OnRoute – King City

Dicks
I hate running out of Gas here they have no manners can“t say please or thank you or your welcome

I went to the Burger King in the food court. They’re efficient and fast on service. The food quality is consistent as you’d expect from a fast food franchise.
There were like 5 people ahead of me and I received my food in about 5 minutes total, counting from when I started to line up. I’ve been to other fast food restaurants that could take longer to serve despite a short or no queue. I’m impressed.

Ok, you know if I bother to review an ONRoute, that I’m pretty impressed.
This ONRoute is pretty incredible. It’s actually a very nice place. There are tons of comfy lounger style chairs. Inviting seating areas. Tons of natural light. It feels a bit more like a Maple Leaf Lounge at the airport than the usual highway rest area.
Even the employees seemed to be nicer. The woman at Starbucks told me «enjoy my beverage and the rest of my day…» I’m actually being sincere that the staff here were very pleasant.
So if you really have to pee heading north out of Toronto, this is the spot to do it!

This is the King City OnRoute Service Centre.
They have various businesses comprising a food court inside the building, including Starbucks, Market, Tim Horton’s (of course), Teriyaki Experience, Burger King & Swiss Chalet. The center of the open air food court contains tables and chairs to accommodate travelers of the 400 Highway as they head north. An added bonus is free WiFi.
My latest visit was on a Saturday night (in the wee hours of Sunday morning). There weren’t many travelers, so as can be expected, only one of the restaurants was open. If you were to guess Tim Horton’s to be the selected store, you would be correct. There were a couple workers attending to customers, but my wait to be served was longer than should have been. Still, the service was courteous when provided and the food and drink fresh.
The restrooms are kept immaculate. Spotless. Not much else to say here.
As you exit Number 400, you will find fuel islands & parking for passenger vehicles out front, parking for larger RVs, buses and trucks in the back. A drive-​thru for Tim Horton’s is available for passenger vehicles. Again, the outside facilities were found to be just as clean as the inside.

When your on your way up north to the cottage, you look forward to these rest stops along the highway for a fill up on the tank (either the car or the person)…sometimes its to empty the tank as well… In any case these rest stops were usually a gas station with a restaurant attached and they had there own little charm. Today’s rest stops are full blown dining food courts, information booths, and plenty of seating. The King city OnRoute is one of the newer style locations.
Modern Looking, lots of glass, lots of seating… but along that comes with that it is now a much busier place. Long line ups for the Tim Hortons, washrooms etc… at least there is free WIFI. A nice welcome change from the old On Routes, somewhere you can actually sit down and take a break not just sit an eat in your car when the restaurant or OnRoute was full. 4 stars for the amenities, 2 for the long line ups… so 3 stars it is.

(disclaimer: This is solely a review of the Tim Hortons drive thru at this OnRoute, as that is the only component I experienced).
So I waited in a long line to get tea and a bagel from the drive thru. Here is a rough transcript of my experience.
*pulls up car to window*
*silence, blank screen.*
me: :S
*I roll my car up a few inches in case I missed a sensor or something*
*silence, blank screen.*
*after a minute* person: …Yeah, what?
Me: Oh, hi! Could I get a medium steeped tea, one milk, 2 sugars please.
Person: That it?
Me: Do you have any pretzel bagels?
Person: *sounding irritated* How do you want it?
Me: Uhh toasted with butter, please.
*screen still blank*
Person: $ 3.05, drive through.
…huh? Who took away those nice drive thru employees of many Toronto locations, who are polite and answered questions properly and repeated your order back to you? I guess it doesn’t matter whether they act pleasant or totally rude, they are still going to get a constant flow of commuters in need of a caffeine fix.

I hate these new onroutes! I miss the old ones on the 400. But as they say times they are a changing. At least they have wifi for those foreigners. Lineups are always crazy anytime in the summer and every long weekend.

MISS THE OLD ONROUTES!
Usualy when I am passing this OnRoute I will be driving up north to a cottage or a little mini vacation. The last thing I want to see are brand new businesses. This might sound weird to most people but I liked the older crappier versions of the OnRoutes!
As for the pro’s (which there are lots) you have free wifi, washrooms are nicer, more food selection.
When you see the pizza pizza don’t expect pizza pizza size or pricing. It is more expensive than store and the portion sizes are much smaller. (same approach as wonderland) Overall its works it to wait to get food at the Wasauga Beach exit.

Yes, you are reading this review correctly. I am reviewing an OnRoute rest stop on the Hwy 400 north between Teston Road and King Road. But why the heck not? If you haven’t seen this place I think it’s worth a gander.
I’ve been watching Canadian Tire Gas bars and OnRoute gradually take over the 400 series highway rest stops from Kingston to Windsor and from Toronto north to Barrie. In fact in a past job where I was a death dealer (tobacco sales rep), I helped to set up the tobacco section for the 4 new OnRoutes from between Windsor and London.
With this new location taking over for the long standing barn which housed a shabby looking Tim Hortons and Wendys, I must say the future of long distance driving rest stops is here — and it is good. This particular location is like a hybrid of a Mall Food Court and a swanky coffee shop. Comfy seat 4 sets mixed with standard food court table and chairs surrounded by a great variety of food court faves. Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Teriyaki Experience, Big Smoke Burger and Swiss Chalet all reside here for your dining pleasure and for convenience on the go there is the OnRoute standard convenience store also known as M Market.
Top highlights:
— The Timmies is drive thru and you can actually hit the drive thru and then end up at the Canadian Tire gas bar.
— Plenty of Parking
— Free Wifi that doesn’t require a password (also unlike most wifi hotspots you don’t need to buy something to sit here). That’s what we call a Money-​saver bonus!
— Cleanest, most frequently maintained washrooms I’ve seen off a highway EVER! Seriously I think someone cleans it every hour on the hour (Mop, toilets, sinks, etc)
Dammit! I promised myself this would be a short one — ah well. Next time!