Einstein's — Restaurant in Chesterfield

What happened to Einsteins. Terrible experience

Is it a drinking pub or food pub, they need to decide.

The online booking service doesn't work, after waiting 3 days for email confirmation and not receiving it i eventually phoned and booked a table, I explained the online booking didn't work, only to be told no one checks it. Seriously.

So we booked a table for 6 people at 7:30pm Saturday 30th November, as a birthday surprise, unfortunately when we arrived, it was standing room only, the bar was 30 people deep.

Unfortunately all these people were just drinking, and the table they reserved for us was the high table at the front of the bar literally surrounded by dozens of people using the table and only drinking.

Now we asked to be moved as we weren't asking people to move so we could sit down, only to be told it's fully booked.

And the server didn't want to ask the drinkers to move, I asked if we have a drink for half an hour could he sort us a different table,

Which he did as a group were ready for leaving thankfully in around 30 mins,

We eventually got seated and ordered our food, it arrived in good time around 30 minutes.

On the whole the food was OK, the pepperoni pizza unfortunately was burt black underneath.

And completely not edible, at this point we just wanted to leave, the noise from drunk people falling all over the place around the bar was absolutely deafening.

We couldn't even have a conversation it was that loud,

The men's toilets were like a swamp wading through pee all over the floor absolutely disgusting.

The young lad that served us was fantastic and very apologetic, but the girl that served us was just completely ignorant and rude, she obviously didn't want to be there and it showed.

They couldn't even get food past the ridiculous amount of people drinking and filling the bar area at this point they had taken over most of the space in the bar and eating area.

Unfortunately when we finished eating our mains we asked if we could order desert only to be told the kitchen was closed.

We then asked the young lady for more drinks and only to be told we have to go to the bar,

So we went to the bar to order drink and the young lad said go sit down I will come take your order and bring your drink.

We then asked her for our bill only to be told to go to the bar, at that point the yound lad came over and said don't worry stay there i will fetch your bill. He came back with the bill and card machine.

The young lad was fantastic very helpful unfortunately not everyone has the same attitude.

We love Einsteins but this was absolutely terrible. The drunken people filling the place was ridiculous, it needs to make it's mind up what it is.

Honestly I can't believe I'm saying we...

We used to visit Einsteins regularly due to the extensive menu and good vegan options, and the atmosphere. So we decided to book it as venue for our birthday celebration when booking I was told over the phone that because we had a party of more than 5 we should pre- choose what we want to order, but being as it was a birthday meal and multiple households we decided against it as the menu is vast enough. When we ordered, two choices of our meals were unavailable, (no buns for burgers ) and after we had paid we was told a further meal was unavailable. This being due to them apparently having 50% off mon-Friday in the daytime, something we were not told over the phone, and would of justified us pre-ordering rather than just being told because we were more than 5 people. The food arrived and was tasty, however the price is slightly too much for what was on some of the dishes, and there was no-one in the restaurant, including staff , so the atmosphere felt a little flat and the service was a bit inattentive. Also on reflection, I’m sure burger buns could of been purchased locally to allow the evening service to run smoothly, as they still had the burgers. When the dishes were collected, we were rather abruptly told yet again that we should of ordered again, when we didn’t even ask the question (quite arrogant and rude attitude) and upon visiting the bar for a last drink the bar staff seemed more interested in their personal phone call than providing “customer service”, and an opportunity to rectify the mediocre evening.

I fully appreciate having promotions makes the place busy in usually non-busy times, but it shouldn’t be at the detriment of the evening full-price-paying customers or vibe of the place, particularly if they can’t deal with “said demand”

My suggestion perhaps lower the price on dishes, that reflect their content and it will be consistently busier without the need for promotions and it will also be easier to regulate staff levels, and create more consistency between day and evening service. A bit disappointing compared to how it was 6- months ago, but certainly opportunities and feedback...

An anniversary night out ruined by rude staff and a rammed bar.

We came to Einstein’s hoping for a good night to end our year for New Year’s Eve and for a lovely meal to celebrate our anniversary - we were granted neither in Einstein’s. We’d never been before and when we entered there was no hint to where to go for service, after scanning the tables for our reservation card and not finding it, we wandered to the bar. While we were talking to a member of bar staff regarding our reservation the manager shouted across the bar for our names - which I found a bit rude. After scanning her paper list of reservations she stormed off, leaving the nice lad behind the bar to tell us she’d look for our seats and order us a drink to start our night. The manager quickly found the table and shouted to the bar staff what table we were at, only to quickly storm away which left the bar staff to awkwardly point to where we’d be sat rather than the manager taking us herself - the table wasn’t even far (literally next to the bar) - so why she wouldn’t politely tell us I don’t understand This rude encounter already put us on a bad start.

We then sat and waited…and waited to be given menus for our food orders, but no menus arrived. After 20 minutes of being sat like morons, we went to the bar to be told you order through the bar - nice to know!

When we ordered our food, the pizza arrived burnt and the fish and chips were very dry and bland. Being placed by the bar also meant that while we were eating multiple people would brush or push against our backs to get to the bar. As the evening went on the bar got busier and busier, so I’m pleased we left without dessert as I dread to think how packed and pushed in we would have felt if we stayed later.

My only compliments for this bar were that certain members of the bar staff were polite and helpful, and our food - while lack lustre - came out quickly. The packed atmosphere, rude management staff and poor customer experience is what really lets the place down.

I wouldn’t recommend this bar unless you need a quick bite to eat during the day, but I wouldn’t rush back...