by the pressing of a button and served up by someone who barely acknowledges your existence. You're not only paying for the product, you're paying for the experience.

If you are, or become a regular, you can expect superior service every time. They will learn your name, your order and shoot the breeze with you while you wait for your order. I'll pay the extra $2 bucks to have someone who greets me at the door and prepares my food with attention and...

I’m heading there now for breakfast and hope all these reviews are not as I read. I take a bagel with no veggies cus of stomach issues. Ajax puts in extra bacon instead of veggies lol. 5 stars for now until I return. 2stars now. K I’m back and I now know the difference between Ajax and this one, Ajax is tan by an older couple and they decorate the store and bring life into it with flowers/plants and the place is spic and span clean. Plus they are well lit and have soft music unlike this Pickering one. You still get your sandwich but not the cleanest at the seating area and looks like a dungeon lol why does it feel like you just opened but not really ? And change your gloves. Why you touching iPad for the virtual order and then the meat ? But then Again McDonald’s and others touch everything so….. there you have it. Sandwich YES but like grandmas...