The Bootlegger — Restaurant in Exeter

Went bootlegger last Friday and the staff totally mucked up our bill, costing me an extra £42!!! We arrived as a group and despite wanting to pay seperately staff insisted on table service (fine, it's a big group, don't want loads of people getting up). But this meant we had to have a tab. As the night absent on table service got slow so people started ordering at the bar. Then people left the event at different times they went up and paid for the drinks they'd had. I came to pay the rest of the tab (to divide up later with remaining friends) and the staff had not deducted the paid drinks from the bill. When I questioned if anything had been paid, staff said no, when I recalculated it on my phone, the staff still insited it was right but I'd seen people go up? And we have transaction records on our phones?

Overall, one drink was the wrong price, four drinks (beer, long island, Tom Collins and an old fashioned) that'd been paid for seperately, I had to pay for again because they weren't taken off and a £15 card payment was shown on the recipet but not deducted from the total?!

We'd visited bootlegger on previous occasions and it's been one of our favourite places to go in Exeter, so it's really sad to be SO dissapointed...

I do not understand what the attraction is. I guess people come there for the cocktails, and fair enough, they do have cocktails. They are mostly ice, though. But that would warrant a three star review, maybe. The real problem is what you have to endure for the (mostly ice) cocktails.

Firstly (and worstly): The place is in an old basement which is clearly mold infested, and the whole place reeks of moist catacomb. Secondly, the music was way too loud, making conversation very challenging. When we moved away from the speaker (to an empty table), we were told to go back to the table we were at first, because of covid restrictions. Thirdly, the staff constantly hovers around you, asking if you want more drinks. I appreciate that some people might consider this a service, but it's too a degree where it feels like more...

Wow! What an amazing venue! Our acting society just had a spring ball there and it was perfect! The staff are the most accommodating friendly people I've ever met, they had some amazing ideas, and were so happy to help out, they made us feel so welcome. Even let us decorate the space as we wanted. The bartenders are so friendly and make some gorgeous drinks, and the shots are amazing. An imaginative and wide range of cocktails. The manger is also just absolutely perfect, so happy to help. And finally the venue itself is beautiful, such a warm friendly atmosphere, beautiful background music and is kept fresh and clean. Can't recommend enough, definitely voting for all our celebrations to be...