Gordon Arms, Bedford — Restaurant in England

Let's start positive, Sunday roast was decent. Beef served pink, well cooked veg with bite and hand made Yorkshire pudding. BUT We waited over 1hr15 for the food. After 50 minutes I asked a member of staff where our food was, she said she'd check, went away and then didn't come back to update us, instead deciding to clear a table and smile at us seemingly forgetting that I'd ask for an update. I then had to ask her again what was happening with the food, and she replied it would be ten minutes (it wasn't, it was a further 25).

When the food arrived, I offered some constructive feedback, but this new server could not have been less interested, stating that the kitchen had been very busy and offering no apology.

If any managers happen to read this, I repeat my feedback

1 if there is likely to be a delay on food, set expectations at the point of ordering 2 if the kitchen cannot cope with a full restaurant, don't book all the tables out 3 your serving staff need customer skills training. If a customer asks where the food is, it's polite to find out and report back. 4 I observed two other tables get up and ask after their food. Clearly there was a backlog in the kitchen. At that point, a manager should step in to understand the problems and communicate to customers before they complain 5 when customers offer constructive feedback, an apology, sincerely delivered, is the expected norm. It should also be alerted to the manager so steps can be taken.

I suspect many of those I saw complaining will not return. Certainly we'll be steering clear of eating here and cannot now...

Really disappointing unfortunately. I have been here with my family on several occasions and other than the first time it has been poor in one way or another. Tonight we went and the service was hit and miss. One member of staff was great the other seemed to be having an off day. The same with the food, hit and miss. My burger was fantastic but missing an ingredient. The wife's salad was ok but hardly any of the ingredients on the menu were in the salad, and those that were missing were substituted with things that were a surprise. This isn't a big deal for the most part but none of this was communicated at any point, if you order a meal for £16 off of a menu it is expected that the meal will resemble what you ordered. If there had been allergies this may have been an issue to someone. The fire exit in the garden had a bike lock on it and when I highlighted this to one of the staff in case it was an oversight, I was told that it was OK as there are other exits, I said that wasn't really the point and was then told I was being confrontational and the conversation was abruptly ended. (as such i felt it pointless to raise the food issues with her during our visit) It is a real pity as this place is nearby, a fairly good price, pours a decent Guinness, allows dogs and has a good atmosphere, it just gets let down sometimes by the service, and...

We came at 20.20 on a Monday to grab few pizzas on the go and take advantage on the 241 offer as we have tasted the pizzas before and they are pretty good. We did try to call multiple times before coming to place the order but no one answered the phone. We just assumed it was loud or busy. So we decided to come and wait. However to our surprised we were quietly murmured that the kitchen is closed by a young lady behind the bar. We were surprised as on the website it states that the kitchen closes at 21.30. As we didn't really hear/ believe the first lady we looked at the 2 chefs next to the pizza oven and directed our question to them but they were actively trying to avoid eye contact. Another young lady behind the bar then quietly confirmed the kitchen is closed. We were disappointed as we tried to call but none of these 4 people answered the phone even though it wasn't loud or busy in there and also because we weren't given explanations (not even apology) as to why it was closed early.. Wasted trip. Maybe update the correct kitchen opening hours to...