The Tipsy Bird — Restaurant in Belfast

I would not recommend coming here!!!

We cancelled a booking at another bar thinking we'd have a superior experience here... We were a group of 6 colleagues and had a long train ride to get here.

They took my card details and a warning about taking payment for no shows.

We didnt mind as we thought it an indication of a quality service, and that there'd be a table reserved for us.

On arrival however, there was no table for our group of 6, so they offered us a table for 5 which had someone else's name on the reservation card, and the table top was wonky.

Then we sat there waiting for service, and had to figure out for ourselves that we had to go up to the bar and order for ourselves. OK. So we ordered and our first round of drinks tasted good. So I went to the bar and ordered the same 6 drinks again.

After a while, it dawned on us that none of our drinks were being made. The barman was instead attending to a large group of girls who had just walked in.

I asked at the bar and none of our cocktails were being prepared. I stated that I wasn't very happy. So a supervisor took me aside and I explained our situation to him and mentioned i thought there would have been table service. He asked if I wanted to speak to the manager. I said that wasn't necessary, and if we could just get our drinks.

I sat down at our table and apologised to my colleagues as I had chosen and booked the bar for us. We had travelled a long way and were just looking forward to a couple of cocktails before dinner.

Next, an angry man with a Scottish accent (who didnt introduce himself) approached our table, saying "I hear you are not happy here and you're complaining. We do not do table service here ok!" I said yes I understand. We are just waiting for the cocktails i ordered at the bar. (Which we would pay for at bar and collect at bar)

We were taken aback at his approach and his angry tone. There was no apology.

Again I was embarrassed in front of my colleagues, as we had been looking forward to this day out for weeks!

But we thought, oh well misunderstandings happen, our drinks are surely being made now.

So I approached the bar again, to pay for our drinks if they were ready. The same Scottish man snarled at me aggressively "I said there was no table service!!" I was shocked at the way he spoke to me. I said, I'm only asking if our drinks are ready and to pay etc. I said to him that I didn't like the way he was speaking to me. He said he didn't like how i was harassing his staff!!

I was speechless and embarrassed in front of other customers at the bar.

I didnt harrass any of his staff. I only spoke to the supervisor guy once, when he took me aside and asked what was going on. I said I thought there'd be table service, but I accepted it when he said there wasn't!

We left the bar, and I was in tears after the whole debacle.

We are a group of 6 hard-working hospital colleagues on a day off and this was our experience at The Tipsy Bird.

The customer service and treatment was appalling. And to think they have the cheek to hold £10 per head on my...

DO NOT try and book with The Tipsy Bird. My Fiancé tried to organise a joint birthday for her two sisters for the Tipsy bird on Saturday. So the Tuesday afternoon before, she filled in the booking form from their Facebook and got an email saying they’d received the booking but it was NOT a confirmation and they would be in touch SHORTLY. She did not hear back and so the next day, she emailed their official email address asking if they had any update on the booking as it was for 20 people and if it was unsuccessful, other arrangements would have to be made so would need to know ASAP. No response. The next day (Thursday) she tried ringing 5 TIMES (3 in the afternoon and twice after 5) and no one answered. Friday came and STILL NO RESPONSE. My fiancé rang twice in the morning and on the third try someone finally answered and very shortly said “the policy with the bookings is that if there’s no response then you probably don’t have a table”...she re-read the email that she received that Tuesday and no where does it state this policy, it said twice in the email she would be contacted shortly with a decision. So her sister rang back that afternoon (which they only answered on the third time again) and again said the same thing and when asked why doesn’t the email or website etc state this “policy” of ignoring your request if unsuccessful, to which the girl had no answer. We said that’s 20 people who have to make other arrangements now last minute and you’ve really let us down - to which she replied “ok” and the call ended. If there was no tables available, we would want to be told asap rather than be trying every way of contacting them and never getting an answer! Unacceptable customer service and a complete lack of help from the staff who actually bothered to answer the phone. With their terrible booking service and diabolical customer care, you’re best bet of planning a good night out is staying well clear of this place....

Amazing atmosphere. The live music wad great (Guy on a guitar and a girl singing a mix of covers of different genre's and artists from Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, to Dolly Parton)

We were there early evening (around 7pm-9pm) so it wasn't rowdy or filled with drunks at that time. This may have been different later in the evening or on other nights, but at least from our time there, it was a really nice environment and would recommend it as a good bar for people who like to avoid the loud, crowded, drunken bars such as The Dirty Onion for example. The Tipsy Bird is more a place to spend a few hours enjoying good music and good drinks.

The interior design has a really unique theme that feels like the inside of a bird house/greenhouse/summer Garden. It makes for the most unique bar in Belfast.

The drinks are also great. Although their cocktail list is rather short, they are very unique. But they also offer any classic cocktail upon request.

Overall, The Tipsy Bird has become my favourite Cocktail bar in Belfast and would highly...