The Market Cat — Restaurant in England

Went in at 11:40. Asked if they served food, was told they do from 12pm. Bar man seemed nice so we decided to wait.

Went back to the bar to order at 11:55. After being ignored by the bar maid for a short while, I asked to order food. She would not accept the order until 12pm as ‘the chef doesn’t like it’. At this point it was a few minutes until 12pm. She walked off and only as an afterthought when I didn’t leave, came back and asked if I wanted to order a drink whilst I was there.

I went back up stairs to wait it out, as there was no conversation on offer to pass the couple of minutes until 12pm. In fact, I was made to feel like I was putting her out by asking for anything or even standing at the bar.

Bar maid comes upstairs at bang on 12pm and announces, ‘I have been told to inform you we are not serving food until 12:30pm today.’ No apology offered. I told her this was out of order as we asked specifically about food when we came in and only ordered a drink and waited as we thought food wouldn’t be too long. She gave some lame excuse about the chef being on a long shift today and needing additional time to prep.

They only serve pizza… cmon on now people.

Still no apology forthcoming or offer of any bar stacks etc., from the very bolshy bar maid who said ‘well there’s not a lot I can do about it’ and flounced off.

Obviously we decided to leave.

If you were trying to make a terrible impression on visitors,...

Our first visit was during the day November 2021 and it was a great experience: great beer, delicious pizza with friendly staff. However…

We wanted to visit again in June 2022 in the evening. We called in the day before to ask about booking a table for the following day at 7:30pm. We were told that they didn’t take bookings (no problem) but that finding a table wouldn’t be an issue at that time on the day we wanted. We returned the next day at 7:30 and ordered our beers. When we asked about ordering pizza we were told that the kitchen was shut due to lack of staff. Upon finding our seat there were quite a few people finishing pizzas so the kitchen had been open. I asked the bar staff again about this and then they said that the kitchen had just shut. Disappointing on a number of levels and many missed opportunities for the pub and staff to give us relevant information: Why did the person the day before not tell us the kitchens were shutting early? Why did the staff on the night try to fob us off with ‘staff shortages’ when there were clearly kitchen staff in the building? They then got a bit shirty when challenged. Why is the website (updated recently) still showing the kitchens as being open until 9pm?

On the whole: lovely place, great beer, good pizza (when you can get it), but they really need to work on the staff training and communication skills. I hope next time...

I was lucky enough on Tuesday, 3rd August 2021, to be introduced to what I believe to be one of Yorks 3 best real ale pubs Excelent choice of ales excelent drinking area clientele and staff 10 out of 10 Thursday 17th August 2023 We again visited this 3-story real ale pub Yet again, a plethora of great real ales on offer All ales well kept Great staff local following in pub superb This pub is an essential visit for real ale Drinkers when drinking in York Wednesday 10th July 2024 This pub has never changed in all my visits in its seating interior layout both up and down stairs. Great barstaff/owners here.pub has easy listening music. Today, it was Jazz theamed The food is a well liked asset to this pub. BUT FOR ME, THE MAIN REASON I COME HERE IS The pub has one of the best ranges and well-kept real ales on There was, as usual, a plethora of grand handpumped ales on today. This pub for real ale drinkers when coming to York is as always an essential visit😁😁 Tuesday 1st July 2025 This pub is a regular real ale pub i visit when in York The reasons great staff are great drinking areas on both floors of this pub The atmosphere is always easygoing But the biggest and most concise reasons, as stated in all previous reviews of this pub, is the mega choice of well kept hand pulled real ales that are always on offer in...