TGI Fridays - Cardiff St David's — Restaurant in Wales

I visited TGI St. David’s on the 4th of January at 3pm and was thoroughly appalled by the service I received. While I am not typically inclined to complain, this experience left me deeply disappointed. It is no surprise to me why all other TGI locations in Wales have closed down. Between the high prices, poor management, and unprofessional staff, the experience was truly horrendous.

We had booked the bottomless brunch, which was advertised as lasting two hours. However, within the first hour, we only received two or three drinks. Despite repeatedly asking our waiter about the delay, we were told that the bar was not producing drinks quickly enough, which completely undermined the concept of “bottomless.” We were sat with empty glasses throughout. By the time an hour and a half had passed, we were frustrated with the lack of drinks and realised that we would have been better off opting for the 2-for-1 cocktail menu instead of the bottomless brunch.

Throughout our visit, the staff and managers stood around the bar using their phones, showing little interest in providing good service. People around us were complaining of cold food, and it’s to no surprise why. When we requested an extension of our time or even just an additional round of drinks, given the poor service, the manager on duty responded with a firm and patronising “no.” He was unprofessional, rude, and dismissive, stating that we should have read the online terms and conditions, which apparently stipulated that bottomless brunch lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes, with the remaining 15 minutes designated as “drink-up” time. It is unreasonable to expect customers to search for small print online when dining in a restaurant.

The manager further escalated the situation by accusing us of lying about only receiving two drinks within the hour. He claimed he would check the tickets to confirm this but never returned with the results. Instead, he joined his staff at the bar, gossiping and openly staring at us in an unprofessional and disrespectful manner. This behavior was highly inappropriate, and when my friend confronted them, asking why they were staring, their response was hostile.

The manager then stormed over and shouted at my friend, claiming they should not address “his staff” in such a tone, despite the clear disrespect we were experiencing. Shockingly, he threatened to call security to remove us from “his building.” When security arrived, they were far more professional and advised us to file a complaint with head office. They also suggested asking for the manager’s name, but unsurprisingly, he refused to provide it, likely because he was aware of his misconduct.

This entire experience was utterly unacceptable, and I have never encountered such appalling treatment at any restaurant. Between the lack of service, unprofessional staff, and the dismissive behavior of the manager, this visit has left a lasting negative impression.

I would strongly advise anyone against visiting this restaurant. As someone who has always enjoyed TGI Fridays, I can confidently say that I will never return to this particular location. Based on my experience, it is evident why other TGI restaurants in Wales have closed, and it seems inevitable that this one will follow suit. Frankly, such an outcome would be well deserved given the appalling way they treat their customers.

The only positive outcome of this entire ordeal was that the staff were so preoccupied gossiping about us that they neglected to bill us before we were escorted out. When we asked security what to do about the bill as we didn’t want to leave the premises without paying, we were advised not to return to the restaurant to avoid further conflict and were told to simply leave it. While this resulted in us receiving our meal for free, it in no way compensates for the vile and unacceptable manner in which we were treated...

Probably the worst salad I've even been served in my life!

Would normally eat a meat-based meal here but as we were going healthy we both decided to order the Cobb Salad... one with crispy chicken and the other with blackened chicken to accompany... well you know what they say "never order pizza from a chicken shop"...

What we were both presented with was a pile of gem lettuce with stalks and all cut into halves, underneath which were some other ingredients, none of which were fresh, a couple of quarters of egg, no dressing and absolutely no finesse or any thought of presentation at all... an unqualified and bored 16 year old would no doubt have provided something better!

The blackened chicken was ok but the rest of the plate was as described above, the crispy chicken on the other plate was old. We gently complained to our server who admitted even he was surprised at what had come out of the kitchen and took the plate with the crispy chicken back to redo it again and in hindsight we should have sent them both back!! There was no blue cheese or Honey mustard dressing to be had, we were just offered some mayo.

There was only pink pickled onions on the salad that was remade, there could have been bacon and crispy onions... there seemed to be a lot of grated carrot and halves of gem lettuce but it was dreadful!

This was not a traditional Cobb salad, it was a pile of items with no thought at presentation.

I'd like to say the chef must have been rushed off his feet or something but it wasn't even that busy, even with Oasis in-town

Our server apologised and did his best; he couldn't get our Blue Light card to be accepted by the system so instead took off the cost of one of the salads and the 2 cokes. We hope he got his flight to Barcelona!

I would add the receipt image by way of proof of this review but the system just tells me an Error occurred but the cost was reduced from £55.97 to £33.18!

P.S. I'd skip the Nachos with the Beef Chilli as the portion was minuscule with hardly any beef chilli to be seen, in fact just skip the entire place and go find...

First and last visist to TGI Friday's... I went in yesterday afternoon 1:30 on the 27th December to have lunch before train journey home. I advised waitress we have a train to catch and we're In a little but of a rush trains at 2:50. 30 minutes later after having asked waitress how long food would be-- she agreed to go check and came back and walked past my table several times ignoring me. I then got up as a last-ditch attempt to see if I either waited for food (my 10 year old was very hungry).or walked out. I was told that she could tell me how long food was going to be with a complete attitude. I was shocked. I then spoke to a young make waiter who quickly took over and brought food 2 mins after. This was at 215pm The food was absolutely disgusting in taste and it was cold. The only good thing was that I was not charged for the meal in the end after I complained the food was aweful, but considering I had about 2 mouthfuls that's should be a done deal.

This experience has actually put me off going out for food again and I am a proper foody- I should have known when this was the place with barely any cues to get outside like the rest of the establishments. Honestly so disappointed on the customer care also my daughter did not have a good example set to her by this one waitress I was appauled. Even my 10.year old daughter said why is she so rude and ignoring you. I will leave out waitresses name I hate to name in case of come backs on here. It was a very busy service but they should be prepared and have enough staff and good customer care. Ticket circled in pen number 95. Ordered hotdogs fries and salad for daughter (salad was limp and looked like it had been sitting under heat lamp). Inedible. Burger was freezing cold. Fries tasted very strongly of garlic- like they had spilled the garlic power in error.

Top tip would be 1)To always advise customers of a 30-45 minute wait for food- especially if they have a train to catch and a very hungry child. 2) if customers are left waiting a while at least serve...