Fortress Sydney — Restaurant in Sydney

Venue is great but service was terrible the other night. I have been here before a few times and this last time was the worst.

Firstly, we were not seated until 25 minutes after we had originally booked. When we were finally seated by a red headed manager, there was no apology given. This happens a lot at the venue. While some things are outside the venue's control, courtesy goes a long way to patrons.

Secondly, a second employee who was trying to help us from the game rent kiosk was spoken to poorly by the same red headed manager. The employee was trying to help us, asked the manager "do you know if the table is ready", and the manager snarkily replied in front of everyone "I'm a manger. I think I know how to do my job." This was completely unnecessary and unprofessional. Everyone that witnessed it was visibly uncomfortable. The lady at the kiosk has been there a number of other times, is extremely pleasant, and in no way deserved that treatment, especially from a manager.

Thirdly, we were told that the whole service was down which meant that they weren't getting our orders. This has happened multiple times at this venue. Despite this, we still got all our drinks delivered without any food for quite a while meaning we were drinking on an empty stomach. Again, while this is outside the venues control, I feel like they should have staggered drinks if they're not serving food.

Fourthly, in the later portion of the night, we sung happy birthday. Once we sung it, two other tables came over to us and said that it was their birthday too and the three tables started cheering. Was this loud? Yes. Did it warrant intervention? Yes. However, all that occurred was a group of staff, including the same red headed manager, gathered at our table only, stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time while we were now being quiet because all 3 tables had stopped singing, pointed at us and said nothing. A staff member then finally said in a very unfriendly manner "if you do that again you will be kicked out". No de-escalation whatsoever. Extremely rude, unprofessional and quite honestly deflated the birthday celebrations. Of course, we made sure to keep it down after this.

A staff member came over a little after this and said "don't worry, you're doing alright" and laughed it off for us which was nice.

If we were being loud during the night and they had come over and told us, I'd have no problem. However, we had been there for over 2 hours without one warning or request to keep it down before this.

The vibe I get from advertising of the venue is that it is friendly and welcoming. What I saw is that managers treat their staff poorly, don't communicate properly with patrons, and are otherwise disorganised...

I have been a regular at the Fortress for more than a year now and have always had great time with friends. However I have to say the recent changes that upper management has made to the place, I feel is very questionable.

For example, you cannot reserve tavern tables anymore as this is only for walk ins now. Which I feel makes no sense because for people who want to come here in big groups and need a table or two guaranteed for them on a peak day is not the case now. The only other option to do that is if you go with the heroes feast option which cost $49 per person. Which is just too much for most people in this current cost of living crisis. To be expected to prop up there with 12 people as a walk in and be guaranteed a table is just too risky on a peak day. So in turn you lose potential customers and money.

Also, the VIP booths fee per person now does not include credit for food. So now you are expected to pay the same fee as before but the fee does not cover the food unlike before. This just seems like pure corporate greed on the upper management side that I feel is going to turn more and more customers away from this place. It is a real shame that a unque venue such as the fortress, can be ruined by poor policies that don't think of the customer first. You know the very people who provide you business.

I understand the fortress needs to make a profit to keep the place sustainable and running. I know it cannot be cheap, but surely there are better ways to do that without causing inconvenience and a lot more money out of the pocket for customers.

I do have to say the only reason that is preventing me from giving this review a one star is because of the amazing staff. They always go out of their way to provide a fun and welcoming experience for customers. However, I can not say the same for the upper management who makes these poor decisions that I have outlined in this review.

Also worth mentioning some suggestions for improvements for the venue. For example, is to have better lighting. It is very hard for a lot of people I know to see, especially when they are trying to read the instructions for board games. Also, the volume for the music could be lowered a few notches. I make a bet that most of the regular customers at the fortress are Neurodivergent who have sensory issues.

I will definitely be more reluctant to come here now. I hope more and more people voice their complaints about these issues. It is important to not sit by and let corporate greed slowly ruin such a great and unique venue in Sydney, such as...

I'm going to preface this by saying fortress is my favourite place to hang out and play games... But that's not because it's the pick of the litter - it's because it's the only place in Sydney that does this and that doesn't seem like a good enough reason these days. The staff is fine, some are lovely, some are not, whatever. The atmosphere looks amazing... If I could even see it, the place is so dim that I truly struggle to read cards from card games or rule sheets, I'm not really sure what the intention here is because it's a board game place where you can't see the game but I'm assuming it's a matter of atmosphere over practicality. Same goes with the music, sometimes it's been so loud I've struggled to hear simple conversations, which if management didn't know, you need to have to play games.. I've recently found out about them closing the boardgame section of the establishment from open-5 which I'd assume is because either a) they hire way to many staff for a quieter time of day or 2) because people aren't coming in for lunch which brings me to food. The food is aggressively mid, and for the price of a main being so high it's no wonder people don't eat there much. When I go to play I'll usually duck out for one of the million other places nearby that does better food for cheaper such as spice alley (2min walk) and then come back. My suggestion is to either have some sort of lunch deal or hire less staff for the quiet time because opening at 5 just makes me want to find other venues that are board game friendly because let's be honest, if I'm a regular there I probably have the board games but not the space so if you are closing the space, I'll just find another and bring my own games. Sadly I think fortress suffers from poor management thinking it's a great idea on paper, which it is, but isn't in practicality. Do better because you can, I've seen you turn the lights up and music down at the end of a night 👀 I truly do hope fortress listens to this because I think with some simple improvements you would turn a nice gimmick into an established core of Sydney culture. Edit: before a response by fortress is given... Don't even mention the lanterns... The lanterns are an absolute joke that provide no light and are awkward to place anywhere, I genuinely laughed when I...