Allan's Fireside Grill — Restaurant in Saugeen Shores

I usually never write reviews for a restaurant because I understand no business would strive for a negative review. If the service or food is bad anywhere - it could be a personal liking and people should experience for themselves to make an opinion about the place and hence I do not give reviews . I have been to Allan’s many times and always had a good time there. But for the first time in 10 years, I had to write about my experience with the manager of the place. If I had an option to give negative stars I would have done that because the manager definitely earned it. He was taking care of the seating arrangement and was extremely rude and full of attitude and arrogance. I would never go back to this place just because of him and have nothing towards the restaurant itself. If a restaurant wants to hire a person like him and keep him in the front with such an attitude - my sympathies are with the owner of the restaurant.

We were a party of 11. I had called to make reservations the previous day (June 14th, 2023 @6pm) and the lady on the phone said no reservations were being accepted for the summer and they only did walk ins. I again wanted to make sure if a party of 11 could be accommodated easily if we walked in and the lady was confident enough to say we will surely be seated no matter how big the party is. I hoped the lady would have cautioned us there could be chances of a long wait. We would have planned in a better way to go to another place and not take a chance of waiting. But the lady was so confident we would get a table easily. So without a doubt we stuck to our plans of going to Allan’s.

The next day ( June 15th, 2023 @6pm) we go there for dinner and the first host (a polite guy) said we have 2 large groups who have been booked and hence the wait would be an hr. I was taken aback as it looked like reservations were being accepted and asked if I could speak to the manger because I was told no reservations were being accepted and wanted to know why our reservation wasn’t accepted. The manager came with full attitude and arrogance and I questioned why we weren’t given better information regarding the availability/ reservation of the table. And his reply with absolute arrogance was ‘we can’t do anything about it, there are 2 large groups booked so it’ll be an hr wait and yes we are not taking reservations’ with a blank face. He basically indicated you can go elsewhere if you wish. None of their reasoning made sense. There was absolute no politeness, no apologies for misleading information given over the phone call/ in person. If this is the way a manager treats the customers he is definitely in the wrong place and I really hope he wasn’t the owner too. Anyways, it’s a never going back there for me only because I do not want to face such an unpleasant...

I was here a couple of years ago, and had the ribs. apparently, these are supposed to be the best ribs around. I received the ribs to the table, took a bite, and the ribs were like sawdust. I tried another rib, and the same thing, very dry. I asked to speak to the owner, and Allan came over. I explained that the ribs were very dry and overdone. he asked me; "did you try one from the middle of the rack"? I kind of chuckled and told him that I didn't know that I was only to expect a good rib from the middle only, and to expect that the ends were supposed to be terrible.He then raised his voice at me and stated; "no one has EVER complained about my ribs!" Then took my plate away and left in a huff. I even heard him loudly telling his staff in the kitchen that some guy was complaining about HIS ribs. It seems the owner thinks he has the best food around, when it is not that great at all. Others I know that have eaten here from out of town, told me the same thing. food is not that good. It also seems that he is even on here arguing with the negative reviews that people post. The truth is what customers write is how they feel about their experience. As a GOOD business owner would do, he would look at the complaints, and take them seriously, and listen to them, instead of being insulted. and trying to back peddle defending his food that customers are NOT that happy with. Attitudes like this have sunk many a business in the past, and Allans is not exempt from possibly becoming another business that may fail because the owner thinks there is no problems with his menu and pricing. Listen to your feedback, and take heed, your customers have spoken, and you need to listen, or become another failed restaurant in the industry of food service. I work here as a contractor, and have MANY fellow workers and friends who come here to work. we all avoid this place because of the quality and poor attitude of the owner. I live in Toronto, and spend a lot of time on the road, and have been to more restaurants of every kind and price range than you have ever been to. and quite frankly, your restaurant, is not as good as you think it is.

Change your attitude, or...

My family (party of 8) and I ate here this evening and unfortunately had a terrible end to our visit. Multiple people at the table ordered a steak, 2 of which were fine but my husband's was not good. The char marks were barely visable and there was no seasoning (not even salt and pepper)on the meat. Multiple people at the table tried a bite and it was not seasoned like the other dishes. While it was a good cut of meat it was very bland. My husband asked the waiter if something could be done about it (ex. Replaced, discount), she said she would ask the manager. She returned multiple times but never mentioned the issue. By the time we had a chance to ask her about it again someone at the table had already paid. My husband was charged full price for his meal and had half his meal taken away. I spoke to the manager(who said he has 35 years experience in the industry), who said nothing could be done, they wouldnt replace it or give a discount. That is not acceptable.

After repeatedly trying to explain the situation to him, saying this was a very bad way of doing business, he pulled $10 from his wallet as a discount. While I appreciate getting some money back I shouldn't have had to argue. I too work in the industry and have been taught to correct problems even when the customer may be wrong. We were a big table, almost everyone was happy with their meal yet they refused to do anything to improve the bad dish my husband received? That's a shame. Customer service is a big part of...