Canyon City Grill — Restaurant in Texas

(edited for clarity) We got food poisoning.

We know it was from this restaurant, it was the only unusual thing we had that day. My mom and I had some of their loaded Texas Tots (no one else in our group had any, just me and her, so we're sure that's it). I'm guessing it was their nacho cheese that did it, maybe bacon bits, or who knows. They tasted fine, pretty good even, but boy we have suffered the past few days since.

We ate Monday night. Tuesday I threw up 7 times from morning through the afternoon, feeling nauseous and aching throughout. My mom suffered the same effects with less vomiting, but plenty of nausea and pain. 3 days later on Thursday, my poor mom is still bed-ridden in pain and nauseous, threw up this morning. I at least feel mostly better now, stomach still easily hurts when I eat. I'm guessing there was a moment where they rushed/skipped a step in their cleanliness process, or maybe let their cheese go bad and still used it, who knows. This doesn't seem to be common but they let it happen once now. I just hope they figure out whatever they did wrong and don't screw their customers over like this again.

Other notes besides food poisoning: -The online ordering system was frustrating. In the section where you select which condiments/toppings to remove, they for some reason list like 20+ items that aren't even on the item to begin with. For example, for a burger that doesn't even have bacon to begin with, they list the option of "No Bacon." So that made it tedious and slow to order online, trying to search for the items that are actually relevant to the order, and needing to remind yourself what actually comes on the dish or not. (a couple of our family members just selected all 18ish things they did not want on it, but then the counter girl told us 'please don't do that again', so trying to speed up your process like that is frowned upon by the restaurant, so hopefully instead just fix their online system).

-They did add on a quick salad to our order last minute when we arrived and asked to have it added. We appreciated the speedy help on that.

-The setting seemed real nice, outdoors with a lot of tables and nice trees and a playground.

-They forgot to prepare the drinks we ordered until she handed us our bags and said 'have a good day' and I said "where are the drinks?" and then they made the drinks after that.

-The food was okay. I had a the Texas Heat Burger and vanilla shake. They were kinda good, like 3.5/5, not really something I would come back again for in regards to TASTE. The food-poisoned loaded tots were tasty but mother of god do I regret...

Food is OK. My problem is if you go to the window to order food "to go," they process your credit card, and then the screen asks for a Tip of either 15, 20 or 25%. I guess this business must pay the workers minimum wage. You want to charge a Tip like this for cooking the food? Absolutely makes no sense. I understand you can go through the screen and choose 0%. But as a business you're putting the customer in a spot where you're saying, in essence: "We expect you to Tip us even if we aren't providing a dining service". This type of "shame billing" is exactly what's wrong with businesses like this. I understand if you're dining at the facility and maybe you bring it out (which you don't), but sitting in a room and doing nothing doesn't deserve tipping. Won't return and highly suggest everyone else avoid this establishment. If the owner cannot afford to pay a good wage then they don't need to be in business. And one more thing. If the owner was really concerned about his employees and allowed tipping at his establishment so that they could have more money, then he would raise the cost on everything on the menu 10%, and divide it equally among all employees. But he doesn't because the truth is He doesn't actually care for the employees.

Edit: As you can see from the "Owners" rant reply, HE FAILS TO ADDRESS THE COMPLAINT. It's OK to have a Tip "option" but putting it on the main screen forcing you to navigate through additional windows IS the problem. A simple little icon saying "TIP?" Y or N would suffice. This is shame billing as defined by the Department of Labor. Look it up. And while his statements seem to convey concern about his employees; "cooks, working extreme heat"... the reality is his his lowest employee makes $10/hr. while the Texas food service worker makes an AVERAGE of $17.55. Facts are facts. I stand...

I really want to give this place 5 stars but shouldn’t. Firstly, my food was over 30 minutes late. Granted it’s Fourth of July weekend and this place is super busy. Probably not the best choice to try it for the first time, as I got stuck in traffic because of the tourists. I ordered online and did my best to arrive on time, only to be told they hadn’t even made my food yet and they were running behind.

I wasn’t sure how they operate so I would just check back in every 10 minutes or so. The order windows were completely shut and I couldn’t reach anybody for several minutes. I guess they were super busy cooking, because I just stood there at a closed window for a long time. There was even a phone number and email to contact if there was problems, and I was thinking maybe they had closed at some point during my wait. I didn’t want to keep bothering them for my overdue order but I wasn’t sure if they were just gonna let it sit there too. I think it was poor communication from a very busy kitchen and I’ll just accept it as that.

The burger was delicious. I went to San Antonio and had a burger a few days ago and it didn’t satisfy my cravings. Canyon City grill burgers totally satisfied my craving. I can’t believe how good it was!! It was worth the hassle and wait and I will definitely return.

Another thing that bothered me was my fries were black although still delicious. I was surprised how burnt my fries were but they were still edible and actually quite good. Can’t wait to try the fries on a normal day.

We also ordered tots and onion rings for the wife and kids and they loved them. The onion rings are really great here.

Overall, I would come back here just for the burgers alone. Best burger in the canyon lake area that I have tried. I’ll be back with my family next time we want a...