Windsor's Penalty Box Restaurant

A staple of Windsor, when I picked up my partner from the train station, I thought this would be a great place to grab lunch on the way to my family's house. I ordered the gyro delight, and he ordered the club sandwich with potato wedges. The portions are always massive, and even sharing the potato wedges, there were left overs. I like the gyro because it's a bit of a twist on the traditional gyro, without straying too far. My partner loved the club sandwich and was so pleased that they use real meat instead of processed deli meat. It also loved the yellow sauce! I love visiting for a tasty meal whenever I'm in Windsor.

This is our go to every year of the week either chicken delights or ribs. That honestly has some of the freshest food mixed with great value and solid service will always go back great place to not pass up.

I have been hearing about this restaurant for a while. We always saved it for "another day" and finally, the stars aligned, and we went to try it. At the reception, the hostess advised us that the kitchen was backed up and delayed. No problem, we ordered simple, fast-to-serve food and 2 soft drinks. I ordered a pita delight which is their specialty (so it should be easy to figure) and my husband ordered a pulled pork sandwich, which is a scoop-and-serve kind of dish (because it takes many hours to prepare). No appetizers. I asked the waitress what is the Delight sauce all she could say is "Mayo based". Mayo is a bit of a blank canvas, so I asked to at least tell me what flavor I should expect (sweet? Savory? spicy? BBQ?). She just repeated "mayo-based" several times while getting visibly irritated. Mayo-based just means creamy and greasy, so I asked to swap it out for Tatziki. From the time we ordered, we waited for one full hour. We watched tables that sat down after us get served their meals. We saw other tables that arrived before us sitting at empty tables with long faces. The entire time, nobody checked on us, nobody refreshed our drinks, provided an ETA or at least apologized for the delay. Just once, the waitress stopped by and quickly blurted out "Your food is coming". We ran out of time, if we still wanted to eat anything that day. We stood up and left. The waitress saw us leaving and tried to convince us to stay promising that it was "coming right now!". She did not even apologize for the wait and for ignoring us for 1 hour. She said that we were warned about a delay and that we should have known. I understand that a kitchen can get delayed, but more than 1 hour to craft a pulled pork sandwich and a chicken pita? That is a sign of a deeply dysfunctional kitchen. I still don't know how good the food is and probably never will. I hope it's good enough to wait for over an hour. Don't go there if you expect to feel like a customer.

I used to love penalty box, pre-Covid. It was the go to spot for all my out of town guests. I noticed they added a vegetarian delight, which is is the chicken delight but the chicken is swapped for cucumbers.. cucumbers at the same price point. Before this vegetarian delight was added to the menu, I would ask for the chicken delight minus the chicken and get a $1.50 discount. Apparently, this is no longer an option. There used to be potato wedges, which is now served with cold straight cut fries. Overall, it was an embarrassing experience as a go-to recommendation. Not sure what happened but quality went down the drain. 100% would not recommend again.

They include their email but don't trust this for an order. Completely disregarded my email order. I was in a terrible hurry, emailed an order while I was in a work meeting. Nothing there when I arrived. Thanks folks! Why do you have your email in the website? So disappointing and misleading.

The chicken delight is nothing short of absolutely amazing. When I was in college, I want every Wednesday for 2 years straight. The service is quick and friendly. Even if every table is taken, the food comes out in a timely manner. Definitely not a fancy restaurant, but who cares what's on the wall and how the lighting is when the food is this good!

Chicken Delight half fries half Greek salad is consistently awesome! Dining area at South Windsor location looks chill as well.

very overrated. It was edible but all the food was dry and very bland. Service was good but the place was too busy to be worth the wait

Wife there with lady friends a couple of weeks ago. Food used to be excellent all the way around. She was served brown tipped salad that should have NEVER left the kitchen. She is not a complainer so her comment I took very seriously. We used to go there a lot before the pandemic but now hesitant when we can just go to Gillian's on Ottawa St. I think they have to bring up their game to what it used to be.

Love this spot but the owner chooses to do takeout only. As a person that comes from the county this is very disappointing. Food isn't the same eatting it 45 minutes later. I also have to wonder what is happening to there incredible wait staff, with lost wages.

Had a steak delight. The flavor was good but wayyyyyyyy too much sauce. Ridiculous amount. It dripped all over my and my kitchen and made the pita super soggy. Also the fries were undercooked. Everyone raves about the place but their quality control leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you like soggy bread and watery beef, best avoid the place.

Windsor Penalty Box has as rich history with Windsor, being open for years serving the Windsor and surrounding areas with their infamous Chicken Delight! I was so excited to come here after moving back to Windsor from being away for five years. The service has certainly changed over that period of time. If you go on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, prepare to wait extensively for your food. I was not impressed at all, I was really disappointed. I was so excited to bring my in-laws, who don't live in this city to a classic Windsor restaurant, we were told it would be over an hour wait for food, but I honestly didn't think it would take that long, but it did, an hour and twenty minutes before we received our main dishes. It seems like they shifted their focus to their takeout orders instead of the actual patrons in the restaurant. There was a couple who came in after us, got served before us and left before we even got our food. When we finally got our food, it was great. I ordered the Chicken Delight with a caesar salad, and so did my mother in law, she got fries with hers though. It was really good. It was just as I remembered it. The flavour of the sauce was perfect. I enjoyed my meal a lot. I was glad that hadn't changed. Our waitress was nice too, she was on top of everything, Overall, I would have liked to given this place four stars, but because of the extensive wait, priority for take out meals than the people in the restaurant, it's not getting anything more than two star. I was disappointed because you don't expect this from a restaurant, even it if it is super busy. I've been in restaurants that have been this busy before and haven't had to wait over an hour and twenty minutes for food. I wouldn't recommend coming here, and it saddens me to say that.

The outside of the building can be a little misleading... it doesn't look awesome driving by but it is quite good. Decent portions for a decent price. They still are only doing take out which seems to be doing well for them. They're normally still quite busy but it's worth the wait.

I'm visit from Vancouver and Penalty Box is one of my favourite places to go when I'm in town. I love the food and it always tastes amazing. I called in to place a take out order at approx. 5:45. The guy that answered started to take my order, then told me that there would be a wait of a little over an hour, which I said was fine. After placing the full order for 8 people, he put me on hold, then came back and said the kitchen staff wouldn't cook my order as they didn't think they would be able to make it until it closed, which is 9pm. I have a hard time understanding why a restaurant would turn down business and why it would take over 3 hours to fill an order. I am so disappointed that I did not get to have a chicken delight!!! Do better Penalty Box!!!

2 words chicken delight! It's the only thing on the menu I've ever tried. (It's what they're famous for) it's a good sized chicken wrap with lettuce tomatoe onion and a taste homemade sauce that's very unique. Comes with fries or a salad. There so called "fries" are really potato wedges. Keep that in mind. Parking lot is tiny and fills up insanely quick. Also they don't take reservations. It's a place to go for a quick lunch. I'd never go for dinner for the fact that there's always a massive lineup to get a table. And it seems everyone orders take out because that seems to be there main focus when they're busy. In my opinion they need to either move locations to a building twice the size. Or simply open another one across town. It's always so busy they actually loose business for the fact that you need to wait in line for over an hour to get a table!

Ok! So, came back to Windsor and re-tried the penalty box. Our waitress was absolutely wonderful. I didn't order the famous chicken delight because I wasn't too excited about it last time but!!!! Did order the chicken sandwich. They cooked it exactly the way I like and it was delicious! We ended up ordering some food to go for my parents and even though they were busy our waitress was able to fast track the order to be ready for us by the time we finished our meal. I'm glad I re-tried this place and am excited to try other items on the menu!

I was fairly impressed with the service and the quality of the food as it was my first time here. The wait for the food took a bit longer than expected as it seemed that the kitchen focused more on preparing take out orders than the dine in, but the quality of the food makes up for the long wait. I ordered the mushroom burger with the side of fries and surprisingly, the fries were nice and crispy. The burger bun itself was crispy and not greasy like other burger buns. The patty was juicy and had a nice flavour to it. The mushrooms within the burger were very delicious and complimented the burger. The lady who served us was very kind and always stopped by to check if we were doing fine. I would highly recommend this place for a nice family dinner.

The food is great, just be ready to WAIT! and wait and wait... Unfortunately we had this experience the first time we went there and thought we would give it another try today, but it was an even worse experience! They are more interested in getting to-go orders taken care of than the actual customers in the restaurant. Staff were not particularly helpful even after we had not received our food for over an hour.

Was never treated so badly. Waited over an hour. Asked about the wait as I had a child with me and was given attitude We left. I'll never go back. Highly overrated.

Was blown away by the quality of food and affordability Kind of in a rush and don't have lots of time to go down memory lane, but must try's include the Box-style ribs, chicken delight, and Greek salad. Absolutely loved it!

Short n' Sweet.. It's really good no matter what you order. You can't go wrong in here. Food to server.

Went here for dinner with my girlfriend an hour before close. Wasn't busy, unfortunately the food and drinks we initially wanted was sold out, but understanding it is a smoke house as well, it's expected. Service here is great, feels like a family joint. I had the signature chicken delight and my girlfriend had the souvlaki dinner. Both were absolutely amazing, flavours were great and price was cost efficient. I'd recommend them, I will be coming back to try the ribs. Overall, great experience.

Went back here a few weeks ago because it was close to the hospital which my friend had an appointment for quarter after one. We were seated just before noon and decided we better order sandwiches so we wouldn't have to rush. I got the club and she got a souvlaki pita wrap. We were sitting forever before it came. It must have been half an hour. Food was excellent, I think this was the best club I have ever had at a restaurant. Hers looked good as well. Waiting and paying for our bill took the longest I've ever waited. They really need to hire some more staff and I'd eat here for lunch all the time. It's a shame you can't go here on your hour long lunch break, you'd never make it back on time. We ended up being late for that appointment by 10 minutes.

I don't see the appeal. I just don't. This is brown food. It isn't even tasty brown food. The crowd can be forgiven. They need a place to go. They're actually charming folks. Even the décor has some charm. Some. It's a little uh-oh-am-I-gonna-get-hepatitis-here?? but hey, you get what you pay for, right? Aaaaaaaand, we're back to the food.... It's brown. It's all brown. Blecccchhh

Finally got to try their famous Chicken Delight wrap and I loved it. The greek salad on the side was also amazing! Make sure you leave an hour or two for a mid day nap cause that thing is heavy. Can't really comment on the restaurant experience though as I ordered my sandwich to go.

Over an hour wait for food. Chicken delight was very dry and lacked flavor. Won't be going back. Much better chicken delight at Greek Pita and cheaper. Waitress was very nice and attentive though.

No matter when, they have a crowd - but it's a good thing We stopped in around 3:15 on a Thursday and there were a lot of people seated at tables. Several people came in and picked up to-go orders. We were surprised to say the least. And what's good? Everything, just ask a waitress! We tried the escargot - a weird thing to eat at a mom n pops diner-type establishment. It was hot, salty, buttery and tasty and came with bread to sop up the sauce. My bloody mary wasn't great though. I felt like a rabbit licking a salt tablet when drinking the thing because there was a layer of salt in the bottom of the glass (and on the rim, in case you wondered). There wasn't a kick - a little horseradish or tabasco would improve it greatly. The location is great when the exit line from the visitor's lot at the hospital is super long.

I ordered the chicken delight with a Caesar salad. It was absolutely a delight in deed and well worth the 45 minute wait. We were seated within 10 mins of arriving. The pita wrap was a little messy, but I was ok with that because it was scrumptious. The side Caesar salad was perfectly dressed and complete with homemade croutons. I will definitely be back :)

I ate here with my family and I ordered the chicken delight highly recommend it was delicious and there was great service!

Another fine establishment with a great menu has found itself left in the trash bin due to poor management and unfriendly staff. Ridiculous.

Ordered food to go, said half hour over the phone. Showed up to get it and waited another hour! It shouldn't take that long to put some chicken in a pita throw it in a box and move onto the next. This will be the last time I give this place my money.

Amazing value for the money. Fresh food, quality ingredients.

This is a great spot to grab lunch in Windsor. If your in a hurry this is not the place for you. On average a take out order is about 30 minutes, but it is worth the wait. I love the chicken delight with Greek salad.

Excellent chicken delight, long line ups mean this place is the real deal. It's a must try in Windsor. I don't get why Yelp forces us to write more, wish I could write them a review about how they're being dictators.

Such a great place to eat with the family. Chicken Delight is amaze! They can get pretty busy so service isn't the fastest but it's worth the wait.

Love this place!!! Great food!!!! Super busy though. Especially at lunch. Go early or late if you don't want to wait!! Great wraps and burgers!! Love those wedged fries.

The steak delight with gyro toppings and fries with yellow sauce cannot be beat! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! For me it's worth the 1 1/2 hour drive, the cramped parking lot and usually long waits. Great prices too! I will definitely be back. A lot!

Small menu selection but great Chicken Delight. I wish i could find out what was in their secret sauce. Rumor has it that the owner makes is personally and him and only a few people know. Worth a try. Also very good Garlic bread. Loud atmosphere, but great food. Parking is a bit tight! Always busy so plan ahead

Chicken delight is delightful! The only thing I have ever gotten in this restaurant and it has never disappointed. Chicken delight, if you had a hand, I'd ask for it in marriage.

After hearing raves about this place from my father, I decided to see what the fuss is al about....so 5 of us ventured in for dinner on a Wednesday night. We were immediately greeted at the door and were told that due to the crowds, the wait for food (once ordered) would be approx. 1/2 hr. I thought this was a reasonable time frame, so we stayed. Our server was fantastic...told us the specials and took a drink order. She checked back on us frequently and brought out additional items without any attitude. We ordered: 1) spaghetti and meatballs. Huge portion size, my father loved it 2) perch dinner special with fries and coleslaw. Huge pieces of fish, lightly battered. Excellent taste. 3) Rib dinner for 1 - I found them rich in flavour but a bit on the fatty side. Still deelish though....with fries, baked beans and coleslaw ( and only $12.95) 4) chicken strip meal - with fries, coleslaw. The person who ordered this asked for Hot sauce, which they didn't have, but she said they were ok regardless 5) coconut shrimp special - 10 breaded, sliced shrimp with soup or salad and fries. The person who ordered this said they were excellent. All the above, plus 3 Coors, 1 Diet Coke, 1 glass of wine came to just under $80! Excellent value considering taste and portion size. Will return to try something else.....

Have been here several times. There is typically a wait for food but the service is good, food is tasty - it comes out hot and fresh so it's worth the wait. Everything with the rib plate is fantastic, especially considering the price of just $12.95. Had the chicken delight and was not blown away - it was good but not exactly as legendary as I have heard. Will continue to order the rib plate.

I don't get what the big deal is with this "chicken delight" sandwich. I, or anyone for that matter could build a better chicken sandwich at home for a quarter of the price. Stop encouraging people to eat dry, bland, easy, boring food. The owner of this restaurant is probably laughing his head off on a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean, wondering how he got so frigging rich selling such terrible food.

Ah the chicken delight. It keeps me coming back. The price is fantastic, much cheaper than a comparable wrap anywhere else. From time to time I've tried other menu items but none are as good as the delight (a chicken delight is a chicken pita wrap by the way, with lettuce, tomatoes and a special delight sauce). One time we had a bad experience, the tomatoes on our delights were a greenish unripe colour, texture and flavour. When the waitress asked how everything was we told her and she made excuses, no apologies. Then on paying at the cash were asked again how everything was, we again mentioned the tomatoes and got more excuses, no apologies. It was a bit bizarre. I'd rate them lower as a result but it was an aberration as usually the food and service is just fine.

Cheap, tasty chicken delight. Service is hit - or - miss because they can be Soooooo busy. A Windsor must do every once in awhile. The sauce on the chicken delight and on the gyros is the main reason we keep returning.

Love their food.....the portions are big! The only downside is 95% of the time you have to wait minimum 20mnts to be seated since it's always packed inside!

Once again the chicken delight surpasses expectations. I have yet to try out other items on the menu but I am sure they wouldn't dissapoint.

I've been going to this restaurant over the course of my 31 life and, sincerely, this place is extremely hit or miss. When they nail it, the food is a great example of staple American food done pretty well and when they miss the mark, they miss it terribly. However, I'm going to give you guys a basic rundown of my average experience with the place, as I have way too many of each experience to really post them all here: I would walk into the restaurant which, in all honesty, after parking, which is a pain in the rear to park in the parking lot of, almost all of the time, to see that I'm either completely ignored, partially ignored, or treated to a "Seat Yourself" sign which could mean they're either too busy to help customers or they don't really care to push themselves beyond their routines. After either being seated or seating ourselves, which can take a long time in its own right, we have to wait even longer - this wait time can go even longer depending on how busy it is there - just to order our drinks, let alone receive them. Once I receive a menu, usually I'm distracted by how long it's taking to be attended to because I'm something of an indecisive person, so I'll take an unusual amount of time to pick what I want, especially when there's not a huge variety in menu items. Ordering and getting my food usually doesn't take a huge amount of time compared to how long is usually takes to get the ball rolling. Once I receive my food, though, is where the fun begins. Plating usually leaves me either with an abundant portion that seems to depend on how big they make the main - as they fill the rest of the plate with a heap of fries, coleslaw, and beans, depending on your dish - and that doesn't equal a truly large portion as it's easy to fill up on fries, and, honestly, half the time, the quality of the fries aren't up to snuff and I never really finish them, so it feels like a waste. My wife always gets the Chicken Delight and we always share my fries - we're both pretty healthy eaters so that should tell you something. Getting refills on our drinks, as well, is something I should honestly just forget about half the time. The quality of the food, though, most of the time, is spot on and it tastes great, especially the Chicken and Steak Delights. The pulled pork here isn't bad, either. Service seems to be hit or miss and it's usually a miss as it takes the restaurant being nearly empty to feel like they're being pleasant with you and properly attended to. Considering how little I spend here I feel as though I'm getting exactly what I paid for which, I guess, isn't terrible.. I just wish the service was a lot better.

Order the specialty - Chicken Delight. You can get it with fries, salad or half each. You won't be disappointed!

My son daughter and I walked in at 7 p.m. for dinner and were told they had a couple seats but that the food wait was over thirty minutes we turned and walked walked out