Saturday, June 11, 2011

Review: Kelsey's (Cinemart Drive)

Kelsey's. Click to enlarge.
First off, I apologize for the lack of updates! I'm currently in summer school (one of the many awesome perks of being in a co-op program) and, as such, a lot of midterms/assignments got in the way. I have a bunch of reviews lined up, so stay tuned!

My dad, youngest brother, and I decided to go to Kelsey's for lunch just for the heck of it. The franchise is visited often by friends of mine and this particular location was close to my house. I was hoping for a pretty good experience since it had been about 2 years since I stepped foot in a Kelsey's and I couldn't really remember it that well.

Water, Molson, and Root Beer. Click to enlarge.
We were promptly seated in the bar area. It seemed like the restaurant had a decent amount of people there during lunch hour, which is a pretty good sign. We were offered the lunch menu which guaranteed to have your meal at your table in under 15 minutes as long as all parties at the table ordered from the lunch menu. The selection was pretty decent, but since none of us were in a rush to eat, we just decided to order from the regular menu.

The interior of Kelsey's. Click to enlarge.
The interior of the restaurant/bar area was nice and featured a lot of appropriately-located TVs to watch sports. It was a bit dark, but then again, we were in the bar area after all.

Jalapeno burger with fried onion rings. Click to enlarge.
Monterey Jack burger. Click to enlarge.
After about 15 minutes, my dad's and my brother's orders came in. They both ordered burgers that were about $15 each. My brother ordered a jalapeno burger with fried onion rings in it and my dad ordered a Monterey Jack burger. You could technically find very similar burgers at Jack Astor's. The first thing I noticed right off the bat: the serving size is tiny! They thought that the flavour was decent, but way too pricey for the portion they gave them. My dad even added, "I'd rather eat a burger and fries at Wendy's." You might think that it's a bit of a diss to Wendy's, but my family actually really like Wendy's burgers since the flavour is good and it's priced a heck of a lot better than Kelsey's. Of course it's very unhealthy, but that's another story...

What I ordered: 16 Hot Wings + Fries (~$12-14). Click to enlarge.
I decided to be adventurous and order 16 wings with hot sauce ($9.49), since it was a Thursday and wings were half off. I didn't just want to eat wings alone, so I added a side order of fries, which was about $3-4 extra. About 5 minutes after the burgers came in, the manager-on-duty (I'm assuming) served me my wings and fries. The wings were also pretty tiny...but at least I got a plate full of fries. I felt bad that my youngest brother (who has a massive appetite) was still hungry after scarfing down his burger and fries, so I gave him some of my wings.

The wings themselves were okay. The texture was pretty crispy and it wasn't drenched in hot sauce. However, I've had better wings at other places. Not even the discount could really make this more enjoyable. For a place that decides to heavily market its wings, it's a pretty big disappointment. If you're a "wing place", then you should deliver with the best wings you have to offer. To me, it's pretty clear that Kelsey's is not a wing place, so maybe they should consider bank on their other dishes.

Even though the food was a big disappointment, the service was amazing. Our server was nice, cheerful, and wasn't afraid to start up a conversation with us. The service in the restaurant overall seemed excellent since the servers seemed to always follow up with the patrons with big smiles on their faces.

The ratings for Kelsey's is as follows (detailed ratings system here and out of 5):

Flavour = 2
Value = 2
Atmosphere = 4

OVERALL RATING: 2.7 / 5

The only real saving factor of this restaurant was the service. Other than that, I think it might be better to skip out on this place if possible or cook your own food at home. I understand why I didn't remember this place when I went two years ago: it really isn't that good.

Kelsey's on Urbanspoon

Type of cuisine: North American / European / Asian
Price Range: $10-25 (Entrees)
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!