The Hope & Ruin Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Friendly staff."
• "Staff sound but a bit on the slow side behind the bar."
• "Staff was great, did not get to try the food but was impressed by it being a plant based bar."
• "Pleasant staff and good atmosphere."
• "Staff were friendly enough."
• "Staff are very friendly, and yeah I would recommend stopping by."
• "The staff were really welcoming and helpful."

Cons:

• "his behaviour was just odd and came across as rude."
• "The bar service however was at best 'robotic' and at worst completely disinterested."
• "Getting told they've stopped serving when other people are still getting served."
• "received absolute AWFUL customer service last night."
• "The server refused to serve us because she thought we were too drunk."
• "The bartender was rude."
• "However the staff ruin it. One mate was saying thank you and was met with a blunt 'I'm not serving you other guests have priority'."

Food and Drinks

Pros:

• "Cracking range of ales and ciders."
• "Couldn't believe the kebab is meat free."
• "The food are nice and filling."
• "Super vegan food by Beelezbab kitchen. I am no vegan but the food was delicious."
• "The kitchen is all vegan so hot dogs, cheese, brownies and ice cream is all vegan and it's delicious!"
• "Really interesting vegan junk food and a great selection of beers."
• "So delicious.. and the sea salt cider to wash it down was spot on."

Cons:

• "I couldn’t finish my food at a place that serves a vegan menu but clearly doesn’t care about animal cruelty."
• "The drinks are VERY expensive!"
• "Over priced, over spiced and over rated."
• "The bar snacks (all vegan) are excellent, but the main food (vegan hot dogs and kebabs) isn't fantastic."
• "I ordered a meat & chips and they served a portion of fries with few common factory’s doner kebab slices made to days before."
• "The gun brewery extra pale had a very dirty taste to it."
• "Expensive for 2 jack Daniels with coke double we paid 36 pounds."

Venue and Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Great for live music."
• "There's a music venue upstairs also."
• "The atmosphere is pretty unique - it shares several aesthetic qualities with the overflowing contents of a bin lorry."
• "The decor is amazing and so random."
• "They also have some great gigs upstairs."
• "One of my favourite bars/ restaurants, and a great music venue too."
• "The space is open and welcoming."

Cons:

• "Misogynistic bouncers - they kicked my girlfriend out because she looked upset."
• "There aren't any ventilation upstair and it gets really hot and sultry."
• "Security the rudest I’ve ever seen, not mark but his counterpart is awful, would not listen to my friend, made her cry."
• "Unfortunately bouncers wouldn’t let one of our party in because they were “too drunk” and refused to budge."
• "If you're at a show be wary of the giant metal bar in front of the stage though, it's the one negative of this venue."
• "The upstairs toilets are to be considered museum exhibits."
• "But the place...filthy, stinky, unkempt."