Poole's Public House - North — Restaurant in Washington

We have really wanted to love this place, because it is right in our neighborhood and locally owned, but it has let us down each of the 5 times we have gone. Food is good, not great. Service is consistently poor. We have yet to have a waiter/waitress that was friendly or courteous. Parking/access to the parking lot is not convenient, as there is only one entrance/exit to the lot, and it is right onto a residential street that is not designed to handle the amount of traffic it gets. I can only imagine the frustration of the people who live on Ruby (the aforementioned residential road). I have seen their driveways blocked on numerous occasions.

For our first attempt at breakfast there, we were sat in the East room, and ignored for 20 minutes. We were excited to see they have scotch eggs, so added 3 to share. They were overly hard boiled before being wrapped and fried, and ended up being so hard/rubbery that they were inedible. When our waitress came to the table, she asked if there was anything wrong with them, as they weren't being eaten. I told her they were a little tough and overcooked, and she shrugged and said, "some people like them like that."

The next time we tried breakfast, we asked for our hash browns to be made crispy. Our food was served, and the hash browns were cold and soggy. We brought it to the attention of our server, and she said, "They don't like to cook them crispy because it takes longer."

We have, however, always enjoyed their lunch/dinner menu. Their pickles are very good, as are their mushrooms. The Cottage Pie is also fantastic, and I would definitely recommend it.

The one bright spot service-wise is the bartender that handled our one to-go order. He was friendly, funny, and made sure we had everything we needed.

Overall, we have been disappointed by the waitstaff every time we have dined in. The lunch/dinner food is good, but not good enough to overcome the poor service. We may try this place one more time, but it definitely would not be for breakfast, and we would only...

The food is surprisingly incredible. I say surprisingly, because it's not the kind of place you're expecting to have a delicious mix of flavors. It's a Pub. So, my husband claims he's a Viking. This is important because he doesn't like fish, which makes me think there's something missing in the genes. So, on our recent visit to Poole's with friends, I was busy exploring the diverse menu. He, apparently, wanted to bolster his Viking image. He ordered the fish and chips. We all, almost, fell off our barstools! No pub drinks on board! Everyone knows this guy doesn't like fish.

Maybe he was distracted by the numerous big screens displaying a variety of sporting events. Hockey, basketball and football. (Don't stay home to watch a game. Tell your S.O. that you want to watch the game there)

Maybe his mouth was distracted by the beer options. Or willing to try anything because the service was awesome.

Who knows WHY he ordered fish. All I know, days later, he's still Sterling people how good his meal was. Perfectly toasted, battered fish. And perfectly roasted sweet potatoe fries. (Actually, yams, but that doesn't sound delicious, so so just go with the lie.)

My delicately built friend ordered a burger that she devoured. I must say, I should have noted her approach. She kept the skewers in .... You must keep the skewers in! There are so many layers of delicious, you need the skewers.

Only drawback is the parking lot. Don't be intimidated by people parking in the street. In fact, I recommend, that if you drive a PNW limo ( AKA, full size pick-up) Park along the street. It's worth the walk. I don't know what kind of deal Pooles has with the neighbors, but we haven't been yelled at yet. Just be respectful.

Long story, short. Great service. Great food. Family friendly. Not too loud for...

We have been coming to Poole's for over 2.5 years. We came in for an early dinner around 3pm. We have always had exceptional service & usually have our regular waiters, but today was different. The gentleman that sat us we thought was our waiter as he took our drink order and has waited on us in the past (he also delivered our food). That wasn't the case we had a female server approach us after our drink order was already taken. She left and walked away. We saw the gentleman fix our drinks and hand them off to her about 5 mins later. She then proceeded to deliver them off the tray he had sat them on to deliver and instead leaned over the wall to deliver them. She was so rude and unfriendly while taking our food order that it ruined our entire meal. In fact I ordered no food by the time she got to me because I couldn't wait to leave....that's how bad it was! We will never be back because of the service we received today. I understand having a bad day or being in the "weeds", but this was beyond that! She was completely unfriendly and just complete "RUDE" in response to any questions. In my 30 years of eating out with family & friends this was the worst experience I've ever had.

We have always tipped very well, we left her $10 cash on $49+ (which is not our normal and if it was up to me I would have left her nothing) I also gave him $20 cash as he was polite, friendly & actually worked our table more then she did. I don't care how long she's been there she is RUDE & obviously shouldn't be working in the service industry. This has ruined my entire evening with my family because of her behavior.

Unfortunately, we will never be back. This is sad as we are locals who come regularly who spend lots of $ in your...