The Clifton - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in Dudley

Not at all impressed

Firstly the place is severely understaffed ! Not only today but other days too.

We arrived around 1 PM , we went for our Daughter's 4th Birthday meal.

Upon arriving we had to ask the waitress to clean the table as it was filthy.. not the first time in this place.. She gave it a quick wipe over.. We asked her about a spicy vegetable burger for my fiancée and she said we should be able to just ask for some spicy sauce at the bar. I was quite shocked when they put this through the till at 60p for the smallest pot of sauce ever !!

We ordered our burgers, a side of onion rings and side of peas, our drinks and went back to the table to wait for our dinner. That is after asking the bar tender for a clean glass for my fiancée's drink as the glass we had was dirty with dried white spots around the top.

Our dinner came and the pea portion was pathetic. 1/4 to 1/3rd of what it is usually.. they put these on my fiancee's plate. There was not a portion here at all..

So I asked the waitress who bought our food if we could have another portion. - you have to pay. Okay, that's fine.. You have to goto the bar and order them.. Keep in mind my dinner is already on the table in front of me and the queue for the bar is about 6 long due to there being one member of staff serving.

I asked her if we could have a couple of straws.. you have to goto the bar.

What is the point of having a waitress if I have to goto the bar and queue waiting ages while my food goes cold ? Previously when I've had to ask for a waiter / waitress to get something we have needed they have got it for us.

So middle of eating my dinner I noticed the bar had only two people waiting so I went to the bar for the straws and portion of extra peas... Of course we wouldn't have needed this extra 1/4 portion had the first lot been adequate..

So after paying for the extra portion of peas.. getting two straws from the bar tender (who was really polite) I went back to the table and carried on eating my dinner.

The same grumpy waitress came out yet again , with a very pityful and pathetic portion of peas ! I would say this portion was the size of my toddlers hand ! See photo.. They were soggy and bland... I mixed them with a bit of tartare sauce and they were still horrible.

Burger was nice, chips were nice...

Waitress definitely grumpy and unhelpful. We have contacted wetherspoons previously and had no response.. I will not be returning here again .. Which is a shame, we often went here for breakfast and dinner.

To top it all off the grumpy waitress seems to find tattooed arms and a nose ring appropriate when service people's food. I personally find it...

The food, the drinks, the location, and the majority of the staff (including the deputy manager) are divine. Unfortunately, "Dave, the manager of 7 years" behaved disgustingly. He came across aggressive and yelled over the tiniest inconvenience, and refused to hear the perspective of others, assuming all customers "must be drunk!" Terrible hospitality! As someone who has worked in various hospitality roles (including pub and bar work) over the past 8 years, staff can get a much better response from the public just through private and polite conversation, especially when alcohol may play a part. As a regular, I have never seen "Dave, the manager of 7 years" in this pub before, and have never been or seen anyone treated this way there before; we are highly disappointed that someone who is supposedly experienced running the Clifton for 7 years thinks this behaviour is appropriate or a successful way to communicate...

It's OK... First visit in quite some time. Wouldn't rush back but wouldn't go near it for any notable family occasion. Tables were filthy and empties from those before us weren't removed for quite a while. Staff were racing around, and to their credit were gracious and pleasant with every interaction. The perception was that they were a couple of bodies short of being able to deliver a better experience. We opted for a Sirloin steak and mixed grill, my grill was acceptable, to be fair, however the Sirloin was on the grim side. Food came out really quickly (before the table had been cleared) Having not been for a while and forgotten how rushed the whole experience felt. £30 for 2 mains / 2 lagers & 2 whiskies is really decent value during a credit crunch.. Pity the lack of clean up and rushing around lets the whole thing down when a couple of well marshalled staff would tip the balance from an OK...