The Rustic Pizza Co — Restaurant in Doncaster

Firstly, I would like to point out that the pizza was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, the service was very poor. I had booked here for a party of 16 on New Year's Day and had read other reviews before booking, several of which highlight the things I will also be pointing out. Our table was booked for 4:30, I chose this time as we have two young children, as did some of the other guests, so the logic was book a bit earlier than what we would usually eat to allow time to order and food be cooked. It took a while for our starters (for those who had ordered one at least) to come out, but we appreciated that we were a large party and that it was very busy at that point. We had been in the restaurant for almost 2 hours, and by 6:30, our mains had still not come out. One of the party spoke to the manager/duty manager to enquire where the food was. To start off, she was apologetic, but then got defensive. She tried to tell us that because we had ordered starters the rest of the food was now at the bottom of the list for preparation and this was normal... I've never heard of this in any other place we have eaten at. It is worth pointing out at this time, that no one had come to tell us there was any issue with food, or updated us in the two hours we had been there. For every point we made in our complaint, rather than an apology we were given excuse, upon excuse. Actually, all we were looking for was a genuine apology and an update for how long food would be as our young children were becoming restless and hungry. It then seems a rush had been put on our order because of the complaint and the order of which everything came out, was an absolute shambles. We had one pizza come out first, but a side of chips and salad came, way, way later after the pizza had been eaten. This was one of many orders that didn't come out together and was a let down. The kids meals were brought out almost last and they had forgotten about the chips. The very last dish that came out was a salad and smoked salmon... which didn't even need cooking! The halloumi burger had clearly been sat on the hot plate for a long time and wasn't enjoyable at all. We also witnessed a table of 10, who arrived after we did, get both their main and their starters served quicker than we got our starters. We did get a reduction on our bill as an apology and 2 of the kids got a scoop of ice cream for free, which we were grateful for, but equally, we were still disappointed.

Overall the things that we felt the restaurant need to work on were:

Coming to the table to actually provide a service, rather than just taking orders and topping up drinks.

Not going on the defensive when a customer is raising an issue. As customers we appreciate that sometimes things don't go to plan, but just update us and don't make us feel like we're being an inconvenience to you.

Prioritise kids meals coming out first.

Keep orders together (e.g main and sides coming out at the same time to the person...

Absolutely appalling service and extremely defensive and disrespectful supervisor and owner.! After having 35 years experience in the restaurant business ,this was by far the worst customer service I've ever encountered.! The meal was disorganised chaos which was clearly seen from our non existent service.There was no communication from management to staff as they were stood chatting rather than actually checking if tables needed assistance .The service button on the table wasnt working therefore had to 3 times flag a waitress down for assistance. We waited for over an hour for our meal which then snowballed as we had only just finished our mains when we were asked to vacate our table.This was totally unacceptable.!We asked the reason and was given 2 excuses which were not our problem . We were offered free drinks and desserts at the bar which wasn't available when we left the table. The lack of communication between managers was evident.! This is when it turned extremely personal as the supervisor approached our table and literally flung the menu and bill on the table and rudely announced 'there's your bill'! and walked away.We were absolutely mortified at her disgusting,rude attitude and I called her out on how disrespectful she was to us to then be approached by the owner who asked us to leave or he would call the police.As we got up he insinuated I was drunk! I had never been so insulted and let him know in no certain terms that I'd had one drink ! There is a growing trend on your reviews regarding your defensive ,rude behaviour and lack of customer service.!

The one positive we had was a free meal and had our desserts at Pizza Hut down road and fair to say the service was outstanding. I suggest the supervisor and owner go on a hospitality management training course as you have no idea how to run a restaurant or how to treat customers not blame them for your incompetence as the owner.! We will definitely not...

The Rustic Pizza Co Lakeside just raised the bar for dining out in Doncaster ! The owners have managed to create an amazing environment that once you enter, you don't actually want to leave ? From the warmth of natural wood panelling, to the comfort of soft leather seating, the low level background music and the stunning views across the Lake all effectively combine to create an atmosphere that is second only to none ! The Rustic Pizza Co business is fast evolving and after tremendous success at The Wool Market in the City Centre, they couldn't have chosen a better location around Doncaster than Lakeside, to open their new flagship restaurant. The food then...... With a new menu, I tried their new Garlic Bread with Cheese and Caramelised Onion Marmalade and wow ! That is now my new favourite. Several different Pizzas, Bruschetta and Deep Fried Burrata as starters and mains, followed by a Fruit Crumble served warm with a scoop of Gelato from their new Dessert cabinet (there were 5 of us by the way !). All in all the food was faultless, the atmosphere and ambience absolutely top class. The service.......was the only area that didn't warrant a 5 star rating why ? It could have been a little quicker, and a little more consistent but, and it is a very large but is that we remember this is a brand new restaurant, brand new facilities with many new staff no doubt some inexperienced. There has to be a period of learning, and for that mistakes are inevitable. The true measure of a great company though, is not that occasionally things might go wrong, but what the company is prepared to do to make things right. From past experience dining at the Wool Market, The Rustic Pizza Co will rise to the challenge and some. My overall opinion.......The very best Pizza restaurant by far !!

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