Lost & Found Bristol — Restaurant in Bristol

Disastrous Service & Rude Staff – Avoid at All Costs!

I rarely leave negative reviews, but our experience at Lost and Found Bristol was so appalling that I feel compelled to warn others. We booked a table well in advance for a hen party, making it clear we were a group celebrating a special occasion. The restaurant was happy to take our booking and our pre-paid orders, yet from the moment we arrived, we were treated with hostility and disrespect.

Within 10 minutes of sitting down, we were told to be quiet—despite the fact that we were a group of mature, professional women (including the bride’s 60-year-old mother) simply enjoying a civilised evening. This immediately set a negative tone, making us feel unwelcome.

From there, the service only got worse. We were left waiting nearly two hours for our food, which, when it finally arrived, was extremely disappointing—some dishes were barely edible. When we politely raised concerns about the delay, the manager (who lacked both professionalism and basic customer service skills) accused us of being aggressive. Every person who witnessed the exchange can vouch that we were respectful in our complaint, yet she refused to acknowledge any fault.

Adding to the chaos, a server spilled scorching hot sauce on one of our guests, and rather than offering a sincere apology, the staff acted as if it was no big deal. Plates were handed directly into our hands—many far too hot to hold—and staff consistently leaned across the table with no regard for basic service etiquette.

To top it off, we ordered a bottle of prosecco via the app, only to receive a tiny bottle instead—another example of their incompetence.

But what really left a lasting impact was how the staff ruined a once-in-a-lifetime event. When the maid of honour stood to deliver a heartfelt speech for our bride-to-be, she was told off for being too loud and disruptive. Instead of embracing the celebratory atmosphere, the staff acted like fun police, dampening the mood and upsetting the bride’s mother to the point of tears.

We gave them every opportunity to rectify the situation, but instead of taking responsibility, they denied everything and blamed us. A simple apology and some accountability could have made all the difference, but instead, they doubled down on their rudeness.

If you’re looking for a venue that values its customers, knows how to deliver good service, and understands hospitality—go elsewhere. The Lost and Found in Bristol is an absolute shambles, and I would strongly advise against booking any kind of special occasion here unless you want it ruined.

UPDATE: You'll see in their response below that apparently one of our party has written an apology - which I'd like to clarify is a MASSIVE LIE.

I have also added a photo of our party. As you can see, a civilised yet fun group of mature women. No willy straws or inflatable body parts on...

I'd like to feel I'm honest about my reviews. I like to shine a light on the exemplars as well as the unpleasant experiences. For me, Lost and Found fell into the latter. The restaurant belongs to a chain, so my expectations weren't set high. From the decor I was expecting a cut down version of 'Walcot House' in Bath, but even making the comparison is derogatory to the Bath experience. I'll try not to labor the review too much (reading back I failed) but these were my observations. L&F need to understand what a ribeye steak is, especially if they're prepared to declare it's Argentinian. Have I been to Argentina? No, but I have been to Montevideo, which is pretty close to Buenos Aires! (only separated via the river Plate). A city proud of its quality steaks and synonymous with the title of 'the best meat in the world'. A grand statement and how close did the quality of the 'Argentinian Ribeye' produced by L&F approach my previous experiences. Well .... its a bit like comparing spam and Iberico Ham. The steak presented did not meet the definition of a ribeye. The ribeye, cut from between outer side of the rib, is renowned for being a highly marbled cut of steak, a lot of fatty lines running through the red meat and its fundamentally delicious. The steak I received had no marbling and from the first bite, it was tough ... really tough. I promptly pointed this out to the waiting staff, who after walking the steak around the restaurant for further assessment and classification by the manager, chef or any other interested party declared this was indeed a ribeye. Having returned the steak to me, the conversation then rapidly developed into the 'dead parrot' scene from Monty Python. "This is not a ribeye", "yes, it is, look at the marbling", "exactly, that's why I'm returning it, there's no marbling!", "The chef has said there is marbling", "Well yes, the chief may have said that but there clearly isn't" and so on. I returned the steak to the kitchen paid the the bill and we were on our way. In L&F's defense they did provide a 10% discount on the bill. Generally from the remainder of the group there was dissatisfaction and grumbling. The majority of the food came out cold, comments of tastelessness of the masala fish, we waited too long to be served drinks and taking the orders. We were served by four employees (possibly because they knew of the probable outcome). For us it just wasn't a great experience. Going by all the good reviews that are on this site, it might just have been timing plus a series of coincidental events that led to our evening being spoilt. I truly hope this is the case and hope no one else has to suffer at not so...

A celebratory family meal out turned out to be a real disappointment, there were 9 of us and arrived having pre-booked to find we were the only ones there except for another couple. The restaurant looked great as did the menu, so we were very excited for what we anticipated to be a fantastic meal. We’d walked a long way so we were pretty hungry: but it took almost an hour from ordering before our meals began coming out in stages. My Sirloin steak was cold and tough, my dad’s fillet steak wasn’t cooked well, and neither had much accompaniment aside for a few rocket leaves, a thin slice of odd looking mushroom and half a small tomato. The chicken in the chicken salad was dry, and the other salad consisted of nothing more than a few spinach leaves. The kids macaroni cheese was reminiscent of those packets you can buy with powdered cheese sauce, but not as flavoursome. The toilets were filthy, and not been cleaned since the previous night as there was glitter everywhere, toilet roll littering the sink and most of the cubicles didn’t have toilet roll. I spoke with the manager who was far from apologetic, and even came across as dismissive of our feedback. I expressed that we weren’t looking for a discounted bill, but that I felt it important so share our experience. I don’t think it was greatly received. Our waitress who was great and who we really felt sorry for offered us a 10% reduction on our bill, but we’d much rather have had an experience and quality of food fitting for a restaurant of that calibre in that location. A memorable occasion somewhat spoilt. I’d also advise to choose carefully from the wine menu, a £30 bottle of rose tasted horrific, and probably what I’d expect of a £4.50 supermarket purchase. We’d have liked to stay and enjoy deserts with more drinks, but by the end of the main course we were keen to leave. God knows what it’d be like...