Willow & Ram — Restaurant in St Helens

Having enjoyed several visits to the Riddling Rack in the past, my partner and I decided to make it our first post-lockdown excursion. Arriving mid afternoon on the beautifully warm and sunny Bank Holiday Monday, we were met by a very friendly member of staff, who swiftly prepared and showed us to a table on the outside terrace. Drinks were ordered and delivered with the high quality of both product and service we had come to expect from previous experience, and we were joined by a friend who we also had not seen during the lockdown period. More drinks were ordered, and we looked forward to spending another enjoyable few hours at the Riddling Rack.

Sadly, however, it wasn’t to last. With a shift change came a change in atmosphere, and as the excellent server who had first greeted and looked after us enjoyed her own well deserved glass of wine, we were confronted by another staff member looming over our table and quite aggressively telling us no smoking was allowed on the terrace. To which we pointed out that we were not in fact smoking, but rather I was using an e-cigarette (as indeed I had been since we arrived more than an hour earlier). The response, equally aggressive, was that it was “the same thing” and that it was prohibited as a condition of the premises licence.

There are several problems with this. First, it is absolutely not the same thing, and in fact Government guidance states that a clear distinction should be made between use of tobacco products and vaping, not only because there is clear evidence that vaping is considerably less harmful than smoking, but also because there is no evidence of harmful effects from ‘second hand’ vapour as there is with smoke. Second, the premises licence for the Riddling Rack (a public document available via the St. Helens Council website) states only that the licensees should comply with smoke free legislation, which does not extend to vaping. Therefore there is no condition which states vaping must be prohibited.

If the Riddling Rack wishes to prohibit vaping on their open outside terrace as a matter of business policy, they are of course entitled to do so. In which case a discreet word soon after arrival would have been received with disappointment but acceptance. However, to loudly and aggressively confront a customer, while quoting spurious regulations and more than an hour into a visit, shows an extremely poor grasp of both customer service skills and licensing law. Neither of which should be acceptable in any establishment, but certainly not in one which has no qualms about presenting a bill for £110 to the customers who have just had their afternoon ruined...

I was going to review, but then Riddling Rack emailed a link to do a review!!

I’d requested a table online, and this request had been accepted a few days prior to the booking.

When we arrived, there was hardly anyone in, but upstairs there was a small gathering (baby shower).

It took ages for anyone to come to take our order.

The waiting staff were rude, said we couldn’t have any food, and then said we could have a reduced menu. They refused to do the children’s platter (all cold food) for my two children. None of this was mentioned on the booking confirmation.

The food took absolutely ages to arrive (coffees, water, toasted teacakes and two toasties).

We then had the food we’d ordered, and asked if it was okay if we could possibly order more eg a muffin as we would have stayed for another hour or so chatting - it was still very quite, hardly anyone on the tables in the front. We were told actually it wasn’t okay and no we couldn’t order anymore food, they were too busy… to make us coffee and get us a muffin? What on earth?!

So we paid and left.

No staff said goodbye as we left, but two waiting on staff did make an effort to glare at us! I’m really not sure why, as my children sat nicely why my friend and I chatted; so I can only imagine it’s because we dared to ask for more food, or didn’t leave a tip. I certainly wasn’t going to leave a tip!!

Will never return. Went to Shakey’s down the road...

We’ve been regular customers at Riddling Rack for a while now, usually visiting on Saturday mornings after the gym. The service can sometimes be a bit slow, but we understand when it’s busy and don’t mind waiting within reason.

However, today was a real disappointment. We went in a little later than usual, just after 1 PM. It was busy, so we expected a slight wait. We were seated, and it took about 10 minutes for our order to be taken—not ideal, but understandable. What wasn’t acceptable was waiting nearly 40 minutes for two cups of coffee. Eventually, we gave up and left.

We walked down the street to another coffee shop, just as busy, and had our drinks in under six minutes. That kind of contrast makes it hard to justify coming back. We love supporting local businesses, but service this slow is simply unreasonable. Hoping to see improvements because we do enjoy the coffee when we...