I had lunch today at Turtle Jack's in Guelph. I was seated on the dining room side. I love love Chicken Parmesan. I'd been at this Turtle Jack's before and that's what I'd had and liked it. So that's what I ordered today. It took a while for it to arrived. When it did, the pasta was overcooked and cold, the sauce had no taste and the chicken was burnt. I was hungry and didn't have a lot of time so didn't complain and started eating it. About halfway through, my server asked how it was. I told her the chicken was burnt and she offered to have another one made. I said I didn't have time so said I'd eat it as it was. She came back and said I wouldn't be billed for it. Since I was eating, I insisted on paying but she said the manager said there was no cost. My server was nice (I left her a tip) but I don't think I'll be rushing back to this restaurant. read more

See all

The food is good enough, but the service isn't because servers are given too many tables and seating duties. Step up, management

We went to Turtle Jack's for lunch after avoiding for over year due to awful service. It has not improved, while we were seated promptly, it took 30 minutes for our food order to be taken and another 30 minutes for the food to arrive. Good thing we were not on a lunch break. The food was not much better, could not eat one piece of the bread on my sandwich and when I asked for the manager I was told they were not available - probably went somewhere else for lunch. Not worth it for the money - avoid if possible. read more

We were a table of 5 for dinner. Absolutely the worst service we have seen in a long time. 4 meals came out wrong, 2 of them weren't even meals that had been ordered. Waitress was indifferent to the whole thing. Turtle Jack's is a good restaurant but this location has had poor service twice in a row for us. We won't go back. read more

Hadn't been there for a while, and was in the mood give it a go. Big mistake. The food here is overpriced for the quality you get. Ordered a full rack of ribs with fries and caesar salad. Also ordered the 8 oz steak with loaded baked potato and seasonal vegetables. Everything was under seasoned. Salad barely had any dressing (asked for the salad but given coleslaw at first), asked for fries to be crispy, they weren't. Steak was medium rare in some parts, wedium well in other parts. Veggies looked sad and there was very little of them. Ribs were supposed to be amazing according to the menu. They were meh at best. Appetizer was was some kind of chicken dish and whatnot. One of the pieces was practically burnt and other pieces were pretty empty. Took a bit for us to get our food and cheque. Really the only saving grace were the cocktails. Delicious! But again, that was the only good thing about it. If I'm going to throw down a hundred bucks for dinner, it better be delicious. Never going back. read more

This restaurant has gone downhill significantly. The men's bathroom was terrible. Peeling wallpaper, mold on the ceiling tiles, most of the fixtures (toilets, urinals, sinks) were not working. Service was slow and tables were left with dishes long after patrons had left. In support of the 2 stars, the food was at best...okay. read more

Guelph Restaurant. Our meal started badly when my daughter presented a 15% coupon off chain wide to our server. She received the coupon because of poor service at another Turtle Jack's in Waterloo from this past November. Our server came back and said that because the coupon had been granted be another Turtle Jack's it wouldn't be accepted at the Guelph location. Strike One! Even though on the card, it clearly said the 15% coupon would be accepted at any Turtle Jack's. We ordered three different dished plus an appetizer. The drinks order arrived minus my coffee - a new pot don't you know. The appetizer was the nachos and dip. The nachos had been warmed up and the dip was mostly unappealing guacamole. My coffee finally arrived. I had ordered the Chicken Parmesan. The smallish breast had been cut in half and was presented on top of a bed of pasta. The chicken was okay but the pasta was terrible. Over cooked, yet barely warm. Strike Two! My wife had the QUINOA & ARUGULA salad. It's like the items had been thrown together in separate piles on her plate. Not appealing at all; my daughter had CHICKEN FINGERS dinner and she said her meal was fine. Another server came over and asked me if I'd like a warm up of my coffee and I replied Yes, I would ... the coffee pot never arrived. Our server came over to our table and asked if there would be anything else and had we enjoyed our meal and I said, "the meal was terrible" and her response was, "will you need the debit / card card machine". Strike Three! I will not be returning to Turtle Jack's again - that mean's chain wide! read more

We felt dumb going to a restaurant that had such a poor rating on Yelp, but our hotel said it was good so we took a chance. To our amazement, the food was outstanding and the service was excellent. I had the blackened chicken wrap and it was delicious and my husband had seafood chowder and a burger and he raved about the soup and said the bun on the burger was the best he'd ever had in a restaurant. Fresh and tasty. The woman who waited on us was helpful and friendly. So don't believe everything you read on Yelp. read more

Turtle Jack's is. . .okay. And that's about the best you can say for it. I've tried it a few times, to be fair. I thought maybe the first time when the food wasn't stellar that it was a fluke (all restaurants have bad days), or that maybe I hadn't tried the right dish. So we went back, twice more and each time had basically the same experience. The staff is always friendly enough, the servers always fairly prompt, but not the kind of service that makes you go 'WOW'. The menu consists of very run-of-the-mill pub food. Burgers, fish and chips, nachos. . .that type of thing. The appetizers are alright, the food is. . .passable but very standard and kind of bland. It's like you're eating, you know there's food in your mouth because your chewing, but you're not sure WHY you're eating. The best thing you can say when you're done is, 'well, I'm not hungry anymore'. So would I go back? No. Would I tell other people to go? No. But is it awful? No. It's just boring. It's not horrible, but if you're going to pay for food, you can do much better. read more

50 minutes to get our food while the restaurant is only 1/3 full. Turkey was grey, my "severe dairy allergy " order arrived with cheese...deep-fried ice cream was not deep fried, bacon was so cold like it just came out of the fridge. Floor is rotting, coffee maker was broken, they were out of ketchup and brownies...how is a restaurant out of ketchup? read more

Originally gave 4 stars but I'll back it down to 3 due to the increasingly worse shitty service with each visit. The place has gone down hill. Seems to get worse each time we go read more

Service was average, nothing special as far as decor. I go there for the food ......wings and beer really. read more

Went for appetizers before a movie and ordered the nachos with chicken added. What a complete disappointment! The nachos had some real cheese but mostly the cheese sauce that you get in ballpark nachos. Barely any chicken. Definitely not worth 23.99. Won't be going back. At least our server, Trevor, was really friendly and attentive. read more

I went here because it had vegan as a tag and found that it wasn't a very vegan-friendly business. I managed to order bruschetta without feta and it was pretty good but there weren't many options for me. The server was super friendly and the place was nice, it's just someplace I'd go back to often. read more

Turtle Jack's - Guelph - It's nice out on the patio for sure - Canadian (New) Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

See all

We went here for dinner because we hadn't been to a Turtle Jack's before, and unfortunately we were disappointed. The waitress that served us forgot a salad that my mom ordered, and I chalked it up to miscommunication, but she wasn't very apologetic and was fairly slow at taking our order, checking on us etc. We ordered the chicken parmesan and the chicken was generally good, but the pasta that came with it was terrible. The noodles were lukewarm at best, and the sauce was incredibly bland. Based on the service we experienced and the food, I wouldn't eat here again. read more

Visited Turtle Jack's in Guelph recently....have visited the Muskoka location in the past, only to be disappointed. Our food was not as described. Husband ordered the "Beef Dip" and was so upset at his meal, he lost his appetit and asked for a take out container to take his meal home for our dog. If you are trying this location for the first time, don't waste your time and money. read more

Had some wings tonight - pretty good but service not great considering the restaurant was only half full (at most). Would have given a higher rating if our waitress bothered to actually come & check on is at least once. Only saw saw her take order & then come back to take dishes & drop bill. Never asked how food was or see if we wanted anything else like a drink refill, etc. Service aside the wings are usually a good bet - suggest the bigger wings with a hit on grill. Not very cheap but filling. read more

Ate with 13 people. Waited around an hour on a Saturday night. Good servicing with drinks. Waited quite a bit of time for food. 4 hockey games simultaneously helped with the wait. Food portions were good and large, especially for the fish and chips. Had king of clubs sandwich. Turkey was slightly dry but was good. Price wasn't bad for the quality. read more

I love the chicken fajitas I eat it every time I go for dinner only thing I don't like is appetizers not much of a selection considering I'm allergic to most (seafood,fish,coconut) they need to bring back the potatoe skins those were amazing read more

I was alone on a business trip and this was near my hotel. Server was friendly although sometimes hard to find. I had a delicious bison meatloaf with good mashed potatoes and perfectly steamed green beans. The butter tart was good but the cookie crust was better than the oversweet filling. Cold beer, not terribly busy (although it was a Monday night). It was fine. This appears to be a chain in Canada and I'd go back. read more

Drove up from Buffalo to do some work for Tim Horton's. Saw this near the hotel so gave it a shot (order to go, as usual). Nice phone service, order was ready on time and the guy at the bar opened the bag to check everything, at which point he decided to get me a new bag since my Baked Onion soup was upside down and had seeped a bit (a bit?). Took my order of soup, Bison meatloaf, vegetables, and potatoes with gravy back to the room and prepared to chow down. Now I know a thing or two about eating in hotel rooms, but as for how to eat soup with a plastic knife and fork, that trick is beyond me. Luckily I pack my own utensils, so crisis averted. Fair overall. Veggies were really good as well as the potatoes. The meat loaf was just OK, but I'm comparing it to the Buffalo meatloaf I had at Johnny Garlic's in Windsor, California (owned by Guy Fieri from Food Network). Interior looked very nice. Service was great (except for the spoon thing). I'd give them another shot. read more

In a word: aweful. Not only were we actively ignored upon entering but service was so slow we gave up and went to A&W next door. I would not go back. The menu was confusing and pricey. read more

First time at this chain and it was amazing. Four of us went all order different drinks all ones we would get again. I had the Goat Cheese and Turkey on Nann, my husband had the blackened fish taco-- they were writing a review worthy. Next time I am in Guelph I am coming back!! Thanks for a great time Turtle Jacks! read more

I have stopped eating here since they changed the menu two years ago but had to endure it for a siblings birthday. I can say it has gone downhill even from what I remember. My brother had to ask why there wasn't any bacon on his bacon mushroom melt burger. "Oh, it's a mushroom bacon blend". What??? Ok, so why is there only cheese on half of the grill cheese sandwich? Service was painfully slow, food was more like what I'd expect from a diner. Not cheap either. Waste of my night. read more

Only go if you have lots and lots of time. Tonight my family and I went here for dinner. Our party consisted of four adults and a child. We arrived at 5:30 and immediately were asked if we wanted a drink. No problem so far! Our food order was taken at 5;45, five apps as we wished to take advantage of the half priced apps before six. My grandson ordered a kids pizza. Nothing by six, another ten minutes after ordering a second round of drinks the food started to arrive. The apps filtered in, but no pizza. When I asked about the pizza I was told that they put the pizza in the oven, microwave?, when the adult food is delivered to the table. At six twenty the pizza finally arrived. The reason for the slow service was blamed on the kitchen being very busy for a Wednesday night. Very poor excuse. It will be a long time before we return, if ever. read more

I wish I could give them no stars. This place is horrible. Waited over 30 minutes to get our food at a time when it wasn't even busy. I ordered a veggie burger and my husband the chicken penne pasta. When we got our food we noticed my burger was not a veggie patty! I immediately told them and it took another 20 minutes for me to get my food. By then my husbands food was cold. Not to mention they gave me the same fries from the initial order and they were soggy. Horrible place and horrible service! No compensation at all for the long wait and them giving me a beef patty instead of veggie. Next time we will be eating some place else before going to the movies! read more

my wife and I had tickets for "The Last Jedi" and decided to have a pre movie supper at Turtle Jacks in Guelph. I ordered fish and chips, and my wife ordered beef dip with mushrooms on the sandwich. My fish was so overdone I could barely cut it with my knife, my cole slaw consisted of a few chunks of white cabbage with parsley sprinkled over it. My wife's sandwich had one or two mushrooms on it. If you pay by card, your tip is automatically 15%. A tip not at all warranted. The meal and tip approached sixty bucks. I pointed out my disappointment to the waitress and she didn't seem to concerned and said she would mention to the kitchen that, in my opinion, they were 'chopped'. When we got the theatre, we had popcorn and a pop and it far surpassed the dinner at Turtle Jack's. We will not return to this establishment. Not worth it. And the prices are high for the quality. read more

Usually a great place in terms of food and service. Tonite the service was slow but I would still go back

SO and I went out for a Friday dinner. Got seated adjacent to the door even though there were lots of tables available and got a cold draft every time the door opened. SO got the fish and chips and said they were okay, I got the nachos....disgusting!!! A pile of chips with a scant amount of dried out ground beef, no cheese that I could find with a garden salad, (strips of lettuce, scredded onion and some tomato dumped on top. I have never had nachos with lettuce on it and I mean lots!! A blob of salsa in the middle on top and a bit of sour cream obviously from a squeeze bottle decoratively? laced over the mound of lettuce. And a whole jalapeno pepper cut into slices (with seeds and pithe) placed strategically on top. Yuck, I could barely make my way through half of it and I love nachos and was starving. The waitress kept coming around to see if we needed another drink but I guess knew better than to ask how our food was. Will not go there again! read more

My husband, two kids, and I met with a friend and her husband and child for New Year's Eve. We chose Turtle Jack's because of the kid's countdown they were having. My friend had reservations and had told them about our party. When we got there, they had seated us at a booth and could not accommodate a high chair for us. My daughter is 10 months old and had to sit on our laps the entire time. At 5:51pm we heard a few noise makers on the other side of the restaurant. Then our waitress walked by about five minutes later to ask if we had enjoyed the countdown. We said we thought it was supposed to be at 6 and she said "Oh is it not 6 yet?" it was still five to six. I got chicken tacos for my dinner and was surprised to find that they were cold. The waitress told me that the chicken was supposed to be cold which was fine, but some bites of the taco were warm and some were really cold. Overall we were pretty dissatisfied with the experience, considering that the countdown was the only reason we went and it took place quietly in one corner of the restaurant at the wrong time. Won't be going back. read more