Shack Breakfast & Lunch — Restaurant in Valley Park

This is a disappointing location. Like all Shack locations, the food and drinks are delicious. However, the inconsistent service makes it very difficult to enjoy a good brunch here.

For example, my husband and I just finished brunch. It was a busy Sunday morning. We signed up for the waitlist online at approximately 9:30 am, got to this location at approximately 10 am, and were told we’d be sat in about 30 minutes, around 10:30 am. We enjoyed our complimentary coffee (which we got the last of, we didn’t see it be refilled after we notified the host), and looked at the menu online to pass the time.

Around 50 minutes later we still hadn’t been texted or heard our name called, so I went up to the host to ask for an update. The host advised she sent me a text previously that our table was ready, but since we didn’t come up to the host stand, she moved past our name. I had my phone in my hand for the entire wait looking at the menu online (it’s a big and creative menu) and I never received a single text. I also didn’t hear the host even attempt to call our name once we didn’t respond to our text message. For what it’s worth, I didn’t hear the host call anyone’s name while we were waiting, so that makes me feel like it’s a policy that they’ll only text you instead of making an effort to confirm if the party is still there. FWIW, I think that’s lazy and a bad policy. After I told the host that I never received a text or heard her call my name, she immediately sat us which I appreciate. The host was also nice during this encounter—just disorganized.

Once we were sat, our table was sticky with syrup from a prior guest. We were greeted quickly and placed our entire order with our server (Deb in the bar area). After I used hand sanitizer and the napkins available in our silverware roll to clean the syrup, I asked our server to bring more napkins, which we eventually got. My water glass (already at the table when we were sat) was dirty, and I had to wait until our food arrived before our server brought me a straw for the water.

Although we ordered cocktails immediately after being greeted, we didn’t get our cocktails until after our food arrived (despite being sat at the bar area high tops). The cocktails were delicious! If we received them in a timely manner, I would’ve loved to have more than one.

Our food arrived and was mostly correct: my husband’s omelette was missing sour cream and my eggs were overcooked and my quinoa bowl was missing avocado. Despite those issues, the food was delicious. We’ve never had anything we dislike at The Shack.

Overall, our meal was about $70 before tip. The food and drinks were delicious, but incomplete and took a very long time to receive. After this last visit, we’ve decided to give this location a break and drive out of the way to go to the Frontenac...

This was my first time ordering from The Shack. I don’t normally go for standard American-style eateries for breakfast, but I decided to give it a go at the recommendation of my partner who really enjoys the food. However, I will not be coming back. My first question is, why offer breakfast options outside of the norm like the “healthier habits” section if you’re not even going to attempt to make it taste good? I got the Brussels and eggs skillet option and should have known right away that something was amiss. Brussels sprouts for breakfast, with bruschetta-style tomatoes? Sounds strange. But I gave it a chance and got it with chicken sausage, sub hash browns, and no cheese. Upon picking up my order (this was carry out), it already looked less like a skillet and more like a gloop of stuff just tossed together. Once I opened the container, I noticed that there was no chicken sausage. I called the restaurant and was told they were out, so the kitchen should have given me regular sausage, or I could get veggie sausage - I can come back and pick it up or they can remake my order. Why wasn’t I called while they were still making the food and told this? I’m already home and missing a key component of my meal, but now is when I get to choose which alternative to take. I don’t eat regular or veggie sausage, so I told the hostess nvm, and added my own from home. Then, the actual taste test. This was the most bland and disgusting concoction of ingredients I’ve ever had. The eggs had no salt/pepper or anything, and they were still wet. That combined with the distinct taste of Brussels sprouts, wet tomatoes, and onions (all of which also had no seasoning), made the hash browns on the bottom soggy and mushy. The whole thing was a disaster. I had to add my own salt, pepper, and seasoning, my own meat, and extra veggies bc they also seemed to leave out the bell peppers - for a meal I paid $12 for. I decided to eat half (the one with my own additions) and ended up tossing the rest from the restaurant in the trash. As much as I hate wasting food, I knew there was no way I would eat this again later. All in all, this sucked, plain and simple. Since I ate half, I won’t seek a refund, but I will let people know to not order this. I guess going outside of the usual bacon, eggs, pancakes, and oj breakfast...

Food and ambience was great, sadly I left with a bitter aftertaste.

I had ordered the "Shack Coffee" which comes with a mini-doughnut on top.

When I received my drink after a few sips I noticed the doughnut was missing so I thought "no big deal, they probably forgot, I'll mention it to our waiter"

She comes back and tells me "umm we are out of mini doughnuts, it's only a doughnut but would you like something else to drink instead?"

At this point everything is fine and honestly I'm not feeling this drink anymore as it's not what I ordered (I've taken 3 sips) so I ask if I could have a smoothie instead.

"I mean a doughnut is what.. 50 cents? and a smoothie costs a lot more"

I just felt confused as she just offered me a new drink, instead she offers me the other coffee drink but at this point I'm just over it, I told her it's fine and that I'll keep my drink.

I did not want to bother at this point as I otherwise had such a great time with my family but her demeanor (Deb was her name) when she herself offered a different drink and belitted my experience when I gave her a suggestion felt so off-putting and left me with a bitter aftertaste.

It's one thing when you have "one of those" customers but when you do not receive what you ordered and are made to feel like you are the problem when you ask for a simple way to make things feel right after ordering a $9 dollar drink is such a shame.

I want to say I'll definitely be coming back as I loved the restaurant, fun menu and ambience but at the moment I...