George — Restaurant in London

After an exceptional evening dining at Berenjak in Borough Market — one of London’s finest — our group of five wandered over to The George Inn for a post-dinner drink. Or tried to.

We were met at the door not with hospitality, but hostility. Why? Because one of us was carrying a small takeaway container — a doggy bag from the meal we’d just enjoyed. No intention of eating it, no mess, no fuss — just quietly tucked away. But this apparently violated some sort of sanctimonious food code enforced with all the grace of a budget airline gate agent.

Let’s be clear: we weren’t asking to bring in greasy fish and chips or stage a picnic. Just a sealed container, handled with discretion. Yet we were flatly refused entry, with zero flexibility or common sense. Five adults, turned away over a closed box of leftovers.

To the management: if your policy is so rigid it overrides basic decency and revenue logic — perhaps it’s not the policy that needs enforcing, but the staff that needs retraining. Or replacing.

We took our custom — and our healthy bar tab — elsewhere. And the pub around the corner was better for it. Congratulations: you've mastered the art of losing business while upholding rules no one respects.

Hospitality fail. FAIL Never again.

Charlotte

Dear George Inn Management,

Thank you for your reply.

While I appreciate the importance of allergen protocols, your response underscores the very issue I highlighted — a blanket policy applied with no situational judgment.

A sealed container, not being opened or consumed, held discreetly in hand, or in paper carrier bag poses no realistic risk. If your safety systems are so brittle they cannot withstand the presence of an untouched doggy bag, the issue may lie less with the public and more with internal processes.

Hospitality, at its best, is about discernment — not just policy enforcement. Your staff chose to turn away five responsible adults, ready to spend generously, over a rigid interpretation of a rule designed for a very different scenario.

It’s not just the policy that was flawed in application — it was the tone, the delivery, and the lack of grace.

We found warmth and welcome around the corner. And we’ll continue to take our custom where discretion and common sense are still in...

Here is the review I sent to the owners email:

I read all your reviews prior to my visit last night. I am in the UK often and was apprehensive about the quality of this meal based on the reviews, but I was committed with a reservation and at Christmas doubted I could get in anywhere else. We had reservations in The Gallery. The service was better than I expected by the reviews, I understand why many complain about slow service as there was only one person working that entire space. However, for us, Lucy (server) was the HIGHLIGHT of the visit. She was truly wonderful.

Now the food. The fish was great. Huge portion and great quality. The chips were moderate at best. The steak and ale pie however was horrid! I sent it back and exchange it for fish. The side of gravy was cold. Totally cold. The bottom of the metal container was warm, so it was clearly poured into that container and sat on a hot plate but was not allowed to heat or even stirred to get heat it up. Even if it was warm the flavor was way off and not at all tasty like most gravy I have had from London to Edinburgh. The pie was even worse! It was SO HOT you couldn’t take a bit and the crust was off. With further inspection it was CLEAR the pie had been reheated in a microwave (hence the HIGH heat and funky crust). This would make any British grandmother turn over in her grave! The meat was all fat and chewy – no edible pieces of steak. It was truly THE WORST pie I have ever had, and I am a steak and ale pie queen. This was parents first (and likely only) trip to the UK and I am ashamed THIS was their experience of pub grub.

I know most of the pubs in London are owned by your group at this point – unlike some of the lovely small pubs in the Cotswold’s or other places – but this was truly unacceptable. I will post this on Google as people need to understand the experience at your institution. Perhaps come for a drink and the history but I would never EVER EVER recommend anyone eat here.

Do better. Strive to create food you would want your...

We had come for a 21st birthday meal of 8 people and had booked a table at the coach house in advance.

When we walked in, the manager greeted us and we explained our table booking he then proceeded to faff about trying to find a table for us to sit because they didn’t reserve one before we came, we didn’t get seated till around 15 minutes after we entered the place. We ordered at the bar and waited half an hour with no sign of our food, where we then went up to ask how long the food was going to be. The waitress then said 45 minutes to an hour wait on food from when we ordered- firstly we were not told this when we ordered and secondly if we did know, we would not have stayed as we had somewhere to be.

We finally got our food after an hour and 10 minutes of waiting however half the food order was wrong and half of our table received their food and finished eating before the other half even got theirs. So we asked the manager for any type of compensation for the royal mess up and he proceeded to say he can do us a round of drinks but not any drink… just beer. We declined because we had to leave asap. He refused to give us any type of refund and then proceeded to argue with one of my friends when we explained how it took ages for them to find us a table that we had pre booked for and he said we were sat straight away when we were not.

Long story short the manager was extremely rude and was not understanding of the situation so next time you should tell your customers if there is any type of wait on food and maybe re look at your refund policy because I think we should have got at least half compensation back OR have a drink that’s not beer?

The waitress was lovely and tried to help, the food was good however the service from the manager was just rude and it ruined...