The Stoned Crow — Restaurant in Sydney

This place has really gone down hill.

Yes this is an icon and institute of Crows Nest, but unfortunately somewhere along the line, attention to customers has slumped, cleanliness has become secondary and its simply not what is used to be.

We have been here many many times and I could have written numerous reviews about it being an easy ‘go to’ place before dinner or how it’s located neatly in the middle of Willoughby rd making it so convenient.

However, fact is the staff make this now an unfriendly place to visit. Combined with the average meals and terrible wine list, we no longer give this place our custom.

Being regulars, for many years... we’ve spent a fair bit of $$ there but we have now drawn a line and decided we will never go back. Additionally, our friends won’t be going and hopefully you can read this advice and save yourself by going somewhere else.

Service + Staff: Has gotten slower, I’ve heard arguments in the kitchen and staff really don’t seem to care anymore. Staff have a consistent manner of rudeness that seems to shock people who are there for the first time, but clearly other people put up with and come back.

Management: The old manager (a while ago now) was great. This new person has a terrible attitude and should not be working in hospitality.

Security: Security is present on Friday and Saturday evenings. They are always friendly. I’ve never seen any fights or trouble at this venue.

The drinks: Standard beers and an attempt to jump on the craft beer wagon with some Young Henry’s and 4 pines options. Wine list is very limited and quality of wines is terrible. Certainly not the place to go for an enjoyable wine! They seem to push cocktails in their menus and looks like they have some interesting variations. I’ve never had any. You can not get good red wine here. Not even average wine. They only have very low end, terrible wines!!!

The bar: Bar area is always sticky and seems to not have been cleaned. You do get served relatively fast, but again your not dealing with friendly staff.

The food: Food is hit and miss. Sometimes you can get an awesome snitzel, great burger, tasty quesadilla - but most times the food comes over or under cooked, EXTRA deep-friend and the pizza toppings are clearly not fresh!!! It’s more miss than hit.

The prices: Relatively standard prices. Given the quality of food, the prices do not represent good value.

The seating: They take reservations which they take very seriously. You can book a table for 6 and turn up at 7 and you’ll still get your table. This is quite annoying as many tables are free which could be used, but people turn up late or not at all and the table space is wasted. If you do sit down they get quite angry. We’ve even been told (not politely asked) to get up and leave mid meal.

The tables: Always dirty. Staff make an effort to get plates and glasses off but do not give them a clean in which they deserve. Make it seem like a poor dive bar— not even a good one.

The toilets: This venue has toilets. Of which are at the back of the venue, on the side off the area of the kitchen.

The atmosphere: It’s a bit of a dark place inside, even on a nice sunny day. Although they do have some seats out the front along the sidewalk. They are going for that hip and rustic feeling but have not quite nailed it. With the darkness it edges more towards a dive bar.

The crowd: 18 -25, 25 - 32, 33 - 40+. It gets a crowd of a bit of everyone with some of the regulars being late 30’s or in their 40s. Then there are the younger people who come and drink the cocktails. Bit of a mixture.

The last words: This was once good but is now ruined by unfriendly staff, hit and miss food, terrible wine list and unclean...

Came here for dinner a while back and found our experience underwhelming.

We ordered the following: Rump steak - medium rare with a pint of Matso's ginger beer; Chicken parmigiano with a scooner of Stone and Wood.

When we walked in the available tables were left dirty and uncleared, to the point that we went to the bar ourselves to ask for a cloth to clean the table. After ordering our food our drinks came out quite promptly, yet we waited around 30+ min for our food. The chicken Parmi came out first and actually tasted quite nice. The chicken wasn't dry, it had a good sauce balance and it came with fries and salad.

The steak on the other hand was a disaster. It looked presentable upon serving yet the quality and the flavour left much to be desired. The steak looked seared but was soggy, it sorta tasted like it wasn't properly thawed and the texture was like rubber. The steak was also really hard to cut as it was, the "normal" knife that they gave with it didn't help either. The had to get up towards the kitchen to get ourselves a proper knife too.

I heard good stories about The Stoned Crow, but sadly I cannot share that. I will personally not come again and try some of the other good restaurants...

Yesterday I went to hear a musician friend perform at the Stoned Crow. He was booked to perform from 3 to 6 pm. My friend has performed for many years in Japan, Switzerland and Germany and at International Hotels in Sydney. I drove for 75 minutes to attend his performance and with his other friends who were visiting from Interstate.

The manager, after having my friend set up his musical equipment, instructed him not to play as she said she was happy with the existing vibe. 30 minutes later, I asked one of the waitresses when my friend would start his performance. This waitress advised me that my friend would not perform. I expressed my displeasure at this and my opinion that this was most unfair to my musician friend and his group of fans / friends who had come to the venue to hear him perform.

The waitress then summoned a male manager who requested that I leave the venue. I made a telephone complaint later that night only to discover that the waitress had falsely claimed that I had been rude to her.

My advice if you want to spend time at this venue: never make a complaint or express your disdain at how poorly they treat musicians...