Harvester Grays — Restaurant in England

Appalling service.

I booked a table for two with my wife for my birthday meal.

I am currently less able due to having a knee operation and walking with a walking stick.

It started with me having to stand by the desk for 4-5 minutes whilst the table seater removed dirty plates, cleaned a table seated a couple right next to the front door. Even though there were two ladies behind the bar just talking.

I was told we were not able to be sat right near the bar which was 8-10ft from the table that the other couple were seated (the other side of the door) because I quote ‘we can’t serve you there, and if we let you, we will have to open that side of the restaurant and sit other people there.’ There are no walls separating this side it’s either walk left or right at the door.

He walked past another two seater and four seater table next to them and began to traipse through to the other end of the restaurant to seat me and my wife. A lot quicker than I can move, and as I see where he was going I had to call out excuse me can I not sit there pointing back at the other two tables. I’m not able to walk with ease through a busy restaurant. To be told no I want to turn that into a six seater for a booking of six.

There was adequate seating the other end of the restaurant where he was trying to take me that could have been turned into a table for 6 which was rather distressing and made me feel like he just didn’t want us there. As those were the “specific two tables in the restaurant that had to become a 6”

I said at that point ok I guess I will have to find an alternative restaurant.

Before leaving I asked to speak to a manager to the two ladies still chatting behind the bar to be told the man was a manager. I then explained I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be sat there for the man and the TWO ladies that were still standing there doing nothing to explain again because they can’t serve people there even though it was 8-10ft away from a table they can serve because there wasn’t enough staff.

As a currently disabled person I’m expected to walk from one of of the restaurant to the other to get drinks and salad bar items because the manager is wanting to turn those exact two tables into a six seater and not other tables already in the restaurant.

Either they are being extremely lazy, they don’t like the look of me, they don’t want to deal with people that appear to be disabled, or the success of harvesters brand means nothing to them as staff. Regardless I feel very badly treated and will never visit this restaurant again.

A picture to put this into perspective. I asked to be sat at Blue where they couldn’t serve or next to red where they could serve. But they wanted us to sit at black which was so much further away from where they walk the food out which is coloured yellow. Refillable Drinks and salad bar...

I eat in harvesters at least 2 times a week this harvester is the worst I’ve come across .. the service was terrible the waitress’s all congregated by the bar talking to one and other not tending to the customers who like us were frustrated- I had to walk to the bar to get my waitress to take my order repeatedly! The FOOD well the rib eye came out and looked off straight away i showed the waitress after finding her .. she agreed and was like no let me get you another one. 20 mins passes No Replacement steak all my family had now finished their food long ago (even their half chicken was not cooked properly looked raw and pink inside near the bone and was rather pale boiled looking from the outer skin) any way replacement steak came again was a strange looking rib eye .. waitress apologised said she had chased the kitchen they hadn’t re cooked my order so she “stood there while they cooked it” . I cut into it and it was literally red Flesh - NOT rare but RED RAW FLESH and a charcoal outer!! - I showed the waitress she again apologised and says they had “cooked it quick” and even the manager said the first steak “was rank looking”!!! What the hell! Lol Anyway after sending it back I simply declined a replacement we had been in there 90 mins for what should have been a 60 min experience and dinner .. again went to the bar to ask for the bill after waiting 10 mins for our waitress to surface and wow she’s at the bar talking to other staff again! Anyway paid and I’m far from a moaner (not that you’d believe it from this feedback but I wouldn’t waste my time ever but I’m that upset about the experience we had at Grays harvester had to warn you all it is the WORST I’ve visited!) I asked for the manager and i said “mate the entire experience was pants” he says why I said your staff were awol all night it’s took 2 hours to have a meal with out starters and the FOOD was as bad as the service even you described my steak as “rank”! He said “well that’s your opinion” I said no as a business owner myself you are a manger I’m giving you honest feedback the service and food was terrible the worst I’ve experienced in any harvester he said that’s “my opinion” i says go and ask the other customers who were complaining and I said it was “shit” he responded I’m being rude and asked me to leave to which i apologised but told him his dismissive and un professional attitude towards my honest feed back was unacceptable and I left. So all in all I will NEVER visit grays harvester again and I hope someone takes my honest feedback checks the cctv of the evening and understands that things in that branch need to be...

When we arrived the manager couldn't find us on the booking and moved a few table together to get us in, we ordered 2 original combos, half a chicken, burger and a kids chicken strips, when it finally arrived the chicken strips were stone cold and all 3 chicken meals were pink on the inside and we could see blood on the chicken, we asked to have the kids meal changed to fish fingers because after tasting the cold chicken my son didn't want it as it put him off and we sent the worst of the chicken meals back, after about 20 minutes the chicken meal came back and all they had done was put the chicken on the grill for a short while on one side but the other side was still pink and covered in blood, we asked where the children's meal was and they said it wouldn't be long, the rest of us continued eating what we could around the blood parts of the chicken while my son sat there waiting and waiting for his meal, his meal arrived about 30 minutes later and he had to sit and eat alone while we watched, (this meal was a special birthday treat for my 9 year old son and it was ruined), we also asked for a drink while we were eating, my dad wanted a doom bar and was told that they had sold out, if they had told us when he ordered his first drink that there wasn't any more he would of picked a different drink, when the waitress came to us we asked to speak to the manager who then came over about 10 minutes later and when we said about the chicken being under cooked he reply was it has probed and is 60 degrees, I have worked with food for a long time and I know chicken is under cooked at 60 degrees and should be over 70 degrees and the manager just kept saying that there is always blood on chicken when it is next to the bone and it was like he was bluffing he way through and didn't know what he was talking about as he knows nothing about the cooking of the food that he sells, when we said what is he going to do abut the meal he said he would take the meal off the bill that was taken back but wouldn't do anything as we didn't send them back even though we had hardly touched the chicken, I also asked about the lack of doom bar and he replied that they had been very busy with the 50% deal and it wasn't his fault but when I said that if you know you have a big promotion going then why don't you order extra and he said he he didn't know he was going to be busy, maybe you should give your managers some training in the actual food preparation and cooking before letting them run one of your tests they know what they are talking about, I used to enjoy going to thus rest but I won't...