Nellies fined for food infractions

Nellie's is a popular breakfast cafe in Calgary and is what I'd call a fixture in the Calgary landscape. Nellie's has been around for as long as I can remember (pre - 2002) and has expanded recently including having places in the suburbs.

Roxanne Taylor-King is the owner of the Nellie's franchise in Calgary and was charged somewhere around $61 000 dollars for food infractions that have occurred over the past 12 years. I highlighted "past 12 years" because I think that's the real story in this story. This isn't a one off violation, it's dozens of violations that have happened over the course of more than a decade. To use a comparison, it's like someone getting charged with impaired. One might be able to forgive someone that is charged once, but if they are charged repeatedly that changes the perception on who that person is. "I'm sorry" doesn't cut it. And I think that's fundamentally what Roxanne Taylor King doesn't understand. You can't' say sorry with 12 years of violations.

I think I reviewed Nellie's on this blog some years ago but I'm too lazy to go search for it. What I will say is that I am not really a fan. It's not the food that I didn't like, but the atmosphere. I always found the tables to be crammed in too close to each other. I like to have a certain amount of privacy when I'm eating, I don't need to be able to see the time on the guys watch sitting next to me. I often wondered if her tables were put closer together just to produce more revenue per square foot. The other reason I didn't like Nellie's was that it was always uncomfortably warm in those places. In winter, it was stuffy, but summer the places had no air flow. I used to wonder how much it would cost for a simple ceiling fan. Both reasons are why I never really frequented those places.

I drove by Nellie's the other day and the place was empty. I suspect that in a few more weeks Nellie's will go bankrupt. I don't think there is anything that Roxanne can say to convince people to give her a second chance. People like eating out and they put their trust in the hands of the restaurant. There is no excuse for 12 years of violations.