Go to Bensons at the Forge Retail Park instead. Sutherlands is a poor-mans attempt to copy a very successful restaurant that we visit often in the East End of Glasgow, and it blows Sutherland's out of the water.
Our Sutherland's review:
Sutherland's is like a very bad and very expensive British Home Stores BHS cafe.
Walked in and stood at the 'Please Wait to be Seated' sign. Waited for 5 minutes, with staff ignoring us. We walk up to man tending the bar and ask for a table for two, he ignores us. We ask again and he THROWS cutlery/glassware he was washing into the sink in a rage, turns and exclaims "What do you want! Just sit anywhere!"
We sit down and a woman mopping the floor marches up to us and says, word-for-word "You're not sitting here. Move to that table" as she points to a table closer to the front door. We move to the other table. In order for staff to have to walk less, and so that it's easier to clean the restaurant, at certain times of the day it seems that Sutherland's packs all their customers like sardines towards the front of the cafe. Maybe they should ask "wouldn't you prefer to eat it in your car" because then they'll have no tables to clean."
Nobody has a menu yet, and we have to wait 10 minutes for a server to arrive. A waitress arrives and, without saying anything, stands over us with her pad (no, "what would you like" or anything pleasant like that, just stands and waits.) I say, "Could we have some menus please" and she exhales forcefully, turns and gets us menus that are falling apart at the seems and filthy.
Eventually, we place a pretty straightforward order (cheeseburger and chips, roll and sausage) but for some reason it takes about 30 minutes to arrive, despite the fact we are 1 of only 3 other parties in the restaurant. OK, it might be prepared from scratch, but 30 minutes is a joke.
The food arrives and it is fairly bland and uninspiring, nothing better than you'd get at McDonalds, except at least McDonalds in Clydebank has been newly decorated and feels stylish/chic - Sutherland's blood-red walls feels like a crypt and for some reason, it has a one-way mirror at the back of the restaurant so that management can monitor the staff and/or customers. Maybe it's so they can call the police if a customer tries to move to another table.
Only one member of staff, a younger woman, showed any enthusiasm or efficiency, the bar man and other waiting staff couldn't give a toss. Compare this with Bensons in the East End of Glasgow, and it's a totally different experience. They have a staff member constantly standing at the welcome podium, greeting you as you arrive and giving you a menu too. They have delicious food, and often you see a butcher arrive with fresh meat to the kitchen. The staff are very efficient, and you can sit wherever you choose. The decor is light, airy, modern, and cosy, and the food is cooked fresh, arrives quickly and they are often queued out the door. read more
