The Allied Arms — Restaurant in Reading

Unfortunately we will not be returning to The Allied Arms which is a huge shame as we live in Reading and are frequent pub-goers. Although the pub itself is charming, I cannot say the same about the bar staff, particularly the young waitress / barmaid who was very cold, volatile and quite obviously had somewhere else to be on a Friday night. She seemed to be the one in charge that day.

Last orders were called at 11 yet we were served after this (which is typically no issue if the staff give you the full 20 minutes after you’ve been served to finish a pint as is standard practice) yet we were strong armed to leave at 11.15 despite showing proof of being served later. Given this is an expensive pub (6.50 -8 pounds a pint) we were shocked at how we were being treated. Trying to cooperate, we asked for plastics and we were told they had none, followed by a firm request to pack up and leave immediately (10 minutes after being served a full pint each). No empathy, just cold and borderline aggressive dialogue from the manager.

I’d like to point out that at 11.10 the garden door was intentionally left open, letting in ice cold air, to force customers out (it was a full house), which is completely out of order after an ‘11pm final orders’ and quite frankly cruel when it’s -1 outside. This truly exposed the inexperience of bar staff on site.

If the team are aiming for a prompt close at 11, last orders should be called at 10.40 or earlier, not at 11.

My husband and I have held many bar, waitressing and bar management positions, and we have never seen such unnecessary, cruel and tyrannical treatment as we received last Friday.

A note to the owner: We aren’t here to tell the you how to run your business, but we would seriously implore you to reconsider who you have representing you front of house and the irreversible damage done weekly, especially to...

A deeply humiliating, unpleasant experience.

After a quiet drink among friends, and after several years of visiting this establishment and giving them our hard earned money, one of our party was asked to leave for SWEARING. It was approx 10pm on a Friday night, and there were no children/elderly/sensitive types anywhere. Nor was it anything more than a common 4 letter word beginning with F. Not only that, but after the initial disbelief and agreeing to leave, the POLICE were called. From being sat down quietly chatting with friends, to being asked to down your drink and leave, to having hi-vis jacketed police escort you out of a pub, all within about 1 minute. The police were as bewildered as we were, but we still had to suffer the indignity of being questioned on the street.

This is all because of the Hitler-complex of the bar manager and his wife, who we also saw evict a group of (perfectly well behaved) Scottish gents for "p*ssing about" taking too long to decide which spirit to have as a celebratory drink.

If you are someone who goes out to these sorts of places specifically because you aren't rowdy, and enjoy quiet drinks with friends.... think again and don't go here. You may have the police called on you by the deeply...

Would be five stars, but for the high prices. Not the highest in town, but high nonetheless. It has one of the best mixes of people in town, from alternative through to quiet towns folk, all drinking and laughing in an open minded atmosphere. All are truly welcome. The split level beer garden is lovely, with large dry areas and colourful plants, gilded at the far back by hop vines. Private parties welcome to reserve space, and quiz nights run every two weeks on a Wednesday by local volunteer teams are always interesting. The managers and staff are friendly and caring. Ale and cider festivals are great and the regular ale selections will tantalise the ale connoisseur. My favourite default go-to pub in Reading, though close behind include the Nags Head and the Ale House. Free WiFi to customers, I believe, seeing as you have to be in there to get good signal. Sadly, no food apart from crisps, nuts and other bar snacks. But they're usually happy if you ask to bring a pizza from Pizza Express next door into...