Kelseys Original Roadhouse

Reviews

• JL

  Jenny Loud

  3 days ago
  2.0
  We didn’t have a great experience at this Kelsey’s on Upper James. It took an hour to receive our food, and the chicken on the Caesar salad was undercooked. Service was slow especially when it came to getting drinks. The overall experience felt disorganized. To top it off, a kitchen staff member came out from the kitchen wearing pajamas. Looked like he just rolled out of bed, which was surprising. They did offer us a free dessert as an apology, which we appreciated, and it ended up being the best part of the meal. Unfortunately, based on this visit, we wouldn’t return to this location.
• CR

  Collin Rayment

  Apr 3, 2026
  2.0
  Too hot inside! It felt like 28 Celsius! I do not think they had any ventilation or a/c running when the building was full of people. The bar was rarely attended to - was very hard to get refills on drinks at the bar thru the evening. The waiters and bartenders were prioritizing table orders over the bar and was very difficult to get any service from the waiters when the bartender was somewhere else. Saw the bartender taking table orders - not sure why when almost everybody's drinks were empty at the bar. I gave my ID to the bartender and asked to go outside for a cigarette - came back in and my beer that was 3/4 full was cleared from the table and I had to re-order which took longer than any other place and they still had my ID! That was quite funny - lack of communication from what seems to be an under-staffed restaurant. On the other hand - you could tell the waiters were over-worked but they were always very positive and pleasant to talk to and they looked great! I tipped 15% of the total because of this and also the food was AWESOME and delivered FAST! They need to run their a/c at a lower setting because it was very uncomfortable inside and need to have the bartender *stay at the bar to serve customers*. The guy next to me was double-billed for his beer because the bartender forgot which special was on for Thursday. The building was new and looked great although things were knocked over on the closed-patio next to the front door (could have been cleaned up) and the hello sign at the front had a few bulbs burnt out. *need to hire additional staff* I believe all of these problems including the a/c are out of control for the staff and are problems for management to handle which is why I still tipped 15% :)
• AB

  Andrea B

  Apr 1, 2026
  1.0
  We went for a paint night and went a half hour early to grab a bite of food. That’s what we thought was going to happen but it didn’t. I was waiting at the front for someone to seat me and then my friend came and no one came to seat us. A crowd of people started gathering at the door waiting for a table. I stood there more than 15 minutes without someone coming to seat us so I sat us ourselves tired of standing at the door. The paint instructor was there so we went to a table she was setting up. We still had no service. I noticed there were only three people working the entire restaurant. It was really bad as that included the bartender. It was well after 7pm when we were supposed to start the painting and still we had no one come take our order. Our instructor took our order for us! She does NOT work at the restaurant. It was a sad state of affairs. We got out food and drinks closer to 8pm and weren’t able to eat as we were in the middle of painting. Our instructor was awesome I have to say! One of the waitresses brought our drinks and food and said sorry for the wait. After we finished painting I went to use the restroom and it was absolutely disgusting! There was water all over the floor and there was no toilet paper in any of the holders and they were the large double sized ones and one was cover was on the floor broken off. Honestly I was appalled! I generally judge a restaurant by the state of the washrooms as it’s a reflection on the overall state of the cleanliness of the restaurant as a whole including the kitchen. I won’t be returning to this place!
• MM

  Michael J. Majerovich

  Mar 27, 2026
  2.0
  Stopped in for dinner with some friends tonight and was very disappointed in the food which is surprising as Kelsey's is usually good wherever you go. I ordered just a normal bacon cheeseburger and told our server I only wanted it with one patty and he said it came that way but when they served it it had two, the tomato slice still had the hard part of the stem in the middle of it, they didn't bring or ask if I needed any condiments and the fries were cold. I did send the burger back and they did fix the tomato but was also too hungry to sit and wait until they got it right with the fries. It's almost that they cared more about serving drinks in the bar area where we sat than proper quality control of the food. They were quick to pick up the empty plates once done but the server didn't seem overly helpful when needed as their staff was all over the place and it wasn't super crowded yet even though it was the Jays home opener on TV. It's too bad as if I known it would of played out this way I would of went elsewhere for a good dinner.
• SD

  Stephen Dungavel

  Mar 23, 2026
  4.0
  We were invited back so they could redeem themselves. So last night we returned and weren't disappointed. Seated quickly. Our waitress Kate was great. Keep up the good work. Worst experience to ever have at this location and no help from head office either. We haven't been here since before the renovations as we were ignored and walked out after waiting 10 minutes to be seated and wait staff would just walk by at a distance and the bar tender was too busy talking to another waitress to care. So on March 14th we gave it another go. Manager sat us right away. Waited 10-15 minutes for a waitress and when my wife commented on the wait we got a sarcastic response with a sing of her hands that went right in front of my face. Ordered drinks, my wife's first choice of wine was sold out (no big deal). Second choice was told I can't sell you that it's not chilled so she got a mixed drink. Ordered our food, mine and my sons came and my wife was told hers would be a few minutes as the were cooking it. 5 minutes later she could start eating. The food quality was good. The waitress never came back to check on us until it was time for the bill and she asked if we wanted dessert we declined. She did offer a free piece of cheesecake to my wife for the wait and took it to go. The last 10 minutes of our time there we got a stare down from the manager but he never came over to see if everything was ok. He never interacted with any customers but was very friendly with the waitresses. This is late coming as I believe in dealing with things internally first. So contacted their feedback page that night and was told by Madeline I would hear from someone in 2 business days, 6 days later nothing. Replyed back to say I've had no response and Jaclyn told me they have followed up with the location and someone would be in touch shortly, this was on March 20th, 3 days later still nothing. So don't bother with this location not worth the time or money. Ancaster & Queenston Road locations are fantastic.

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