Chicken Chef — Restaurant in Winnipeg

Chicken Chef on Marion Street used to be a real family owned franchise. I have lived in St. Boniface for many years and used to order food from the restaurant or eat in at least twice a month. I always enjoyed my dining experiences there. Portions were generous. Baked goods were often made on-site, including cheesecake. The quality of the food was worth the reasonable prices. Approximately four years ago the former owner retired and sold the business to new franchise owners. The new franchise owners had previously owned fast-food franchises and it is apparent in the way they run the restaurant. They appear to be concerned only with profit and very little with customer satisfaction. The portion sizes have shrunk and food quality is much lower while the prices have gone up significantly. I used to enjoy the fish dinner but now the quality of the cod is extremely poor and it is cooked in cheaper oil. It tastes like the fryers are not cleaned often enough. The restaurant is understaffed and the staff overworked. Despite that, they do their best to be polite and courteous as always, but they are working with less, which is not their choice. The franchise owners are so cheap with the food that they’ve managed to find tray dinner rolls that are half the size of normal ones. Napkins are not automatically included with any delivery orders. Many of the former menu items were replaced. The poutine is not made with cheese curds which, given a central St. Boniface location, is bad form. Having been to other Chicken Chef restaurants around the city, I can say the problems are particular to this location. The owners should take regular customer commentary into consideration in running their restaurant, given the competitive nature of the restaurant business. It’s good to keep especially loyal and local customers happy. Right now I’m not that at all, and wouldn’t choose to dine in or take out from this location unless changes were...

It's been about a year since my review. The restaurant was bought by new owners, I believe, a week ago and OMG, what a difference! The food is cooked properly, in the correct oil, fresh, and most importantly, delicious. It's what Chichen Chef should be, like it was before the previous owner took over and cut corners. The atmosphere seems better, happier, and there seemed to be more customers.

Like I had mentioned in my previous post, I've been coming to Chicken Chef for decades, it's a great family restaurant and I'm glad the quality is back.

----‐-------‐----------‐ Since the new owner took over the quality has gone way downhill. First off, they do not change their oil enough, the fried food is gross. The oil on the fries often looks brown and burnt and has a rancid taste, and not changing oil enough is extremely unhealthy for the customers. The dinner rolls are a complete joke, they're bit-sized, as in it's literally just one bite of bun and that's it. Their portions are ridiculous, there's a particular person who I believe owns or is related to the owner who is so cheap with her portions. With the prices they charge, she has no business robbing the customers of the portions they pay for. I ordered a Caesar salad and asked for more dressing because I couldn't taste it. I got more but still couldn't taste it, I dipped my finger in the dressing and it tasted like mayo. I honestly think they diluted it or something. I had a friend once get a BLT and after taking a bite he thought the restaurant might have forgotten to put on the tomato....but that so wasn't the case, the tomato was cut so thin it was almost see-through. I guess they forgot that a tomato isn't a garnish but a main event with a BLT. I could go on.

And the poor workers, so understaffed.

It's unfortunate, my partner and I have been going to this location for decades but it's not worth it anymore. Even if the prices dropped, the food isn't any...

We order from this Marion any time we want good fried chicken. Often will we just stop in to grab some buns and gravy for a snack with dinner because they're delicious. We typically will get the pizza and chicken combo which we did the evening prior to me writing this review. We had got the large pizza and 9 PC chicken combo for just my girlfriend and myself. That's a lot of food for 2 people. Understandably we didn't finish everything. Not even 24 hrs later we are eating left overs and sadly we find what could be a piece of wrapper or paper towel. We were a bit grossed out and called to let them know. Usually it's been my experience that's when something is found in your food the place you ordered from will try to make up for it by offering a replacement or partial replacement. They wouldn't help at because it wasn't the same day we ordered. We had ordered close to closing time the night before so even if we did find something while we were eating it fresh, no one would have been there to take our call to complain then. It's sad because I don't know if the one on Marion is closed permanently but I will not be...