The Hop Poles — Restaurant in England

I've read many reviews saying the same thing about this place, that there is an issue with a particular member of the door staff and one of the managers which was entirely my experience too. I've been to the hop poles now and then over the last 25 years. For me it's a fairly average pub, not at the top of the list but not at the bottom either, nothing special inside but nice sitting out on the back terrace in the summer and open late. On this particular occasion there was a young doorman there who just seemed to want to rub everyone up the wrong way and had got carried away on some sort of power trip working on the door and was already having an argument with 2 other customers when I arrived. I was there around 1am to meet a large mixed group who had been there for a number of hours to celebrate a birthday. This doorman wouldn't let me enter even though I wasn't drunk, was polite and just politely asked to join the group I was there to meet. I asked to speak to the manager but the doorman refused and said that he'd decided I wasn't coming in for no particular reason so that was that and I couldn't question it in any way because apparently he was God and made all the decisions for the bar. Bear in mind I'm nearly 50, I'd been working that evening so had come out to join the group late, I'm quite a relaxed guy and the only ever time I can recall having any sort of minor falling out with a doorman was about 30 years previously so I really wasn't out to cause any problem! If they weren't going to let me in then I was going to wait outside because the entire group I was there to meet had decided they were going to finish their drinks and leave as a result of this doorman. However the doorman and another member of staff who I think was either the manager or assistant manager became quite aggressive when I refused to move away from the street at front of the pub. I pointed out it was a public street which they didn't own and I had just as much right as anyone else to stand there, that I was calm, I wasn't trying to argue, I wasn't causing any obstruction, I wasn't even interested to talk to them, I was quite happy to go to another bar as there were many in the area and I was just quietly, peacefully standing there minding my own business waiting for my friends so we could all go somewhere else. They became very aggressive, really getting in my face & doing their absolute best to intimidate me, threatening me insisting they had powers and rights that they didn't have. As long as you're off their property they can't legally touch you any more than any other member of the public can and if they do using any sort of physical force it's assault and you can call the police and potentially they'll be arrested. You can then take them to court or they'd have to pay you an out-of-court settlement figure as a result because you can't just attack members of the public because they're standing outside your bar any more than you could attack someone walking past your house. Our group would have stayed there until closing time buying drinks if it hadn't been for this doorman and the general aggression level and treatment by him and the other member of staff means we'll take our custom elsewhere in future. Brighton has 300+ pubs there's really no need to come to this one and sadly it does seem to have gone downhill with the recent change of management, it really hasn't been a good vibe the last few times I've been there. I'd advise anyone in this sort of situation to video the incident, write public reviews detailing your experience, don't let them threaten and bully you for just standing on a public street and if there's any sort of physical element to their attack when you're off their premises then call the police because they've broken the law. These people are employees of a private company, they're not above the law so don't let them get away with it. We won't be back and there are at least 5 other late-opening bars in the immediate area so there's really no need to go...

Came across this pub while having a walk around The Lane, made to feel very welcome by the staff who were friendly and appreciated you visiting their pub We went to order food, where the bar staff were very apologetic that the kitchen has closed for an hour - never mind one of those things We decided to visit some more pub in the area and oh what a mistake we made, one smelt of wet dogs the other the bar staff really weren’t interested if you visited or not We decided to return to the Hop Poles at which time the kitchen had opened there were different staff on but again they were very friendly. The food and service was excellent, all in all a great experience in the Hop Poles - well done to all that work their

In Brighton April and revisited for afternoon drink again super welcome and the playlist playing was so good. Asked what it was 12hattie give her a follow...

Disgusting Discrimination.

Very disappointed to be blatantly discriminated against for being exempt from wearing a face covering. As the one person in my group not wearing a facemask, and also displaying an exemption badge, I was shocked at the attitude of the manager who refused to allow my family to dine. I explained the law to him regarding this matter and was basically told, it didn't matter and that they did not accept exemptions as it was company policy. Despite feeling humiliated and predudiced against, I offered to pull my fleece over my face till we got the few meters to the table and was told I couldn't as it wasn't a face mask. I have eaten here many times before, but sadly never will again due to the disgraceful way I was treated and I urge people to boycott this companies premises based on their discriminatory policies.

You...