I think the pub and eating trade and general entertainments scene is fecked
Feel sorry for people invested in the industry though but its hit everyone
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Is it worth it? Went out for a couple of hours yesterday evening, booked a table with the now normal table service. Spoke to the girl serving us, she reckoned it was a much better way of doing things, they could work at their own pace, more or less dictate the pace of drinking whereas the old way of people at the bar had them working harder. I was out a couple of hours, that’s all I could take, had about two/three pints whereas in years gone by I’d have stayed until stop tap and had a good few more. Missus went out with a couple of mates today, had a meal booked for half three, had that then went to a pub, left there and tried to get in another pub that had plenty of empty tables but were told they were all booked. The bouncer outside also said he preferred these times to the old way of first come first served, it was much easier. So they came home. I just hope that when the pub owners/landlords/breweries do their sums they’ll realise that they need to go back to the old ways if they want to sell as much as they did. This booking lark is ridiculous, pubs moaning about no shows, just go back to first come first served, the staff are loving looking at empty tables whilst chatting amongst themselves.
I think the pub and eating trade and general entertainments scene is fecked
Feel sorry for people invested in the industry though but its hit everyone
It's a very tough time for those in the industry. I think we have to make the effort to be kind and understanding.
There has definitely been a change.
I've lived in Europe and often bemoaned the lack of table service in UK pubs and clubs, in a manner seemingly commonplace in central Europe. I LOVED that Berlin clubs didn't really do bar service- it was waiter service only. But I've been really impressed by the speed at which UK pubs, clubs and bars have embraced bar service in covid. It is SO MUCH BETTER than queuing at a bar and I don't really see the downside of it. Yes there are some terrible apps out there, but if I'm waiting for someone to bring me a drink I'd much rather do it whilst stood with my mates than in a queue for the bar.
As a customer, I really don't see the downside. Splott Parker: if you wanted to have a skinfull, then table service is hardly a blocker. I speak from experience here and cast no judgement. But in my experience having a night on the tiles is easy and still feels pretty normal.
Personally I love table/tray service and I hope loads of places adopt it as standard procedure.
I must say that I hate they way it is.
I will tolerate it for now things have to return to how it was before.
You arrive and told not to leave your seat or rearrange the chairs.
Treated like cattle.
It seems that staff are taking pleasure in turning people away without a booking. When reality there will be no shows and the table won’t earn a penny.
These staff are getting away with an easy life and robbing a living off the establishments owner’s at a time like this.
People are trying to spend money in this economy for the right reasons but they can’t.
I hate the table service thing, I like to leave the table and go to the bar and maybe have a conversation with someone other than my party whilst waiting to get served, not being able to have a chat on the way back from the toilet is depressing, especially when you’re told to keep moving. In the past you could have a few chinwags with different mates on the way back from having a slash. Just sat down and keeping to the company you’ve arrived with is not pub culture at all, we need to mix. Table service is ok abroad but the staff there are used to it and get your drinks to you sharpish, over here it’s led to laziness amongst staff, going to the bar yourself is so much more efficient for the customer but it does lead to bar staff having to be on their toes, something they don’t want given what the few I spoken to have indicated. Also abroad staff will find you a table by hook or by crook and get you in not shake their heads on the door when there’s plenty of empty tables on view, tables waiting for patrons who may never show. In my experience the staff are milking it, it’s no way to get the hospitality economy back on its feet.
Four of us went out yesterday to one of our local pubs and it was definitely worth it. We booked in advance but it wouldn't have been a problem if we hadn't - there were plenty of empty tables inside and outside and walk-ins were accepted. The pub was reasonably busy, but not as busy as I'd expected - it was far busier the last time I was there in August 2020.
The routine was order and pay for drinks at the bar and they were brought out for us to the table in due course. The first round took about ten minutes to arrive, but we seemed to have arrived at a busy time (3:00pm) and the staff were handling plenty of food orders. We had five further rounds and circumvented the waiting issue by ordering the drinks before we'd finished the last ones. In fairness, the wait for the rest of the rounds was brief anyway.
Masks needed to be worn for trips to the bar and the toilets, but apart from that it felt no different to trips to the same pub with the same friends in previous years. We there from 3:00pm until around 7:30pm and it was a really good afternoon.
Of course the staff are taking pleasure in turning people away. They are rushed off their feet.
My mate is a manager of a chain restaurant - said the week before they were allowed to reopen fully, 7 furloughed people put in their notice. Further notices came after opening.
As the OP said - Be nice it's going to be a rough time for some places over the next few months
Ive been out regularly since lockdown lifted and was out again yesterday afternoon.
Enjoying the table service.
Dont see an issue with booking tables either.
No issues with lazy or slow staff either. The pubs I go to the staff are great.
Maybe switch to a better pub with better service.
Not fussed on it atm but it's better than no pub at all.
It's taken the spontaneity of a pub crawl out of the equation though.
The thing I dislike is the lack of flexibility/ability to be spontaneous in that it's harder just to decide to go to a pub and stay there as long as you want. Once I'm in I really enjoy the table service personally
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57344956
Low customer numbers after shops reopened have left retailers facing a "precarious picture", the Welsh Retail Consortium has said.
The situation is obviously very far from ideal, but my experience (based on four visits to three pubs in recent weeks) is things are considerably more relaxed this time around than they were when the pubs reopened last year. But maybe I've just been lucky with the pubs I've been in so far.
I like spontaneity. I will probably go out for a drink at about 2 this afternoon but I'm not sure and, if I do, I'm not exactly sure where. I know about four pubs in the area where there will be people I know, but I haven't arranged to meet any of them and I never book in advance, because I might decide not to turn up and wouldn't want to book a seat that someone else will want. The pubs I frequent aren't overly strict but seem to operate on a common-sense basis.
It’ll take a while to get used to but table service is a much better concept, and it works all over the world. Pubs may lose some custom, especially those so who literally cannot wait 10 minutes between finishing one beer and wanting the next
Down The CANTON at the moment, Sunday cards
No problems here
It sounds far better to have table service. People who want to rule the roost outside their own home will probably feel aggrieved they can’t do so but that’s tough isn’t it?
Table service at the moment has its advantages especially for the bar maids, as you haven't got people saying "for f'ucks sake love I was next"
I dont like pubs
Good debate this and we haven’t scratched the surface of the ‘card only’, ‘app’ or ‘tolerating’ cash yet. Was in Bristol this time last week, had a meal (booked table) at Mackenzie’s on the waterfront, cash not a problem, walking away after and wanting to call in for a pint we went to The Fisherman’s Arms, or some name like that, went through the track ‘n’ trace procedure then told that it was card only. Decided against this and left to go to O’Neils, where we’d been the previous day, cash payment not an issue. As we left the manager (I presume he had some authority) called us back, asked why we weren’t having a drink in his pub (it was empty in there), we told him that we prefer to pay cash, he said that we hadn’t much chance of that in Bristol at the moment. We put him right and told him we’d paid cash elsewhere, he was quite put out, not with us I might add, he was really polite. But it seemed as though it was dawning on him why his pub was empty when others were chocka. I know others on here differ as we’ve had this debate in the past but, personally, I like to go out with what I’ve got in my wallet and when it’s gone so am I, I think that hovering a card over a machine can result in finances running away with themselves resulting in a rude awakening when next checking your bank balance. All in all I just want to get back to how it was, walk from pub to pub, no booking, if it’s full, move on, pay by whatever method suits the individual, not be press ganged into a certain way. Please God it happens soon or I can see me turning to drink