Castle — Restaurant in Bristol

Sainsburys next door looks more inviting than this dive. And it has a clean and tidy cafe. Where as when you walk in to the flaming grill pub in bristol (the castle 1 of 2 locations) you are immediately hit with how run down this place is. People are sat drinking trying to forget they live in Bristol which itself is a horrible city. And also trying to put beer glasses on to blur the horrible surroundings they now sit in. I am pretty sure they regret coming here, but they ran out of alcohol at home. What ya going to do? We walked in and you see the staff. Not very happy, but they smile and greet you. 1 hour food wait. Like someone else asked in their review, "Why?!", when it is so damn empty. It is a big area and in a U shape. The management have this let this building go and its understaffed. The bar doesn't allow for a decent view of the layout and so they can't be aware of every customer who may need attentive service. The tables are dirty. No cutlery. We were there an hour and no one came to sort it even when they saw how bad it was dropping off our nachos that were to tide us over until our food came. They took half an hour to come as it was. When the burgers came they seemed ok. The gf had a stacked burger with a stick holding it all together. My oozy boozy burger didn't and really needed one. As it slipped apart. My bun landing on the dirty table great. Didnt taste to bad. But the beef burgers are cheap that you find in most pubs. Doesn't cost much to prep some fresh mince burgers. Not many chips and not that nice. And the coleslaw was vinegary. I think the hour wait is to make you so hungry you will eat just about anything. Maybe thats why there were no napkins anywhere. They had all been eaten. A table near us also ordered food. They were a party of four, and got their food in 2 stages. 2 of the party had already eaten by the time the other food arrived. After having a burger that was oozy and daring myself to use the bathroom and wash my hands, i had push through some dirty doors in need of a wash n paint, to find a dirty bathroom with an out of order sign on the cubicle, and no soap dispenser on the wall. I came here due to the UKHotdeals app telling me about 25% off the challenges. Eating anything from here is a challenge. And would I want my picture taken for their hall of shame so people know i ate here. No thanks. Lesson learned,...

Great atmosphere, friendly staff, good food. Definitely recommend (I wrote this a year ago with 5 stars)

Now that I went back after a year thinking about how great the food and staff was I have to say I was EXTREMELY disappointed. I mean I've been wanting to return there for ages and had a smile on my face walking in, but I walked out with a foul taste in my mouth as well as angry. I went in with the wife and we were expecting great service which we did not get, I sat for 55 minutes before I got up to walk around and look if the place was busy with too many orders (it was not) before I had to ask the bartender of all people where the waitress and our food was! I ordered a medium to well done steak and it was gross, it was the worst thing I've ever tasted, flavourless, dry and plain. My onion rings were cold, chips were cold by the time the food had arrived I was considering going to sainsbury's.. I would have been better off for it. My wife says her food was just as bad, highly disappointed.

THE WAITRESS DIDN'T EVEN GIVE US A KNIFE AND FORK OR OFFER ANY SAUCES! The service was so bad that we had to go get our own knives and forks and sauces (the top drawer of the small cupboard by the door) the fact that I know where the cutlery is and that we had to get all that for ourselves is shameful and the only reason I stayed and finished my food there was because I had paid via the app and I was absolutely starving otherwise I'd have returned it with food spat on the plate, I can not believe I rated this place so highly, the worst dining experience I've ever had, literally.

I'm changing my 5 stars to 1 star and would not...

Sometimes when you're on the road with the family and the gains are calling, you make the decision to stop off for a grill and boy, was I glad I did!

Now I have to say, any location shaped like a Castle is automatically going to score big points with me off the bat, however, it's when the meat hit my plate the real treat began!

Food: I'm a man who has consumed a copious amount of meat in my life, cow's see me walk past a field and they start getting nervous and I'm happy to say that the grill at Castle must have been blessed by the Chef for my visit!

Service: I'm a confident fella and the staff were here for it let me tell you! They were all super relaxed, warm, friendly and polite even when my kid was basically trying his best to recreate Wrestle Mania 12 in the courtyard, I never got so much as a disapproving side eye glace from the staff.

Atmosphere: The overall vibe of the pub was super cool and welcoming. I personally would like to see more buildings themed after castles. I tried to get the wife to allow me to build a portcullis down the side of the house, but as she keeps shooting me down, this'll be the next closest thing for me! Great aesthetic!

Value: The price of food and drinks was bang on! I considered going for my special move - two meals, however it was disapproving looks from the wife, not the cost that quickly prevented this.

Accessibility: For those passing through, the building basically has huge archways, which is perfect if you've just hit a massive delts and lats session the day before and are feeling practically massive.

Overall: Jokes aside, my family loved it here and we'll be back again for sure....