The Sir Richard Owen - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in Lancaster

UNBELIEVABLE AND FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE

I went here with my friends and ordered a martini through their app, and when it arrived, the waiter asked for my physical ID. I didn’t have it with me, so I asked if I could show it on my phone—he flatly refused. He asked to speak to the manager, hoping for some common sense and resolution, but he also refused to give me a refund. The entire situation was ridiculous, and my friends and I were laughing at how absurd it all was.

I then asked if my friends could just have the drink instead (at the bar counter itself), just to be safe, but nope—he refused again. At this point, I was beyond frustrated and told the manager I didn’t even want the refund anymore, just the food. The manager told me I couldn’t even stay in the building without an ID—what? After more back-and-forth, he finally agreed to refund me for the food.

I thought this was over, but then, the manager handed me a refund receipt for a measly 1.35 pounds and says he couldn’t refund me because WE WERE LAUGHING? That’s right—LAUGHING. As if enjoying a moment with my friends was some kind of crime.

It gets worse. He claimed the police might come, and they might lose their license if we stayed any longer? —absolute nonsense. It felt like the manager was pulling excuses out of thin air just to cover his own incompetence. The staff, including the waiter, were not only unprofessional but seemed to have a certain attitude that made the whole experience feel uncomfortable and borderline discriminatory.

The food itself was bland and unappetizing, and honestly, they only gave it to me because they had no choice. All in all, it was a completely ridiculous, frustrating, and unnecessary ordeal.

The owner needs to train their staff better in terms of...

I've eaten here 5 times in the last 12 months.

Why?

Well, because my daughter is a student here at Lancaster, and I was a student at Lancaster and I used to go to this pub many many years ago so there is a nostalgia attached to my visits. It is mostly the nostalgia that is attracting me.

My last visit included my parents who are slightly infirm and found the general clientele a bit of an assault on the ears i.e it is made up mostly of young students looking for cheap food and cheap beers near to their housing. This needs to be kept in mind.

The food is interesting. Like most food in this price bracket you get what you pay for so I tend to stick to menu choices where I know it has been cooked for a while at high temperature to ensure I am not likely to suffer any sort of dodgy tummy issues afterwards and this has proved successful so far. Got to say though, I have found the quality of the food here to be a little bit below the standard of similar pubs in the chain, like the millennium square in Leeds branch for example.

The seating is rather worn and gave me back ache in minutes and the pub is split level too so if you have mobility issues this is maybe not the pub for you or be careful where you choose your table. Of course the app for ordering may be the lifesaver here.

The quality of the food and the somewhat functional service offered by the staff that I have experienced so far leads me to my two stars, but I am visiting my daughter again tomorrow so you...

Spent 50 quid and 3 of us had a great meal and (lots of) drinks. i was a little disappointed that the knickerbockerglory was using squirty cream-in-a-can but forgave them because the steak I had was really nice and by that time, I was probably drunk anyway.

A bit arduous for disabled people but once I navigated the way to the rear entrance, I could drive my scooter to the back and in to the sit down restaurant. Bar was up the stairs though, luckily I had someone to help me.

Kind of par for the course in Lancaster for disabled access though, not really their fault but loses one star for access and using squirty cream.

Alcohol was a good price and the glasses were exceptionally clean. The steak was super nice. It was almost too good to be true. Massive and perfectly done throughout.

A friend had the ultimate burger which was reported as excellent. it looked fab.

Another friend had steak and kidney pudding which was also really excellent.

There were kids milling about here and there so I assume it was a family friendly restaurant. It looked nice and clean inside and the staff were attentive and polite.

Overall, a good place to go with friends or family for a meal provided you can ascend a small flight of stairs at the front or a bigger set once you're...