The Purple Turtle Reviews Summary

Service & Staff

Pros:

• "Quick service and staff seem nice enough."
• "The staff were very hard working and helpful."
• "Purple Turtle is a great bar. Good range of Whisky and friendly staff."
• "The purple turtle employees are polite and friendly, starting with the security guards, ending with the bartenders, they all welcome you and wish you come back soon."
• "Friendliest staff you'll meet, especially my man Rich."
• "Staff are mostly friendly."
• "The staff who usually work there are pleasant and welcoming."

Cons:

• "The young lady with piercings was very rude in the shush area serving."
• "They are rude and draconian about seeing payslips."
• "Bar girls are so rude, looked miserable and were very abrupt."
• "Customer service is appalling. Get rid of this one guy, Turtle and quick."
• "Some new nervous staff who aren't really improving with time."
• "Bar staff very unfriendly and childish which lets the whole place down in my opinion."
• "Door staff are rude and unfriendly."

Atmosphere & Entertainment

Pros:

• "The club is on multiple levels with large elevated outside areas with a huge screen for entertainment."
• "Really nice atmosphere at Wednesday evening, BBC introducing Amra Ray, @ l music and other acts."
• "The band itself was brilliant, and there was a wonderful atmosphere at the pub."
• "It's a magical place where you can dance the night away to Foo Fighters, Slipknot, Linkin Park and other alternative music and make friends with randomers through shared love of this music."
• "Loved the 90s music vibe."
• "The only non pretentious, nonjudgemental bar in town. Million pound refit including dungeon bar."
• "The atmosphere is welcoming, service is perfect."

Cons:

• "Recently though as it’s getting more popular the queues for drinks are getting ridiculous! They need better or more staff unfortunately and often this will put me off the idea of going there."
• "Music isn't very good though."
• "The turtle has gone very down hill. Used to play metal and rock music but it now plays Abba, Baby Cakes, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Atomic Kitten and Oasis."
• "The club itself really isn’t all that either, there is one mediocre sized dance floor which when busy is impossible to move on."
• "It's probably the worst club in reading."
• "Music is mostly either hard rock/ metal or what you find in your high-school disco in main room."
• "Good way to end a night of pub drinking. Ambiance is always hit and miss depending on crowd and music."

Facilities & Cleanliness

Pros:

• "The room downstairs, the toilets and the whole outdoor area out the back is great."
• "The outside area is easily one of the best outdoor bar areas in Berkshire."
• "The place has a large outdoor area with 1/2 of it being under cover."
• "LGBT+ friendly venue with a great atmosphere."
• "Really nice bar with a massive beer garden."
• "Large outside area on multiple levels with good heating in the winter."
• "Very funky and clean toilets."

Cons:

• "When the shisha died 10 minutes in we tried getting it fixed and were blamed for the coals burning out and were evicted for her poor shisha making skills."
• "A garden which looks better than it actually is and can sometimes be plagued by a vile smell from the toilets."
• "There is no wheel chair access to the full garden from the main floor/front door level."
• "Smashed glass will remain on the floor nearly all night sometimes so i would recommend not wearing your favourite footwear."
• "Doesn't serve food so eat before you head there."
• "The night I went, the ground floor dancefloor had no air conditioning so it must've been about 35°C."
• "This is disgusting, unprofessional behaviour and neither of us got an apology for either of these incidents."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "Cheap prices on beer / cocktails."
• "It's the Purple Turtle, it's one of the mainstays of Reading. It was here when I lived in Reading 15 years ago and it's still here now but this time doing 4.95 Long Island iced teas."
• "Amazing choice of spirits, and unusual alcohols. Gorgeous tasting cocktails, and cocktail shots."
• "Good cocktails, great music, friendly staff, considerate bouncers and really nice toilets."
• "Always good music and lots of underground local artists performing."
• "Free entry but if this is your last stop of the night beware of the queue to get in."
• "The Crown jewel of reading. Good for a day drink with massive outside areas for shisha and Smoking."

Cons:

• "Ordering via QTAP drink prices are very high but also adds 15p service charge and defaults to a 50p tip, was a tedious app to use."
• "They have got rid of some of their best cocktails such as the screaming orgasm."
• "Drinks are really expensive though paid £5.50 for my pint."
• "This place will go out and get you Subway like a bizarre delivery service BUT they'll call it a footlong on the menu and come back with a 6 inch."
• "Unfortunately they switched beer suppliers and are left with a pretty shoddy range."
• "Ciders and ales on handpull are good still."
• "Had two pints from here on Saturday night and ever since my stomach has not felt amazing, I can tell the lines haven’t been cleaned from the taste the beer left."

Security & Safety

Pros:

• "One of a very few places in town that feels safe, nobody ever wants to cause bother, they're all there for a good enjoyable evening."
• "Bouncers are the right level of letting people have fun, but strict when they need to be."
• "Extremely well-run, perfect precautions during the covid pandemic."
• "Very happy with the safety measures put in place in response to government guidelines."
• "The most approachable night club in Reading town, and approachable here means not the location, it's the staff, the value for money and the crowd there.. love the ambience of this place, the live performances... It's a fun place to be"
• "Passport or driving licence required for entry too."
• "Disabled toilets are on the main floor."

Cons:

• "Frist night there was having a good time ontil I was kick out . For nothing but the colour of my skin."
• "Dreadfull communication about last entry and last orders. Female door supervisor on Thursday night was awful and didn't even look at me when I was speaking with her. Very rude door staff."
• "A staff member who I think supervises the bar tenders thought my £50 note was fake and ripped it nearly in two."
• "After a stranger essentially threw a glass at my head, I was escorted out of the premises."
• "Need to watch yours drink, glass collector take my full glass of beer 5 min after purchase."
• "The security guard threatened to assault me if I resisted and really ruined the evening."
• "The bouncers are idiotic, rude, egotistical thugs who think their powers mean they can physically and verbally assault people."