Prego Bar & Eatery — Restaurant in Sunderland

I emailed the restaurant to book a table of 20 for a graduation meal, the email I received back informed me to pre-choose meal options and to pay a deposit by the 4th of July. I got back to my party and confirmed the details we needed and went to the restaurant to pay for the deposit. When I got there the lady was clueless, she told me to pay a £50 deposit and asked for the reference code from the email, I informed her I wasn’t given a reference code, she asked to see the email, low behold the code wasn’t there, the email stated the deposit was £100, to which this lady then changed the £50 back to £100, the deposit really didn’t matter as it came off the bill anyways but the inconsistency is the issue. Funnily enough she couldn’t get the card machine to work so called her manager over, it’s important to note that now I have been greeted by three staff (one in the email) regarding this meal and my name was took for the system. I asked if they would like the meal options to which I was told to email them across, so I did. I didn’t receive a response. I then sent a follow up email asking for an amendment on part of the order and confirmation they received it. No response. Come to yesterday I get to the restaurant only to be told there is no booking and nothing in the system? Our group which now changed to 18, was technically a walk in and would have to wait for the order to be took and processed again. The manager then came over to me and asked who took my deposit, and I believe the till was logged in to as a Grace as that’s what the screen said, and funnily enough the manager who helped get the card reader to work was the same one who spoke to me! They all denied knowing anything of the booking yet honoured my deposit I had paid without asking for proof of payment ? The manager gave everyone a free rounds of drinks which was polite given we had to wait for a table of 20 to be arranged in the restaurant room. The food was great and we still had a good evening however it doesn’t stop there. When it came to the bill, understandably it took a minute to work out who was paying for what, when the bill came the deposit was £0.01, obviously had to ask for that be fixed. As a ‘gesture of good will’ the penny was kept on and the deposit was corrected to ) £100.01. A server came to the table and asked if we were ready to pay we asked for a moment more and another girl behind the till rolled her eyes! Great customer service there guys. Perhaps if we didn’t have to wait for our table to be made and our order to be processed we wouldn’t have been there so late presumably close to closing ! The whole excuse used for the mix up was that there had been a change in management, does this management not have access to their emails? Although most of the staff were friendly and tried to amend the situation, could you imagine it had been a busy night and there wasn’t any space to fit us in despite having booked? Having willing chose to dine here and spend a considerable amount of money seems to have been a mistake. Our group won’t be returning anymore which is a shame as we used to love dining here with the old staff...

What can I say Prego? What can I possibly say!?

Approaching the restaurant my heart was filled with hope and excitement as I seen the establishment in lights against the seaburn landscape. This joy continued up to the point until I was seated at my designated table. Reserved at 7.30 for myself and my culinary comradé.

The interior decor was quite surprising. Positive messages lighting the airy room with bright and uplifting energy. Tables were well spaced out, satisfying distance from fellow diners. Walls were donned with tasteful floral spectacles. Very visually appealing.

Aforementioned, my pleasurable experience declined approximately 3 minutes after being seated. After perusing the previously studied menu in my pink velour shell chair, ready to capture my most recent social outing for my "insta" feed. I realised the large leafed plant to my right was almost caressing my visage! To worsen matters, I noticed the servers sliding slop from plates into a wastebin positioned alongside the invasive foliage.

It is safe to say, my positive energy was diminishing rapidly.

Ordering our drinks proved a task too far. The nostalgic favourite "dandelion and burdock" was "sold out". So my comradé settled for a very small serving of Pepsi.

As 10 minutes passed by, we were approached by the server. With Confidence we relayed what we decided to devour! However, it is reasonable to suggest that the waiter did not exude similar confidence. Now, I understand the restaurant is new, but it did appear to us that the waiter, who will remain anonymous, had never seen it before. As I declared my wishes for the cheeseburger pizza not once, twice but thrice times. I did worry that I would end up with an actual cheeseburger, minus the pizza base.

Some of what I have discussed is forgivable. But waiting 1 hour 10 minutes for our food certainly is not. I repeat, 1 hour 10. This time passed without any interaction with servers. We had to alert them ourselves, which proved difficult.

We were offered 25% off the bill, which we gladly received. However it is with deep regret that I will have to declare my absence at Prego for the foreseeable.

Food was okay, but experience cannot be...

I've always loved Pregos Sunday lunch but had to leave the dogs at home. As they recently allowed dogs into certain areas, we took the opportunity to take them with us. Firstly I have to say previous experience of food and service in the restaurant was faultless. However, not so in the bar. We had booked a booth but clearly that had been ignored as we were told 'sit anywhere in the bar with the dogs' We were served our plates with meat, yorky and veg and sat waiting for over 10 minutes for veg by which time the gravy was congealing on the plate. One of the party ordered extra meat and this took nearly 20 minutes to be served. There was no cutlery or napkins on our table so we had to search the other tables. We asked for condiments, mustard, mint and black pepper. After four requests and watching our waitress continue to serve other tables, a waiter came with mint and mustard and supervised their use before taking them away. The black pepper finally arrived on the final few forkfuls of food. The food was still delicious thanks to the talented chef and the bar service was efficient. However; the service for the food was shocking and 8f 8d cooked ot to that standard I would have been fuming thar customers were eating it cold . If they don't have enough staff, they should provide a table with the basics- cutlery, napkins and condiments- so diners can help themselves. Doggo enjoyed their dinner although be careful, it was red hot but an absolutely massive portion that beat the dog. It was chicken (no choice) so if your dog is sensitive like mine to poultry you might want to avoid it. Overall not an experience I'd like to repeat . We watched the same happen to two other tables who were both 2/3 through their meal before the veg arrived. Come on Prego. You're...