Olio on the Ridge — Restaurant in Chelmsford

Gardens nice that's about it! Rude Staff. Just really Offish. Wouldn't put themselves out at all. We asked if they did Gluten free food. The older woman glared, if looks could kill we'd be dead! The man, the manager if you can call him that, said what was Gluten free, he admitted he hadn't got a clue. How can you serve food and not know what that is! Then 3 mins later he said the chips are gluten free he was adamant, then another 3 mins later they definitely weren't!.. My brother made a joke about change from the drinks (as the prices were expensive) he didn't even crack a smile and told us he was not here for the fun of it! Charming man! We later asked for Cutlery for some food in the gardens he brought out, he told us it was inside and abruptly left! How rude. We wanted to order another drink from the garden but no that was too much trouble, 'you have to come inside and pay for it'.. As soon as the food was brought out not long after they slammed the pub doors shut and that was it!! Like something out of Fawlty Towers!. Could be a nice place as the surroundings are lovely, change the ATTITUDES and Management then your a step...

Sorry to say that the food was awful, such a shame as a lovely setting with real potential but as it stands I would advise people to avoid.

We rang in advance to check they were serving food, and the menu looked promising online. We ordered two 'General Burgers' and a childs 'Macaroni Cheese'.

The burgers came up with no salad or cheese in the bun (despite this being in the description on the menu) and the burger meat was not very nice - tasted cheap. When we questioned the lack of cheese/salad we were provided with some grated cheese and a side salad, again not really as described on the menu. The chips were clearly not homemade, they looked straight out of a bag from the freezer, and at just shy of £12 per burger I would have anticipated higher standards/at least fresh produce - very hungry at the time so ate the burger but would not eat here again.

Furthermore, the macoroni cheese was inedible, none of it was eaten but when we explained this, the barman was very apologetic but did not offer to take the dish off of the bill. I now have a hungry todler, going to have to cook for him despite having just spent £7 on his meal 😑 Very...

The Owner has no people skills and clearly doesn’t care. I ordered a Mozzarella melt which on the menu was described as “gooey gorgeousness” When it arrived it was cold and congealed. I sent it back. It then reappeared a few minutes later - the same sandwich with a bite out! It had simply been either microwaved or put under a grill for a couple of minutes, which left the cheese still congealed and now lukewarm. I took it back and asked for a refund. I watched the owner take the money out of the till, walk around me and take it to the kitchen and then the poor young waiter had to bring it out to me. As we left we asked to speak to the owner, given she had chosen to ignore me earlier. Having explained what had happened, her response was “well you got your money back didn’t you? What can I say? It’s Bank Holiday”

There are much nicer places in this locality with better food, warm welcomes and good...