The Cowley Retreat — Restaurant in Oxford

Went with some friends at 5pm yesterday to watch England play Columbia at 7pm. There are three 'booths' of shaded seating outside in the garden, two of these had signs on them saying 'reserved from 6pm', which we thought was a bit cheeky, but OK, we took the one which was not reserved. We bought drinks and thought about buying food. At 6.10pm the manager comes over and says 'sorry guys', places a sign on the table, and hurried off. We read the sign and it says 'reserved from 6pm', confused, we asked him what he expected to do with us, he said we would have to move. When we pointed out we had already been sitting there for an hour, he blamed the day manager for not reserving the table. We were not offered any sort of compensation. No free drink, for instance, which might have made us feel a bit better, there was no attempt by the manager to smooth over the mess he and his colleagues had gotten themselves into and we were the ones who suffered the consequences of their incompetence, we were all totally speechless.

By this time, every pub in town was packed and ready for the match, there was no table to move to in the pub or any other nearby pub for that matter, otherwise we would have left straight away. In stead we stayed and drank tap water, and obviously didn't order food. Which is lucky, because one of our number saw a member of their kitchen staff use the toilet and not wash their hands, and others nearby waited 45 minutes for a simple bowl of chips and a plate of nachos - not exactly difficult things to prepare. Furthermore, a friend ordered a glass of white wine, which was room temperature when it should have been chilled. Overall a terrible experience, and an unbelievable way to treat your customers. I will never go back and will actively encourage...

My sister and friend took me there yesterday because of the bad news I'd heard to change some air. We're weekly regulars there. A short hair lady was on the door and asked me to scan the track and trace. I told her that m y application didn't work so I un installed it, but I was happy to write down my contact detail as I always do there. She kept on saying install it again ao maybe I can fix it like I was lying to her! I was in a very emotional situation and she kwpt on discussing with me and there was a long que... Then she said she won't let us in! Everywhere you go now they have the sign in papers for those who their application doesn't work! But she didn't let me do that.. I am working in hospitality and we never have such a rude manner to the customers. It'snnot the first time I see this behavior in here. Last time there was another girl, she throw the sign in paper to me on the table... I'll never go back...

As a Brookes student, Cowley Retreat has always been the go to spot for social drinking, but after my most recent experience, it’s safe to say that I will not be returning. On Sunday evening, a ‘bartender’ by the name of Josh joined my friends and I in the outside seating area and joined in on our conversation. I was disgusted and shocked when he casually dropped a racial slur, one specifically targeted at south asian people, multiple times, to which he insufficiently justified as a white man having ‘grown up around them’. I am incredibly outraged and disgusted at the ignorance of the staff and will not be...