The Twisted Lizard — Restaurant in Town of Carstairs

I had to change my 5 star review of this place today. I regret this as I don't usually leave bad reviews as it can be harmful to other point of view, but in this case I think it's important.

We have been long time customers of this place, but the last 3 times we have had the same results. We entered for lunch on our way home from the city and ordered a very simple soups and sandwiches for lunch. We were not told of major issues in table serve times before we ordered, which can be understood but as a business that is focused on food service it is important to get that right. After 30 mins from order placement we got 2 of our soups, after another 45 mins we still had not got our sandwiches, at this point we asked where our food was and was told that the kitchen has been backed up, and it was coming, we sat there another 10 mins and decided that this was taking to long and decided that we would leave. When we confronted the staff about this they blamed it on a large group who had already ordered and ate and left prior to our order which we watched as this took place. We where not the only ones who left due to this, 3 other groups had done so as well in the time we sat there waiting. What really was our deciding factor on this was watching 2 other table enter and order and receive there lunch order before we had even been given our food. To add to this our meal was canceled and the staff said that they would comp our bowls of soup and 1 fountain pop, and unfortunately because it is a small place we could hear the staff ask kitchen if they had made our order yet, surprise no.

I would like to point out that the food here is really good, but if you are planning on attending this place, plan for it to be hours before you are served, and I would suggest to bring snacks...

Food: pretty solid. Wings are the best in carstairs, but not the best around. Lots of flavors. Good size portions. Burgers are good, but small considering the price. The fries are very good, poutines too. We did both get sick off the chicken after eating here one night. Bad enough we missed work the next day, but have been back since and were hoping it was a one time thing.

Drink: if you're into "normal" beers, the draught selection is not for you. Its more of a craft or local tap, none of which sound good to a normal beer person. But they have bottles of the major brands which is a save. Not really into mixed drinks but the caesars are pretty good.

Pricing: on the high side for what you get comparatively. We always seem to miss happy hour unless its sunday, but the beer pricing is comparable to anywhere else you go.

Specials: every day is a different special. Thursdays are an extended burger menu.

Atmosphere: its a younger crowd mostly. they play good music, but they gotta turn it down to a level where you dont need to yell across the table to have a conversation. We have avoided this place certain nights just because of this. You get a table yelling because they cant hear over the music, then the next table is yelling over the other table etc etc. You have to be feeling it.

Service: friendly and always working. Haven't seen any employee just standing around. it can be a little slow during busy times, Food has always come out quick once ordered. I would probably ask for a second drink earlier than normal though. Im guessing its a pain to gauge how full a dark bottle is from across the room. over a glass.

I would give this place 5 stars if the pricing was more down to earth and the music wasn't...

I was really excited to come in yesterday considering I have heard nothing but good things about Twisted Lizard. I came here with my friends (group of 4) and it took 15 minutes for our beverages to come out and took 25 minutes for our waters. We all ordered our food, wings and bruschetta as our appies and then 2 orders of chicken fingers with a caesar salad and 2 orders of burgers with fries on the side. It took 40 minutes for the appies to come out and it was not overly busy as tables who were sat after us got their food and beverages a lot faster. From where we sat we could look into the kitchen and noticed the cooks touching their face, hair and even eating the food off of the plates under the hot table than continuing to plate new plates with unclean hands. Very unprofessional and unsanitary. After waiting an hour AFTER the appies, we began to grow impatient and more hungry as we kept being told it was coming. We were almost ignored by any waitress when it came to refreshments, had no water for 20 minutes or any beverage for that matter. Which would have been more acceptable if the 6 waitresses that had been working weren't standing around chatting with one another and eating food off of plates. We ended up leaving cash for the appies on the table because that food certainly was not coming and we completely lost any appetite after witnessing how much food they touched without washing their hands. I understand it is still a new place, but this was unacceptable for a restaurant and the customer service industry. Would not be returning or recommending...