Tree, Leicester — Restaurant in England

I’d like to leave this review as constructive feedback to support the future of the establishment.

Yesterday, we experienced an awkward situation with what appeared to be the disabled access entrance and ramp. I was accompanying my uncle, who uses a wheelchair, and we entered through the door on the left, which has a flat entry and ramp leading towards the bar area. However, before reaching the bar we encountered a table with dog treats and a fruit machine, which completely blocked the passage. I even had to move one of the small coffee tables out of the way to get through. This forced my uncle to leave his wheelchair in order to pass – an uncomfortable and avoidable situation.

The barman clearly saw us struggling, yet instead of offering help, he announced that the building does not have disabled access because it is listed. This felt dismissive, and hard to believe given that the interior has clearly been developed. Even if structural changes aren’t possible, simply relocating the dog treats table and fruit machine would restore the accessibility that the space is already capable of offering.

I fully appreciate that not all venues can provide perfect accessibility, but in this case it feels as though functionality has been compromised for the sake of convenience. This didn’t create a very welcoming impression, which is a shame as the issue seems easy to resolve.

Unfortunately, our experience at the bar did not improve things. When my cousin – who is visiting from abroad – asked to try a cider (not being familiar with the drink), the barman responded, “It’s just a standard cider,” almost laughing in his face. When we insisted, he reluctantly fetched a taster with a huff, only for my cousin to then happily commit to a full pint. That small lack of courtesy left a sour note on what could otherwise have been an enjoyable visit.

Finally, I think it’s worth pointing out that the venue’s Google listing explicitly states that disabled access is available – which makes the reality we experienced even more...

I love the Tree! It's even better now after they remodelled and now they do food to a sensible time (I think it used to stop at like 7pm?). They have arguably the best beer garden in the city centre. It has loads of foliage so it feels like you're in a park but you're right in the centre! Lovely staff and really cool vibe too. I'd definitely recommend.

Edit: it really sucks that I'm dropping this to 2 stars because it's such a cool place, but TWICE now they've cancelled a reservation last minute, which completely messes up the whole night's plan (at time of writing covid means it's essential to be booked somewhere). On one of these two occasions the bouncer gave some weird shpeil about how a reservation is 'booked but not confirmed' despite a confirmation email. And on the 2nd occasion the manager blamed a 'hitch in the system' which is not a valid excuse when they've been open for two weeks, and we'd booked a week in advance and they only thought to tell us literally 5 hours before the booking. I feel harsh dropping from 5 stars to 2 but these cancellations literally ruined our nights, meaning we had to desperately ring around trying to find new places.

2nd Edit: wow I must have been in a super bad mood to drop it to 2, I think I drunkenly did it after they cancelled on us for the 2nd time 😂But thanks to their lovely response and offer of free bevs and also the fact that this factor won't be a problem once covid goes away I'll whap it back to 5 as it is a legit wicked place and hospitality has obviously struggled a...

Very disappointed. My partner and I went to the tree on Wednesday and ordered tacos as they are currently running a Mexican themed menu. Tacos were absolutely horrendous (avoid at all costs)!!

I ordered the beer braised chicken taco which was just full of lettuce and chicken, chicken with no seasoning but black pepper, no salsa, no avocado and no sour cream. My partner ordered a black bean taco which was literally just whacked out of a tin and warmed up no seasoning again whatsoever and no ingredients a taco should have in it. I think its unacceptable to charge the price they do for the food that was provided. I understand places may be running limited menus but most restaurants are in Leicester and this does not mean that seasoning is not available, if this is the case maybe food should not be served at all and should wait until ingredients are available. We also ordered cocktails which were just full of ice so you actually get very little of the drink and it is watered down.

We wanted to support independent businesses as lockdown has eased but if you are just going to rip your customers off like this and despite their being so many bad reviews regarding the tacos and feedback has not been acted upon makes me even more disappointed. Such a shame because you have lovely outdoor space at the back which is a real gem. I think feedback from your customers needs to be addressed urgently if you would like...