Blacksmiths Arms in St Albans

About 30% of the food in the "vegi breakfast" I ordered didn't turn up. When I queried it I was told "sorry we should have told you". No money off/anything offered.

We ordered 2 “Veggie Eggie Breakfast” at the bar, paying up front and leaving a tip. When our food arrived, neither plates had the fried eggs or the toasted bread roll as described on the menu. After asking the bar team why we were missing 2 of the meal items, they told us they were “out” of eggs and bread rolls. The staff member said “I should have told you before.” We were not offered any substitutions or given a refund for the missing items. We also ordered 2 cappuccinos and nachos which were fine, but did not include rocket as described. However, not getting 2 of the brunch items we paid for leads me to leave 1 star. Would recommend going elsewhere for food.

Alfie was amazing at our service for our brunch! Really friendly and really efficient. Thank you so much for the great hospitality

29th March (bank holiday Friday) Alfie was a top top man. Looked after us brilliantly and a great down to earth lad who served our ever need before we knew we needed. Honestly recommend to come here to anyone!!! What a place!!

We had a great brunch at the blacksmith arms, Alfie’s service was second to none would definitely recommend this pub great atmosphere and lovely staff

We had a fab brunch at the blacksmith arms, Alife was the best server! He kept us topped up alllll brunch and had great fun! All the staff are unreal! We will defo be back

Beth was a fantastic waitress. Really on the ball. The food and drink was great as usual. Would definitely recommend ro friends and family.

Old local pub. I'm not sure about the layout. Just popped in for a drink, and it looks busy weekends. Serves neck oil, which is a plus. Good garden for the summer.

Bottomless Brunch excellent value staff were lovely

I arranged to meet a friend at the blacksmiths arms. After walking to the bar I met my friend. It is around 2 30 pm in the afternoon. The Barman comes over and I order a pint, he says he can’t serve me. I asked why. He said it’s been something that has been discussed. I hadn’t visited the blacksmiths for 3 months before this. So I ask the barman ‘ is it something I’ve done here or somewhere else? His response is to say that he can’t tell me why. I understand he has a right to refuse service without giving a reason as I have worked in similar roles over the years. So I waited for my friend to down his pint then we went opposite to another pub. The whole time there was a lady bartender Standing in the background who wanted to stare at me but not talk to me. Is it because I walked in with a walking stick so can’t walk straight due to arthritis? Or is it because I have AUTISM and don’t look at people in the correct way ? I have been drinking in the blacksmiths arms since I was 18 years old. Now I am 44 years old.

Enjoyed a bottomless brunch on Wednesday staff very good excellent value.

I went for a bottomless brunch last weekend, and it’s probably the best bottomless, I have ever been to - the selection of drinks is amazing, the food was lovely and best of all was our server Alfie - he went above and beyond and was so attentive and friendly, there is literally nothing more could I ask for. Would definitely recommend and will be going again!

We came in for a bottomless brunch and were served by Alfie. What a lovely guy he should be promoted honestly couldn't fault him

Great pub to watch the sport and a good selection of beers

Popped in for a quick drink & stayed for 2 hours to watch Rugby although couldn’t sit as very busy but felt very welcoming. Loved the garden.

We had an awesome time at the Blacksmiths Arms. We went for a family lunch, and watched a bit of the darts on the screens. The chicken meals were cooked to perfection. We had a minor slip up with one of the orders but that was quickly rectified. And they have done an excellent job of catering for people with food allergies/intolerances.

First time visited, a fab bar well worth a visit xx

So happy to see Yestie Boys on tap, been wanting to try some of their beer for ages so chuffed to bits about that. Other than that, lovely outside garden area which I'll definitely be back to shortly

Excellent food friendly staff bottomless brunch

Good for sport, I'm way too old now...

Food was late compared to everybody else's, chips arrived cold and not exactly fresh. And they never refunded us for the cauliflower that they didn't have ! Not an happy bunny about this

Lovely friendly staff. Nice pub food.

Live music, good beer, good atmosphere, what's not to love!

We visited the Blacksmiths for our works Christmas party. We had pre-booked all the food and some bottles for the table which made for a very organised evening, the staff knew who each meal was for and were very efficient and friendly. The food was really nice, we had chosen from a selection of starters and mains from the Christmas menu. After the food there was live band who were really good with a broad selection of covers to please pretty much anyone. If I had one slight criticism and this didn't distract from the evening, there were only two people behind the bar so getting served was a bit slow. Other than that it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening in a nice pub.

Visited on a dreary Monday for a pitstop lunch on our way elsewhere. Staff were very friendly and appreciably accommodating of our new-born, however sadly the food and facilities were a bit of a let down given the price point. I couldn't detect any hint of the bacon & onion jam in my beef burger, while my partner's halloumi tacos tasted bland and had poor portioning of ingredients. Sadly the disabled toilet had quite an odour to it and was freezing cold, guaranteeing our baby ended up screaming the house down. Cokes tasted weak (low syrup) and the glasses seemed quite mucky (seemed like more than just water marks). Overall, while the Blacksmith's Arms certainly doesn't claim to be a gastropub, I'd say for the same £ ballpark you could be going to one.

Always a good place to go for sports, probably lacking with the staff on shift during big match days (London Darby being the one I noticed most) Overall good food, good pints.

Beth was our server for Bottonless Brunch, super friendly and attentive making sure all our needs and wants were met! Bottomless Brunch was a great value for money, nice food, great drinks, fab vibe, and even better service. Will definitely be back for another bottomless brunch and drinks with friends.

Amazing spot, Beth was a great server and was very prompt ,fast service and great drinks, will be back again :)

Beth was our waitress and we was given the best service! Hands down the best bottomless brunch I’ve ever had. Attentive and lovely.

Come here for bottomless brunch, menu is very good with options to add upgrades. The food was very tasty and the service was impeccable. Our sever Beth was quick with getting our drinks orders and the drinks to us, had Prosecco on the table which was replaced each time the bottle was empty. Cocktails were stronggggg. Good atmosphere. One of the better bottomless brunches I’ve done would deffo recommend :)

Thank you Beth for looking after us so well on our bottomless brunch. The service was top notch and the drinks were free flowing and the cocktails were yummy. The only downside was the food but as long as you go with the attitude its drinks with some food, then you will be fine. They had the football on but it wasn’t too loud. So all in all a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon.

A brilliant place for a brunch in St Albans. Beth was fantastic and would highly recommend. Food was really nice and the service was better

Brilliant brunch and a brilliant bar made Beth made it a fantastic day out with my mates for a few drinks. Great value brunch

Such an amazing experience. Greeted by Steve the manager & taken to our reserved table. The good was fantastic, the bottomless kept on flowing and Beth our waitress was brilliant and so attentive she just kept us topped up on drinks for the whole 2 hour booking. The lovely thing was you could mix cocktails with Prosecco so the choices suited us all. I would highly recommend this bottomless brunch.

I had the Bottomless Brunch with friends yesterday. We were welcomed by Steve who explained it all to us. Beth was our host, she was absolutely brilliant, she’s friendly, attentive and looked after us really well, making sure we were never without a drink. The food was delicious and there was a great choice of drinks. I will certainly be back, next time with my husband as he said it’s a great deal. Thank you to all the staff, see you again soon.

Lovely experience with Beth and Steve. Great service. Lovely food. Good ambience Would recommend. Thanks

Was a great night mcvicar band was amazeballs cant wait to see them again

Lovely warm and cosy atmosphere on a cold day. Lovely food and a great menu with loads of choice. Very welcoming and friendly staff.

We used to visit The Blacksmiths regularly for lunch pints with old mates. Today we dropped in for a quick lunch and the beer (Masham’s Black Sheep) was excellent. Shame we can’t say the same about the food. She chose fish and chips and I had Mac n’Cheese. It was ok but not a patch on what it used to be like. Her fish was mainly batter. To be fair there was some fish inside, somewhere, but what there was was dry and tasteless. The batter was almost inedible the whole lot probably hotted up from last week. So, most of it was left and we shot down to Wetherspoons for lunch. What a difference!

Food and service below average. Floor dirty with spillages, I nearly slipped while walking to a table. I was told 4 times that my dog was not allowed in the pub after 8pm. Strange rule I thought. I asked for water for my dog, as I could not find a dog bowl when I looked around. The waitress said she would bring one. When my food arrived I asked again and was told to go outside a find a stack of bowls and water. It would have been helpful if they brought me a bowl since my food had arrived. Sunday night at 8pm was quiet. Some staff were standing around. When I went outside leaving the warm pizza on the table I found a stack of bowls floating in dirty water! I ordered a Handmade stone oven pizza. The menu described as handmade and thin and crispy. The Worst pizza I’ve ever had. The pastry was soggy and thick and it was drowned in red sauce and was very acidic in flavour and not well cooked. It was not a handmade pizza! It was not worth the money. It tasted and looked like the kind of pizza get in fast food outlet trucks, not what you’d expect from a so called gastro pub. St Albans is spoilt for choice when it comes to pubs. I won’t be going back, one of the most disappointing meals I’ve ever had.

We had a fantastic bottomless brunch here. Beth our server was very attentive and amazing. She made the experience great! I would recommend this bottemless brunch.

Tash was amazing! Great server, always keeping the drink full and lovely food! Would defo come again!

Went to the bottomless brunch, was tasty food and good service. Tash was our server, very efficient and nice to deal with. Would recommend for sure!

Came here on a Friday night for fish and chips. The food and service were both really good. There was a medical emergency with a customer and the doorman dealt with it so professionally, it’s nice to know that the staff their have proper training if anything were to go wrong.

Beth was absolutely fantastic! She was such a great host! Customer service 10/10 We will definitely be back with the girls

We had bottomless brunch in October 2023 and were served by Beth who was brilliant. The drinks were solid as expected and Beth was excellent given that she had to juggle between us and another group who looked very challenging!

awesome time, Beth was fantastic with her service and friendly and couldn't fault anything, definitely will come back

Alfie was our waiter today and he was fantastic. He was so kind to us, and really made out bottomless brunch great. It was so fun, all because of Alfie. He was also aware of when we needed another drink, and we never went without...

Alfie was our waiter today and he was fantastic. He was so kind to us, and really made out bottomless brunch great. It was so fun, all because of Alfie. He was also aware of when we needed another drink, and we never went without one. 10/10 having a bottomless brunch, and even MORE recommend having a bottomless with Alfie. Thankyou so much :)

Bottomless brunch for 12! Bit sceptical how tge staff would keep the drinks flowing for so many of us but Beth, our server, was amazing. There wasn't a moment we didn't have a drink in our hand. Food was delicious but took a little longer...

Went for a family bottomless brunch this weekend. Great value and great service from Beth! She was a superstar. Will be back for more Aperols and chicken wings soon

Booked the ‘Forge’ for a family and friends gathering, Steve and his team were very accommodating. Some of us turned up early and he even put the TV on for us to watch sports whilst we waited for everyone else to arrive, food was nice...

Great pub, Peroni on draft, good food and sports, what more could you want?

Great atmosphere and entertainment, security top notch

Amazing bottomless brunch, Charlie was very accommodating, kept us topped up and happy! Top man! Highly recommend!

Just popped in to do a bit of work and ordered from their new Menu. Amazing food. The Bollywood burger was out this world. Amazing pub, bags of character, a brilliant garden and service which was super friendly.

Beautiful place lovely and clean nice people

Amazing bottomless brunch! Kiran was fantastic , the best host we have ever had and we have done a lot of bottomless brunches ! She’s amazing ! We will 100% be back! Food and drink was great and we never went short ! The best!...

The best bottomless brunch by far Kiran was the hostess with the mostess!! She could not have done any more to make our experience amazing. There were 4 of us and she was amazing throughout the whole experience. I would highly recommend 5stars and more...

Visited on a normal Monday afternoon, took a seat at the outside seating area. Ordered drinks online, after 30 mins gone to check on the drinks order which was just being made. Didn’t get much apology for the long wait. The food wasn’t the best quality, wouldn’t order again.

I came here for a bottomless brunch Saturday which was one of the best iv been too. Glasses were never dry Kiran our waitress was amazing polite and couldn't do enough for us. And for the price of the brunch was worth every penny. I had the chicken burger and Fries which was also very good, will definitely coming back here. Thanks for a great time guys

It has definitely improved since our last visit and will definitely be returning

Amazing! Bottomless brunch was u real - great value for food, drinks and the service was so good. Beth the server was great and was constantly there to check on us and keep our drinks topped up and flowing.

Well lady's if you fancy the bottomless brunch it is 100% worth it literally not a dry glass while we were there. Kiran was absolutely amazing kept our drinks flowing and a great laugh. We will definitely be coming back

Pub and grub good,good selection of beers.Staff friendly.

Love this pub! A regular going there, but today was an issue. Was in there for a couple of pints and was charged for 3! When questing the manager and showing her my online banking app she said she would call the police unless I...

Excellent food and drink and even better service. Big shout out for Kiran who took great care of us.

We had a bottomless brunch here for the World Cup women’s final and honestly it’s such good value and Beth is the most amazing server! They just want to make sure you are treated well and that you get your money worth

Great breakfast with friends looked after royally by Kiran! Very good! Great service and well worth a visit! We'll be back

The menu range could be wider, but the quality is excellent.

Lunch for 3 on a Tuesday earlier this month. A very very warm welcome from the staff. All were chatty and friendly, very helpful with drink and food choices on each visit to the bar. The burgers were absolutely gorgeous, great beer and wine too. We used to live in St Albans and in fact were the managers of this pub in the late 90's, so pleased to see it still well managed. Hope to return again soon & definitely recommend.

Walked in a week ago with friends Music too loud so walked out again. Must say a lady offered to turn the music down but first impressions prevailed.

Asked for x4 house vodka with coke, got served by an Indian looking girl with glasses. Imagine the shock when she said £54. On challenging she said well house vodka is Grey Goose, refused to pay as we never asked for branded Grey Goose so she refused to serve us for the rest of the evening so felt we were given no choice but to leave and go elsewhere. Rip off Britain - Rip of Blacksmith Arms in St Albans. Response to Blacksmith Arms reply. Your reply shows your lack of empathy and understanding towards your customers, attempting to suggest me and my friends are lying and can’t afford to buy expensive drinks is both insulting and liable. I suggest you request some training from Stonegate, or your regional manager in customer relationships. Blacksmith Arms is a High Street pub, nothing more and nothing less, when a customer asks for any drink, bar staff should confirm their intention to pour premium priced drinks and ask if this is acceptable or at least ask if the brand you intend to pour is required. Your exploiting party goers in the hope they will not challenge, unfortunately on this occasion you were not allowed to succeed. Your staff served three customers who she knew arrived at the bar after us, it was only the courtesy of a male visitor who pointed out we were next that forced her to ask us what we would like. We said just a goodbye and left with self satisfaction, never to return.

Amazing food and service from brilliant bar staff who really go the extra mile for customers. Will be back again

Great afternoon, beth was an amazing waiter and the food was lovely. Drinks came really fast and the quality of the food was lovely.

Amazing venue, with an amazing team! Could not have asked for more when we popped in for dinner and drinks. Such a clean venue with a great atmosphere, will be back again 😊

Szuper pub, finom volt minden, jó sörök, és a kiszolgálás is kiváló.

Popped in for a drink. Had two soft drinks, a bottle of appertiser and a can of fizzy grapefruit. Was charged £7.40. The barmaid should have worn a mask. Robbing the customer. Shocking. Will never go back .

Me and my friend went for a bottomless brunch today and had an amazing time. The service was so consistent. The barmaid Beth made sure we had everything we needed and always checked on us. Will definitely be going again.

Me and my friend went to bottomless brunch today, the service was great. We are known regulars and the service we recieved today from Beth was the best service we have had in a long time. The service has always been constant from others but...

We had an amazing bottomless brunch where Tash was very attentive and always made sure we had drinks on the table! Great day out with friends and so reasonably priced!

Nice bar and food place with good service and really good food! Malice’s the chicken halloumi sandwich. Also the loaded fries were great

Historic country pub in a rural village, with ample parking and a terraced, private beer garden out back. Superb menu, with outstanding food. Friendly and relaxed atmosphere. It's a pub, with restaurant-quality food.

Great band Friday night. Fantastic atmosphere and plenty of room to dance 💃

Nice garden, great beer selection.

Had a fab bottomless brunch. Alfie was amazing and went over and beyond with his service. Would highly recommend a visit.

Great spot for a drink in the sunny pub garden with amazing cocktails and fantastic staff!

Alfie was incredible from start to finish. Best bottomless brunch I’ve had purely because of the service from Alfie; always there asking us if we needed anything else. Definitely would come again!

Absolutely amazing on all accounts. Food, Drink, Garden, Atmosphere, Team A+++++++++++++++++

This is the best place to go for brunch, Alfie and Lizzie our servers were the best, so attentive and we didn’t have to wait or ask for anything. 5 ⭐️ to both of them. One of the best pubs I’ve ever been in, and...

Another bottomless brunch and another 5* review from us! Alfie was amazing again and lizzie is just as amazing. They only ever go above and beyond everytime. Thankyou for another amazing brunch! Both are credits to your pub

Came for a bottomless brunch. Alfie was amazing, never let our glasses get empty and the food was really tasty!

Omg the same lady did the same to me and my girlfriends then ignored us for the rest of the evening after serving us the first drink. They sell pints of beer and Gordon’s gin so not exactly a top end venue is it. However, trying to palm off 5 vodkas for £65 maybe they should rename the pub to “The Highwayman”. If you want a great time in St Albans without being robbed there are so many other pubs with an honesty policy. Never to return.

Asked for x4 house vodka with coke, got served by an Indian looking girl with glasses. Imagine the shock when she said £54. On challenging she said well house vodka is Grey Goose, refused to pay as we never asked for branded Grey Goose so...

I was really impressed the Blacksmith Arms in St Albans town centre ,they seem to have achieved the perfect balance between a traditional pub and a modern bar with a comfortable and.friendly atmosphere, it’s the perfect destination for a big night out with friends.

Had a lovely lunch here with a friend, and sat in the pub garden huts which were lovely. Food was great as well as the service from the bartenders- Naomi was amazing! Will be coming back for more burgers

Great brunch! Food was absolutely delicious and a really good range of cocktails. A really nice atmosphere with good music playing snd our waiter Alfie was absolutely fab. 10/10!

We came for bottomless brunch as a group of 4! The waiter Alfie was amazing, great service and so helpful during our bottomless brunch! Never let our drinks go empty, highly recommend! X

Went for bottomless brunch, service was amazing and the food was really good, they look after you after you well and everything went as planned!!

Had a lovely lunch, all food was tasty and hot. Thank you Chef. Staff and the landlord were really friendly and helpful. Definitely be back