Thirsty Bear Pub & Pizza Restaurant — Restaurant in Reading

This place opened a month or so ago and we finally decided to try it. Verdict: not bad, but also nothing to rave about.

It's in a convenient location (finally a pizzeria closer to residential areas) and it's been lovely furnished (still has some of that freshly cut wood scent when you enter). There are two levels - ground and upper. On ground level you have some seating, bar and lots of TVs (people were indeed gathering there and watching a match). On the upper level there's a lot more tables, a bar (non-operating) and also an outdoor area (we didn't try that one since it was pouring down).​ We were lucky and had the whole floor to ourselves (peace, quiet and a meal).

We decided to start with some drinks and an appetiser - Cheesy Garlic dunkers. Drinks were great, the dunkers not so much. I was expecting thin pizza dough sticks with cheese and garlic on it (cause it's an appetiser, not a main course), but this was a very thick dough and a very thick layer of cheese on top with completely unnecessary layer of tomato sauce. Too bad. They really could check out some other pizza chains how they do their (garlic stick) appetisers.

Next we ordered, each our own (cause we were hungry) pizza. What a mistake! We really should have gone with the Hungry Chart (2 slices for hungry, 1 whole pizza for two people). Good god, both pizzas were enormous!!! I took mine home and we had it for dinner and breakfast the next day. Both were good (not too thick + just the right amount of toppings) and the only thing that bothered us was the paper they slide underneath the food - it gets soaked and you cut/eat it with your pizza (see picture). If you only have a slice it's great, but it you are cutting a whole pizza on a plate it's inconvenient.

Service was friendly and quite fast, so no complaints there. What we didn't like was the pick-a-table-and-then-go-order-downstairs arrangement. I understand it's easier and faster for the pizzeria (also requires less staff), but it's very unfortunate for the customer. I can only imagine how badly this can be when the place is packed and you need to run around in order to first find a table and then go through the crowd again to order downstairs. Definitely not an inviting part. I'd rather order online and get it delivered then.

Price/value was decent. We might try it again in a few months or so, to see if things have changed or...

I had really high hopes for this place but left a bit disappointed...

We ordered a fairly wide selection of the food on offer so can provide a range of views.

From the appetizers and starters/sides we had:

Arancini, calzoni frito, mozzarella sticks, wet fries (basically cheesy chips) and curly fries.

The arancini is clearly homemade and whilst the first one was cold, a second was brought with no hesitation. It was a single large arancini rather than the small "suppli" two bite sized arancini I am used to. It was a bit stodgy and I think it's large size had something to do with this.

The calzoni was good and had lots of fresh mushroom filling.

The mozzarella sticks and both variety of fries were ok but appeared to be frozen food cooled to order, as available at mistake supermarkets, nothing like the arancini or calzoni.

For mains we had 1x 16" pizza, one pasta Bolognese and one salad.

The salad was basically half an iceberg lettuce with a lot of croutons, a tiny amount of chorizo and some balsamic glaze. No other lettuce leaf , rocket, lollo Rosso, or other variety. No cheeses or any kind of other vegetables. A fairly pitiful offering.

The pasta dish was decent but took some time to arrive, well after everything else. That said it was wolfed down and had a decent amount of meat in the sauce.

The pizza was good. I see from the other reviews that this place has a reputation based on good pizza and I can understand that. I have had better but not loads better and not very often. We went for a half and half and I had the "hells kitchen" on my half. It was not without being overpowering so I could still taste the other topping flavours. Base was good but a little thicker than I am used to so it was quite filling.

There is a decent selection if drinks, nice beers on draught or by the bottle and a range of wines available.

The service was good on a busy night (noting the delay on the pasta dish, but also the "no fuss" fix on our arancini).

I think that this place would be advised to strip out some of the ready made food (chips and mozzarella sticks) and the salads, or make them more than they are today. Best stick with the tasty pasta and very good pizzas. Safest bet...

A disappointing experience from a confusingly designed eatery.

Booking a table in advance meant that we took up the majority of the space in the restaurant - more of a bar than a restaurant, with some pizza ovens reminiscent of a NY pizza stand than an authentic Italian place. The bar takes full priority, with staff rushing around the tables to get drinks and collect glasses.

The pizzas are massive, and as a keen pizza connoisseur I was hoping to be able to eat more than 2 slices, but I trusted their advice and stuck to two. The toppings are nice, and the pizzas cover a variety of flavours and textures.

Unfortunately, the menu and site failed to mention the 10% service charge that was added to the bill, and being a sizeable party, once we tried to organise paying individually, chaos ensued. Drinks were entirely missed from the total - listed as part of an offer and had £0.00 added to the total. When asked, the wait staff started to estimate our outstanding total, plucking numbers out of thin air. We promptly asked for another copy of the bill to actually rectify their inaccuracies and were left waiting for minutes to pay £3 of the service charge, while other customers were served. An average evening marred by poor service and disorganised billing.

Plenty of other places to grab a slice that won't start making up your...