Simmons Bar | Leicester Square — Restaurant in London

A Disastrous Team Bonding Night at Simmons Bar, Leicester Square

Decided to unwind with a much-anticipated night out at Simmons Bar in Leicester Square. Our group consisted of 15 colleagues, with another 20 planning to join us later in the evening. What started as a promising evening quickly turned into a nightmare, tarnished by rude staff and an overzealous security guard.

Upon arriving at Simmons Bar, the atmosphere was lively, and the eclectic décor set an upbeat tone for the night. We settled in, enjoying our drinks and the initial vibes. The bar was bustling which is expected on a Saturday night in such a central location. However, this soon proved to be a significant drawback.

As I approached the bar to order more drinks, I must have been standing near the entrance without realising it due to the crowd. Suddenly, a staff member with a bucket brusquely barged past me without uttering a word. Initially, I brushed it off, thinking perhaps he was in a rush. Moments later, while patiently waiting to be served, the same staff member returned and again rudely shoved past me with his bucket. This time, I politely asked him to at least tap me or say "excuse me" next time, as the loud music and the speaker nearby made it impossible to hear him. To my surprise, he claimed he had asked me to move and I didn’t comply. I calmly explained that it was difficult to hear over the noise and reiterated my request for a simple tap on the shoulder.

I thought we had resolved the issue and proceeded to pay for my drinks. To my shock, a security guard approached and ordered me to leave, instructing the bar manager to refund my drinks. Confused and taken aback, I asked for an explanation. The security guard insisted he had witnessed the entire interaction and accused me of appearing aggressive, as if I was going to punch the staff member. This was not only untrue but utterly absurd. My colleagues, who had observed the initial incident, tried to clarify the situation, explaining that there was no aggression on my part. Despite their intervention, the security guard remained adamant.

When I questioned how he could have heard the staff member when I, standing right next to him, couldn’t, he responded that he heard everything despite being deaf in one ear. This illogical reasoning left me incredulous. Opting not to escalate the situation, I decided to leave quietly, not wanting to ruin the night further for my team.

Outside, a few of my colleagues spoke to the bar manager, explaining that we were merely enjoying ourselves and had not caused any trouble. They highlighted the exaggerated reaction of the security guard. The manager seemed to understand and went inside to confer with the bar staff. While waiting, the rest of our team, along with the others who had just arrived, also exited the bar.

After some time, the manager returned and informed us that I was welcome to re-enter. However, by then, the damage was done. On principle, and given the poor treatment, we all decided to leave. We headed to a nearby rival venue, where the security was professional, the atmosphere was welcoming, and we finally had the fantastic night we had hoped for.

In conclusion, our experience at Simmons Bar, Leicester Square, was marred by discourteous staff and an overzealous security guard who exaggerated a minor incident into a major disruption. The initial appeal of the bar quickly faded due to the unprofessional behavior we encountered. While the manager eventually offered to rectify the situation, the night had already been spoiled. It’s unfortunate that what could have been a fun and memorable team bonding experience turned into an evening of unnecessary stress and disappointment.

Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Simmons Bar and would advise others to seek out alternative venues where customers are treated with respect...

Would not recommend visiting with it’s current staff.

We arrived at 6 o’clock on a Thursday, although the place wasn’t too busy the queue for the happy hour drinks was (while bartenders at other bars elsewhere just stood and looked on). After waiting to be served for 25 minutes we were served by a relatively new employee (obviously it takes people sometime to learn the ropes and everyone has to learn at some point and she didn’t do anything wrong), however, as she was inexperienced she took longer than expected or others would take to make drinks and we warned her that we weren’t staying long. After sorting out half our drinks (the tea kettle) we then ordered a pina colada to which she had to look at the instruction book she had, at no point were other bar staff willing to assist and the manager just looked on but could see she was struggling. As she was taking a while to get to step two (all she had done is put the mixer in the two glasses) we had to cancel these drinks as we wouldn’t have time to drink them before we left.

After returning to our seats the bartender had spoken to her manager (although we suspect the manager spoke to her and gave her a grilling) who then came over to our seats for an awkward confrontation, she also dragged the poor bartender on her second day to stand awkwardly in front of us. Because they had started to make drinks, we were expected to pay for the drinks that weren’t finished and we didn’t receive them (and still wouldn’t have had at the time of this confrontation had the bartender continued), the manager very heavily implied that if we paid for the drinks we still wouldn’t have the pina colada so they were essentially asking us to pay £20 for the experience of waiting in a queue, had she said someone else would make them for us and we would have them before we were leaving we would of happily have apid for them. However, the conversations barely spoke about facts and the manager had stated things that were not true (like we were in the queue for just 5 minutes {repeatedly} and drinks were almost completely made before we abandoned them) it meant the conversation went in circles with the manager refusing to get past to facts she was incorrect on. Bare in mind the table combined had spent over £250 on drinks so we had not cheated them out of money and the ingredients the manager accused us of wasting would be less than a £1, also when one of the party pass by the bar later on they were on the side so could easily have been used for someone else who ordered a pina colada, a relatively popular drink at a busy bar.

During the confrontation one of our party started having an anxiety attack, due to the managers confrontational manner and blocking the exit for them to move out of the way, and our friend said they never felt so attacked in recent years. Once the manager left the scene they then left the building to get air outside but did not feel happy about returning so waited for us outside.

The manager told the bar staff not to serve us at all. However, when one of our group started coughing they did reluctantly give us tap water for them.

The bar and venue itself was not an issue the entire incident was caused by the manager (failing to assist a new employee, her confrontational manner and unwilling to listen to anything we said) but as long she remains there with her current attitude she just creates a negative atmosphere and until this changes I see no reason anyone should go there to experience the negativity that...

I’ve been to Simmons multiple times across 2021, 2022, and 2023 without any issues. But my recent visit in 2025 to the Leicester Square location with two of my friends was hands down one of the worst, most disrespectful experiences I’ve ever had at a bar.

As soon as we walked up to the security, the two bouncers gave us weird looks and told us to “go eat something or drink coffee and come back”—implying we were drunk. Which was completely ridiculous, considering we had just eaten a full Indian meal at Masala Zone in Piccadilly Circus and had only one drink with our food. One. Drink.

We didn’t argue—we just stepped away to avoid drama. A few minutes later, we came back to ask politely if we’d even be let in. Since we were commuting all the way from Reading, we didn’t want to waste time hanging around only to be turned away. That’s when the female bouncer completely lost it. She got aggressive, rude, and downright unprofessional. She accused me of shaking my hands at her when I had clearly waved goodbye to my friend. Then she launched into a full-blown rant: “You think I was born yesterday?” “You said you won’t come back!”—shouting and being plain nasty over absolutely nothing.

This bouncer—a woman with long braids—then started doing something totally bizarre: she kept showing us her ID by awkwardly pushing her elbow and arm in our direction, saying “Look at my ID! Look at who I am!” as if we were supposed to be impressed or scared. It was weird, unnecessary, and frankly childish.

Then it got worse. Three other girls showed up—same age range, same vibe, but not Indian—and suddenly the entire tone changed. The same bouncer who was barking at us was now all smiles and chatty with them. No snide comments. Just smooth entry. And what really hit me was that she literally joined in with them and started mocking us right there in front of us. The guy with her was equally disrespectful and hostile.

It wasn’t just unprofessional—it was disgusting. You’re bouncers at a bar, not high and mighty power-holders with the right to decide who gets treated with dignity and who gets humiliated. There was no reason for the hostility, no reason for the aggression, and certainly no reason for the disrespect and childishness.

Simmons Leicester Square, do better. This kind of behavior is unacceptable. I will never be going back, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. We...