Queens Head Longford — Restaurant in Tewkesbury

I've got really mixed feelings about this place. We visited for Sunday lunch after & although the food was good, the experience was far from it.

When we arrived, it was obviously busy as carpark was overflowing and took us a while to park. Although we were only 10 minutes before our booking time, were told they didn't have a table for us & the staff were quite obviously flustered. We were asked to wait in the bar, which is tiny & we felt very in the way. We were finally seated almost half hour after our original booking time. There were 5 of us + a dog & the table we had been put on was a 4 seater between two large groups with no room around it making it very uncomfortable as it was impossible to pull the chairs out to sit on them without bashing into the person sat behind. 5th chair was basically in the walkway past the bar & i spent the whole time having high chairs, trays of drinks + plates of food literally being carried over my head as there wasnt enough room for staff to walk behind me without doing so. Service was extremely slow. We had to ask for someone to come & take our order after we'd been waiting ages & food arrived very staggered. This was particularly bad with desserts, we waited more than 30 mins to order dessert in the first place and had to hunt a staff member down to do so. The first 2 desserts arrived & our table still hadn't been cleared from dinner. There was then a considerable delay before the next 2 desserts came out and by the time the 5th dessert arrived, everyone else at the table had already completely finished eating.

The staff seemed rushed, chaotic & grumpy & were quite clearly not happy in their work. It was difficult to get anyones attention when needed & we were left feeling like we were an inconvenience when we did seek out their attention to order our food or drinks. One waitress even huffed at me when we asked for a glass of water.

The food was really nice, very tasty & good quality + the pub itself has a lovely atmosphere + fab decor so its a real shame about the service & awful planning as its really letting them down.

They are trying to cram far too many people into what is quite a small space and are not managing tables effectively to keep things running smoothly. The kitchen can't cope with the volume of food orders with so many customers which caused the staggered delivery of food. I would also say they need to put a limit on the size of group bookings. There was a very large group next to us and the space just isn't big enough for that size of group as it makes it uncomfortable for them but also for the other guests seated around them. Some spaces just aren't suited to big parties of people and this pub certainly is one of them.

They also advertise that they are dog friendly, however do not consider space for the dog when allocating your table upon booking (dog and the need for floor space was mentioned when we booked but they didnt take this properly on board) so part of the kerfuffle with our table was because they had not allowed space for the dog and the original table reserved for us was not apparently not suitable which was disappointing and completely avoidable had proper thought been put in.

Overall our experience was very stressful and uncomfortable. We would possibly try this place again on a different day of the week because the food was very good and the prices are reasonable considering the foods quality, but would never return on a sunday after our experience today.

If service and planning was improved, this could easily be a 5 star venue, theres so much potential for it but vast improvement required...

UPDATE Contrary to the seemingly kind response of the business ownership below, we were NOT 40 minutes late. The reservation was not listed under my name, so I'm unsure how they could possibly know which table we were unless they recognized their diligent scrape-off-the-gravy job. While our entire party wasn't on time, everyone was in place no later than 15 minutes after our reservation. The attitude, comments, abysmal food experience, and atmosphere were not sufficient and this response from ownership confirms that for us. We will not return to this establishment.

If you’re looking for a Sunday roast that will make you reconsider ever eating one again, The Queen’s Head is the place to be. What should have been a comforting meal turned into an exercise in endurance—of patience, poor service, and culinary mediocrity.

Service:

The owner, who carried herself with the frazzled intensity of someone managing a particularly unruly flock of angry birds, seemed determined to ensure no one, including her staff, had a pleasant time. We were reminded no fewer than eight times how much time we had left at our table—never mind the 45-minute wait for our food.

Her grip on control extended beyond just rushing customers; she hovered over the card reader like it contained state secrets, seemingly unable to trust her teenage staff with something as complex as processing a bill. The whole place had the air of a business that cycles through undertrained young employees rather than investing in a competent team—not that I blame anyone for leaving.

Food:

The roast potatoes were so rock-hard they could have been repurposed for medieval warfare. Cutting into them was not so much an act of dining as it was a battle of wills. The meat, meanwhile, was a monument to dryness, so overcooked that I suspect even a pint of gravy wouldn’t have saved it. Not that I’d know—I ordered mine without gravy, and after sending it back when it came out with, they took it away, clearly scraped it off and re-plated it…as if I wouldn’t notice the streaks of congealed deception left behind.

As for seasoning, I can only assume the kitchen is operating under strict rationing orders because salt and flavor were nowhere to be found.

Atmosphere:

Between the rushed service, lack of warmth, and the overwhelming sense that no one—staff or customer—wanted to be there, the ambiance was about as inviting as the food. A Sunday roast should feel indulgent and comforting. Here, it felt like a begrudging obligation.

Would I return? Only if I had a personal vendetta against my own taste buds. Otherwise, I’d sooner eat a frozen meal at home—at least that would come with a...

Bit of a roller-coaster this one. The place is popular and this is also its issue. Booking is required especially for Sunday but service is extremely slow with unhappy staff so tables are not cleared in time for others. However the food is great.

We arrived 15 mins early and could not find a parking space, spent quite a while waiting for a space to come free, it's a large car park.

Walked in and was clear the place was full, its quite noisy but not a big issue, then we found out there was not a table for us. We eventually sat down 25 mins after our booking time, all the while stood at the bar obviously in the way of staff and others.

Finally got onto a table after the staff rearranged some and 5 of us were squeezed onto a 4 seater in between 2 large groups so after a bit of chair bashing and apologising we were in. Becuase of this we had a few moments of high chairs being lifted over our heads and drinks being carried over us that did not give us a settled feeling, I thought at any moment someone will get a bashed head or drinks spilled on them.

After 20 minutes had to ask if anyone would take our order and finally someone came over. Food arrived around 20 mins later.

Now the food is good, and this is why I am not enjoying writing this review. The roasts are large but not really a difference between the normal and cheaper small Sunday roasts, could have easily had the smaller one and save a few quid.

After finishing we waited for 30 minutes before attempting to get someone's attention again, we ordered deserts and was told our table would be cleared of dirty plates, 2 deserts arrived after 20 mins and our plates were still on the table, 5 mins later the 3rd and 4th deserts arrived, the first 2 people had finished theirs, and a few mins later the last desert. We were given apologies and told the kitchen was too busy.

The deserts were lovely, so again great food.

The staff really look like they are in pain, rushing and look so unhappy, all this adds to terrible service. The place is hot and very loud as too many people crammed into a small place.

I can imagine on a quieter day it would be lovely as the food is great but wow what a stressful time for us and the staff, they really need to reduce the bookings and speed up on the table service to get people served and out ready for the next booking.

We would try a weekday but never go back...