Free State Kitchen — Restaurant in Liverpool

When did it become the norm to pay £45 for 2 burgers, chips and coke? I wouldn't have minded if the meal was half decent but it wasn't. The burger had absolutely no flavour, fell apart and was completely sodden and greasy. No caramelised meat, no seasoning, nothing. The rosemary and salted chips were nowhere to be seen because there was no rosemary or salt and they were also undercooked. Decided to dine here before a show and it was a complete let down because I'd heard good things. We didn't have the time or energy to say how bad it was. Also went to the toilet and it was covered in excrement and being used as a storage space. Would definitely not return. Wouldn't have left a review if I didn't feel so robbed.

Edit in response to owner: I really do appreciate your reply and it's clear you care which is nice to see and hear. You're right, I could have mentioned it but I don't really see it as my job to tell you that your bathroom is dirty or your food is lacking, it's just what we were met with on the evening unfortunately. I appreciate you would have liked the opportunity to know in person - it wasn't personal, we were just in a rush. With regards to being family run that's fine but I don't think it has any bearing on operating at a good standard, let's be honest here, it's not rocket science to cook a burger and some chips or have a clean toilet, it's the basic expectations really. I am sorry my review has upset you, that wasn't my intention. It was simply to share our experience as subpar. I don't agree with forking out that price for what we received but I did give service and atmosphere the score it was due. Hopefully my comments will be taken onboard and quality control looked at in the kitchen maybe. As customers the cost of dining out has become sky high and I appreciate it's similar for owners & the general running of a restaurant. I just don't think it's on me to accept such bad food at such a high price. Customers will just go elsewhere or stop eating out. I really do hope you can see there's no malice here, it was genuine review for other customers / feedback for the...

Firstly the food was ok. It was our first time here as we had seen the rave reviews and awards given. The starters of wings and sausages were delicious and probably the highlight of the meal. Onto the mains, I had a French onion burger, what I would say is that I couldn’t taste the burger Pattie due to the volume of other things overpowering it which was a let down for me. My partner had the satay chicken burger which she said was disappointing and didn’t live up to expectation.

Secondly we brought our small dog as we had messaged prior to check that they were dog friendly which they said they were happy to welcome dogs. However, when we arrived it straight away seemed like our dog wasn’t welcome and that we were a massive inconvenience, this made us feel uncomfortable throughout. We were placed on a table next to a door they needed constant access too despite there being tables in the corner. We were told to keep him on the other side of the table where centimetres away were a large group who were getting in and out so we had to be careful he wasn’t trampled on. We were given a dog bowl of water which was filthy. One waitress did come and say hello to our dog which was refreshing. One waiter however made a comment which we couldn’t quite articulate due to the volume in the restaurant, however we believe it went along the lines of “can you be careful of allergies” alluding to our dog (he’s a cockapoo and hypoallergenic). This all added to our uncomfortable experience. The positive I can give is they did provide us with some plain sausages for our dog when we asked for them. Dog friendly/welcoming and Dog accommodating are two different things and these need to decide which they are as we would not return given the frosty atmosphere we were given.

Overall the experience was disappointing, the food was pricey for what we were given and the treatment by staff due to us having our dog was unacceptable for a ‘dog friendly’...

Bad manners from front woman when I asked for a 125ml glass of wine - saying they don't serve 125mls (they should offer a 125 ml) Just stop making people have to buy a bigger measurement.

This is the only way I can find to reply to your reply to me - which I only read last night and hadn't seen your reply on trip advisor and the only reason I put a review on Google was because It didn't seem as though the trip advisor review had registered.

Firstly you say we were offered 3 wines in a 125 measurement and I have to tell you we were not as we would have chosen one as we wanted to eat in your place and had called in on the off chance in hope we could get a table - we went to the bar and asked if there was a table available and we were told yes so we asked for 2, 125 ml red wines and that is when we were told that we don't serve 125ml measurements - we were both driving and if we had more than a 125ml we would be over the limit and explained this to the person who was dealing with us - she then replied what do you want me to do about it. I'm not trying to discredit anyone I'm just leaving a review on our experience - isn't that why we have review sites? As for the 1 star review, what else could I do as didn't get the chance to try the food! As for your comment on other reviews I've left if you looked properly you'd have seen I give good & bad reviews based on my experience. You ask if I was angry at only being offered 3 wines in a 125ml - no just disappointed at not being told we had that choice. Regarding the lady with the bad manners - please tell me why would I say that if it hadn't happed - I have a far to busy life to have time to give false reviews.

Frankly your reply to me shows you're not listening to your customers and bad manners seem to...