Albert's — Restaurant in Red Deer

Went with a five person party for late lunch. Was recommended the riblets + sweet potato fries (server said all meals were great all day). Very disappointing for me, see below -

Riblets - all three riblet servings were overcooked, missing sauce on noticeable sections of the ribs.

Sweet potato fries, regular fries - very good. Simple.

Party had regular burger, juicy but lacked flavour in the meat. Solid overall.

Party had regular chicken burger, very good.

Service:

Reason for two stars instead of three. Server was careless. See below.

While taking orders interrupted one of our elders multiple times while she was ordering to speed things along (not explicitly said, but very clear). Disrespectful at the least.

I requested gravy when I first ordered the ribs, then once they arrived and there wasn’t any provided I requested it again directly to our server. Never received it, was still charged for the gravy separately.

The food check in was another example of the poor service. Our server sped past, said the words “how’s the food?” and didn’t wait to hear her response. Barely a second before she was passed out table. If there was anything we required/wanted while eating, she would’ve never known since she didn’t stick around to hear the answer to her question. One total check in.

Atmosphere:

Very nice. Spacious, not too loud....

Today we decided on Albert's for a birthday brunch, and the service and food we recieved was nothing short of what we've always expected there.

They patiently awaited all 9 people to arrive, served us within moments of sitting down, gave their happy birthdays to the birthday girl each time there was a new server that came round.

We recieved our food within a short amount of time, not expecting it and was pleasantly surprised by it! Our server came by several times, refilling drinks before we were out, making sure everything came out to our specifications, and enjoying some laughs each and every time she was at our table.

At the end of our meal, she brought out a beautiful dessert (a brownie?) complete with a song and candle. It was unexpected, and comped. They also comp'd the birthday girl's meal, making the trip even more enjoyable!

Our server went above and beyond, continually putting off her smoke break (or 15? Not sure) to make sure we were very well taken care of. We had to "order" her to go, as many of our group has worked in customer service of some sort and understand how much a short break can mean. She then came back after and took pictures of our entire group for us, something we haven't had offered at any other...

Absolutely amazing hole in the wall near downtown red deer. The place is family owned and operated and it shows in a good way. The waiting staff are absolutely amazing and very attentive. Our server was Chris and he went above and beyond. He split our salad into two to share, refilled our pops without needing to ask and convinced our mom of the lasagna, making it sound like the best lasagna ever. He was very energetic and made the experience much better. The owner Dave personally came in and checked on us as well and made sure everything was cooked to perfection (it was). Absolutely amazing staff. The food was just as good. Everything had an amazing flavor profile and you can tell it was all made fresh and handmade. For the prices, it was astonishing. It was the same quality of a 5* restraunt with the prices of any other family diner. 10/10 would reccomend and will definitely be dining here again. P.S. the ribs are amazing, as are the...