The Slug and Lettuce on the harbourside is one of Bristol's most popular spots, placed in a prime location just off Millennium Square. The chain opened its first bar in 1985, and is known for bottomless brunches and cocktails in its two locations in the city centre.
But some reviewers have left some harsh reviews of the harbourside spot. Overall it has an average rating of three out of five and has been left 158 top five-star reviews on Tripadvisor.
But several people left negative reviews on the site in the month of April. One three-star critic said that the "really nice" staff seemed extremely busy and that there were dirty plates left on their table.
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They wrote: "Had pre booked for a birthday celebration (a month before), made a preorder for some drinks when I booked. I appreciate it was friday night so was going to be busy, but the staff seemed so overwhelmed, we were taken to our table which still had the previous customers dirty glasses and food plates on… we were told it would be cleaned.
"We didn’t make a fuss as we could see the staff were busy, but we ended up having to remove all the glasses ourselves and put them on a table next to us, as they were never removed by a member of staff, our table was unwiped and sticky. The pre order did not arrive until I went to the bar and asked about its whereabouts.
"The staff were really nice, I just feel that the overall service was poor and did not meet the expectations I had considering the fact it was booked in advance."
Another one-star reviewer also had a bone to pick with the restaurant after they booked a table for the evening and experienced delays. They wrote: "We arrived on time to wait to ‘see if our table was ready’ we were seated and told we had to go to the bar to order drinks and that food was a 40 minute wait because another table had pre-ordered…
"We ordered drinks at the bar which took nearly 20 minutes to come if they came, some drinks were sent to the wrong table (who drank them!) we ordered our food on the app, had benefits errors and one of our parties couldn’t order because “they had close the kitchen” after a long wait our food came out in drips and drabs, one dish came out stone cold which we had to send back.
"We ordered a beef taco and a veggie taco the waitress wasn’t sure which one was which so she got her torch on her phone out to look closely!!! Then took them both away and said nobody had ordered!
"The chips were raw in places and no cutlery was given with our dishes we had to ask for this. We asked to speak to the manager to be told because we we’re eating the food (because we were starving by this point) they could not refund as it’s company policy that if the food was consumed they could not offer anything off or anything!"
A spokesperson for Slug and Lettuce on Harbourside, Bristol said: “We are disappointed to hear that our some of our recent guests have not had the experience that they have come to know and love about Slug and Lettuce. We take all feedback on board and are working hard to rectify any issues to ensure that our guests will always have the best possible visit, whether they are joining us for a bottomless brunch, afternoon tea or to enjoy some of our cocktails.”
However, some reviewers were much happier with their experience. One person wrote a five-star review in April which said: "Amazing service, Mum and I so wanted to eat at 1st night but they were fully booked so asked if could book 2nd night we stayed at ibis and the manager and Carmen were so lovely and accommodating, looked after us and served us wonderfully! So recommend and they were so busy and still were still attentive! Thank you and will be back!"
And they added: "Please go there even if busy and loud! They still care about others!"
And another said: "S&L are always so pretty and this one in Bristol wasn’t any different! Cocktails were lovely, I had 2 for 1 - Pina Colada & Rainbow one.
"Only thing I would say is that we were quite tucked away in the corner upstairs so we couldn’t hear the music at all! Will be coming again for sure!"
