Hop Temple — Restaurant in Victoria

We had dinner here last night to celebrate my hubby's birthday and I have never felt so uncomfortable. Having worked in hospitality for 10 years when I was at uni, I do notice things more, however, even our friends were disgusted. I have given 0 stars for the service deliberately, it wasn't missed accidentally.

We had a table near the stage. Our booking was for 7 people (with 3 kiddies - aged 7, 8 and 10). All were beautifully behaved and played games at the table, went and watched the fire for a bit, were in awe of the venue and sat outside in the lane fir a bit to escape the noise to play a game at one of tables, they were all empty being a freezing night.

The food was great, venue is awesome. We visited here last year for Father's Day and had the best time. We had great service too. So we were expecting the same experience.

The way we were treated by the guy with the shaved head and tattoos was really appalling. Sorry to kind of name and shame the staff member - but I've slept on it before writing this review and I'm still mad the following day. This venue states it is child friendly AND even pet friendly! But we felt like we were the biggest burden with our little boy and our friends with their two boys.

The eye rolling when I asked the guy for some tomato sauce for my little boy!! Seriously, are you 12? Yes mate, some sauce for our child's meal - your job, to serve your customers! The sighing and literally the tone in his voice when the guys went up to order our meals! I could go on about all the times this guy interacted with us and how he made us feel.

We spent over $500 on food and drinks last night. Paying customers.

I'm not sure if he was having a bad night and taking it out on us but don't work in hospitality. Call in sick, fake it to make and leave your bad mood at home - you are dealing with people.

At around 7:30pm, a young girl came over and told us that our table was going to be taken away for the dance floor at 8:30pm. I was surprised because I did ask the guy if we would have to move and he told us no. We were all fine with that as we weren't going to stay much later anyway having kids with us and a long drive home.

Then she same back 15 minutes later to ask if we would like to move to another table... confused, we said no as we were happily sitting, drinking and the kids were playing a game at the table. I'm not sure why she came back to tell us to move after she had already told us that we needed to move at 8:30pm.

Then she came back 5 minutes later and told us that we had to move BEFORE 8:30pm. The band was starting at 9pm. I'm not sure why we were harassed so much about having to move but I can only put it down to that we had children with us and were an inconvenience.

To the young guy who served us: when you have kids, you DO eat dinner and sometimes...you even GO OUT for dinner! We were celebrating my hubby's birthday and instead of talking about what a lovely night out we had on the drive home - all we could focus on was how we were treated. We really did try and enjoy our night and each other's company regardless but service is definitely part of the experience when you go out for dinner.

The background music was perfect, the food was yummy, the guys enjoyed tasting all the different beers on tap, the footy was on the big screen, the crowd were friendly and we chatted with people around us.

Perhaps remove your statement about being child friendly because your staff were not friendly to us at all.

After having a quick look through your reviews it seems we aren't the only people who have felt like this before with kids.

Won't be back. ...

Absolutely love visiting Hop Temple! A hidden gem of Ballarat that you need to visit! 🍻

Whether you're a Ballarat local or just visiting, this is one place you need to stop in at!

There are heaps of craft beers on tap, delicious cocktails, wine and so much more.

The food is always amazing as well. I highly recommend getting a heap of different dishes to share, (especially if you are with a group) so you can try a bit of everything on the menu. There are plenty of meals/options that are safe for the kids too if you were to bring them along for a visit.

I personally love the wood fired pizzas, the meat platters, the popcorn chicken (pictured) and the Skillet Mac and Cheese with Truffle (pictured).

The venue itself is absolutely insane, with lots of space and heaps of different sized tables, as well as an outdoor area and upstairs function area. For such a big space, these guys have done such an amazing job at making it feel very warm and comfortable, especially during the colder evenings in Ballarat.

I highly recommend booking a table in advance if you can as they do...

Have been going to the Hop Temple for many years and took my team there Friday night for an end of year dinner.. Unfortunately the Hop has used its great reputation as a place of great value to now do its best to fleece its patrons of as much cash as it possibly can.. The Hop Burger was once a $16.00 Burger and was loaded with everything a burger should have, and is now a $26.00 burger that consisted of a bun, 2 mediocre slices of brisket, some coleslaw, and some fries on the side (ask for some sauce though and you will be charged $1.50) You really couldn't make a burger with any less effort...One of our guys chose the Pulled Pork Pizza $25.00, which apart from being around 10 Inches in diameter, only seemed to have about 8 inches of a sparse covering which looked like they had forgotten to put the pork on.. Drinks are certainly not cheap or great value as an addition... Disappointed that management of this once great venue is choosing short term thinking and monetary gains over long term patronage.. The money will not always be there... Will I be back next year......