The Grafton Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Service is still outstanding and our waiter Lizzy was the best :)"
• "Just want to acknowledge the service from front of house magda/robyn have the best I’ve received in the camden area."
• "The staff were friendly and really helpful."
• "Came here for a friend birthday, Great staff, Great beer selection, Great decor, Great food, Great live music."
• "Great pub. Big shout out to the great staff at the Grafton who kept my phone safe overnight."
• "The staff were incredibly welcoming, friendly and ensured our perfect event came together on the day."
• "All the staff were very friendly and couldn’t fault the service we received at all."

Cons:

• "I don't know what's happened here since new management has taken over. The staff are presumptuous and surly and can't even handle the complexities of making a glass of squash."
• "Service was slow, but we didn’t mind as we were having a slow day."
• "Bar staff are really nice but the food was awful!"
• "We popped in recently with a couple of friends, the bar staff came across very unfriendly, don't even think they smiled."
• "Was quite quiet when we went there, I said hello to the barman he just stared back at me blankly."
• "Worst experience I've had in a pub in London Went there in a Saturday night - standing at the bar waiting to order, just one guy next to me, the 3 bar tenders went to ask him if he has been served, completely ignoring me."
• "The staff however are EXTREMELY unfriendly, racist and discriminatory!"

Food and Drink

Pros:

• "Karolina is an exceptional chef. Her menu is anything but basic when presented as the delicious meals patrons received."
• "Lovely little pub with amazing food never fails to amaze! Very welcoming relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff and a warm fire place to sit and keep warm!"
• "Best roast Turkey dinner had in a long time, and lovely pigs in blankets full marks to the chef, nice friendly staff, and lovely atmosphere, real fire very inviting."
• "Dog-friendly. Great choice of drinks which can be ordered from the QR codes on each table."
• "The food was delicious, everyone went back for seconds!"
• "Their Wednesday special is a Flat Iron steak, skin on fries and a glass of Malbec for £15."
• "The food was amazing! And so much nicer than most pub burgers."

Cons:

• "Pleasant enough but quite pricey. Toilets (a benchmark for a good pub) are shocking - always seem to be out of loo roll and need tarting up."
• "I received something very basic but paid just under £20 for it."
• "I ordered an over-priced £18.50 burger and they charged me £20.81."
• "The food had little to recommend it, and there were some bizarre touches."
• "Our chicken burger was an exercise in humour. The planet-sized bun dwarfed the chicken breast which was topped with burned, bitter bacon and a fried egg that defied the laws of science with its yolk cooked solid and white still runny."
• "Quite disappointed with my recent trip here. I ordered a burger but what I received did not match what was listed on the menu."
• "I got the veggie roast, I was really disappointed. The plate wasn’t warmed so the whole thing went cold quickly."

Ambiance and Location

Pros:

• "Old mans pub turned into a cooler, much cleaner establishment that managed to maintain it's old style charm."
• "This has become one of my favourite London pubs! It has a chilled out vibe and feels really welcoming."
• "Such a lovely pub with wonderful staff. My friends and I booked the meeting room for a day of board games and it was perfect."
• "Ultimately this is a pub you go to for its location, it's easy to find and near all the theatres etc."
• "Nice traditional pub, the terrace is a bit small and the ladies' door is a bit puzzling, however staff are nice and they organise a lot of interesting activities."
• "It's a pleasant and chilled out pub which feels more like a local than most crafty bars."
• "One of my favourite pubs in Camden - a short walk from Kentish Town West, it has plenty of space upstairs and downstairs as well as a roof terrace and a good selection of beer and spirits."

Cons:

• "The toilets were downstairs and gents was out of service so the females was made unisex, the toilets were in a bad state of repair, seat was loose and tap broken."
• "Very crowded in the evening, especially on Friday night. Otherwise, fantastic choice of beers (tap, pump and bottles) and wines."
• "There's one downside, when you walk in it invariably smells like the toilet."
• "Goodbye greedy and hungry hippos."
• "Also annoyed that finished plates were left on the table for close to an hour."
• "We were made to move tables twice with no explanation - there wasn't a 'reserved' sign on them so people wouldn't know we can't sit there."
• "The only downside is the pub's popularity; even though it's fairly large it gets really rammed sometimes."

Management and Policies

Pros:

• "Great pub tucked just down the road from the train station & local brewery, perfect roof terrace to enjoy the sun on before the Brewery tour!"
• "We held our wedding party at the Grafton this weekend and I can't recommend this venue enough."
• "Moved across the road last month and the staff at the grafton have made us feel incredibly settled, at home and part of a community."
• "It is a beautiful pub inside out and has great character!"
• "Possibly a bit bias as a local but this is one of the best pubs in london."
• "The Grafton is a trendy and stylish place to go in Kentish Town, it's a big pub with plenty of tables and chairs and a nice bar area."
• "Amazing place. This pub is huge and has an upstairs area."

Cons:

• "Don’t bother going here, go to Tapping The Admiral round the corner. Proper pub, don’t rip you off."
• "I use this pub regularly and the staff are really friendly but recently they are leaving one by one and I realised it is the new manager She is a bully and power freak making the staff really unhappy."
• "This pub auto adds a 12.5% service charge just to order at the bar."
• "5 of us got food poisoning."
• "Terrible experience. Arrived for a drink at 10.15 on a Tuesday, and despite their advertised opening hours, we were told the bar was closed and not serving anymore."
• "Terrible, staff add vat on your bill. Then forget to give you your bill when you pay as you go."
• "Loved the look of the pub inside and out and the bar staff were lovely but very let down by the sunday roast - the yorkshire pud and meat were very dry and burnt on the edges like it had been left under the pass too long."