Rideau Centre mall has two Tim Hortons locations with one in the food court and one on the first floor of the mall opposite Shoppers Drug Mart just inside from Rideau Street and the crosswalk to The Bay.
The Mall location, opposite Shoppers Drug Mart, is a great location if you are passing through to stop off at buses outside on Rideau Street or are headed to the Mackenzie King Bridge from Rideau Street as it is on the main route between the two major OC Transpo stations for pedestrians.
The Rideau Centre Food Court Tim Hortons location is great for those that either want to duck out the door quickley or are in the mood to stay in the food court in a rare Tim Hortons downtown Ottawa location with quite a lot of seating.
I chose the food court location so I could not only enjoy a coffee but also review how well served the customers were for a little bit.
I joined the line of about 10 customers waiting for their daily dose of Tim Hortons. The line moved semi fluidly with one step, pause, one step, pause, one step, pause, etc. With three cashes open the Tim Hortons team moved us quickley. Good thing to, there were lots of people to serve, if this had a happenned there might of been war:
The Order: 1 Medium Black Coffee
I had already had breakfast that day so nothing to eat was fine with me. The server also didn't try to upsell me. But then again, Tim Horton's has learned not try and upsell people in the morning as they can be pretty grizzly with a "Just give me my dam coffee buddy!" type of attitudes.
The coffee was exactly as any other Tim Hortons location would provide and all Canadian have come to expect. The tables were also pretty clean, but these are cleaned on a regular basis by Rideau Centre contracted cleaning staff. Thus it is a good place to enjoy a morning coffee and read the paper as you can usually find a quiet place in the food court away from other people who may be conversing.
I eventually left the food court and ventured over to the other Tim Hortons opposite the Shoppers Drug Mart on the ground level of the mall. I sipped my coffee and watched the same line move at a decent clip rotating the customers through. It seems both the mall and food court locations have their staff fully trained on what each part of the operation is supposed to do and how each employee can fulfill that role with managers and supervisors filling in when needed.
Overall, Tim Hortons has figured out that two mall locations are needed to be open in order to serve the masses that traverse the Rideau Centre mall in the mornings. Good service and coffee that is up to Tim Hortons corporate standards are what is required. It is refeshing to see that a coffee chain cares so much about its clientele that it has reviewed the operations at Rideau Centre to ensure they are in tip top shape under anything they can control.
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