The Ararat Hotel Cafe Bistro — Restaurant in Victoria

I’ve been here quite a few times; when it opened as a Bistro it was awesome and it filled an important gap in our hospitality market, being open from brekky til late. You could finally get coffee and snacks, or a meal! between 3-6 pm. But the great staff all left and the proprietor front of house guy clearly resents customers. He grunts at you, points at eftpos without words and shouts out the table number - not visible anywhere on the table - to find you. On top of that, the counters and tables were dirty. I rested my forearms and wallet on the counter as I paid, and it was as sticky and grimy as I’ve ever encountered. The table I sat at was cleared - a nearly empty restaurant and too few tables were / but covered in crumbs, and horribly sticky! You can imagine how popular I was asking for it to be wiped. The attitude to customers is poor and the food varies wildly as reviews make clear. It also depends on who is cooking as the interpretations of dishes varies widely. Particularly be wary with chips - I don’t order them here any more as they have been dreadful a number of times. The zucchini fritters are always delicious and the coffee is okay, but Ararat is so well set for coffee now that isn’t much of a plus. Also, brekky stops at 11, which is bad news if you’ve got visitors coming up from afar. It’s all so disappointing that this lovely looking central place just can’t seem to manage hospitality. It was so...

When booking a table online, there was a section asking if we were celebrating a special occasion. I noted it was my husband’s 50th birthday, but upon arrival, there was no mention of it—no greeting, no acknowledgment, nothing. It made us wonder why they even ask if it’s not going to be recognized, especially for a milestone.

From the start, we simply didn’t feel welcome. The atmosphere was plain, with no smiles from the staff, and a filthy chair at the next table didn’t help the first impression. None of the staff looked particularly happy, which contributed to an overall flat and uninviting mood.

The food was hit and miss—some of our group enjoyed their meals, others didn’t. The music didn’t match the theme at all—surf-style tunes played from a large TV, which also blasted loud commercials between songs. It felt out of place, especially considering the town is inland and far from any beaches.

The bartender seemed especially unhappy and unapproachable. In the end, we just wanted to...

I visited last week for dinner and this place seems unsure if it is a pub or a restaurant. Like at a pub, you order at the bar rather than a waiter taking your order at the table, but like a restaurant, everything is served to your table - including drinks. I wouldn't bother to remark on this if service were prompt, but it was not. Our drinks, a beer and a soft drink, were not delivered until our meals arrived. I'm not sure the staff grasp that people order a drink to have while they wait for the meal to be prepared (whether pub, restaurant, or cafe). After a big day walking in the Grampians, it was a bit frustrating to see staff pottering around very slowly rather than bringing me the cold refreshing beer I was hanging out for. It's their financial loss, because if they'd just poured my beer while I was at the bar, I would have definitely gone back for a second by the time the meal came.

Anyway, the food itself was perfectly decent. I had the parma and it was tasty, no...