Farro's — Restaurant in Birmingham

Sorry guys it's a long review😊 Looked lovely from outside and inside. A guy took our name and told us there would be a wait for a table for 2. We sat down in the waiting area which was not busy. Two girls came in well after us within minutes he took them to sit🤨 after 20 minutes he calls another couple to seat them who had come after us my husband pointed out we had been waiting alot longer. He said oh yes...no apologises told us to follow the girl.

We were seated at the table by a wall where waiters were also putting trays etc- not nice at all! the young waitress told us you decide what you would like then go to the order bay- like nando's. We head off to the bay there were two tills one was busy so we waited at the other. A plump girl in a scarf with studs in her face came no hello or anything..we noticed she was busy on her phone totally not caring customers were waiting which is blatantly RUDE. I even said excuse me I was totally ignored finally she looked up after 2 mins I asked her if she had finished sarcastically to no reply. We told her what we wanted there was no thank you. She took the money plonked my change on the table minus receipt and walked off after giving us our glasses.💁‍♀️ Definitely not good impressions after the fiasco at reception.

Two guys were standing to the side whom I assumed were managers or her family member as she seemed comfortable with them just chatting away. Again appalling.

Food came after 10 minutes which was not bad. Looked very nice. I had like a mix sizzler meal. We had sticky bbq buffalo wings for starters to try out and hubby had 1/2 chicken lemon and herb. The sizzle was nothing impressive as the lamb dried out quick. Buffalo wings were lovely. Hubby loved the lemon and herb he said it tasted of real lemons. We paid altogether £31 which also included fries, coleslaw and 2 bottomless glasses. It was nearly 7.30 and quite packed. The ordering bay and reception were very crowded. No organisation at all!!

They should invest in alarmed tablets for each table so everyone can order it whilst seated. Then have a light that goes on once completed so a waiter/waitress can come and take payment and tablet. Less over crowding! Just an idea for them

Overall the management needs to train the staff on manners and customer service skills. Also BAN mobile phones when working. My husband thought she may have been taking phone orders so that's why was on the phone. I still was not happy even if she was doing "phone orders" she shouldn't make customers wait and not apologise.

Would I recommend it... I'm 50/50 as I wasn't too impressed with the service. But I'm willing to go once more to see if things have changed.

Management needs to take lessons from My Lahore and go round tables and ask how things are especially as they recently opened and be open to suggestions and criticism. Be more happy and smiling as body language says alot especially when u huddled in the kitchen area...

Probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had.

For a place that looks so nice on the outside and costs over £20 to eat you expect good service and nice food.

The staff I saw looked a bit lost and some mentioned they were new. Having worked as a waiter myself I could tell that they were not trained well so I don’t blame them for the poor service I blame the management. I asked the waitress about if they have Portuguese food since they advertised themselves as that and I couldn’t find any on the menu. She didn’t know and called over another waiter who also didn’t know but he didn’t tell me what I already knew which was that there wasn’t any. Unprofessional and false advertising.

Other issues : no wifi and poor reception so couldn’t check Instagram pics of their food had to order at the till and pay before the food came ( basically so they won’t refund if you complain ) food took 45 mins to come at a half busy time ( imagine peak time !) I ordered nachos which was a starter but came with the main ( they didn’t ask me about that) ordered a main of a Mexican burger meal which was ok but it wasn’t that hot had to get our own cutlery ( what are the waiters there for ?) -no waiters genuinely interested if we were enjoying our time in the restaurant just a robotic ‘everything ok with the food’ then move on.

All of this I don’t really care as long as the food is nice but as you can see by the picture of the nachos, we’ll they’re arnt even tortilla chips but as the manger explained to me after that they are ‘home made nachos’. Well that’s fine but how is anyone going to know that they’re not going to be regular tortilla chips. I’ve order nachos a thousand times before and it’s never looked like this.

Manger was disgusting not to offer any solution to my complaint even though he said others have complained about the same thing so I just thought to leave the restaurant.

If your going to go here then just be safe and order a steak but in general all the food is...

Booked a celebratory meal with some family members at Farro’s.

I’m old enough to remember dining at this location when it was ‘The President’. Happier times… I digress!

After struggling to find suitable & legal parking. I found the building exterior had been tastefully renovated. Nicely lit trees and a bull, presumably inspired by the one in Birmingham City centre, took pride of place near the entrance.

Foyer and lounge was very well laid out, looked expensive and quite inviting.

The restaurant was pretty much full! Families, small groups and young people. Clearly had mass appeal.

After being taken to our table. I found the menu to have quite a lot of choice; something for everyone. Price seemed reasonable like other restaurants in the area offering similar cuisine.

Lots of positives thus far but things didn’t continue this way unfortunately which I found disappointing.

When ordering our meals it was specified we wanted our meals to come out together. Food arrived in dribs and drabs. So we had no choice but to begin eating whilst others patiently waited so as not to let food go cold.

We had to chase some of our orders as they had been forgotten.

I ordered a mocktail and after waiting patiently to the point where my meal was almost finished, I had to ask for it. Took a while to arrive after chasing it up. Was slightly disappointed with the size given the price of it. However, it made up for in taste.

Couple of other notable issues; kitchen staff do require some training on how to cook their steak according to customer requests. Also there is an obvious lack of customer service which I put down to young and inexperienced front of house staff. Even the person who seemed like he was the duty manager/proprietor wasn’t very engaging as one would expect from a person in that position.

There is great potential for this place and perhaps if I visit again, it will be a much more positive experience and deserving...