I recently took relatives from out of town to Sky360 as my parents thought it would be a good idea to show them something "unique" to Calgary. I have previously been once before when I was fairly young for brunch, and did not remember much of it.
Prior to going, I generally have not heard favorable things about the quality of food/service at Sky360 from colleagues and friends. Let's just say that this "sterling" reputation was solidly upheld.
SERVICE
Our waiter, Zul, was at first fairly pleasant to deal with, but it was evident he knew he didn't have to work for his tips when he questioned my relative's choice of ordering her steak Rare. But this guy didn't just question it, he reacted with "WHAT RARE???" as if ordering steak rare is a crime or something. I guess this is what happens when you have guaranteed Gratuity at 18% for groups of 8 or more - you really don't have to put your back into it.
The real fun part of my meal was when the food came. I, have also ordered a steak sandwich (a $30 dollar steak sandwich....), ordered to rare, came out cold and well done. When I communciated this to my boy Zul (I feel like we have that kind of relationship now after he lambasted my relative for ordering something he didn't like), this is the conversation that went on:
"Me: Excuse me, Zul, I am planning on eating the rest of this as I have to go soon and don't want to wait for another meal. But I thought I should let you know that this steak that I ordered is well done and it's cold.
Zul: (grabs my plate as my cutlery is still on it) let me heat it up for you.
Me: It's fine, you can put it back down.
Zul: (puts my plate down) Did you want me to get you a new steak then? *in a tone of voice like it's my fault*.
Me: No it's really fine, again I am at a bit of a time crunch."
Feel free to call me overly demanding, but as a paying customer to a
"fine-dining" establishment, especially an establishment that advertises "unforgettable food, an award winning wine list and a contemporary design all come together to make this unique dining destination a step above the rest." on their website, I expect their wait staff to be a bit more polite and professional.
The best part of this dining experience comes not 30 seconds after my exchange with Zul, when my brother in law finds a hair in his coleslaw that came with his fish and chips. The manager that we called over (I'm looking at you, sir with a purple dress shirt and glasses), promptly denied seeing the hair in the food. However, out of the goodness of his heart he agreed he will take the food back. He did somewhat redeem himself in his role as a restaurant manager by removing the item off our bill.
FOOD
The restaurant advertises the following on their website:
"With the purchase of an entrée, Sky 360 Restaurant takes care of your elevation fee and entitles you access to the Calgary Tower Observation Deck one floor above us."
This generosity on their front is really a creative ploy by management to make up this difference in their profit margins. These are some of the more memorable prices on their menu:
-$18 dollars for two crab cakes probably twice the size of a POG (remember those from the 90's?).
-$29 dollars for a 6 oz Steak Sandwich, which they advertise as the Striploin steak. It's a piece of steak with toast underneath. It smells and looks like a steak sandwich to me.
-$24 dollars for Fish and Chips.
I think I've said my piece on the quality of the food as part of my anecdote of the service received, so I'll let you, the reader, decide whether the food was good or not.
OVERALL
I think for spending north of $400 for a party of 8, this restaurant should be ashamed of the quality of food and service they put out. I get that it's a tourist attraction and they will always have people going to it, but to charge the kind of prices and have a wait staff that talk to customers the way I experienced is more than laughable and an embarrassment to the Calgary restaurant industry. One time incident or not.
Specifically, I think this goes to show the amount of entitlement the waiter has when he knows no matter what happens, his gratuity is guaranteed. While I will give him the benefit of the doubt on trying to rectify my cold steak situation, to question any order the customer have is unacceptable in one's role in the service industry. Coming from a professional services backgorund, choice of words is very crucial to how to communicate with clients/customers. This particular waiter can really use some coaching in how to communicate with people.
Ultimately, this dining experience really highlights the lack of ownership and passion the Sky360 team has on putting out a quality restaurant. It seems to me the two particular folks would much rather work somewhere else than Sky360 judging by the way they communicated to us.
Unless they do a complete overhaul, I will not recommend this to anyone. read more