Cittie of Yorke — Restaurant in London

I've had a regular booking at this previously lovely pub for over a year, for a social group. Never had any problems, staff have bent over backwards to be helpful. I got to know them and would bring other groups in because we were always guaranteed a friendly welcome no matter what day or time.

July 2023 I turned up for my bi-monthly large social gathering and things were different. Despite clear emails and telephone calls we had not been booked into the large front room as usual, but had an inadqeuate number of tables at the back. I was told the place was under new management and it appeared all the staff were also new to the venue. Never mind, I thought, we'll make the best of it and try to sort things better for next time.

Come the time our tables were supposed to be reserved and other customers were still sitting there while my group had to stand, with only about half of us present and many more on the way. I politely asked a member of bar staff, possibly a manager, if there was any way he could encourage those folk to drink up or move to other tables. Those are the words I used. "gently encourage people to move". He refused, bluntly. I explained that I would have up to 80 people coming, and he laughed saying "Where are your 80 people?". My social gathering has regularly brought 60-80 people into the front room every time we meet, putting money behind the bar buying food and drinks. I've regularly brought other groups to this pub as have my friends. Still being polite I said "I'm not asking you to kick your customers out, but the tables are in my name can you encourage people to move to other tables? We don't have enough space. This is why I thought I booked the front room."

He proceeded to shout at me that I'd never booked the front room and he wasn't going to help, gesticulate wildly with his hands. I simply said that I was not going to argue, and walked back to a booth I was sharing with a co-host. He followed me, and bellowed into the booth about how he wasn't going to do anything to help us. I told him, still quite calmly, that in that case we wouldn't be coming back and he continued shouting that he didn't care whether we came back or not, and didn't want us there.

That ruined what had already been a difficult start to the evening. I genuinely do not know if it's because many of my group are LGBTQ+ or if there are other reasons but I have since heard that another group with somewhat similar composition had troubles at the same pub very recently to the extent that it's members felt unsafe and asked the organiser to choose a new venue.

We will not be going back. Ever. Nor will the other related groups that had been meeting there. I have been going to pubs since the late 80s and hosting meets for around a decade. I have never once come across a staff member who will stalk a customer into a booth and shout at them. I cannot recommend more stongly that people give this pub a wide berth. There are plenty of others in the area. This is a sad state of affairs as my meet had been taking place there for over a year and other meets for many years. It had built up a reputation as a really friendly pub. Sadly that has been destroyed by the actions of the new management.

This is all very sad and I am still quite upset by it all a day later. I don't come here to trash businesses, the vast majority of my reviews are positive. But I really do suggest people...

The atmosphere and staff are incredible. But here’s my gripe with the overall staff and heads of staff. Me and my friends came in and found a spot to chat, we weren’t bothering anyone nor were we a large group. We weren’t talking about our classes and other respectable topics. We were approached by the manager/boss and asked if we were part of a group. We said no but told him we were about to buy drinks. In response he told us that we were being kicked out. Despite explaining how we had valid ID, were willing so buy a drink, and weren’t being disrespectful we were still kicked out. I understand wanting clear out a crowd before closing, I respect it in full. I understand the hassle and that dealing with people who won’t buy something is a pain in the you-know-where. What I don’t understand was the disrespect that was given to my friends. I do not care that my presence was undermined, I care that my friends were openly disrespected and told they were being kicked out despite showing valid ID and method of paying. What was most disrespectful was the assumption that both my group and I could not finish respective pints in under a minute (within the 30 minutes before closing). TL;DR DESPITE the disrespect that was directed at my friends, we still will buy from this pub because the drinks are amazing and the atmosphere is awesome; the boss himself is a bit rude however, though I do...

While in my previous visits I’ve always liked this pub, my most recent visit was marred by some exceptionally poor customer service.

I was at the bar, being served by a young Australian lady. I had ordered a ‘Samuel Smith Pear Cider’. After accepting my order, the lady began to pour a pint of apple cider. I know the pear cider comes in a bottle, so I double checked and stopped her early on. The glass was not even half full. After I informed her of the mix-up, she continues to pour the pint and insists that it is too late, that I had in fact said a "pint" and not "pear" and that I now had to pay for this pint. After some more back and forth - the lady was being extremely rude, pushy and passive aggressive - I resigned into paying for this pint so as not to cause a fuss. Unfortunately, I don’t even like apple cider (and had specifically made sure to order the pear one) and had to give it away to a friend.

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever had this experience elsewhere - usually bartenders just accept there was a mix-up (especially when not even halfway through pouring a drink), instead of snarkily insisting “well it’s too late now…"

Shame because this is a lovely building, and the pub itself has a great atmosphere and...