The Cornfield Garage - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in Eastbourne

Went for a farewell lunch with two elderly neighbours today as I'm moving out of the area in a few days. They're both regulars at the Cornfield rd branch & so it suited me to go to somewhere they knew well. At 1.30 - a busy time, we were pleased to find a table but it was filthy & after choosing our food & no sign of anyone to clean the table I did it myself. We each went to the bar to order our food & didn't have to wait too long as the duty manager appeared to take our orders. Drinks were served ( although there was no Guinness ) straight away & we took our seats. The 2 meals arrived after about 15-20 mins; David's burger was ok, Michael's steak was sinuey, fatty & rare when he was expecting a medium sirloin and the onion rings didn't arrive. Neither did my meal - so after 15 mins I asked a server who checked & said it was being made. After another 10 mins, I stopped a server & asked him to cancel my order & to find Michael's onion rings & put them in a doggy bag. Another 5 mins went by ( after the server had said he'd speak to the manager to see if she could do anything (?!). As I was at the bar, the burger & chips arrived so, I reminded them that I was only up at the bar to have my meal refunded as we were ready to leave, the server brought out the onion rings....."we don't do doggy bags". Luckily the duty manager was obliging & refunded my bill for the missing meal & was polite about it - the servers, less so; in my years as a restaurant manager & waitress I always ensured that whoever entered the restaurant left with satisfaction even if things had gone wrong, which do. The one star is for "Kate's" level-headedness. I will never use this chain of "restaurants" again - the value is extremely poor; I'm no discerning diner or fussy customer but today was the worst I have ever known or heard of. Please get your act together -...

Despite a refurbishment, and the place now actually looking rather nice, you'll soon find that if you can ever get served, the (cheap) price of the food is reflected in the quality, and the staff can be equally as rude and aggressive as some of their drunken customers.

A wait at the bar is often up to 15-20 minutes due to the staffs complete lack of order.

The food is, in my experience, bland and dry.

If you own an e-cigarette / vape you will soon find that you cannot use this inside, and that even holding one (after coming in from the outside area) you may be interrogated by the staff about using it inside. Often followed by glares from the bouncer for the rest of the evening.

I never thought that the people I would receive the most grief from, on a Saturday evening, would be the bar staff - In my most recent visit to The Cornfield Garage (my first for several years) after having just ordered a drink, myself and friends were asked to leave as it was closing time. This in itself was annoying enough, I did not want to finish my drink (that I had only just purchased), I bought this drink to sit down and enjoy it, but nevertheless we got up from our seats and began to head for the exit. I paused at the bar to finish my drink, at which point the bouncer (who had asked us to leave only less than a minute before) came over and started harassing me about finishing my drink, which I explained I was doing. He was quickly joined by another member of staff and both began aggressively forcing me to finish my drink. I don't know what others' experience of trying to finish their drink while being grilled by a couple of angry men is, but I must say, it's not particularly easy or pleasant. After having finished my drink, I was told that I was "banned". Not that I care, I will never be returning...

I visited wetherspoons cornfield garage with my elderly mother on bank holiday Friday 2022, waited 1 hour 15 minutes for food to arrive as told by who is now know to be the manager after 45 minutes, that there was an hour wait. After the hour and 15 minutes, I asked to where our meal was only to have, now known as the deputy manager, tell me that I didn't order what I said I had. I told her who I ordered it with and the whole conversation about how to cook the steak and that a baked potato, only to be called a liar several times and that it was a pizza I had ordered, then I was informed that I gave the wrong table number..... I explained that I hadn't and that maybe Sydney hear incorrectly and suggested we speak to her. The annoyed deputy manager asked the manager to come and she only backed up that I had given the wrong table number and so it was all my fault and to just give me a refund as they were to busy to argue about it, then she walked off. On following this up with wetherspoons head office, I was advised that the staff have the right to refuse anyone entry, especially as I had been abusive and indicated I was barred. They have stopped responding to my complaint and do not engage with any other complaint resolution service. All this was witnessed by other patrons and I was backed up after with the disgusting service I received. I often visit the picture house in bexhill and what a polar opposite experience you get there. So annoyed to be called a liar, when there was obvious evidence of what I had paid for (pizza would have been cheaper) to then have it topped off with being accused of being aggressive, which was so far from the truth. Do not bother expecting much from cornfield garage, certainly not an acceptable...