Harvey's — Restaurant in Red Deer

I went in last night. I will address a few topics. Design and layout: very poorly layed out. It is an interesting set-up, but definitely not practical or well thought through. Almost seems like they didn't expect a lot of customers to be coming in. The ordering area is very crowded. The sitting area is alright, although slightly oddly set up also. Cleanliness and visual appeal: the ordering area looks nice. The walls are well decorated. The sitting area was not clean, condiment area lacking variety or else empty (no standard condiments or ice in pop machine) tables not wiped off, garbage overflowing. Atmosphere: almost too loud, but silent at the same time. I couldn't really hear much, but on the other hand there also seemed to be no sound. It was odd, almost painful. It felt very stuffy and uncomfortable. The sitting area felt dungy and the ordering area felt over crowded. Service: very slow. Food: not really sure, I only had fries and a pop as I was not feeling well (which the fries needed ketchup) Staff: This is where I would like to focus on. Observing the staff, I would say that they are not well trained. When I first walked in, there was only 2 staff working in the front area. They definitely needed at least 3 and one to go clean and restock the sitting area. I would not blame the staff for the poor service. It is one thing to be trained to help 1 customer at a time, but when there are 8-10 customers at once, this can be very nerve wracking. If you set up your employees for success, your business will succeed. They needed more support on the job. I don't believe I really saw one person who was experienced at the job. It is important to have at least one experienced person on the floor to direct and encourage staff. When you don't train your employees well, you are setting them and your business up for failure. I was very tempted to ask them if I could help out in order to get things running smoothly and quickly. The one guy in the corner mainly doing the toppings, seemed to be completely out of nerves, or maybe was very jumpy with them. It would have been beneficial to give him a few minutes to get his bearings back and then place him back on the floor. I would like to especially give a shoutout to the girl who was working last night. I wanted to get her name, but didn't because I didn't want a group of rather rude people to know it. Although she seemed to be quite nervous, she was very friendly and helpful. She put up with the people who were rude quite well! I watched as she just continued to smile and moved on to the next order. Given proper support and training, she would do well in her job. She was very considerate and I would say she has a kind heart. I am mainly pointing her out to give her encouragement. I have been in the situation she was in before and it is not easy. I would say that she could become an excellent manager some day if she wanted to. She reminded me a lot of myself when I first started working, and I was VERY impressed with her attitude and professional conduct. Another thing I would like to address is customer attitude. It does not help to be rude. Every negative word you speak only serves to SLOW down service and make the employees feel like failures. If you have never worked in customer service, you should keep your mouth shut. A smile and encouraging words go a LONG way in helping service speed and helps employees to not feel like trash. You might be upset with your service, but you talking outloud bad about it and very rudely, only shows your character. Have the grace to be polite or else find the door and go somewhere else.

The five stars are not for the place itself (which I actually would not give a star to). They are for the girl who provided outstanding service, had an exceptional attitude, and who will exceed in all that she does! Congratulations and...

Mattie is the most outstanding food service worker I have ever encountered. Coming from a big city like Toronto, I've dined at countless restaurants, and Mattie's stellar customer service truly stands out. For a while, I struggled to redeem my Scene points due to issues with Swiss Chalet's phone representatives and even the Scene department itself. Mattie, however, went above and beyond. He discovered my problem and graciously allowed me to order and redeem my points at the restaurant. Since then, he's been consistently courteous and efficient every time I call to place an order. Honestly, without Mattie, I doubt I'd still be a Swiss Chalet or Harvey's customer in Red Deer. The phone service is subpar, and even in-restaurant ordering can sometimes be a challenge. This isn't to criticize the other staff, but rather to emphasize Mattie's exceptional work. He deserves a management position; it would be shocking if he weren't already in a supervisory role. I can't say enough good things about him. Thank you, Mattie, for making so many evenings for my family and me so much smoother. You're a true gem for Swiss Chalet, Harvey's,...

So I love Harvey's. Took my wife and daughter there for their first Harvey's expierence. The layout is super awkward with the tills one one wall with Swiss Chalet menu above, then the Harvey's on the other wall. The manager was helping and running one of the tills, but he had to keep asking the staff how to ring anything in. The other cashier rang three people through in the time it took us to get through.

Next up, no milk or juice boxes for kids meal, even though it is on the sign. Also didn't get an activity book as advertised but I can live with that. We watched as staff learned who to properly wrap a hot dog in paper from the elderly couple beside us. Several customers had to give instructions on wrapping food to the staff.

Once we sat down I found out their are no ketchup packs by the hidden soda machine and you have to ask at the counter where they make your burger. My wife's burger tastes like a whole box of salt was in it.

The one advantage is avacado is free. Maybe in a couple months most of these issues will...