Albert’s Family Restaurant & Lounge

This part of town gets a bad reputation, but the locals who have been going here for years don’t seem to care.
Albert’s it’s a small chain based out of Edmonton, and this is their Red Deer spot. It’s in an older strip mall with a bunch of other local-​ish businesses — a pub (Murph’s, which is connected to Albert’s), a hair salon, liquor store, used book store, bowling alley, and Co-​op, to name a few. It’s an older restaurant that could use some renovations, and it’s a bit dark and dingy, although it’s just a part of the place’s character.
The staff that works here are like fixtures. I think I’ve seen or been waited on by the same server every time I’ve been in here. They know all of the regular customers by name (and a few by what they order), and they all have their own little quirks. You’re probably going to be called honey, sweety, or darling at least once during your meal, so you should be okay with these little informalities, sugar.
I like a place that makes a point of keeping your coffee filled up, and this one does it well. You’re unlikely to run dry on coffee until you tell them you don’t need any more — and if you do run out, you’ll get a refill as soon as you see the next waitress walk by.
The food here isn’t anything exceptional, but it’s your typical breakfast/​diner food, so it’s comfortable and familiar. I recommend grabbing the potato pancakes as a side if you’re getting breakfast food– they’re as close as you’re going to get to homemade latkes, without the wait for the festive season. The food is also usually really quick to come out, and if there are any problems with your meal, they’ll make it right as soon as they can. I had some eggs in an omelette come out a bit softer than I’d like, and I had fresh ones in front of me in less than 5 minutes, and the waitress knocked a few bucks off of the bill without my asking. Even if she hadn’t, the prices here are low enough that you don’t mind an imperfect meal.
Overall, this place is becoming a go-​to because of the staff and the service. I make sure to tip well every time, because these are the type of people that make you smile and start your day off right. 3 stars for the food, but 2 more stars because I leave there every time talking about how great the staff is.

Brought my parents here for lunch. This is one of the favourites they rotate through. They had turkey diner and I had Ruben sandwich. Food was good, nothing special. But tasty. Big complaint was they had no stuffing for the turkey diner. For desert we had some apple pie which was served warm which was a nice surprise. mom had peach cheesecake and did not like the peaches, so they quickly replaced it with blueberry.