Bear & Ragged Staff — Restaurant in Waverley

The Bear has a good friendly communal feel and serves as a good local but also to visitors. The pub has an attractive interior which reveals its historic past (low ceilings, oak beams, working fireplace etc) but with a modern contemporary context too. The guys running the pub and the staff are friendly and interact well with customers; the pub has sports channels, a jukebox but it is very much a pub where people chat and interact with each other (you really do not need to be a local to experience this). There are regular events including live music, family barbecues, karaoke etc (and regular drink offers). Food is available and it is very good and the brunch menu offering is particularly good (the cooked breakfasts are super, good-sized portions and cooked to perfection). Other offerings include avocado and poached eggs on toast – again cooked well and a nice sized portion perfect for a quick top-up! A broad selection of beers and some real ales are available as to are various bottled beers and lots of flavoured gins and vodkas. A variety of coffees are available too. Even if you are teetotal or not into drinking much alcohol the Bear is well worth visiting just to eat and chill (there is a patio and garden). I would without any hesitation recommend a visit. A word about the parking issues. If you do not register your car details on the screen provided at the bar (the staff prompt you for this) then you will receive a fine. There are countless signs outside the pub (upon entering the car park and in the car park) and throughout the bar; it would be exceedingly difficult not to notice these. Yes, you may not expect this from a pub car park, but you just need to be conscious of the...

Bear and Ragged Staff presents itself as a straightforward local pub, navigating the challenging economic climate with quiet resilience. Its interior is the product of various renovations over the years, resulting in a clean, tidy space that, while comfortable, lacks a distinct character or thematic identity — it settles into the realm of a generic pub without ambition.

The beer selection is adequate: competent, reliable, but unremarkable. There are no surprises here, nor glaring omissions, which for some may be enough; for others, it leaves a sense of missed opportunity.

Where the establishment succeeds is in its food. Well-prepared and generously portioned, the meals provide genuine value and a satisfying experience that is often the deciding factor in whether one returns.

In sum, The Bear and Ragged Staff is not a destination venue, but it is a dependable choice for those seeking a no-frills pub with honest fare. It fulfills its role without fuss — and for many, that will...

Came in with my fiancée my sister and her partner as I’ve had good roasts here before.. prices around normal for a premium roast… £15.50 for the trio which I have had before and enjoyed! Ordered two trio roasts and two burgers… when the roast came it looked like school dinner and smelt like the back of a bin shed…. The burgers were edible to a extent but the roasts were really a problem.. we quietly asked the server to get the manager who came over rather hostile and argumentative telling us we haven’t tried the food properly… to which I explained we just aren’t happy with the food and weren’t willing to pretend and pay for disappointing Meals. She continued to argue her case that we haven’t tried the food and then refused to allow us to pay for the drinks we had had so we were uncomfortably exited from the pub… shame because we enjoyed our last experience here but won’t be returning or recommending it to...