The Ridge (Shaw Ridge) — Restaurant in England

With experience in the industry, I can say, for certain this was the worst service I have recieved in my life 👍🏽

My prior visits to The Ridge have been good, this was a first for me as I didn't expect this from an establishment that has only done me and my friends good.

We entered around 8:40pm, our waitress 5 minutes later asked for drinks, came back and asked for our food orders, 7 dishes + sides that she wrote on her notepad and left, the drinks came around 8:50ish and now it was the wait for food.

at around 9:00pm the food came out, 5 dishes plus a few sides, however, we were missing 2, but with it being busy we gave them the benefit of the doubt, 3 of us have experience in the Restaurant industry as waiters and can sympathise with how hectic it can get, however 10 minutes had passed, our waitress hadn't even asked if everything was okay, they were all grouped near our table having a chat.

Being a waiter can be daunting, social interaction and the anxiety that comes with it can be scary, I fully understand, however, seeing them all chat and being unattentive and blissfully unaware of the 2 missing meals was absolutely jarring, we waved her over and asked what the wait was for our meals.

She came back a few minutes later and asked what our order was, as I didn't have the menu I could only recall what the toppings where and she left, came back and said another 10 minutes for our food as it had just been put on.

By 9:20 everyone but us had finished, our friend won vs food before us despite having a massive headstart, me and my friend weren't very pleased with the main being oxygen and a side of ignorance, by 9:30 pm our food came out just as we were going to ask for another update with our new waiter.

Eating at a restaurant, you expect to eat with your friends and not wait over 30 minutes to eat alone, shocking service, blissfully unaware waitress and this isn't even the best part.

A blonde lady however came to our table and apolgised for the food not coming out, it wasn't her fault but for her (assuming she was) being a supervisor in a place wih staff like that must be tiring, I can only thank her for being the first person to genuinely apologise to us.

We THEN ordered desert, a brownie for me, simple order, a bit later our waiter comes out with 2, 2 brownies, no one else had ordered it so he brought the other back, and just as I was about to dig in, fork in hand (we weren't given spoons and at this point I wanted to eat) there was a hair in my food 😊, I told the waiter about it, he took it and brought me out the Brownie he had just taken back, and at this point the plate was wobbled around so much it was very sad to look at, still tasted alright however.

What went well - Blonde lady who apologised, eating ice cream with a fork was pretty enjoyable somehow

Even Better If - Train your staff to be more attentive, make sure they ask and confirm if a table has everything, they should check up on a table during each course at least once to address any issues or complaints to resolve them there and then.

Like stated before, I have never had an experience at a restaurant like this in my life, especially with The Ridge, please improve this, because next time I don't think I can be as patient as I...

Travelling down south for the weekend, I stopped in Swindon overnight before carrying on, a quick Google search and ridge pops up with a decent rating. I'll give it a go I wasn't expecting too much, but I was still disappointed. My wife asked if she could get an aperol spritz, the server wasn't sure, but went and checked the bar (much appreciated), came back and said yes. Would you like it with soda water or lemonade?(didn't know that was a thing) with sparkling water, thanks. Food order taken, now we wait.

As we watched a few cocktails being prepared at the bar, we saw the aperol come off the shelf, we must be up next! The bartender poured a double measure into (what looked like a Margherita) glass. We joked that someone must have a real taste for aperol! We watched the glass get placed on a tray, next to the lager I'd ordered, then continued to watch as it was brought to our table. I questioned the neat aperol and asked the young server (not who took our order) to confirm the contents. I clarified the 3 I was expecting. They returned to confirm, with confidence, "that is an aperol spirit!" I agreed. However I asked for an aperol spritz, and repeated the addition of prosecco and sparkling water. This seemed too much, for a restaurant with a cocktail menu to put a 3 ingredient cocktail together, so we asked for a Cosmo instead. Which was provided (much appreciated)

The food came, in good time, and whoever takes the photos for your Instagram page, should get a pay rise. When the server came over and asked if everything was ok, I said yes,. Because it was, ok...just Top tip, if you want to put Philly cheese steak on the menu, ask someone that has eaten one, or at least seen one in a book, to make it.

The Mac and cheese bites however, did in fact contain Mac and tasted of cheese. Though It may have been an additive.

This would've been a one star visit, but the extra 2 are for the fact your staff are courteous, receptive, and willing to change an order when the offering of the establishment is sub par.

I'll not be back, but I'm sure you...

Spent over 3 hours having lunch (not by choice!!) We booked a table for 5 and wete sent to a booth, which is clearly meant for 4. I asked if we could have a table instead as it was empty at that point, to be told it should be fine. Yes it fitted 5 of us on, but no room for coats/ bags. They took a drink order straight away and when he brought them over, asked if we wanted to order food. I said give us 2 more minutes please. We then waited 40 minutes before I had to flag someone down to order. Food then took another 45 minutes from that point. The chicken burger was dry, the sweet potato chips had zero flavour/seasoning and they substituted corn on the cob for something else we didn't like, without asking, as they ran out. The waitress cleared out food a good 20 mins after we had all finished and asked if we wanted anything else. I said we'd like to order pudding please. She then didn't come back and we waited another half hour before we had to go up to the desk and complain. When we paid we said there would be no tip as the service was disgraceful, to which the waitress shrugged it off and didn't offer any proper apology or discount. We had 2 young children so for them to sit nicely and wait that amount of time for food was just not on. I'd love to say the food made up for it when it did turn up, but I'd be lying! The desserts were good, apart from the brownie which was overcooked and actually rock hard (couldn't even cut it). Won't...