Black Hat Ilkley — Restaurant in Bradford

Went here with work colleagues for what was meant to be 1 pint and leave (as they closed at 10pm that evening), I am very disappointed how the duty manager handled the situation. People skills go a long way, especially in the industry he is working in, where you are always customer facing.

A table was booked, we turned up at about 9:10pm and I am glad to see that they are taking one persons details from the group as part of the track and trace, we then ordered our drinks, most of us paid on card and we were asked to wait at the designated table outside and the drinks will be brought to us. Two pints got delivered to the table.

About 10 minutes later the duty manager came to our table and said that we can't be standing up, so we asked if we could have another table and his response was that we can't be standing up around the table, we asked again, as it was an easy solution to the situation, we got pretty much same response and so we asked again and at this point, he said that he had asked us to leave 3 times already and he is going to call the police. In no way, shape or form, did he ask us to leave and it was only at this point, we knew he wanted us to leave.

We were all stood around that one table as that was the only table that was assigned us and we'd ordered our pints to it, so we were waiting for our pints and if they had given another table, there wouldn't have been an issue, as there were plenty of other tables available!

Most of us hadn't received our pints, I asked about getting a refund for the pints so that we can leave and he said yes, we followed him in, he asked what my pint was and I told him, with credit card in hand, ready for the refund......he pulls out a £5 note to give to me (yes, it was an expensive pint!), I said I paid by card and I want a refund to my card, he said they don't do card refunds! How can The Black Hat accept card payments, yet don't do card refunds, especially in the current situation! This really needs to be fixed as soon as possible! So I had to accept a refund in cash, as there was no way they could do a refund to my card and so I asked him if he wanted me to accept cash, that could be full of germs, in this current situation (thats why paid by card in the first place, less touch points!) and he said he could sanitise it.....it was the best I was going to get.....so he did and wiped it down with some spray and then handed me the damp note, I had to ask for a tissue to dry it!

What should have been a pleasant and relaxing goodbye to one of our colleagues that evening, turned out to be extremely stressful and waste of time, all because of one person who couldn't deal with people in the correct manner and provide a solution to...

Went in yesterday to grab some ‘Pub Grub’ lunch whilst having a day out in ilkley and we will be back again for many reasons. As we walked in the door we were greeted with a very friendly ‘Hi Guys’ by a very well dressed gentleman and the same again by a young lady who i asked were we ok to sit at a table we had found who said of course please take a seat. As i was about to go to the bar the table was cleared of menus, sprayed and wiped ‘although not dirty or already ready for us’ and the young lady asked was that ok to which we replied yes and thank you very much. On arrival at the bar, which has plenty of all to choose, from real ales, premium largers to a lovely selection of wines and spirits, all of which were clear to see and well lit. Hi how are you today said the lovely young lady behind the bar which again was so pleasant and welcoming, to which i replied great thank you and are you still doing food.? She said, we are but there may be a 45minutes plus wait as were short staffed due to sickness, i said no problem were in no rush at all. I got the drinks and returned a short time later to ordef the food, again she reminded me about the wait and i said honestly we are not in any rush at all. It was clear to see they were short staffed but also the fact that the 2 young ladies along with the well dressed gentleman ‘whom we now know as Tony’ were all working together and keeping the place spotless and the customers happy. I did however notice / hear a spanish gentleman speak to ‘Tony’ in a very rude manner and as Tony left the table they got up and walked out, only to find out they had ordered food and had drinks, on a tab and walked out without paying which is disgusting and clearly upset Tony and his team. Our food arrived and Tony offered us a free drink for our wait to which we refused as there was no need for this kind gesture due to being made aware all along that there was a wait for food. The Mixed grills were awesome, the gratitude we received from the girls and tony for being patient was memorable and Tony spent a minute or 2 with us as he saw us preparing to leave to introduce himself, thank us, tell us a little about the place and said if you come back call me so i know your coming as i would like to look after you which i thought was fantastic. Thanks Tony and the team and we will deffo be...

• An edit as I can't respond directly: 16 people didn't turn up, we made a booking for 16, knowing we would have more than 8. I believe our number in the end was 12. Now rather than explain we can't have more than 10 and offer a solution, we were instead threatened with the police for standing up, when not all of us could sit round a tiny table. It's interesting that you quote that someone said there is to many of us and yet still expected us to sit round the 1 table? Specially when we asked if we could have another table as there was about 10 free tables available. Now as previously stated in the original review I don't think the duty manager was being rude he just crumbled under the pressure of being asked if we could have a 2nd socially distanced table in a near empty yard. *

Accepted a booking of 16 people. Then it wasn’t acceptable when more than 8 showed up. We offered to split the group across 2 socially distanced tables so they could have our custom. This wasn't allowed, due to lockdown rules, when we asked for clarity on these rules, no answer came and instead we were asked to leave.

I wouldn't say the duty manager was rude more inept at dealing with people.

Now I do understand that there is a pandemic on, but if the A-level celebration drinkers can sit together, why can't the people who have just come from the same office?

In hindsight what we should have done is made 3 separate bookings and then acted surprised when the other...