The Rib Cage — Restaurant in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Came in tonight (17th October 2025) just before 1700, tried to make eye contact with two different members of staff (one who I think was wiping cutlery, another who popped behind the bar) but neither of them said hello or acknowledged us, both looked away and completely ignored us. Stood near the entrance for a while and just as we were leaving / giving up, another member of staff came over. He seemed exceedingly shocked that we were literally about to walk out after we weren't greeted initially (he raised his eyebrows and asked me "really?".... Yes, really). No acknowledgement or apology, perhaps we'd confused him?

We didn't have a booking and were informed they were fully booked at 1700, then we were told they might be able to fit us in on a table at the back, then very rapidly told they actually couldn't because a member of staff was sat there eating, followed by somewhat of a blank indifferent look and lots of meaningless umming and arring.

No other times were offered, the other member of staff was not told to perhaps eat somewhere other than front of house, takeaway was not mentioned, and he did not say that they were booked all evening. We both sensed he couldn't really be bothered and didn't particularly want to serve us at all, perhaps because they recently announced their closure in the coming months? The male member of staff wouldn't outright say no to a table and it felt like he was keen for us to just leave so we did. This was after I outright asked him "should we just go somewhere else then?".

Somewhat of an awkward 'fob off' but fair play to you. Normally when somewhere doesn't have a table at all they'll just say "sorry we're fully booked" and leave it at that, or they'd offer another time later on / the next day. They don't tend to go from being booked to being able to fit you in to then not being able to because a member of staff is eating at the spare table. They don't normally make it the customer's job to make the decision they can't be served and to walk out.

Not a problem that they were full on a Friday evening, and it's fine to say no to customer, they could have just said it a bit more politely and professionally without the awkwardness / back and forth / faff. Seemed like they've just given up. Would have ordered takeaway and eaten in the car if they had pointed out they offered this. Also would have been happy to come back later tonight or over the weekend.

We felt like bilge rats fleeing a sinking ship. Luckily we found another restaurant who were decisively happy to fit us in and serve us / take our money.

I wouldn't normally write a review like this for a soon-to-close restaurant but I have never been made to feel so incredibly awkward for asking if somewhere could seat us without a reservation in 25+ years of dining out. Perhaps this was one of the members of staff who others have mentioned may have implements lodged...

Me and my partner came here for Easter Sunday. Noticed on the Facebook page they were offering a free dessert. Bonus! Everything was perfect (apart from slow service) to begin with. Not entirely sure why it was so slow when there was maybe one or two other tables. However not the point. Once we had eaten our meal we enquired about the free dessert offer that I’d seen on the Facebook page. To my surprise I was told as my partner hadn’t ordered a “full main” and had only had loaded fries and some chicken tenders that he didn’t qualify for the free dessert (no where on the post does it state this) however this wasn’t an issue my partner was more than happy to pay for his dessert. But when I enquired about my free dessert as I had ordered a roast “main meal” I was told I’d have to eat it in. Now as a pregnant woman that’s not been eating very much for the past few weeks the 3/4 of the meal I had already eaten was probably already to much. However they do one of my favourite desserts so I planned to take it home and eat it most likely around midnight when I was hungry again. Anyway, I was told that I wasn’t allowed to take it away and the waitress would get the manager. Baring in mind the total of our bill came to over £60. Now the manager came over already with a rod up his arse and asked what the problem was when he clearly had been told by the waitress prior to coming to our table. I asked if I could take the dessert away as no where on the Facebook post does it state it has to be eaten in house. However he got pretty defensive and told me that they are able to pick and choose what the rules of this offer are, now I could be mistaken but I’m sure that saying you’ll get something for free on a certain day with no terms and conditions is false advertisement. Anyway I’ve screenshot the post on Facebook for all of those to enjoy and have a read. Like I stated above my partner was more than willing to pay for a dessert on top of our meal so they would’ve got around £70 off of us in total but instead lost our custom. And by the looks of how empty the place was today I’d say...

Okay so if I could give this restaurant no stars I would, ill base this firstly on the restaurant itself, when it first opened it seemed like a cool place to eat and drink, somewhere offering something different to everywhere else as per the advertisement's on social media, they offered great job opportunity's and all they were simply asking for were 'good,honest people' something I could have left my current job for. My partner being 'covered in tattoos' and having a unique sense of style saw this as a chance to work somewhere that would really appreciate him for him, 6 months down the line now being told he can't be.

Let's be truthful, the menu is no different to anywhere else I've been and if anything offers less at a much higher price, I find myself paying upwards of £1.50 for some onions on my chicken burger that doesn't actually taste that great... It offeres no variety at all and if your vegan or vegetarian don't go here, truth is not a part of the kitchen is vegan or vegetarian friendly. They can't find a way of catering anybody's needs and if you want to swap your bacon for some extra cheese apparently this is impossible, as if your getting something for free.

I've always found the staff rude, you have to ask them for something before they even notice your there. I have sat at the bar waiting to give them my money for at least 15 minutes only receiving blank stares until I wave my money in there face. The place has been open not even 6 months and already they've sacked at least 8 people under wrongful dismissal, for one somebody was fired because their mental health and instead of helping them out, fired them so it didn't have to be a concern of their own and now because my partner didnt want to voluntarily start shifts at 6:30AM unpaid they found this as a reason to get rid of him.

Overall, this probably seems like a very biased opinion but I've not liked the place, or staff since the first time I walked in there. Basically what I'm saying is don't eat here and...