Toby Carvery Frimley House — Restaurant in Surrey Heath

We arrived 10 minutes before our reservation was due and, as to be expected on a Sunday evening, the site was very busy. We waited in the queue, open to the fact that our table may not yet be ready yet due to the volume of guests but were more than happy to wait. The member of staff who was on the door, who we later had confirmed to us as the manager, began making his way down the queue abruptly asking visitors what time they had a reservation for. When he got to us before I could finish I was cut off and told in so many words ‘Too early, go to the bar, get back in queue at your time’ there was no eye contact or further interaction as he swiftly moved on to the next guests. We were somewhat taken aback by the tone of the man but continued to make our way to the bar. The bar area was quiet compared to the restaurant with many empty tables which were still occupied by dirty plates and glasses. We waited at the bar for several minutes, being ignored by all three team members who were behind the bar, sweeping, putting glasses away and drinking hot drinks while scrolling on the sites tablet …. After more time we were acknowledged by the male member of staff putting away glasses who , without even looking at us, simply said ‘the bars closed’. Confused, I pointed out that we had been directed to the bar by the man on the door. Still without any acknowledgment or explanation, I was shrugged at as he walked away. To make sure that there has not been any breakdown in communication we approached the man at the door once again and pointed out that the bar was for some unknown reason closed, and were once again cut off and told ‘wait at bar’. He was not only rude but unprofessional and still no explanation was given as to why many other people were also being refused bar service and continued being told ‘bars closed’ In normal circumstances this would have been more than enough to make us re evaluate our decision of venue, but after travelling for an hour for my birthday meal and with it now being nearing 8pm we decided that we would stay, even though our experience had already been ruined by the poor customer service and unacceptable attitude of the staff we had encountered so far. So as instructed we made our way back outside and joined the now twice as long queue to wait to be seated once again. When we reached the front there was once again no greeting, no apology, no eye contact, just the words ‘ have you booked? ‘ while staring at the booking system. We reconfirmed our booking time and name and were shown to our table. Luckily our server was great, she remained cheerful even though clearly busy and was apologetic to every table that was seated in her section about the wait, even though she was being as efficient as possible. Unfortunately though, this doesn’t make up for the absolute un professionalism shown by the manager...

I booked a table at Toby Carvery for 5:50pm, but when I arrived the queue was down the stairs and round the corner. I assumed this was for walk-ins, so I went to find a member of staff. Unfortunately, staff were in the middle of arguing with a customer and handled her complaint very dismissively – saying things like “don’t be mad at me because she had a go at you.”

The customer had been complaining about the lady who serves the meats (a Chinese lady who I’ve personally found to be consistently rude on multiple visits, including Christmas Day). I honestly don’t understand how she is still working there given the number of complaints about her attitude. On Christmas Day she even had a go at me about my meat order and then walked off without finishing serving me.

When I tried to get help this time, the blonde lady at reception completely ignored me despite me saying “excuse me” several times, and just walked away. I then went to the bar to ask, and before I could even finish explaining that I’d booked, the barman interrupted me with “you still have to queue.” I don’t mind queuing when it’s busy, but there was no organisation and no help given.

We ended up waiting outside in the rain and cold, only for me to get a text saying “sorry you couldn’t make it” – even though we were literally stood there in the queue! The place was messy, the service was awful, and the staff were rude and dismissive. I even tried calling the restaurant about 15 times for help, but no one ever answered the phone.

This branch desperately needs new management. The way staff treat paying customers is unacceptable, and at this point it feels like the booking system is pointless. Honestly, this restaurant needs serious changes – if not closing down completely.

On top of all this, we ended up waiting outside for over half an hour and were still nowhere near the front. In the end, we had to leave as it was clear there was no point waiting any longer – it was too busy, too disorganised, and the staff were...

Came from Australia and picked this place as I was departing before the Sunday for a traditional British lunch!

Arrived all seemed ok but how wrong was this to be!

Went to front desk and spoke to the venue manager who was not naturally English speaking but was a little hard to understand and communicate. This is not ideal when dealing with a service focused venue engaging with members of the public. Pretty sure this guy was Bruno Viana!

Bruno advised yesterday that they had been busy and would be able to fit me and my guest in at 130pm and it was 1250pm which was cool. Having travelled from the other side of the world I was feeling sore and back was not ideal from standing. Having booked I took seat nearby to wait for my guest and as a first meet didn’t know what they looked like and had no contact number for them. I advised my guest would wait at the entrance so hence grabbed a seat between four empty tables of 12. Bruno became rude and aggressive and while talking with him he turned his back on me three times! Also just looked at me blankly numerous times like I was an idiot!

Aside from this the staff seemed stressed and under staffed and looked at me multiples times while stood at the bar and rather say to me seen you coming etc. Just ignored numerous times and just carried as they wished this was consistent with Bruno and his team all did it! This was not just me it was multiple guests that I seen this happen too at the bar and even the carvery front desk! They simply didn’t care and would look through you multiple times like you a ghost!

Toby Carvery your brand is strong and the carvery is quality though the yorkies rock hard couldn’t cut them with the knive! These employees seriously seriously let you down in fact would go as far to say they are in the wrong industry!

Time to send in some secret customers and see what...