Toronto Denny's DENIES Birthday Grand Slam.

Yesterday my girlfriend went to Denny's during her lunch at work to get her "free" birthday grand slam breakfast. Upon arriving, she was greeted by FOH. When mentioning she was going for her birthday meal, she said she would need to get it to go. She explained she was on her lunch break and unable to sit in the restaurant for a long time. The seater said she was not allowed to take it out. "What if I sat down and asked for a doggy bag?" She asked. "You can't do that either. No doggy bags," he said. Since she did not have enough time to eat, she had to leave. She also did not want to spend her birthday having a fight at Denny's. Disappointed, she was denied her birthday meal and now had to go back to work without lunch.

She told me this story. It bothered me. So we decided to go back after she was done work so she could eat her birthday meal. We arrived at the Denny's and sat down. When the server arrived, I had told her, "We're here for her birthday meal! It's her birthday!" The server's face changed immediately. "Let me see your ID." She asked as if we had drawn guns and asked for all the money in the register. My girlfriend presented it. She then said she would have to speak to the manager. She returned and said, "OK, you can have this. BUT" she turned to me, "if you two are here together, you are not allowed to have any bites of her food; you have to order something on your own, you are not to take it home, and no bites." I said it doesn't say that on the fine deal print anywhere, and it sounds like they are just making up rules not to honor their offer. She said that's what the manager says, and there are no exceptions.

We sat disappointed; the whole situation was very off-putting. We decided to leave because it was her birthday and we wanted it to be a special day. I had asked my girlfriend to wait outside. I wanted to speak to the manager for a second. I wanted to talk with him but did not want to ruin her birthday by fighting at Denny's and bringing bad energy to her. The manager came out and told me, "those are the rules." I responded, "It doesn't say that anywhere on the deal. It feels like you're just making up as many rules as possible, so you don't have to honour the meal you've promoted." He said, "that's the rules." "I told him I didn't want to be dramatic, but it is legitimately illegal to advertise a deal and then not offer it and create new rules once someone tries to claim it." He changed the subject. I asked him to show me where it says those are the rules on the deal. He refused. I asked him again, and he changed the subject. I asked him how he would feel if it was his birthday and you went somewhere, and this happened to him. He changed the subject. I asked him again, and he again refused to answer me. I told him I would be complaining to someone else about this if he would not honour the deal because that is unfair.

The manager had a name tag on, and I managed to make a note of his name. I asked for his full name when I told him I would complain to someone else. He then discreetly put his hand over his name tag and said he did not have to give me his name. I responded, "If you are following the rules, then there should be no problem in you giving me your name. If anything, you will be given a pat on the back." He said again he wouldn't be giving me his name. "I notice you're covering your name tag now?" I said. "Yes, because I'm not giving you my name." He responded. I told him I had already written down his name on his name tag anyways, so doing that was pointless. He then ripped his name tag off and put it in his pocket. He next ran to the manager's office and closed the door to hide until I left.

My girlfriend and I both left Denny's annoyed. We tried not to let it ruin our night, but it was hard not to let it resurface through the night just because it was so sketchy and ridiculous.

Anyways, that's my story. Buy us breakfast.

Denny's location: 121 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON