Sally Lunn's Restaurant & Tearoom — Restaurant in Chester

My good friend made reservations for 7 people for a lovely ladies brunch together. She is a REGULAR customer at Sally Lunn's. And I mean Regular, like multiple times a month every month with her family/ friends. It was a bad experience from the beginning. First, she was given a hard time booking the reservation. She made a reservation for 6 and when she called to adjust to 7 she was told there was no reservation in her name at all. Then, the owner required her to make a $10 per person deposit for the reservation, which my friend drove CASH down and handed to the owner for the reservation. When we arrived for our reservation they had set up two very small tables not at all large enough for the 7 of us. There was an additional 2 person table next to ours, so my friend asked if she could utilize that table as well and was told no. She then offered $100 to be able to utilize that table as well and was also told no, but that the owner was on her way and would talk to her when she arrived. We overheard the servers saying the owner stated she wouldnt be welcome back. When the owner arrived she immediately stomped over to our tables and started "yelling" at my friend saying it was a busy weekend (the place was at least half empty at this time, and was never full the 2 hours we were there.) she needed to make her money when she could and this was MY business and why was my friend arguing with her. She said it looks like you are having a party (my friend had gift bags for all of us set around the table) we dont have parties and you are going to be here for hours which is unfair to my business. My friend said its not a party, these are gifts for my friends to take home and Ill give you a $100 for the extra table, that should more than cover any service that table would provide during our time there. The owner continued yelling. She then went into the back room and you could hear her literally throwing things around. She came out with a plastic table, literally threw it down, set it up, we asked if we could help, she said no and continued to very abruptly set the table and walked away. The rest of our party arrived. While I said we were there for 2 hours, this was not by any means our fault. It took about 30 minutes for our server to even come take our order. Once she did food did come quickly. Food was indeed good, (quiche, tea, pot pies, scones were had by all) though there was a LARGE amount of egg shell in one of our guests meals. My tea cup was cracked, and my friends glass had a large chip in the rim. None of that reason to complain on its own, but added to the overall experience. Service was also good once our order was taken. No complaints on our waitress who was very sympathetic to the treatment we received. In addition, I used the restroom while I was there. The bathroom was not at all clean, dirty trim boards, walls and floor and paper signs pealing off the walls. General decor was very dusty throughout the tea house, it could use a good clean for sure. My friend, a very regular customer, was so upset by the unnecessary treatment she will not be coming back. If the owner had a spare table she could provided, which she obviously did, and it didnt take up an already existing table for other guests, she could have just done it with a smile, even if she didnt want to, she would have been accommodating and everyone would have been happy. As they say in the service industry if you have to do it anyway, do it with a smile. Instead, she did it anyway and still totally alienated a loyal customer. Such a shame, and such a nasty attitude...

So, this will be a long post. I rarely ever write anything bad about a business. However, this post and experience needs to be posted. I have been a very regular customer for YEARS of Sally Lun’s in Chester. This week, and yesterday was a NIGHTMARE! It started out with me making a reservation with “James” for 6 people. The next day, I called to say I needed to add a person to my reservation. Emily who answered the call proceeded to tell me there was no reservation for me in their books. Then she told me I would need to give her my credit card number and information for her to write down in the “book”. The book is kept at hostess station and can be seen by any staff member. I said I was not comfortable doing that. Then the manager/owner got on phone and started to berate me about not wanting my card to be put where others could see it. I was told that they put a hold of $10/person in case no one show up and that “she” has a business to run. I then offer to come in and physically hand her $70.00 in cash to hold reservation. After some back and forth, she finally agreed. So, I got in my car and handed her the cash attached to a paper with the information for my reservation. I came in for my reservation to see the area we were set up in. We were to be seated in back area which was fine, BUT the table that was set was in no way big enough for SEVEN people. I asked if we could also use the two top table (only other table in back). I was told by staff they needed to call owner to ask. When they called, I overheard the owner make a comment that I would not be welcome back. When I asked about that comment, the staff said the owner would be there in a couple minutes to speak with me. Mind you, I offered to pay an extra $100.00 just to have use of the two top table. When the owner came, she was emphatic in saying NO, and that she had a business to run. (Keep in mind that $100 would have been way more than a two top table could possibly bring in for a lunch). Then I said nicely that the table we were to sit at was not big enough for us to sit at or have food at. She then noticed the bags with gifts I brought and proceeded to berate me in front of everyone saying that they don’t do PARTIES and that taking up her tables to open gifts would not be allowed. I then told her the bags of gifts were for my guests to BRING HOME. She continued to berate me about how she has a business and this is a busy time for her. Then she went into a back room by where we were to be seated, brought out a proper size table for SEVEN people. I offered to help reset the table as she was physically BANGING things around while continuing to yell at me. I kept my calm, and even with her nasty attitude, I did help to reset the table. She then went to the front of the restaurant and left us to be. When we finally got to sit in peace, the food was good and the waitress was wonderful. This is an establishment I have gone to almost WEEKLY for years. With that said, I will NEVER go back!!! I will give my business to a place that appreciates customer service. Goodbye...

We had eaten in this establishment twice. Both experiences were very underwhelming to say the least. On our first visit, their strongest tea needed to be steeped the entire duration of our meal, over 30 mins, to have any flavor. The food was mediocre (poor quality bread in finger sandwiches; too much baking soda in scones, etc.) and overpriced for what was served. However, the restaurant had certain charm to it, which is why we wanted to give it another chance, in case the first time was a fluke.

The second occasion was even more disappointing then the first. Among the ordered items, the Cornish Pasty had exactly two lumps of lamb in it, and their highly recommended special, the lobster sliders contained what clearly looked and tasted, pieces of imitation crab. When I mentioned my concern to our server and showed her the bits of imitation crab in the lobster dish (the inclusion of the former was not mentioned anywhere on the menu), she backed away from me after stating that that's how they serve the lobster sliders. At that juncture, we decided to cut our losses and leave.

However, several minutes later, before we had the opportunity to ask for the check a woman, whom I assumed to be the owner (she did not introduce self), carrying a partially obscured bag, frowningly approached us and unceremoniously asked which one of us had the lobster sliders. When I affirmed, she unapologetically and confrontationally showed me the top of a bag, which I assume contained some form of previously frozen lobster meat, and defensively stated that that bag came from the supplier costing her $48 and that she would never dream of serving imitation crab to her clients.

At this juncture, it was definitely not worth mentioning to her that perhaps the fault was with her supplier of questionable lobster meat and not with me for daring to complain about an unsatisfactory dish. Since this was clearly very important to her, I merely nodded politely to her, paid our unaltered bill (not that anyone offered to lower the price of $15.95 for questionable seafood contents), and left the premises. Needless to say, we have no plans of returning to this...