Swiss Chalet is one of our family default go to places because there's something for everybody. Whether it's chicken different ways, the new rotisserie beef menu or good old fashioned ribs there's options that can satisfy our group. While this isn't one of the normal locations we frequent, we ended up coming to this Financial Drive location in Mississauga because it's very close to my where my relatives live.
We were 7 in total and upon entering we noticed the place wasn't that busy, maybe 25% full if that. I get it that this location is sort of in a business park so perhaps they'd be less traffic on a Sunday evening but still, it's a family restaurant and while we've all been to many Swiss Chalets you come to expect a certain level of service. The busiest Swiss Chalet I know of is in Vaughan on the corner of Rutherford and Weston. That place is packed and it's certainly not usual to have to wait a while to be seated. Even with that you'd expect that to wait a bit for the food but busy places have a way of keeping things going at a respectable rate. Our usual location used to be the Queensway at Kipling but I've switched it to Eglinton and Dixie and both those locations are decent otherwise we wouldn't keep going back. The one on Dixon road by Martin Grove is sort of horrendous. I don't think I'd go back there again.
I bring up all these other locations because while it's a chain and you do have your standard which you expect to be the service and the food there are differences between them. This Financial Drive location looks brand spanking newly renovated. The dining area seems modern and the place actually looks more impressive than some of the older locations. Granted looks can be deceiving and unfortunately they were. While our server took our orders she didn't really take care of us I thought. Drinks were not really looked after, our appetizer came out with the meal and this was all after coming out to tell us because they had a really big take out order, our meals would be delayed. Our appetizer wasn't brought out sooner to help, nothing was offered to us and we weren't even asked if there was anything they could do in the meantime.
Essentially we'd be told we'd have to wait an extra long time while they take care of others. Now don't get me wrong I get it that they staff, prep and cook to expectations and perhaps this "big order" was an exceptional situation that set back the kitchen but it shouldn't have had really any bearing on the service. All in all we'd be waiting over an hour for our food after ordering. That's pretty slow for a place that in reality has limited menu items. I don't believe anybody ordered ribs so our entire table was either rotisserie chicken or beef plates or sandwiches.
My wife wasn't happy that the appetizer (perogies) weren't brought out earlier and I didn't blame her. We weren't asked if it was wanted with the main or not. When my wife said she no longer wanted it when it was brought out the server said she was sorry and that she had thought that my wife wanted it with her main. I had answered that she had ordered a main. The server apologized and said she'd take it off the bill. Later we found out it wasn't taken off the bill but we had to ask for it to be taken off delaying us leaving even. I had to ask my cousin if it was on the bill and it was. If she had paid too fast (she paid for everybody) than it would have been missed.
Basically for Swiss Chalet you know what you're getting as far as the food goes for the most part. You know what to expect right? Well for the service I'd like to think you also expect the same standard which is to be treated like you matter because you're a customer regardless if you're a regular at a particular location or not. I didn't get that feeling on this particular evening (Sunday, September 10th).
I can understand that sometimes servers can be overwhelmed. Honestly this time it didn't seem to be the situation. The place wasn't that busy and regardless it's not a great feeling to feel like you're completely forgotten about or even worse that our time is forfeit or having the impression that we are being "handled" as far as time management or prioritization goes. I don't believe any customer likes to feel like they simply don't matter or that they're not important. That's how my entire family felt that day.