Bella Italia - Hempstead Valley — Restaurant in England

I've been a few times normally it's awesome, however this time a nightmare, when I got there the music was loud but the place was dead as dodo 🦤 😅, but I thought sweet we'll get seated in a decent spot and the food will come quick, but when we walked in the service person was put out by the fact we hadn't made a reservation (not that I ever have before or that it says on website that you need to) after searching through her computer for a few seconds she said well I can still seat you, I asked for a booth as there was only 1 being used that I could see by 1 customer and I had my disabled mum with me, and she said no we have customers that have actually booked, it was obvious that we had put them out as when I questioned it she said that prebooking wasn't a thing but was expected and it went on like that, when we ordered our drinks we were being rushed, and I was made to feel very uncomfortable, like I had done something wrong by being there and I was being thrown angry looks from the service person and the barman, I got to the point where I didn't feel like eating and my mum convinced me to have a tea and chill, however the 2nd service person who brought the drinks over forgot the milk for my tea and carried on badgering us to make a decision on the food, at this point all I'm thinking is for the side main and desert it will be at least £60 each and I really didn't want to spend that after being made to feel that way, so by this point my mums imbarresd and has decided she wants to leave, when she tried to explain the second service person went on a rant about how she had been instructed by her bosses not to allow customers to be seated who were just drinking, I did say if you want to bring your manager out I'll explain myself but by this time all my mum wanted to do was leave, and it ended the day with a massive argument, the experience there if you believe the website add is supposed to be a relaxed one where you can prebook if you like and in the past has been, however it now seems you do have to prebook if you want to be treated with a modicum of normality even on a restricted menu because apparently half of it wasn't available and you would be told what wasn't available when you tried to order, I don't know whos taken over in the last few months since I was last in,,,, but oh dear 🙄 if you don't want to be spoken down to and humiliated whilst you're out with your own mother you may as well swerve this one or expect to be treated like an idiot for not being rich to prebook substantially in advance because you know what your doing from one day to the next, even though 90% of the tables were empty, and were in the whole half hour we were there, and the carpark was very quiet as well even when we left which was an uncomfortable experience, a waste of time, vehicle fuel, and moments of my life I will never get back that unfortunately were spent being spoken down to, it was just a shame what was a fairly nice day with my mum was ruined by this humiliating demeaning...

Our time slot was 5:30 for a group of 11 on a Sunday evening, we arrived and were seated at 5:20/5:25. We were greeted politely and promptly and were asked about any allergies and intolerances. Waitress then took over 30-40 minutes to come over to ask if we would like any drinks, and we then had to call them over, after being sat for an hour to place our food order. The restaurant was not busy at all, staff were too busy talking to each other rather than seeing to the guests. The tables were not overly clean, food and cutlery on the floors too. When the starters were finally given, we then had to wait longer for the cutlery- which should have been given prior. Cutlery was given for the mains just before they were served, but instead of being polite, a staff member just reached through two members of our group and dumped them all in a heap on the table. Again when desserts were given, we had to wait again for the cutlery, which should have been sorted prior. We eat out at a lot of restaurants around Kent and found our visit to Bella Italia in Hempstead Valley one of the worst services we've experienced in terms of the service from the waiters before our order was finally taken. Charging a service charge is a joke and quite frankly, they did not deserve it. They were not rushed off their feet, just too busy standing around talking to each other having a chinwag. Having said that, once the food orders were taken, the orders were served in a timely manor, good flavours and hot, so thank you to the chefs on shift that evening. BUT, not worth the price in my opinion. I had the lasange with a side of garlic ciabatta. The lasagne is £15.79, the portion size isn't very good. The dish is shallow, lasagne was barely an inch thick if that and doesn't come with anything so not worth the price especially compared to many other restaurants that would at least serve it with garlic bread/salad rather than having to buy it separately as a side (garlic ciabatta was £4.29). Overall, we do not feel this is a place we will visit again based on this experience. Two of the guests were young children, who are usually well behaved when eating out but during this visit they became restless and irritable because they were hungry and getting tired thanks to the negligence of the staff prior to the order being taken, ignoring our table for the first 30-40 minutes of our visit. Food was nice, but being seen to by...

Hempstead Valley branch: dreadful Manager and lying staff when challenged.

We booked a table at this restaurant for 3 adults and 2 children. When we arrived the supervisor made us aware of the kids eat for £1 offer. We were already aware of this and this was the reason we selected Bella Italia for our meal today.

Upon being seated the supervisor explained that the £1 kids meal was valid for each main meal purchased. We confirmed that if 2 adults had a main meal then the 2 children could eat for £1, we also confirmed the third adult could have a set menu. This was all confirmed OK at the time of being seated. Upon receiving the bill the waitress stood behind me with the card machine and I felt under pressure to pay even though I had only just started to examine the bill. I therefore paid. After payment including a £5 tip I added, I realised the kids £1 offer had not been applied and therefore we had been overcharged by £12.98. The waitress was rude and told us she had not been made aware that we wanted the £1 offer by the supervisor who seated us, she stated she would get the manager to sort out the refund. The manager came over and told us we were not entitled to a refund as we had not qualified for the offer. The supervisor came over and denied confirming to us earlier that the offer was kids for £1 with each adult main meal. They kept saying it was “not in conjunction with any other offer” and that as the third adult had a set menu this voids our eligibility for the £1 offer. I have read several times the terms and conditions of the £1 offer and cannot see how a third adult having a set menu would impact on the fact we had 2 adults ordering 2 main meals and therefore 2 children can eat for £1. The way it reads is that the £1 offer would not be valid if the only adult meal ordered was a set menu. This is all very ambiguous and not a clear advert.

This aside, the manager was rude, obnoxious and was of the opinion that we had paid and therefore that was the end of it, she refused to refund the £12.98 owed to us and also the £5 tip I wanted refunded, all she kept saying was to contact head office who would refund us.

I contacted Head office who responded swiftly apologising for the poor level of service received, offering a voucher and a refund of the gratuity. One week on I have heard nothing more so can only assume that the head office are as bad as the staff in...