To book or not to book...

This has been a very frequently asked question, so we thought we'd let you know how we're finding things since re-opening and what difference it makes to us.

We have said from the off that we will always accommodate walk-ins if we can: we know how much we miss the spontaneity of popping in somewhere for a meal when we're out and about ourselves. In many cases, venues are making the choice to only take bookings, not take bookings at all, or try and balance between the two, which is the option we have gone for. Who knows, perhaps getting back to this being the status quo and heading out for a meal without too much fore-thought might be the marker to a return to full normality in hospitality!

At the moment however, we do recommend booking if you would like to join us for food, for a couple of reasons: firstly of course it avoids any disappointment - we appreciate we're a drive away for many of our customers and making that effort, only to find we don't have space, is a blow! Secondly, booking your table really helps us on this long road out of lockdown and the relaxation of restrictions. Whilst we're serving outside only and running full table service, on a busy shift we are having to treble our front-of-house staffing levels. This is to ensure we can get round all the tables and serve you in a timely fashion. We hate to keep you waiting for that much needed second pint and chance to order your food, so we are making sure we put feet on the ground when our bookings are high. However, we are also in that balancing act of not over-staffing our little business when we're a bit quieter.

So if you book, we can plan better and serve you better. This doesn't apply for drinks - the leg-work for that service is far less than for when you join us for food and we'll always keep some tables free for a quick pint or three!

We're looking forward to the next steps towards normality, when we can welcome you back inside the pub and at some point move away from table service only - not least because we're racking up an average of 9 miles per day in terms of steps! But in the meantime, if you would like to come and see us at a busier time (evenings and weekends), by letting us know in advance, you are helping us immensely and we can rest assured we'll be able to serve you to the high standard we aim for.

Also - on that note, we are hiring! Look out on our FB page for an update on what we're after in terms of extra waiting staff and if you are interested, or know someone who is, please get in touch!