The Acorn — Restaurant in Cherwell District

Absolutely appalling customer service. For more years than I can remember I used to take my dear Dad to this pub for lunch on my visits to Bicester. Today I visited, from Somerset, on the second anniversary of his passing. It's always an emotional visit now and after visiting his grave I thought I would visit our old haunt for food and a drink. My first error was misreading the sign in the car park, although there are several conflicting signs and put my registration into the machine outside and not the machine in the pub. On previous visits you got a refund at the bar. When I explained I was told that this had now changed and I would not get my £6 back. I said "oh come on, I'm going to have food and a drink" and was told NO. Only when I protested did the girl say you'll need to speak to the manager. Another woman then appeared and got involved telling me the signs outside were perfectly clear and say Do not put money in the machine. I told her I had not seen this and she became agitated and said come with me. Well quite frankly I was not going to chase her outside as I clearly hadn't seen it otherwise I wouldn't have paid £6 for parking! Eventually the manager came and was perfectly polite and reasonable and said it would be knocked off the bill. I thought that was that but oh no. I ordered my drink and meal at the bar and was told she couldn't do the £6 refund, so I said ok can you get the manager again. Miraculously she was then able to reduce the bill without the manager. The second woman was also behind the bar and I felt I had been "eggy" with her, although I did not shout or swear, so I explained that it was the anniversary of my dad's death and apologised if I had been curt. She said well you were bang out of order and began a rant about the signs clearly stating not to put your registration in the machine outside.. well at that point I decided to return my drink and cancel my order and told them they could keep my money. I felt really upset and humiliated. I told her she was rude as I left . I will honestly never return to this pub after today and I know my Dad would be furious. He worked as a barman for many many years and his customer service was impeccable, unlike the staff in The...

I visited The Acorn today with my mother and disabled brother. The staff were super friendly and we chose to sit outside. The only table that allowed my brother's wheelchair to be wheeled under, was dirty with food everywhere and with a foul smell. We went inside to order and told the member of staff about the table needing cleaning. On collecting our drinks, I again mentioned the dirty table to the member of staff and another member of staff joked that she should rush to clean it. The staff member came some moments later and took most of the dirty dishes and then immediately brought our food out. The filthy table wasn't even given a brush, nevermind a sanitary wipe down. All smiles, the staff member dumped the cutlery and napkins on the dirty table. We asked for salt and pepper which the staff member brought and when I asked for more napkins there was no longer a smile and I was given what looked more like a "go get them yourself" look. I said to myself that I could be wrong, so waited and waited and eventually half way through my meal, went and got them myself. Now this member of staff either just couldn't be bothered to do her job properly or didn't have the capacity to remember my request. But I write this mainly because of the unsanitary condition of the outdoor area and also because the fact that the food was awful! We all had 3 cheeseburgers at nearly £40 and I can safely say they were more like the dodgy late night burgers you'd only get when a take-away could feed you whatever they wanted and it would go unnoticed because you're so drunk. The meat looked like pre-cooked rubber meat that had been microwaved on orders and was almost cold. The whole experience just felt dirty. Shame because the venue and service looked really good on...

Popped in for lunch after doing a bit of morning shopping in Bicester.

They have a self seating area or an area where there is table service. We opted to sit in the self seating area, which means you can go to the bar to order food / drinks. The gentleman serving us behind the bar was so friendly and very witty / funny, making an excellent effort to converse with us whilst taking our order. It makes all the difference when ordering as well as eating in a venue that you are not familiar with.

I opted for the rump steak and doubled up on it. Also added battered shrimp along with peppercorn steak sauce to the order and chose to have my steaks cooked medium rare, and they were cooked perfectly.

Kids opted for beef and ale pie with chips, and macaroni cheese. My partner opted for battered houlami with chips.

The food took a while to arrive but it was fairly busy, so understandable. The food was cooked perfectly and the portions were very generous. The pie crust was fairly thick and a bit too much to eat, but that's possibly because the macaroni cheese was shared with it too.

The restaurant is nice and clean and the toilets were fairly clean too.

The venue accepts blue light discount as well, so if you have that, remember to give them your code to claim.

Will definitely be visiting this venue again in future and trying a couple of their ales that they have on tap (decided to opt for soft drinks on this occasion).

Thanks to all the staff working at The Acorn at lunchtime on Monday 5th August, 2024. You made our meal a pleasant and...