Pavement Vaults — Restaurant in England

Have been a regular at the pavement vaults previously, but since the remodel (maybe a change of owners too?) the place has really gone downhill..

Myself and my partner went out last night to try to get a table at the pavement vaults with no booking. Its a thursday night, so a bit busy, but not exceptionally busy by a long stretch.

Before, the old system was to greet people at the bar and ask about having a table, but this is no longer a thing. It almost looks at first like they dont do food. We walked over to the seated area, and the server lady on tonight was completely disinterested in us, we hung around, looked at her repeatedly, to which she completely averted us, and continued to look very unapproachable. We didn't say anything to her, as it was clear by how we were stood we were waiting for a server, and I felt like if I said anything, I would have got my head bitten off and felt like some kinda "unruly customer".

We therefore went to the bar and asked there about a table, and although the blokes were friendly, they basically said it's a free for all to get a table. Once you find one, you get some menus from the bar, then order at the bar later. This kind of service I would expect from a nandos, or weatherspoons but a place that charges 20 quid for a burger it's insane and leaves a bad taste...

Short of cooking the meal ourselves it felt as though they were much more interested in serving people drinks than caring about food. It feels as though the place is going heavily in that direction anyway, turning into potentially a cut-paste cocktail bar. It gives the feeling they are probably not investing in food quality anymore.

We sat down eventually but felt pretty rubbish in the place due to the above..

The last straw was when I found myself guarding a table for a woman who sat on the table next to us.. telling people she was ordering at the bar and the table was taken. This being before we had even had a glance at the menu.

Starting to feel like I was about to clock in for the place, we both decided to leave and go to one of the many other places in york, where you are actually treated like a customer.

I used to recommend this place to others, it used to be great food, good music, nice atmosphere, but now it's almost trying too hard to be some kind of bougee cocktail bar first, with food being second.

Unfortunately I'll be sure to tell anyone I said good things about it to before, that its changed dramatically, and to avoid it.

Glad we didn't spend money here last night, it's...

The Pavement Vaults has been a go to place for me and my partner for the last few years. We’ve always enjoyed the food, service, drinks, overall atmosphere. Unfortunately, since they did their redesign earlier this year, the place seems to have gone downhill. Our last few visits since the remodel were satisfactory-ish, the quality of food and service was not as good but being loyal customers we thought it might’ve been a couple of off nights or something. Tonight’s visit however has really put me off the place. My partner and I walked in around 6pm, looking to get some food & drinks, and enjoy a nice meal out together. Upon walking in, we weren’t greeted by anyone, just headed straight to the busy bar to ask if there’s any tables available. We were stood around for a while, waiting for one of the bar staff to acknowledge our presence, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. After about 5 minutes we moved over to another part of the bar, hoping to get noticed there, again we were completely ignored. There was a lady of staff walking around the tables (maybe a manager? not sure), she totally ignored us as well and kept looking away from us as if to purposely not have to talk to us. She walked past us multiple times and continued ignoring us even though we were clearly trying to get her attention/ get seated. After around 10-15 mins of trying to get someone to help seat us, we headed out. In a final attempt, we managed to ask a bartender if there’s any tables available and he just told us to sit down if we find a free table. His attitude was completely blaze as if he couldn’t care less about us as customers. We were very disappointed by this experience and ended up leaving and going elsewhere for our dinner. Im not sure if it’s to do with new ownership, staff changes or whatever else, but the place seems to have really dipped in service and quality. It’s a shame as it was genuinely one of mine and my partner’s favourite places in York. We definitely won’t be back any time soon after being treated the way we were today. Giving one star just because the place used to be great, based off today’s experience it...

Where to start...positives first. Food was pretty good, ribs were excellent, pulled pork and buttermilk chicken among the best I've ever tasted, fries on the other hand were a slight let down, and the chicken wings a tad dry. Overall it was decent. Time for the reasoning behind 2 stars⭐️⭐️. The year is 2023 and we paid damn near £100 for a couple of drinks and an obscene amount of food. Not once were we asked "Are you sure you want all of that?" as we assumed, like every other smokehouse/restaurant/bistro/pub/eateries we have ever been to, that we could doggy bag and take away what we didn't eat. What we didn't eat was around half of our original servings, so about £40 worth of food. Apparently, Pavement Vaults policy is to not allow paying customers to take a single morsel home with them, let alone half a full meal. So the final outcome is that the huge pile of food left on both mine and my wife's plates would be tipped in the bin. YES...tipped in the actual bin! I was genuinely shocked, asked the manager for a second time and was met with disdain and told that she doesn't make the rules. Shocking! Well, we won't be going back there, and will be advising friends and family alike not to go too. Cost of living crisis, people starving on our streets, post Covid motto of 'be kind' and their policy is to launch full meals in the litter bin. Truly appallingly, whoever made this policy should be ashamed... Also, the restaurant was freezing (I'm usually 1,000° and even I was cold), my wife had to put her coat on during the meal as did a lad on the next table. To make matters worse, I had to get up to find someone to order a second drink and again to pay the bill....