Smith & Western | Chichester — Restaurant in Chichester

We've been here twice and both times had issues. Most recently was last night for my daughter's birthday, I booked the table mid March. Our waitress was friendly initially and our starters arrived pretty promptly but one was wrong, which meant 3 of us had finished our starters before the correct one arrived. My daughter didn't have a starter, we waited over an hour after finishing our starters and our main meals still hadn't arrived. We asked the waitress how long it was going to be and she said the kitchen are very busy but they'd be another 10 minutes. The manager did come over during this time and apologised for the wait, but we explained to him that tables around us who arrived much later had already had their mains and finished in the time we'd been sat waiting. Having starters or not you shouldn't leave people waiting that long, especially when there are children sat there who haven't eaten. Our meals arrived some time later meaning we'd waited an hour and a half by this point since finishing our starters and 2 hours after we arrived! Everyone's meals were fine, apart from my daughters whose chicken was stone cold! I complained to the waitress who took it away to get another one so my daughter is sat there picking on our food because she's so hungry! When the waitress returned with a new hot meal I said 'I'm really unhappy, this has been an awful experience' and her attitude was terrible, she said 'in what way?' With a really irritated expression. She said 'you've had big tables around you so the kitchen have been backed up with orders'. When I suggested that Smith and Western shouldn't overbook themselves if they can't handle the amount of bookings she said 'this is a quiet night for us'. Totally contradicting what she'd previously said and what we were told when we first arrived- 'we're very busy tonight'. She then said 'well I don't know what you want me to do, until she's eaten (my daughter) I can't do anything about it.' She had a rubbish attitude throughout our conversation and didn't apologise once. She didn't return to our table for the rest of the evening. When we asked for the bill the manager came over and was apologetic and had taken quite a bit off our bill, which was nice but doesn't change the fact that our evening was just ruined to be honest. We won't be returning to Smith and Western...

A bad night at a harvesters with country music. Me and my gf were super pumped for this although understanding it was a chain. Anytime I see a ribs, chicken, steak combo, I get nervous. Should have trusted my gut.

Women and men that work there were super nice and were very comforting. Asked us if received everything we ordered and if all was well. Can't fault the service

Problem comes with the food... it was depressing. Starters - nachos were flavourless and not layered. Top was okay and then dry chips. Wings somehow buffalo but covered in bbq freezing cold

Mains is where things got too much. Ribs were chewy, tough, full of gristle. The southern comfort glaze was nowhere to be seen. Had to spit on them to give them some moisture.

Mrs got a burger which had a dry sad, lonely, divorced with 5 kids, living in a bin, bit of brisket. Don't worry though because you got cold gravy to pour over.

Waitress came over before we had taken our first bite to ask how it was. We said all good so far of course. After realising it wasn't I went to our server and explained the situation. She was really not happy I didn't tell her when she asked. Was a weird interaction. Cocktails were good though.

Waitress so kind to offer 10% off £110 bill for our troubles.

TLDR: Ribs and burger horrible, harvesters with country music and a dog as a chef. Ribs steamed for 4 hours somewhere in china and microwaved in house. Starters bland, cocktails good,...

I had arranged a special surprise meal for my boyfriend, and chose this western-themed restaurant because I wanted the evening to feel unique and memorable. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

The arrangements I had expected ( sparkler in burger instead of pudding and the cowboy hat/balloons as part of the birthday surprise ) were not in place on our visit. Despite me calling twice before our visit and a member of staff confirming this was all noted and they were ready for us, this not only disrupted the surprise but also left us both feeling let down. After feeling let down that the original agreement ( which was noted ) was forgotten, I then tried to discretely order the “ birthday surprise “ desert, to which the hostess blurted out, ruining the whole “ suprise “ experience. What was meant to be a celebratory evening turned out to be underwhelming, I regret that I wasn’t able to give my partner the experience I had hoped for.

That said, I want to mention that the food was absolutely delicious, and the western-themed atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping for. Your team created a warm and inviting setting, and we genuinely enjoyed the quality of the meal.

I wanted to share this because I know how much effort goes into running a restaurant, and I truly believe with more attention to planning and communication, future guests will have the flawless experience your food and...