Chances R Restaurant

Very good food. The fish and. Chips were excellent. Staff were friendly and attentive. This would be a good choice for casual dining at a reasonable price.

Food is over priced for what they sell. We got our dinner and we don’t mind spending a pretty penny for a great meal. We were so disappointed i felt like asking for my money back. The waitresses where condescending and would avoid our table. I felt like they thought that since we’re not middle age that we wouldn’t tip. Thus avoiding our table. Very ageist indeed.

I had dinner here yesterday with my husband and father-​in-​law before seeing a show at Centrepointe Theatre. It was ok.
I’m glad that we had made reservations because when we arrived, the lobby was full of people waiting, and people were waiting outside too. The restaurant was packed! Tables are fairly close to each other. I over heard many people at other tables saying they were also going to see the show at Centrepointe. So if there’s a show at Centrepointe, I recommend making reservations ahead of time.
Chances R is very much a family restaurant. Lots of kids and lots of seniors. Menu choices are pretty benign and I’m sure even the pickiest eater could find something that they’d like.
The last time I was at Chances R was over a decade ago, and my opinion of the restaurant is pretty much unchanged. The service is excellent and the food is ok.
I had the Grilled Chicken Salad ($ 13.99). It was romaine lettuce and baby mixed greens with tiny chopped up pieces of red peppers, raw sliced mushrooms and a grilled chicken breast. The dressing is a house balsamic vinaigrette, which I asked for on the side and it arrived as requested. The chicken breast was really thin. It looked like it was grilled in a George Foreman Grill or in a panini press. Ingredients were fresh, and while I was not wowed by the salad, I was satisfied.
My husband had the roast chicken special ($ 12.99). He got his choice of dark or white meat and he chose dark. So he got a roasted chicken leg and thigh, some mashed potatoes and a skewer of grilled vegetables. He was not overly impressed with his meal. He said that the grilled vegetables tasted vinegary, the mashed potatoes were nothing special and the roast chicken was not even as good as the roasted chicken at Loblaws (ouch!). I did not taste any of his meal, so I cannot comment personally.
My father-​in-​law had the Prime Rib (between $ 18.99-$ 26.99 depending on the size you get 6oz-​12oz). He also had a grilled vegetable skewer and got fries. He enjoyed his meal, but did comment that he asked for the beef medium rare and it was more medium well. He gave me a few of his fries and they were delicious. So crispy and flavourful, I didn’t even need ketchup. I think they were twice fried and that’s why they were so crispy :)
Service was excellent. Everyone I interacted with was pleasant, from the person who took my reservations over the phone, to the greeter, to our server. Our server was very efficient. The restaurant was busy but she was attentive, refilled our waters appropriately and did it all with a smile. The food also came out quickly.
My father-​in-​law commented that the serving staff were older and so likely more stable (i.e. less staff turnover). I hadn’t noticed until he pointed it out, but it was true, while the serving staff were by no means old, they were not teenagers or the age of typical college/​university students.
The place is rather loud. Décor is pleasant enough and the restaurant looks clean. It’s in the College Square Plaza, so there’s lots of free parking.
Chances R is a good family restaurant. It’s good if you are with a mixed group with different levels of culinary adventurousness. The menu is inoffensive and will please the most conservative meat and potatoes kind of eater. However, the more adventurous may look at the menu with a twinge of ennui. I think the most creative/​exotic dish is the Brie Chicken Sandwich, which has Brie and Granny Smith apples in it.
I personally would like to see some menu items with more of a creative twist or more exotic flair. However, Chances R has been around for almost 40 years, so I guess there is a place for tried and true.

The service and décor are top notch, but I’ve finally learned my lesson when it comes to the food. I’ve been to Chances R twice now. The first time, I ordered the ribs. The sauce on the ribs was overcooked and was on its way to becoming candy. It was gummy and got stuck in my teeth. The second time, I got a steak. The texture was fine but it was totally unseasoned and flavourless. Both times, it was bad enough that I mentioned something to the waitress (something I almost never do). Each time, they only came by to check at the end of the meal so I had eaten it anyway, and neither time did they offer to discount the meal. I end up leaving irritated that I paid for really mediocre food at a restaurant that, by all appearances, is capable of so much better.
Maybe I’m just ordering the wrong things but I don’t really care to go back.

Service was excellent! From seating to bill our server, bus boy and food runner were courteous and efficient.
Food was good, nothing spectacular! I had the beef dip, my company had the chicken parm because he knows it’s a good one. We were both happy.
For dessert we had their apple crumble. It was a usual apple crumble, but it’s what we were expecting which is great!
Considering there aren’t many restaurants in the Algonquin College area this restaurant has done a good job of avoiding being the «last resort» as they have a good menu, attentive staff and a nice atmosphere.

Eaten here many times for breakfast and recently dinner. They have gluten free options throughout the menu and have a separate fryer for the French fries. First time I have had a club sandwich and fries in years. We’ll be back !

Saturday night in July and the place is hopping with seniors– that has to be good sign for value and hopefully also quality. And the Chances R didn’t disappoint.
The club sandwich was well done, and while the prime rib wrap didn’t earn quite as much praise, it was still decent. The accompanying fries came in a bowl and were of good stock and properly cooked. Hurray– somebody knows how to make nice fries!
Mention should also be made of the craft brew– the locally-​made lager, named for the restaurant, was crisp and especially welcome on a muggy night.
Service was friendly and reasonably fast, plus for entertainment we got to watch two parties of seniors jockey over whose identical-​looking walker was whose at the conclusion of their meals.
Décor was casually classy. I especially liked the c.1930 French umbrella ad poster above our booth.
Prices were what you’d expect for what you got– $ 50 for the three of us.
I don’t know if the place is popular with the students from Algonquin College when school is in season, but Chances R was certainly a good place to hit for our road-​weary family staying in the residence-​come-​hotel in the summer.
Will return.

Went for breakfast on a mid week morning and was surprised to see restaurant full. Smart interior but dark with black ceiling and blinds down. Patio was not open for breakfast but looks great.
Shared eggs Benedict and Mexican omelette. Hollandaise was either from a packet or made by someone who has never tasted real hollandaise before, the side of beans I asked for was not there, instead over seasoned home fries (seasoned with some store bought seasoning) Omelette had stodgy unnatural avocado in it. All in all for the price I expect something made from scratch. Disappointing. But the locals seem to love it, walked past at lunch time and it was again packed
Edit, talked to owner who was very receptive to my feed back and explained the constraints involved to running a very popular eatery. Thanks for that mike good luck in the future.
Matt

It is nice to have a restaurant like chances R in the neighborhood. Good service, decent food, although a bit overpriced, still love it. Patio is awesome!

Why do they put big chunks of onion in all their home fries? Gross! Waiter tried very hard to make me happy, but I don’t want French fries with breakfast. Not everyone likes large chunks of barely cooked onions!

Delicious breakfast! One of the best I’ve ever had, and certainly blows other breakfast places out of the water!
I got the eggs Canadien: eggs benedict on an English muffin with Montréal smoked meat. The Hollandaise sauce was delicious, and gave the eggs a perfect, smooth, creamy flavour. It was delicious! Also came with diced potatoes with onions, which were a good side.
In all, delicious food and a nice restaurant!

Atmosphere is warm and very friendly. Loved the simplistic and not-​to-​flashy holiday décor! It’s very easy to maintain conversation here. There isn’t blaring music or distracting décor. It is very unique but home-​y and I totally love it!
Staff was very professional, friendly, and clearly well-​trained and experienced. Our server even remembered who got each meal without having to ask. I was also delighted to see how abundant the staff was. I hate to see small business stretching out their workers in order to have one less person to pay that night! Waiting time was perfect: long enough that we weren’t bombarded by our food right away and short enough that we didn’t go starving.
I tried a little bit of my sister and mother’s meals (beef dipper and chicken caesar wrap) and each were absolutely delicious! So delicious, in fact, that my family hardly even spoke to each other because we were so focused on eating our delicious meals haha! Also, I adored that the fries came unsalted, because usually restaurants basically serve you heart attacks with the amount of salt on fries. You can choose this way!
If I could give 6 stars, I would, simply because on my way out, I heard none other than «The Suburbs» by Arcade Fire (arguably, one of my all time favourites) playing on the outdoor speaker. Good music will always give you a higher ranking in my books! :)

Came in here for breakfast after dropping my cat off at the vet.
It was busy in here for a Thursday morning! And it was early too, like 8am! The food was good, I was in with my mother and we both ordered our respective traditional breakfasts. It was fast, hot and exactly what we wanted. I will be back! Service was pretty good too!

Came here for breakfast with my boyfriend and had a great experience.
He ordered a traditional breakfast of eggs sausage bacon toast and homefries. He LOVED the home fries.
I had what I believe was called Benny and the jets. It was eggs Benedict on waffles! It was sooo good! The eggs were perfectly poached and the waffles were nice and fluffy. The sweet and savoury mix was nice as well. The place was packed but our service was very good! The bill came to 45 $ for the both of us with tip in so the price was right, as well.
I would definitely recommend this place for breakfast

Much better than I expected. What they do, they do well. Had a tomato basil soup and a chicken brochette and enjoyed both. Very pleasant wait staff and quick service. Lots of Greek items on the menu which I hadn’t expected from the name of the place. Good value and pleasant atmosphere. I will be back.

I had visited last summer with some friends to celebrate a birthday and had fond memories so when tasked with the option of a local restaurant for a date I was having today I decided to choose Chances R because they have great food, a good atmosphere (which I hope to come back at some point to experience the patio!) and our server was especially good and kept checking back on us without being intrusive (even though we had not ordered for a good 20 minutes or so!).
I’d like to say thank you to Tyler R, our server this afternoon.
We visited today May ¹³⁄₂₀₁₄ at 11:07am.
I ordered the Charbroiled cheese burger and it was delish!
I’d like to come here more often, as I am just around the corner. The staff seem to love their job. :)
I never review or do customer surveys but as a person who works in retail and gets quite a lot of positive customer feedback, I feel a job well done deserves recognition. Keep up the great job guys!

Had an opportunity to pop in here recently with a group of about 30. Nice atmosphere, great wait staff.
We had a beer and split a plate of nachos. Nachos were good, but fairly standard (no surprises). Good selection of beer, which is always appreciated.
Would love to go back when the covered patio is running — and to try out a few more things. (The zucchini sticks looked fabulous!)
Location is in a strip mall — have to say without having it pointed out to me, not sure I would have noticed it. Larger than it looks from outside. Right by Algonquin College, it’s a great destination for people going there, or to Centrepoint theatre.
Would I return? Yes
Would I recommend: Yes, no problem. Everything was fine.

Outstanding service during breakfast today at Chances R. Arrived at 8:00 am, and was seated promptly. All the staff were friendly, smiling, and happy.
This was the first time that I had been here for breakfast, I am usually a dinner kind of girl, and I have to say, I cannot wait to be back!
We had a wonderful waitress, who was just so pleasant and attentive. She knew what she was doing!
We ordered:
–2 eggs and pancakes.
–Mexican omelet with home fries and whole wheat toast.
I have to say, it was scrumptious! The home fries are amazing. I love how they are grilled with onions. YUM!
The pancakes were delicious as well.
If you have not checked out Chances R for breakfast, I totally recommend it!
I have been there for dinner and lunch and no complaints.
Great spot for business meetings too; saw quiet a few there this morning.

I always laugh when my gf suggests Chances R, because i used to come here alittle back before the renovation… lol…and if anyone was here pre-​reno you would know why.
But, we had such great service yesterday — poached eggs perfect (super picky on that one), i opted not to have the homefries for fruit (get the homefries i ate half my gf’s)
It’s not a crazy over the top foodie restaurant, but good food, good service, good atmosphere… so there you go.

This is still the gold standard in Sunday breakfast places. Especially when travelling with seniors, small children, and others who might be a wee bit particular. A recent breakfast for 8, no reservation, was handled with friendly, impeccable service. I’m sorry I didn’t get the servers’ name but she was a rock star. Also, rye toast is standard equipment. Nice