OK Diner — Restaurant in South Kesteven

We arrived on a Saturday Morning at 9am with a group of 4 adults with 7 children (all age 6 and under, 2 of these were infants). There were 2 staff serving, and when we first walked in the only other customers were 2 couples.

Our waiter probably had some underlying learning disability - which is fine, and I initially valued this, not minding the 2 spilt coffee's, the incorrect number of orange juices, the coffee that never arrived, the empty teapot that was brought to the table, instead of tea.

Taking the order for our large group was long winded but again, fine. I could tell the order was confusing him. He returned 5m later saying this, so I wrote down the exact order for him.

It was 9.45 when I could see a colleague (The Chef!) Helping him finally input our order into the till, by which time about 7 or 8 other groups/ couples had arrived, and were promptly served before us.

The order arrived 30 minutes later, was still incorrect, with muddled up kids breakfast meals, an extra meal (there were later 2 extra meals on the bill which needed removing.. check closely), and no meals had any baked beans, having run out, which is a bit of a oversight during Saturday morning breakfast.

In the mean-time, it was picked up that our original waiter was not able to function independently, and instead of being supported was sent home. (I honestly hope he was under the influence rather than learning disability)

The kids meals came with orange juice, and pancakes. These microwave pancakes came as dessert 45 minutes after main breakfast, as they were forgotten of the initial order.

The food did taste good when it finally arrived.

All in all, what we supposed to be a fairly straight forward brunch, ended up taking over 2 hours. With 7 children, this was very tricky, with very little to occupy them in or outside.

We received no recognition or input from any other staff (other than to drop off food) until I approached staff to get the bill. I received a rather awkward apology, was advised the waiter had started only 7 days ago, and had been sent home. I did get 15% off the bill

The Diner 6 seat booths only. I wouldn't advise coming here with larger groups.

The service was very slow, so I would not suggest having hungry children visit the restaurant.

As is good practice before, I would make sure you double check the bill before

My suggestions for improvement: The more experienced staff should take orders from the larger group New staff need more training and closer supervision- specifically in how to carry multiple drinks, advising in how to write an order in short hand. Review systems so that orders can be inputed electronically at the table may alleviate some of this problem. Colleagues should be quicker to step in and support struggling colleagues. Employees should be quicker to seek managerial support and input when there a staffing issues, especially when customer engagement is being impacted. Employing those with learning disabilities is commendable, but they should certainly receive more support, and closer supervision. When recognising there is an issue with staff, I would advise being more proactive in addressing/updating the customers, instead of waiting until the customer approaches...

Myself and my partner saw this place on our 5 hour journey to a little holiday getaway and thought we must stop there on the way back… and that’s what we did. We traveled 2 hours out of our way to the original one we passed on the A1 only to find it was closed with no signage so we had to turn around and drive to this one. When we walked in it was very quiet, a lot of empty seating areas and only 3 groups of customers. We were waiting a bit at the door where no staff member bothered to greet us, so I walked over to an empty booth and sat down only to have a waiter appear behind the front counter and shout at me over the room, in front of all the other customers saying I “can’t sit there and need to wait to be seated”, which I found very rude and unnecessary. It’s a ‘walk-in’ diner, very quiet so why can’t I choose where I want to sit? What if I had a disability and couldn’t stand for long periods? We had to wait another 5 minutes or so at the door before he came over and sat us right on top of the other couples on a horribly small table. I get very anxious and like eating away from people so this was less than ideal. When the server walled away, I caught him giving me a look that didn’t sit well with me. He then went over to the other half of the diner and put all the chairs up on the tables to stop people from sitting there and it was only gone 1pm!! I told my partner that I wanted to leave as the atmosphere just felt really unwelcoming but they were hungry so I stayed. They had no milkshakes which was disappointing, didn’t mention the drinks were refillable and took an age to serve us when it was very quiet. The food was beyond average. My french toast was very undercooked inside and the extra bacon was £3 for 3 tiny slices!! My partners food was cold and stodgy. The coke was flat and not fizzy. This left us £40 out of pocket for below average food and horrible service. I wish we walked out after being shouted at as it was not worth the hype some people say here and definitely not worth a tip or any money! Would not recommend and would...

I visited this restaurant today and was really disappointed with the service. The place was nearly empty — just a few tables occupied — and I asked if we could sit by the window. I was told we couldn’t because they were “closing soon.” When I asked what time they closed, I was told 8:00pm… it was only 6:20pm.

With almost two hours until closing and plenty of free tables, there was no reasonable explanation for refusing such a simple request. Instead, we were told to sit next to the grill, which was far from ideal.

The lack of flexibility and poor customer service led us to leave without ordering anything. If customer experience matters, I’d suggest rethinking how guests are treated — especially when the restaurant is quiet. A little common sense and courtesy go a long way.

I also emailed OK Diner directly about this, as I’m a member and was genuinely disappointed with how the situation was handled.

To then receive a response from the director, essentially calling me a liar and claiming I didn’t ask what time you closed, was not only insulting but completely untrue. I’ve now replied and asked you to review the CCTV footage, where you’ll clearly see me asking what time you close and then checking my phone to point out that it was nearly two hours before closing time.

So after all that, I’ve now been told by the director of OK Diner that they don’t even have CCTV — meaning they’re basing everything solely on what their staff said, while completely disregarding my version of events.

Absolutely crazy. I raised a genuine concern, was spoken to as if I was making it up, and then told there’s no way to verify anything because there’s no footage — yet they’re still happy to accuse me of being dishonest.

For a business that claims to value its members, this is a shocking way to treat someone. You’ve not only lost a customer but shown a complete lack of professionalism and accountability. Extremely...