Irby Mill — Restaurant in Wirral

Lovely pub and I'm sure the food is good too judging by earlier reviews but the bar service was appalling the afternoon my wife and I called in around 2.30pm. We waited around 5 to 6 minutes to be served even though we were the only people at the bar. The first member of the 2 bar staff was busy serving dining customers but the second (male) was more concerned with chatting in the kitchen and looking to "busy" himself rather than serve a waiting customer. After our first drink we tried, despite the initial poor service, to obtain a second drink. By this time there was just the one male behind the bar who again was chatting in the kitchen. When he emerged from the kitchen he then spent some 30 to 45 seconds running reports off the till well aware that I was waiting to be served. If that wasn't bad enough he then disappeared again into the kitchen, when he re-appeared from the kitchen some 2 minutes later he then began preparing 2 coffees which looked like they were for staff. It looked like he was trying to find anything to do rather than serve a customer at the bar. It would of helped had he acknowledged my presence with a simple "be with you in a minute" comment but he never spoke a word. At this point we left the pub and had a totally different and lovely experience at the Greave Dunning, we also had a meal there which was also lovely and great value for money! I need to stress that on both occasions I was the only person at the bar waiting to be served. We won't call again which is a pity since it is a lovely pub setting etc. but won't tolerate...

Update 19/7/20

Great to see the Mill open again. I think my visit today was part of a trial-run of the new app-based ordering system. The app download was a fairly long process (I installed a similarly-named random chat dating app by mistake first time around, with predictable consequences), but once installed, it was brilliant, with a very clear menu . The app allows excellent social distancing measures and table service, which was very efficient The staff all worked very hard, and from my point of view, the experience was great. I highly recommend a visit. Persevere with the app installation process, it's well worth the effort. Ask at the bar if you are having difficulty. The cask ales were excellent today, the icing on the cake.

Update 7/2/20

All change at Mill, the beer range has improved, the beer presentation and quality is now excellent. The food is also excellent, the mega burger was delicious, if very, very filling. The service was good on our recent visits.

I've deleted my reviews from 2017-18 as I no longer feel they...

A nice pub serving food and having a good variety of beers on offer.I ordered fish and chips and peas.My wife opted for chips ham and eggs.Food arrived piping hot and the portions were very generous compared to other pubs.The fish was cooked in a light batter with melt in your mouth white chunks of cod.My wife had been given several slices of lean ham to go with the chips and egg.Unfortunately due to the generous sized dinner portions we were unable to fit a pudding in.There was a good atmosphere in the pub which was very busy.Staff were very friendly and asked on a couple of occasions if everything was to our satisfaction. Overall it was well worth my 5* review for this cozy little pub.Great service great food and a great atmosphere so get yourself over to the Irby Mill as you wont be...