Pablo's Fish and Chips - South Shore - Blackpool — Restaurant in England

Worst chip shop experience ever!! Absolutely disgusting! Pablos is a big takeaway and restaurant located on the front of Blackpool with outside seating available, which is why they have a huge attraction. It was bank holiday weekend so we expected to queue for any takeaway. We waited almost 2 hours outside to be served. Once we managed to get inside the takeaway we saw for ourselves exactly how the business is ran. There were two members of staff on the front. One taking orders on the till and the other packing the food. The girl on the till was absolutely disgusting! The way she spoke to all the customers was appalling and she was blatantly being racist to a couple of girls who had a big order. She then walked over to the restaurant side of the shop several times laughing at the girls and talking about them. No apology for our wait, very patronising. Stood doing no work whilst waiting for chips when she could have taken other people’s orders etc. Although, this girl was unbelievably rude, the rest of the staff also weren’t any better. A lady who was dressed different to the other staff, came to the till and began to count all the notes. I presume she was the manager. Shocking! Serve your customers first then count your money. So unprofessional!! Considering how majorly busy the shop was and the length of the queue, the speed of all the workers was very painful to watch. I didn’t see one employee who was motivated and trying their best. None of them wanted to be there or ensure customers were served in a fast and efficient way. Absolutely no enthusiasm whatsoever! Personally, I was very shocked they even had any customers never mind a queue that long! After finally receiving our food, it was also very disappointing! The fish was so small and soggy. The chips weren’t cooked properly as they were hard. A waste of £20 and 2 hours of my time. The only good thing about the place is the location. Coming from someone who works in a takeaway... the main things the owner/manager needs to ensure is, a good system is in place to allow customers to be served as fast as possible with delicious, fresh, hot food. Manage a great team, all members of staff should be trained properly and show amazing customer service. Also, a chip scoop would have been beneficial. I’m not usually one to complain, especially in hospitality as I first hand understand how difficult busy times can be but I was utterly in disbelief with this takeaway environment, therefore I definitely do...

I was very disappointed. Whenever we come to Blackpool we ALWAYS have pablos. The last few times we came, it was getting worse, but I think this will be the last time we go. There is 2 adults and a 5 year old child in our family. My husband had the pablos special (£16.99), my son had a hot dog on its own (£4.99) and I had a chip barm with curry sauce (£6.99). It was nearly £30 in total! We had to order at a an order screen. This was quite easy to do. There was a big open counter area, and there was no staff stood there to serve. It was very impersonal. The food came pretty quickly. All 3 items were served in a little cardboard tray (very small and they used to have actual plates) and you got disposable cutlery and a napkin in a sachet. Again, Pablos used to have real plates and cutlery, and the disposable options were awful. It made the expensive food feel very cheap and nasty, and made the fish and chips difficult to eat for my husband. The portion sizes were tiny for the price. Also, my son had a hot dog and it came as a sausage in a bun - no sauce or onions or anything. There were no sauce options on the ordering screen, or on the counter. It took me a few minutes to get someone's attention and he told me I needed to go to the till and pay 50p for a sachet. The staff are not very present or friendly. Pablos used to be such a personal experience and the staff were so friendly and involved, but not one staff member spoke to us behind the counter or out in the restaurant area. When we firs walked in, we didn't know what to do really as it was so empty and open. The restaurant had been done up, and it looks very modern, but it's not very inviting. Overall, the restaurant is clean and looks modern, but we were extremely disappointed in the atmosphere, the staff friendliness and the cheap way the food is served. We have been going to pablos for nearly 20 years, and this was the most disappointing thing. We love going to pablos and it was always our tradition. I can only hope they take on some of the feedback about the experience and make improvements, if so, we would love to come back to pablos again...

In fairness the food itself was hot and edible. The service however was very poor. It took an age to be served. The girl in black was too busy over compensating for leaving customers waiting with fake joyfulness that she couldn't see she was annoying both the customer in front of me who had a rather large order, myself and the person behind. She also had me repeat my table number 3 times yet still noted it down wrong. This ended up with our food going back and forth to a different table who told the waitress they had not ordered it. When it was eventually brought over I asked the waitress if I would be able to buy some mayo as I hadn't spotted it was a purchasable item. This seemed to flummox the poor girl who eventually grunted an ok and then disappeared. Eventually returning with 3 pots. At this point I was holding a 50p she said oh just gimme that, threw the mayo down and ran off with it. They were only 30p each and I only wanted 1...... as a family of 7, 5 of which being children we were very much ready to just eat and go. I wouldn't necessarily have minded if it was busy but it was barely half full with at minimum of 4 staff members standing around on their phones. It's such a shame really. My husband and I visited 15 years ago before having our children, 2 of our children had never been to Blackpool before now and we thought it would be nice to take them to the place their parents had had their 1st meal away. Unfortunately they weren't impressed. I wish them well though, hopefully with a bit of training the staff members will be in a better position and give somebody else a...