The White Rabbit — Restaurant in Oxford

We had a very mixed experience at The White Rabbit. We sat at an unreserved table and sent our friends to the bar to order food. A few minutes later, a member of bar staff shouted across to her colleague that we had removed the reserved sign and needed to move elsewhere. There had never been a sign and I didn't appreciate being called a liar. I explained to the gentleman who came to move the table that we had already ordered food to it and that it hadn't been labelled; he very kindly spoke to a couple of people who were apparently about to leave and secured us their table, which was good. He took positive action and our situation was sorted pretty quickly.

In the meanwhile, our friends at the bar had been allowed to order two pizzas. However, after the order was submitted, and they realised where we were seated, told us we'd have to move and they wouldn't let us order more food. They were exceptionally rude, confrontational, accusatory and had terrible customer service skills. I understand they were busy and that something had inadvertently gone wrong but their attitude was utterly uncalled for. Our friends returned to our new table ready to take their business elsewhere and disgusted with the treatment they had received.

We agreed to stay, as two pizzas had already been ordered, and duly queued at the bar to try to order the rest of our food. Whilst we were queueing, the first two pizzas arrived so there was no hope of eating together. The bar staff ignored us for a long time, seemingly in preference of people who insisted, repeatedly, that they weren't next!

The calzone, gluten free pizza, and the first two pizzas got positive reviews from us but the other two were apparently not great. The gluten free pizza was really good and pretty well priced, but sadly we won't be returning due to the poor service. Whilst we were eating, we heard another member of staff being rude to a group of people waiting for a table and they left very shortly afterwards, without ordering, so it seems the poor service is widespread.

The place has potential but only one member of staff seems to understand how to...

Friendly staff helped us find a table in a busy pub, pointed us towards the online ordering method, and brought the food and drinks along quickly and with a smile. Everything was enjoyed quite nicely. Great to have Blue Moon on draught, I am partial to a good wheat beer.

Well, I hear you ask, why not a 5 star review then?!?

As it was so busy, we sat at one of the only available tables inside. At some point the music was turned up, to an almost deafening level, pounding from a speaker right above us. I politely asked a staff member if they could turn it down just a little, not an excessive request, the staff member came back and said it wasn't possible, ok fair enough we'll finish up and head elsewhere for further drinks and chat.

A few moments later the manager came over to shout and scream at us over the music "IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN GO OUTSIDE" "THIS IS THE ATMOSPHERE HERE!". Our whole table sat stunned that any member of staff would come over and instantly be so aggressive and hostile to such a simple and polite request. Some of the staff were at the bar behind their manager, watching the interaction and started looking very sheepish and embarrassed by their colleagues action. After the tirade had finished, I asked another member of staff if that was the manager, they confirmed my assumption. The manager saw me talking to that staff member and started shouting at me again, hollering the same things they had at the rest of our table before.

What had been such a decent evening, despite the excessive noise from the music, was then immediately soured by such an aggressive and negative interaction from the manager that evening.

Five stars for the food, drinks, and the rest of the staff. Minus three stars for that awful manager, what a way to...

We had a really disappointing experience with the White Rabbit this month. Back in September we started planning a micro-weddding for our closest family after our bigger do was cancelled due to covid. We contacted the White Rabbit and asked if we could come for a relaxed lunch reception after the ceremony. They were very positive and said they'd "give an area of the pub at the back which we would separate off so it would just be for your group but leave as much space for you for social distancing etc".

It sounded great so we booked it and sent across our pre order.

The wedding day came and we headed to the pub after the ceremony to be told that we had no booking, there was no record of our pre order and we had to all stand outside. We were left outside by some bins with 6 young children and open access to a road. It was a complete shambles.

Luckily we were able to ring around and find somewhere else to go at short notice. But it was the last thing I wanted to be doing on my wedding day, ringing around venues and worrying about where to go with our wedding party. This was not the welcome we expected from a venue that said they "really want to make it as easy and nice for you as possible". It was the complete opposite.

Whilst I do appreciate that these are difficult times, if the venue was not set up/capable of hosting us then they should have let us know from the offset when we originally got in touch and we could have carried on looking at alternatives.

All in all we've been left feeling disappointed & let down. And we will not be returning to the White Rabbit and will be advising friends and family to also go...