Aran Irish Pub — Restaurant in Amsterdam

I don’t really write reviews (especially long ones like this) but this place honestly needs to be avoided.

Came here with my boyfriend while sightseeing in Amsterdam. Nice food ruined by unbelievably rude staff. The first lady who served us with glasses was wonderful, two men after that were so rude I was actually took back. Dark haired man brought our drinks over and when we said hello to him we got absolutely no reply and he put our drinks down pretty hard. We were very confused as to what we did to annoy this man, he later came over mid meal to rush us to pay due to a shift changeover. I wouldn’t even mind paying early as I know how stressful hospitality work is (I’m also a hospitality worker), but the attitude and vibe of this guy was so passive aggressive and made me feel awkward. The blonde guy who put our food down also put our cutlery and food down pretty hard and didn’t look at us or apologise. All very soulless customer service. Other than the lovely lady mentioned previously, smiles and hellos are wasted on these staff as they seem to almost try and avoid eye contact with you.

For an Irish pub, there is absolutely no Irish charm or hospitality; I’m saying that as a woman who has an Irish mother. In fact I think the whole of Ireland would be embarrassed that a place that lacks any customer service or just basic staff manners would label themselves as an “Irish” pub.

The thing is you don’t have to do a song and dance for every customer that comes in, I get it. And I get people have bad days, but there’s no need to be so inhospitable to people who just want a quiet meal. Plus it seemed to not just be a one off (except nice lady with glasses). A little warmth or even acknowledgment goes a long way.

It’s sad really because I fully intended to give a nice tip to the glasses lady with dark hair, but to be honest I was so infuriated at the venue’s rude staff that I just wanted to leave when I finished my meal. I didn’t even remember to give her the tip because of her colleagues’ poor customer service.

Once again sorry for the long review, this place just really rubbed me...

First visit was on a Saturday to have a few drinks whilst watching the football. Was busy but managed well and no issues. Good atmosphere we came at about 6:30 for about two hours and spent about €40 on drinks between two of us- no issues this night.

Visited again the day after on a Sunday at 5:30 started off well and again was watching the football and ordering drinks. Went to use the toilet and was abruptly told by a lady who was not in any kind of uniform that it was €0.50 to use the washroom. I replied laughing saying she was joking as had used them the day before for no charge and no one was monitoring it. Then when I went to go in she again abruptly asked for the money and at this point I realised she was being serious, explained had no cash as use card pretty much everywhere now. I had to walk back up, finished my drink and left before the football finished. Your bar missed out another €30-€40 because of a 0.50 charge. Have visited Amsterdam twice now in 12 months, next time won’t be returning based on her behaviour. The area the bar is set in is busy so I can understand not wanting non customers using the toilet, a simple show of a receipt should be enough. Sara at the bar has to have a special mention as she was really nice towards me and my partner on both days and the reason for 3 stars otherwise...

Me and my mom wanted to eat here. We had to wait so long, I decided to go inside and order myself. The waiter brushed me off saying he'd come to our table to get our order.

Again, we had to wait for at least 5 minutes until the waiter showed up...

Promptly ignored us, even when my mom called him over. Started to help the other customers like the couple in front of us who had just seated on the terrace, and continued to take everyone else order.

We were about to leave when he finally stopped at our table, and we reprimanded him for his rude service before we did take our leave because the man did not apologise when we pointed out he ignored us and had a big attitude. If he had given us an apology, we would have stayed.

My mother is a seasoned horeca worker who worked at plenty of bars and restaurants and as she said it:

"If one of my coworkers treated guests like that, they would be fired."

I swear this entire square is one big tourist trap filled with unfriendly bussinesses trying to suck you dry.

My advice: Go back a little to the city's center and eat at Burger King as at least they offer some decent service, if you want alcohol then the terraces next to...