McGilverays The Wortley Arms — Restaurant in Barnsley

We have been coming to Wortley Arms for over 8 years with the lovely Jamie and after hearing Jamie was leaving we were incredibly sad - he ran that place amazingly and the food was always to die for. We finally booked in to now ‘Mcgilverarys’ Wortley Arms to be incredibly disappointed. We arrived 5/10 minutes late struggling to park to be then seated at the other side where the dogs can go after stating it was a special occasion which was absolutely fine but alittle disappointing as it just seen chaotic in this side.

We sat down and eventually got asked if we wanted drinks, we were disappointed that the local drafts that Jamie used to get from Bradfield were no more. We then got asked by a young blonde waitress that we might need to move due to sitting us in the wrong place.. we had be sat here for 20 minutes now waiting for our order to be taken. They went backwards and forwards deciding if we were to be moved or not… we were already thinking this is a shambles before even ordering .. all the staff seemed like it was there first day. We then got approached by the same young blonde girl to tell us that a party of 50 upstairs is ordering first now because we were late and we would have to wait after them.

I couldn’t believe my ears. So your telling me a table of 2 now needs to wait after a table of 50 have ordered when we have now been sat here for 30 minutes. Her excuse was being.. we were ‘late’. I argued we had been sat here for 30 minutes whilst your all rushing around deciding if to move us or not. This was insane. I ended up debating with this girl how ridiculous this was. I asked how long is it going to take before we get our roast.. debating whether to just walk out.

A more managerial women then approached us and asked us for our order finally. She didn’t have any paper and was trying to remember our order.. she looked like her mind was in another place. The customer service was atrocious.

Finally our food came and we felt so deflated. The roast wasn’t hot, we had to ask for more gravy because it looked like they were scrimping. The roasties were burnt and it was truly disappointing. I felt so sad knowing this was our local and it’s now turned into a circus.

After 8 years, we will absolutely not be returning and I’ll be spreading the world that a lovely family run business as turned in to a ‘chained’...

would not recommend for saturday night out closes at 2200 tried to order another bottle of wine at 0950 to be told that we could but the place shuts at 2200. dissappointed as the night was young . prior to this when we first arrived at 7 and didnt order straight away as we were talking ( ordered wine) we were told that we could nt order because the kitchen was over run with orders 🤷‍♀️ never ever been told before in a restaurant that we couldnt order x but we were fine with that and let it go x our party of 5 spent £240 x the food was ok x not brilliant for the price x we complained at the end of our meal disappointed that it shut so early and we felt unwelcome to a have a further bottle of wine x the owners a man and woman told us that we did not under stand hospitality and that basicslly tgey didnt care what we thought and that we were welcome to complain on trip advisor ‘ no apology no understanding x they just wanted us out ! we only wanted one more bottle of wine and we d probs been finished by 2230 x but they didnt care x ive been going to this pub for over 20 years x the food has always been good but never have i felt so unwelcome and been virtually kicked out at 2200 on a sturday night x i will not return x the new owners are unwelcoming and rude and do not care about their customers ! not sure they understand the meaning of the word hospitable that they preach! obviously very angry with the way the hospitality trade has diminished understandable so x however it is not the fault of the customer that is there wishing only to have/ buy another bottle of wine and stay an extra...

The pub itself is nice. The staff were pleasant. The gluten free fish and chips were genuinely the worst I've ever eaten, with no hyperbole. The chips, mushy peas and fish were nice. The batter had the weirdest taste. Acrid, almost chemical. Nearest I can get in my mind is the taste of washing up liquid. My wife said "This may be the worst meal I've ever had out. I've had underseasoned, overseasoned, undercooked, overcooked, but nothing that made me consider for a brief moment that I could be being poisoned." We settled on that it was just the batter, scraped it off and ate the rest. We discussed this with the waitress. She went to the kitchen and spoke with the chef. They apologised and said it was down to gluten free flour and soda water to make the batter. Now, I've been gluten free for about six years, and have made fish and chips with soda water, and know the taste of both soda water and gluten free flour. This was not it. I'm not sure whether this is teething issues as Mcgilvereys has only been open here a few months, but I won't be returning until I hear some good reviews...