Toby Carvery Stoneycroft — Restaurant in Liverpool

Worst Toby Carvery we've ever set foot in between the two of us, which is quite a stretch. Tables dirty when we arrived and staff didn't come near. Seated a long way from the food with lots of people having being given tables but away actually queuing. Queue of 20 minutes standing waiting for food, evidently due to staff dealing with outside orders. My friend asked if we could have the turkey wing which was right there, and was told no for no reason - every single Toby we've ever been in says yes, of course. Quite bland, quite cold - because they're prioritising deliveries and takeaway at the expense of standing customers. No staff came near throughout our meal. Two ladies took the table next to ours and asked me for tissues to clean it. I dread to think how long they waited for their food. Not worth the time, not worth the calories, and therefore, the experience was not worth the money.

Edit: I rang from the car park when we left and asked for the email address to make a complaint, which I was given. I was told by the lady who answered - the deputy manager - that this is a very busy Toby Carvery so that might explain our wait. I disagree and would say the wait was due to priority being given to the delivery drivers and boxed meals, being dealt with by all 3 staff in the restaurant, and this staff being insufficient for this extraordinarily busy branch and so standing, waiting customers were inappropriately detained. DM is prepared to raise this complaint. She (politely) explained that the staff was doing its best but when I said not good enough (given the wait, the dirty tables and the refusal to part with a turkey wing) she suggested this was 'personal' - I pointed out that it being personal would definitely not be possible as I probably didn't even see her (I saw no staff from the minute I sat down and to date, as my friend queued for both meals as the area was so uncomfortably packed) and I couldn't possibly pick her out of the many people in and around the building. It was clearly my genuine impression that no staff displayed any interest in us whatsoever. I was given contact details for their head office.

Throughout the phone call, we noticed several more delivery guys exiting with many bags of food.

Wouldn't ever return, not even for free.

Update: replying to Toby Carvery.

We were in the window opposite the bar. We anticipated the eventuality of a staff member approaching the area - it's just that none ever did, which is kind of the point. We were out for a break, and it was bad enough already having to queue so long for food in a packed place when and where the restaurant was blatantly prioritising outside orders. I messaged my friend (who was queuing) at 15 and 20 minutes to tell her to seek a refund, as I was seated at a dirty table and no staff in sight except for bar staff serving drinks. No staff came near while we ate, and when we eventually stood up to go, over an hour later, it was with every intention of phoning from outside because we were very disappointed and very keen to leave. We had no inclination to come back in - on the contrary. (I am also disabled, but that wasn't even why.) I phoned for contact details to move on and make a complaint, but was asked by the DM for details.

In the best case scenario, we would have had our table wiped when we got up and asked. But would we have got our food any quicker? (Note - I include one question mark. Any more is impolite and inappropriate, in this context. Add that.) That wouldn't have been possible. Although maybe if we'd held off starting to eat, and sought out a member of staff, the restaurant might have deigned to part with a turkey wing - like every other Toby Carvery we've visited - leaving our dinner even colder, with us having wasted another 5 minutes on the complaint.

I was asked by Google via a notification on my phone, to review. Any review left by me is an honest recount of my experience.

Thank you for your reply. I hope that Toby Carvery management does in fact act to ensure that the customers at the scene aren't...

Very poor and very disappointing. Service was appalling and the food was just as bad. When we arrived we were greeted with the announcement that a group of 60 kids is arriving soon like it wasn't important. Why were we not told this when we booked the day before. They must have known . As you can expect the said group arrived mostly dressed in soccer gear and proceeded to be extremely noisy and badly behaved. Have you got no dress code here?????. How come the manager and staff turned a blind eye to the noise and shouting and did nothing about it. Similarly whoever was supposed to be supervising them failed to do so properly as they were a source of annoyance to paying customers who expected to be to able to dine in peace and quiet. This should be a given . We had to eat our food in the bar area to avoid them Now we come to the main problems of our Saturday visit. We had been here on the previous Monday and found the food and service to be acceptable. However today Sat 20 th April we found the food to be poor as in reheated roasties,minimal meat portions and appalling service from the staff . On last Monday we were able to have a tab at the bar. This meant that we were able to order drinks whilst eating which the lady brought to our table. That's how it should be. Contrast that with today. The guy on the bar said we don't do tabs which was a lie. Then as a result during our meal I had to go to the bar to order more drink. This took a long time because there was only one person on the bar and he was very slow. Meanwhile my food is getting cold . This is a dreadful set up. I asked a female member of staff for 2 drinks but she never brought them to our table . The guy on the bar had a terrible attitude. Overall today was an appalling experience and we were overcharged too. The roasties were like rocks and obviously warm ups but for too long and the meat portions were miniscule.The soft drink machine was dispensing a watery liquid instead of diet tango. There was none but we were charged for the privilege.. So my advice is to avoid this place at all costs. You might have some chance on a weekday but never at the weekend especially when there is a soccer game on the tv. I cannot recommend this establishment unfortunately . If the manager wishes to discuss the truthful comments above please don't hesitate to contact me. You need to refund me for the overcharge. Very poor effort on behalf a of the staff and management. Do yourself a favour and go somewhere else. Note to management-: Please do not respond with your typical copy and paste apology thanking me for bringing this to your attention and how you will use the feedback to improve. Truth is you have been getting these poor feedbacks for years but you never improve . I shall be contacting M&B regarding the rude service, poor food, noisy and unruly clientele, and the bad staff and management and the overcharging. Have a nice day and remember the customer is always right. Edit, Update. Whitbread have eventually refunded me in full after many phonecall. They are dishonest and tell porkies.They said you can only get a refund from the restaurant but eventually refunded my bank card. Advice stands stay well away...

To start walks in without a booking was told there 20 min wait for table that was fine sat in bar & orderd drinks were there was lots of empty dirty tables still with drinks & food on & also some with people eating at them. Waited 30mins an went to back & asked how long we would be to be told not to sure by the way there was lots of empty tables in the restaurant (not sure if pre booked) doubt it!! so we just said can we get our table in the bar cleaned & we will use that so we orderd more drinks & went to get our food the server was a miserable sod told my son to make his mind up when he changed his mind over what meat he wanted & its wasn't even in a joking way eighter then I asked could I have a empty bowl for my 7 month old the server asked did I pay the £1 for the empty bowl so I said no he then refused to give me a empty bowl until I paid the £1 which i refused to as i had just spent £60 i think asking for a £1 for a bowl for a a few peas an carrots off my plate what i have already paid for is scanless in all the years I have been going out for food to Toby carverys and asking for a side plate or bowl to put a bit of food in for the babies I never head so much rubbish & robbery for a empty plate i was sharing a bit off my plate with my baby what i had already paid for anyway i would love to see how much waste goes in the bin of a night!! anyway food was very dry stuffing was solid so filled my plate with what looked eatable (potatoes was lovely by the way) then to find most of the condiments empty & waited to be filled back up by another miserable sod then goes back to out table to finds it still dirty with someone's else nearly empty drinks put on it asked again for table to be cleaned it got cleaned in the end I then asked to speak with a manager who can with another attuide an told me they was the rules!! Even the barmaid who served me my drinks was complaining saying its a joke in hear to a member of the team never again...