Chequers Inn — Restaurant in St Albans

We visited this establishment for a table booking at 4 o clock. We were celebrating my mothers birthday and had a table of eleven booked. When arriving st the venue we were shown to our table and everything seemed fine. However, this was not the case. The waitress took our drinks orders very swiftly and everything seemed to be going fine. Fifthteen minutes went by and still no drinks and after eventually arriving they were drunk so quick we needed more but we dared order another as we didnt want another wait but we braved it. The waitress then began taking our food orders, as we had so long to decide this was a relatively painless experience. Starters arrived in a timely fashion and plates were taken away swiftly. Then came the long wait. After many minutes had passed and no food arrived we then questioned what had happened. Had the chef been fired mid way through service i wondered, but then looked around and realised no some people were still eating and we were the forgotten ones in the corner. It eventually got to the point that my youngest cousin a five year old, told the waitress she was hungry. It seemed to have done the trick as 10 minutes later our food began arriving. After we had ate our meals and managed to get another drinks order in we decided maybe they were just busy. We all began looking forward to dessert but this was a long way away. Our plates remained on our tables for well over twenty minutes. In that time the waitress continued to ignore us as we tried to grab her attention for another dreaded drinks order. Eventually plates were cleared and the waitress who for some reason had taken an issue with our family laboriously asked if we wanted dessert. Orders were taken and we braced ourselves for another long wait, which as we expected they delivered. The waitress continued to overlook our table as she knew we were still waiting on dessert. The long wait did not subside either so we made a group decision to abandon any wishful thinking of a sweet treat at the end of our arduous journey. We spoke with the manager and asked him to cancel our orders at which point he informed us that our desserts were on their way and we could have them free of charge. Our spirits had been lifted we thought maybe they are busy and we have a big table. Not the case the restaurant was probably at half capacity. Desserts arrived and they were terrible, no other way to address it. The ice cream in everyone’s dessert had melted, warm desserts were cold it was a disaster. We arrived at the restaurant at 4 o clock on a Sunday afternoon for a late lunch and did not leave until gone 7 o clock. Please be aware we had frequented this restaurant a number of times and chose this for a family meal as we had always enjoyed the service and food. However, after our last experience, the ridiculous long wait, the rude waitresses and poor quality food this will not be the case in the future....

After being a regular for several years, based on our last two visits we will not be returning. The food used to be great with excellent service and a friendly atmosphere. This afternoon after arriving at 5pm to a pretty much empty pub we received a welcome which didn’t make us feel welcome at all, not even a smile. Our drinks order was taken swiftly by a lovely lady and drinks arrived promptly. We then placed our food order with her but sadly she then vanished. After waiting nearly forty minutes for our food we then enquired twice but after an hour we gave up hope. We were told they were busy with a party of fourteen people which were clearly the priority! We had booked a good week in advance and we were a party of six, so hardly a surprise booking. When the children’s food did arrive my sons so called hand pressed burger was in fact a frozen supermarket burger. This isn’t about “my high standards” according to the Manager, just about a restaurant serving the quality of food they used to serve and serving what’s advertised. We had decided to go back after not such a great meal (Children's food was heated up oven food) as they had just launched a new children’s menu which sounded lovely, so to serve inferior food just isn’t on. The server then dropped the plate spilling half of his meal over the table. The rest of the meals were nowhere in sight and a staff member admitted they had forgotten our order. We left and will not be returning. We had been really looking forward to our family meal but we felt that we weren’t valued customers at all. After so many wonderful meals in the past it was like walking into a completely different place, very empty where it used to be really busy. After a quick look on Trip Advisor and on here, it’s clear we aren’t alone and it explains why it was so very quiet on a usually busy Sunday evening. It’s a shame as we have previously enjoyed some lovely family meals and have recommended friends. I doubt very much The Chequers will be open for much longer in the current state it’s in. The poor manager was lost for words and didn’t disagree with the fact they were serving frozen food and it wasn’t what they were...

I ordered wagu burger with sweet potato fries and house coleslaw on bank holiday Monday 28/5/18 approx 1600 at checkers chef and brewer redbourne. The burger itself was average considering you pay a premium for wagu beef. The Brioche bun was dry on top and the coleslaw as discoloured, had bits of leutice in it and was warm. I thought coleslaw was cabbage!! I politely complained that the coleslaw was warm and discoloured. I was given a 'fresh portion' which was warm again and heavily dressed with mayo/salad cream. I am now 2 days later nauseous with aches and pains unable to leave the couch today and have been off colour since about 5pm last night..ive had stomach cramps and several bouts of diarrahoea less than 24 hrs after eating at redbourne chef and brewer aka checkers. I think a nation wide chain should be able to do simple burgers and refrigerate it's coleslaw without food poisoning its customers. Very unimpressed. I believe food poisoning is something you must report to authorities.

I do appreciate that pubs and restaurant staff are tired after a whole weekend of good weather however it's not ok to drop standards and extra care needs to be taken in hot weather to make sure food doesn't spoil. I'm writing this feeling very gloomy and will be very unlikely to eat at chef and...