The Old Vic St Andrews — Restaurant in Great Britain

I visited this establishment a few years ago and left with a sour taste due to extremely rude service. I vowed never to return. However, during my visit this weekend in St Andrews, several friends recommended it, assuring me things had improved. So I decided to give it another chance, unfortunately, it was a mistake.

At first, the evening showed promise. The venue had a lively atmosphere, with great live music and a bustling crowd. We didn’t get a table straight away, which was understandable given how busy it was. After about 10 minutes, a departing group kindly offered us their table. With drinks in hand and music playing, we were settling in for what seemed to be an enjoyable night.

That changed an hour later.

After spending a considerable amount on drinks, a staff member approached our group of four (at a 4-person table) and placed a sheet of paper down, stating we had to vacate the table in 30 minutes due to a reservation- for 15 people at 10:45pm. It was hard to believe such a small table would be used for that, but we reluctantly agreed to finish our drinks and leave if asked. 10:45 came and went and the large party never showed, but the uncomfortable feeling lingered, worrying we’d be moved at any moment.

We eventually decided to move to the nightclub area, and that’s where the night truly fell apart.

The bar was packed, but we patiently waited our turn. When we finally made it to the front, we noticed only two bartenders handling a large crowd. As we stood there waiting, a male patron walked up beside us. Despite clearly seeing that we had been waiting for nearly 10 minutes, the female bartender immediately went to serve him.

I explained that we had been waiting and were next, when she immediately raised her hand and said, “I don’t serve people who shout at me,” despite the fact that I hadn’t raised my voice. Then she walked away.

My husband waited another 10 minutes, still unserved. When a second man stepped up beside him, the same bartender ignored my husband and started serving the new arrival. To his credit, the customer even pointed out my husband was next, but she completely ignored him.

I approached again and asked why she was clearly refusing to serve us and instead of addressing the situation, she simply walked away through a door behind the bar.

This level of unprofessionalism and blatant disrespect from the staff, both in the bar and the nightclub, is absolutely appalling. The attitude from multiple staff members felt more like a power trip than customer service.

Despite the years between visits, both experiences have been shockingly similar; poor treatment, rude staff, and a general lack of professionalism. This is clearly not just a one-off bad night. I’ve been visiting St Andrews for over 10 years, several times a year, and have never had such a negative experience in any other pub, club, restaurant, or café.

Frankly, the staff here could benefit from serious customer service training. Respect, courtesy, and basic hospitality seem to be sorely lacking.

After leaving, we went to another late-night venue where the staff were welcoming, friendly, and efficient, the difference was like night and day.

Needless to say, I will never be back, and I’ll actively advise others to...

Went there for St Valentines Day lunch. Service was poor. Was handed a menu at the door and the table was pointed out. Had to wait about 15 minutes for our order to be taken and then another 15 minutes for the starter to arrive. Our starters of haggis, potatoes and neeps, and Cullen Skink soup were very tasty but let down by the luke warm soup. Our main course arrived 50 minutes after we entered the restaurant. The fish and chips served in newspaper was excellent but my steak pie and vegetables was almost cold.I had to return it. An apology was given by the waitress but no management was to be seen. I was offered a replacement by the waitress but couldn't afford to wait another 50 minutes. Correctly, the steak pie was removed from the final bill but I expected more than a 10% discount for the inconvenience and the fact that I left hungry after sitting there for 1 hour. The attitude of the person in charge was unbelievable. No apology, only a stern reminder that temperatures were taken with a probe and times of order and service were logged. We would be hearing from Head Office because I refused to pay. What a pity. A nice restaurant and apparent very good food, let down badly by slow service, food left to go cold before serving and bad attitude. I'm not an expert but a child could see that this restaurant lacked an...

1- Bartenders need to be trained on keeping a note of the general queue or order of service. Anyone can pour drinks - good service is making sure you’re treating customers fairly. Literally had 6 other customers served before me the other night, even though they all got there after me. It got to the point where other customers were apologising to me because they felt bad for me. I wasn’t being rude or demanding - I see this happening routinely at the Vic to other people too. The customers shouldn’t have to fight for the staff’s attention.

2- Regularly having only two bartenders on for events or weekends when there are 50+ people waiting to order multiple drinks shows that you don’t care about customers or your staff. In fact, you would probably be making a lot more money with more bartenders working because many people turn away without even bothering to wait and buy drinks.

Part of the issue is that this is the only nightclub-type venue in town. This means that management doesn’t have to worry about good service because customers often don’t have an alternative.

Nice venue but unfortunately not if you want to...