Hogarth's — Restaurant in Rochdale

Jobsworth

"A jobsworth is a person who uses the authority of their job to uphold petty rules even at the expense of common sense."

Before I dive into the review, it's worth mentioning that the vast majority of the bar staff are great and really hard working, and our issue is with management, not them.

I arrived at Hogarths just before 5pm last night and sat on a 2 seater table tucked in one of the corners near the door. My Mum arrived shortly after and we ordered drinks.

My partner then rang and said she was coming down to join us in a few mins, so we needed an extra chair. A group of 4 teenagers on the 6 seater table next to us kindly offered one of their 2 spare seats which we moved over to our table. These seats were previously occupied by the teenagers parent's who had just left to watch the football at home.

The next 3.5 hours went by without issue - the 3 of us sat happily drinking, chatting and watching the football.

Just before the half time whistle in the England vs. Italy match, a lady came over to our table (approx 8:40pm) - I believe she is the manager but I could be wrong.

She looked angrily at my Mum and said "Who told you that you can have 3 people sat around this table?! It's only a 2 seater, who gave you permission to sit here?!".

Stunned, my Mum replied that we had borrowed a spare chair from the table next to us and that we had been sat here for the last 3 and a half hours.

She stormed off without even listening to my Mum's response. Perplexed, we shrugged and continued watching the match.

At the half time whistle, the security staff came over to us and informed my Mum that she couldn't sit with us, and if she wanted to stay she would have to move and sit on the table with the 4 teenagers next to us.

I asked one of the security staff why it was such an issue to have 3 people around our table instead of 2, and he said "It's COVID rules, this table is only for 2 people, she'll have to sit on the 6 seater table".

I said "just so I understand, you want to move my 54 year old Mum off our table and sit her on a table with 4 teenagers to protect her from COVID? Does that make any sense to you?"

He replied "No not really but it's management, they've said only 2 people can sit at this table because of COVID rules so she has to sit on the 6 seater if she wants to stay".

I offered to move instead, but my Mum insisted on moving just to demonstrate how ridiculous it was. She then sat for the next 15 mins on a table with 4 random teenagers approx 2 meters away from us, while we tried our best to carry on our conversation.

She then nipped outside to the smoking area for a cigarette, and ended up in a conversation with a young woman who was sat at a table nearby. At this point, a female security guard came over to her and said "you can't stand up outside, you have to be seated, there's no standing up outside".

The young woman offered to let my Mum sit at her table while she finished her cigarette, but the security guard said "No you can't sit with her, mixing groups isn't allowed, it's against the COVID regulations!". My Mum explained that she had literally just been forced to move tables and sit with a group of strangers inside the bar, to which the security guard replied "that's not relevant, you can't stand up or be mixing with other groups out here!".

After this, we decided to leave. Our mood had been thoroughly dampened and we were not enjoying the experience at all.

I started this review by defining a 'Jobsworth'. There really is no other term that more accurately describes the lady who I believe to be the manager, and the female security guard in the outdoor area. Both have taken their positions of authority in enforcing Covid related rules to the extreme, and both are totally void of common sense.

Their approach completely ruined our experience, and I have no doubt that many others have had similar experiences with them.

It is for this reason that I leave this 1...

Really disappointed with our visit yesterday for the Euro finals. I never leave 1 star reviews and i am quick to praise and advertise businesses that i believe deserve it.

However,

Staff members (namely the manager and bouncers) were extremely rude to me and my family yesterday throughout our visit

The atmosphere in the pub was atrocious despite it being the euro finals, people being told off like school children for singing "its coming home" even tho we were watching a live event passed by government for 60 thousand people to attend!

The atmosphere was better on the streets after the penalties and us losing compared to that in the bar at half time when we were 1-0 up.

It was so bad we decided to leave at half time and risk missing the remainder of the match because we couldn't stand to be in there any longer and certainly didn't want to purchase any more refreshments from them

Luckily we stumbled upon a lovely little bar showing the match who were extremely hospitable and the atmosphere was amazing! We wish we never bothered with Hogarths at all!

Such a shame because its a lovely bar, some members of staff are brilliant and it has so much potential to be the best bar in town - just needs a...

I'll begin with a positive, Hogarth's is well laid out and very well presented. The interior is tasteful, the furnishings are in keeping with the building and the outside area is excellent should the weather be nice. Also, the bar is excellently stocked with a great range of gins whiskeys, vodkas etc. HOWEVER, my sisters and I had to pass our names and contact numbers upon entry which we didn't object to. Shortly after our arrival, large groups of people were entering and social distancing was NOT observed!! We had to wait to be seated appropriately yet an hour later people were milling about in the bar area in groups and wandering around the interior. We felt that although we had to wait until it was "safe" to be seated yet that didn't apply to customers coming in later. Furthermore, we were led to believe that there was a dress code at weekends (as it ought to be) HOWEVER, all unsundry were being allowed in, even very intoxicated people. We didn't expect that especially when this pub is so very nice. We left the premises very...