The pub is so hit and miss it's not funny and at times, just gross.
I'll say that the floor staff in Scozia and the pub are great. They're in a spot totally out of their control. Management (floor & kitchen) and owners, are the ones that allow these issues to go on. Note: The good managers left whenever possible.
Now, let's start:
Things they run out of ....
- Beer. It is not at all uncommon that you will arrive to find that your beer of choice has run out. Drat. Even more disappointing? That the next two you choose are also out. It is not rare to arrive and find that three beers have run out. That's not popularity, that's laziness.
- Citrus. It's a pub that sells drinks of all description. Why do you always run out of lemons and limes?
- Cheese. What. Restaurant. Runs. Out. Of. Cheese.?! Utterly ridiculous. Check out the "Dining" tab on their website. There are 5 pics. 3 show of food. All have cheese on them. Having to send someone to the store to buy cheese in the middle of a dinner service, is absolutely insane, it's just not funny. At all.
Today it's cheese, tomorrow any form of citrus, on a smoking hot Saturday when all you want is a cold beer it could be your top three faves. Why is this bad standard considered the norm?
Now. Restaurant Facilities.
- The bar stools are rickety and the every table needs coasters. Not on the top, under the legs.
- Water from the bar seeps out across the floor.
- A gross mixture of kitchen grease and water seeping through the door separating the kitchen and bathroom entries. It's a sight you'll enjoy while waiting for a toilet and spying through the window to the kitchen where they prepare your food.
- The Scozia restaurant side, has a nice toilet upstairs by the guestrooms. *Something to note if you are a guest or need a wheelchair.
- The pub toilets are gross. The bathrooms in the pub have been hard up for a clean-up for at least the 6 years. They're both "single occupancy" and see a lot of traffic, even on a regular night.
- The women's isn't too bad and may have actually been cleaned up in 2013.
- The men's, however, is a sweaty hotbox of gross. A urinal that never flushes the waste out and just lets it sit to eventually make its way down the drain? Yep. It is always, always, always a dark shade of something yellow.
- Ever wonder where the hot, hot, heat of a kitchen goes to? It goes directly into this bathroom. It's not uncommon to find the temperature in this tiny, tiny room reaching a temp akin to a fly buzzing summer's day in Tucson, Arizona. It's hot dude.
- Riding the porcelain pony is more like riding a rodeo bronc. Should you need to sit down during your visit (It's okay, you may be feeling faint from the heat or sights of your environment) be prepared for a rather unsettling experience. The toilet has been rocking in a detached manner for a long time and likely just as long as that one picture has been hanging on the wall.
- That picture on the wall. It isn't bad art really, but since it is the only thing to look at during your visit (except the sink staring you in the mug as you sit on the can), you really can't avoid taking it in. I think it dates from around the time that wine was a pretty popular thing to decorate with. A time of dark burgundy grape wallpaper topped by a nice border of wine bottles to match the grapes on the tile border. I suspect you know it. It's a time when this bathroom may have actually seen any attention. Anyway, check it out and see the strange man holding his grapes with a look that says:
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. How either of us got stuck here is beyond me. If only my creator could have had me looking over the vineyard that I'm told is behind me. From what I understand it's lovely.
But no, I'm here with you, stuck looking at this shithole. Let us, just you and me, look at each other and nothing else. No! Don't look down! Look at me. If you look down, you'll see the cracked floor and wall tiles, the rocking toilet, a filthy sink, a urinal that doesn't flush, and yes, the urinal splash that has mixed with dirt and created mud. Look at me and don't let us go. No, you're not crying, that is the sweat from your brow blurring your eyes.
It's okay. It's right you should leave me. Go, and take with you my words and one request, "Lay off the liquids and you'll never need return" and "Please tell the artist I'm fucking stuck here. Tell them to come and take me away from all this".
Oh. And before you go, don't let management tell you this room is a wreck only because it's the curse of an old historic building, that's horseshit, the owner and his family are too cheap to fix it."
Well there you go. Words of wisdom from a mid-'90's picture and this local patron. We go because it's the only option where we can see people we know, can get some good food at times (who needs cheese on nachos, am I right?) and service staff really are nice. Why we put up with standards like this I don't know. read more
