The George — Restaurant in London

The young black lady with glasses who was doing the late shift on Monday the 22nd needs to be taught a thing or two about hospitality and customer service.

I’m a spoons regular and I had a friend visiting from South Korea so I wanted to introduce him to how we have fun here in the UK and show him a good time.

We went there around 10PM, and for the first time in my life, I was refused drinks. I was very polite and I had only one beer on board which I had at Boxpark watching the footy. I handed her £30 and said “8 tequila shots, please” (there were 4 of us, so 2 tequilas each) but she just straight up said no, without even having the courtesy to look us in the eye.

She turned her back on us and said “next please”, when I questioned her why, she didn’t even turn around and explain herself, even though I asked “can you please at least tell me why?”

The white guy with a beard was there, who has seen me numerous times inside the pub and knows neither me nor my friends ever caused trouble inside this pub but he said she’s uncomfortable serving us so we have to accept it…still no reason as to WHY she is uncomfortable serving us but fair play, it would make her look bad if he turned around and served us.

After The Skylark and the Milan Bar shut down, all we were left with in Croydon was The George, but I might as well scrape that off the list too and trek somewhere else like the branch in Norbury where I’ve always felt welcomed..

It’s a big shame because this pub is spacious, the food is good, drinks are cheap, the security staff is always professional and the location is perfect, but they NEED better staff so that people want to come back for the experience NOT because it’s the only Wetherspoons in Croydon.

I’ve always preferred Skylark and the Milan bar because of the quality of the staff, something which the George always lacked. It felt good seeing staff members who used to work in the two other spoons before they shut down, here in the George.

To end it on a positive note, we ended up going to a different pub near West Croydon, where the staff was lovely, took very good care of us and laughed when they’ve heard about the incident that...

Excellent value for money, both for the wide range of food and drinks. Avoid the curries though: 'Spoons are universally awful for those with a really stale stereotypical bad curry flavour and aroma. But it's only a small part of their menu which is usually really good.

This particular 'Spoons is a bit cramped inside and is well overdue for a total refurbishment as it's pretty shabby and starting to look a bit dirty in places.

The tight space and poor interior knock one star off what would have been a maximum 4 out of 5. If they took advantage of the other regularly empty premises in George Street to enlarge the place either through expansion or relocation it could get a 5 star rating. I'll re-rate this place if on my next visit I find that it's been refurbished; I only mention that because when I passed it on the tram a little while ago it looked as if there was some work going on inside.

EDIT: Since I wrote this, a full refurbishment has occurred, but I have not yet returned to experience...

This place is 50% the reason I always stay in Croydon when I come to visit London. I spend my day in London and then when I come back to the hotel, every night I come here for dinner. Never disappointing, never closed, sometimes out of some dishes if you go late like at 10 pm (but completely understandable and also a token of quality because it means that they don't waste any food and also that the ingredients are fresh and freshly cooked). They also have themed weekly nights, like the indian thursdays that I enjoyed last time I was here! I love this restaurants chain, they are so cheap, such beautiful places, such amazing food, beers and beverages, such nice and welcoming people! I just love it. It makes me really feel that comfortable British pub atmosphere. I can't wait to come back this year! For the freaks like me that want to know exactly how much you're gonna spend, I remember that I never spent more than 10 pounds for a one person meal and beverage. And the...