The Grove Lock, Leighton Buzzard — Restaurant in England

I’m really upset and disappointed with the experience my family and I had at the Grove Lock today. What was supposed to be a nice meal turned into a total mess.

After we placed our orders, I was told that my original choice was out of stock, so I switched to a burger. I specifically asked for no onions in the salad part of the burger because I have IBS and bigger pieces of onion can trigger it. Then I was told that the burger itself had onion chunks in the meat, so I had to pick something else again. I went with the beef roast this time.

A few minutes later, the assistant manager came over to ask more about my onion issue. I explained that large pieces of onion are a problem for me, but onion seasoning and small bits are okay. Despite that, he came back and told me I couldn’t have the beef roast either because it had onion and garlic seasoning. He then suggested I order the BBQ ribs, which I reluctantly agreed to, but there was nothing else on the menu that I could have or wanted... While the assistant manager was nice and trying to help, it was really embarrassing and frustrating that I couldn’t order what I wanted, and it made things awkward as my family had to wait even longer for their food.

When the food finally arrived, I was really disappointed. Firstly, the onion rings and coleslaw that I said could stay on the plate for a family member weren’t there, and the portion size of the ribs was ridiculously small (Please see images below). Also, after removing the fat and gristle from the two ribs, there was hardly any meat left (see centre pile in image) and the tiny portion of chips wasn’t enough to make up for it either. I was very grateful that a family member gave me their Yorkshire pudding, as you can see in the photos…To top it off, the staff avoided our table after dropping off the food. No one checked in to see if everything was okay, and even when they cleared the table, they didn’t ask how the meal was, especially after they made a huge deal out of my intolerance.

Overall, the whole experience was really disappointing. I left the restaurant feeling frustrated and unsatisfied, and what should have been a nice family meal was ruined by poor service and a disappointing meal. I hope the management at Grove Lock takes this feedback seriously so other customers don’t have to go through...

Two weeks ago, I came to The Grove Lock with my partner and our dog. We were viciously attacked by a large dog in the pub garden. The dog had already lunged and barked at several children which had been witnessed by many people, staff included. Unbeknowst to us, the dog was left untethered and when we attempted to leave, it charged at me and ripped my dog from my arms, biting him and severely injuring him. We were assisted by several witnesses and somehow managed to get the dog off of us but my dog was left bleeding and terrified. I was beside myself, thinking my dog was dead and that I had also almost been mauled myself. The staff who came up to us did not help at all. In fact, the Duty Manager saw the situation and instead of offering any aid, told my partner to leave because he was defending us from the aggressive party. They then kept the aggressive dog and it's owners who were argumentative and dangerous in the pub garden. It was clear to the Duty Manager what had happened because he saw my bleeding dog, he was witness to me getting insurance information and the situation was also explained to him by wtinesses. Not only were we not helped and shunned by the staff, but by keeping the aggressors in the pub they put everyone else at risk including their own staff and families with young children who were present in the garden. When complaining by email to the General Manager, we were told that the Duty Manager did what he thought best by kicking us out and he attempted to offer us a free meal. The complaint and this review is not to get free things. This is to warn the staff and the public that this is not the way to handle this hugely dangerous and potentially deadly scenario. The aggressors should have been told to leave and we should have been offered help; Help with witness statements, help with first aid, help with calling the police and giving us a space in which to calm down. I am absolutely disgusted by the way we were treated and I hope noone has to go through this again. I hope The Grove Lock pub give extensive training to their incredibly young and ill equipped staff. We will certainly never be back and I would warn anyone with dogs, children or vulnerable people to steer clear. If something happens, the staff will not help you and will cast you out. You have...

Really nice pub.

Not been in here before. 4 of us booked for a meal. Unfortunately Beef and lamb roasts were sold out the waitress told us.

Our drinks order taken and delivered, but then the waitress disappeared - presumably her shift finished, but it would have been polite to tell us to order at the bar or something when we were ready. Eventually we went to the bar in the end because nobody came back to us.

Two of us went for the Roast Turkey with roast potatoes, curly kale, carrots, honey roast parsnips, butternut squash puree and in particular we were looking forward to the Yorkshire Pudding with gravy. It was Sunday after all :)

We ordered but it wasn't until the food arrived we were told no Yorkshire puddings left :( Had we known, we would have chosen something else. The roast potatoes were quite dry and butternut squash puree was a bit lost. Cauliflower Cheese was nice I thought, but our friend can't eat cheese. Turkey was tasty enough - really moist, but my roast parsnip was undercooked. So, food (turkey roasts) was okay, but not great.

Also ordered was a Shepherds Pie and Steak & Ale, which was very nice (I'm told). Hot and well presented.

Puddings were lush! I had chefs special; Paul's Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla icecream. Not your cheap icecream ~ this was lovely and creamy.

When our friend came to pay (this was her treat for Christmas to us), they did knock some off our meals. Ashame the barman who looked after us in the end, we discovered was leaving - he was brilliant 😍. He sorted out our problems and made our evening a...