Great Expections in Reading

Visited for a Christmas get-together with a party of 9. While the atmosphere was pleasant, there were several issues that impacted our experience. Positives: - Nice ambiance - Good space for groups - Dance floor available Areas for improvement: - Communication: Called the restaurant multiple times with no answer - Service: No initial greeting or management presence - Drinks: Piña colada was overly sweet for the price - Hours: Early closing time (9:00 PM) on a Sunday during festive season was disappointing We had booked in advance and submitted pre-orders, but the service felt disorganized. Had to search for staff to place drink orders. The early closing time at 9:00 PM significantly cut into our celebration - we managed to stay until 9:30 PM but felt rushed. As someone who only has Sundays and Mondays off, later hours during the festive season would have been appreciated.

We visited last night as a group to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and unfortunately, the experience was far from what we expected. The service was shockingly poor. We waited over an hour for food to arrive, only to be told that the starters and mains would come out together—yet they didn’t. It then took another 20 minutes for the main dishes to finally arrive. When we raised this issue with the waiter, he argued with us, denying what he had said, even though several of us clearly heard him. To make matters worse, they brought out the wrong dish and tried to charge us for it, insisting that we had ordered it when we hadn’t. Throughout the evening, the staff appeared unprofessional, openly discussing our table with their colleagues and staring at us as they walked by. Despite having a two-hour table reservation, we had only just started eating by the end of that time. The slow service and lack of professionalism completely ruined what should have been a special birthday celebration. For the prices charged, we expected much better. A thoroughly disappointing experience. Wouldn’t come here again.

We had a work Christmas party here and were extremely disappointed. Despite preordering, we had to wait over 2 hours for our mains to arrive (there was around 90 minutes between the starter and mains). When they did finally arrive, they were small portions and bad quality - definitely not worth the £60 for 3 courses! I paid £35 for an extremely overcooked, tough and tiny portion of Beef Wellington. If you can't cook Beef Wellington properly then don't have it on the menu!! At least we were offered free drinks because the service was so slow. Honestly don't bother with this place though, save your money and go somewhere better.

If you want to wait 1hour and 45 minutes between your appetizers and your most overcooked beef wellington you have ever tried, then this is the place for you. I wish there was an option for zero star. Terrible!

We recently held our firm's Christmas party at Calico for the second consecutive year, which speaks volumes about our satisfaction. The booking process was smooth, and the staff were incredibly responsive and accommodating. On the day, the staff were professional and attentive, ensuring everything ran perfectly. The venue was beautifully decorated and spacious, providing a great ambiance. The food was excellent and went down well with everyone who attended. The DJ kept the energy high with a fantastic mix of music. Overall, it was a successful event, and we highly recommend Calico for any corporate celebration.

We held my husbands 50th at Calico. The food was fabulous, the staff were very helpful and we all had a brilliant night. Thank you!

I have just celebrated my 40th birthday with yourselves on the 30th of November 2024. I would like to start by saying a massive thank you to both Rahul and Gabriel for all there help to the lead up of my event. They have been nothing but attentive, approachable and helpful. On the actual night the bar staff along with Rahul were absolutely amazing and I can’t fault the event. The venue, food, atmosphere and staff were 10 out of 10 and I would recommend this place a 1000 times over. If you’re looking for hold an event where you want the wow factor along with great staff superb food and vibes Calico is the place. I wish I could do it all over again. Many thanks once again for making it a magical night for me and one that my guests won’t forget. Kind regards, Punum

Malcom the waiter really catered for my friends and I. Please give this man a raise and a good one at that! Thank you so much!

We recently celebrated our wedding anniversary at Calico, and it was an excellent experience! The food was amazing, and the cocktails were brilliant. We truly appreciated the lovely service, superb decor, and the wonderful ambience, which made us feel like we were having a private dining experience. The choice of music added to the overall atmosphere, creating a memorable evening. While we found the prices to be slightly high, we felt that the quality of the experience more than justified it. Thank you for a wonderful night! Highly recommend!!

What an amazing afternoon yesterday with some amazing friends x The menu was outstanding and so were the drinks x Our table service and bar service was also outstanding what lovely people you have working for you x I can not recommend Calico highly enough they deserve 10 stars not just 5 x Weldone and thank you again x

Had a great time yesterday 16/11/24 having a bottomless brunch Food was amazing atmosphere was perfect definitely will be back for the brunch again. Drinks are fantastic only thing I would change is maybe some more choices of cocktails or maybe just gin/ vodka/white gin with a mixer ....other bottomless brunch's I've been to offer 6/12 different cocktails just a suggestion. Still had an amazing time ❤️ Izzy thanks for making our time amazing and great play list and Malcolm x this is my 4/5 visit so I will definitely be back ❤️

great food and excellent service, thanks to Melkem for making out anniversary celebration extra special☺️

Enjoyed my birthday here, 5 star service lovely servers 😊

Very nice staff and lovely atmosphere!

Was out for a meal with friends last night. The starters and the cocktails were amazing, but the main course was terrible, lacked taste and was totally bland. The dessert was equally appalling. The meal had some high points but ended up in a disappointing note.

We recently had bottomlux brunch at Calico in Reading, there was a total of 9 of us and we were seated in the glass room and it was lovely!! We were well looked after by our waitress Issy, her service was great and she was very attentive with ensuring our glasses were never empty! The food was delicious too! This is our second brunch and im sure there will be more! Thank you!

a group of us came in on saturday for an engagement party and it was lovely! the ambiance of the place was incredible and it was nice and clean and has a great atmosphere! the service was lovely and prompt, our waitress was so nice and kept doing check backs and coming back to do drinks orders without being prompted. our table was cleared as soon as our meals where finished and same with glasses, she was so so nice. there was also a guy who kept checking on us and clearing our table whenever anything was empty and they did it so promptly! i didn’t get their names but the girl had brown hair in a pony tail and the guy had blonde hair and both looked like they where teens. anyway everything about this place was perfect and deffo recommend!! food was also so so lovely, thank you!

Manager Gabriel was absolutely outstanding at treating us with such professionalism, this is how you should be treated, lovely restaurant and food , will be back very soon

Great staff, Great experience, Great food

We have been to Calico Bar & Eatery before and had a lovely time. So after a long awaited and anticipated visit, we were really looking forward to coming back to enjoy some food and drinks. Unfortunately, this did not go to plan. Another rather inebriated customer spent the moment from when we stepped in staring at me, waving and trying to get my attention in some way or another. Anytime I scanned the room I found him desperately trying to gain eye contact with me, waving, and shouting over when all we were wanted to do was enjoy dinner. I was purposely ignoring him completely avoiding any sort of interaction. It was making really uncomfortable but I did not want to ruin our dinner by making a fuss. However, after an hour/2 hours of this happening it took other customers to report to the manager that we were uncomfortable and only got them came over even though he even said he had noticed his behaviour prior to it being reported. He simply came over and said the customer was too drunk and wasn’t being served anymore. After the manager left our female server then followed up with us and she asked if I was uncomfortable to which I said yes. She then said she was going to call security. We then watched as the security guard approached this individual with the look that something might be done just to turn it into a laugh and joke. It took 15 minutes for him to move the guest from this table to another behind so that he was not in eye line. Then the security guard took it upon himself to approach our table and ask what happened. “What did he do that was actually wrong?”, “He was just trying to give you a compliment, and tell you’re wonderful and pretty”, “I would take it as a compliment”. I said that is harassment and my friends backed this up also. I asked him how would he feel if he was trying to have an intimate dinner and someone was shouting, waving and staring at him, to which he had no good reply. At which point I summoned the manager to ask for the bill and said I really wanted to leave. I was upset and furious and took myself outside. I came back to find the man and security gone after my friend had spoken with the manager and we had been provided with a small discount for the inconvenience. I was then led to believe the man had been kicked out. We paid the bill and left, to find the man and security guard at the door having a laugh. The only positive of the evening was our female server, I did not catch her name but she was empathetic and was actually the only one to apologise for the way the situation was handled. She was really supportive and seemed shocked when I let her know what security had said to me. I would really appreciate an email or phone call to discuss this situation further. Safe to say we will not be returning anytime soon. The approach to women’s safety was appalling and felt so backwards.

It’s a favourite among my friend group. Not only in the vibe very modern and hip, the food is delectable. Our server recommended us a selection of appetisers, all of which went will with our cocktails. I recommend the Mushroom Croquettes.

Security and management need changing. Went for a long awaited meal and was seated nearby a rather drunken individual who throughout the meal kept waving and shouting at our friend, this continued over an hour and multiple customers highlighted the harassment and disruption of this individual to the management. The female server came over to ask if we were okay and said she would get security, once security came the security and individual took 15 minutes to move the individual to another table. The security then came over to ask what they had done wrong and said “they were just trying to complement you”, when we highlighted that what they were doing was harassment the security guard said “they were just trying to tell you looked lovely and that he was doing nothing wrong”. It took 30 minutes from when we were told the individual was being kicked out until they were coaxed out of the restaurant. When speaking to the manager we were informed the manager had noticed the individual earlier and they had stopped serving him but took no further action once it had been highlighted by other customers. There was little apology about the issue that occurred and only towards our discomfort. Upon leaving 30 minutes after the individual had been removed from the restaurant we were greeted by the security and individual waiting at the door and found that he was never removed from the establishment. We were encouraged to come back but unless there is any improvement to women’s safety and the seriousness of these issues I would encourage others to avoid On a lighter note I would like to highlight the compassion and service from our female server, they made us feel heard and understood the issues raised, thank you.

Food was awful ! Not enough waiters as waited ages to get a drink with our meals Food was not great and cold Very clumsy waiters knocking drinks off their tray on to customers! Awful service

The experience was really good, food , Service and ambience is amazing

Loved this place! Drinks and food were really good 🫶🏻

I stayed here when I was walking the Thames. Large room with a comfortable four poster bed, good shower and large TV. The bar/restaurant downstairs is great for a quick nightcap (small glass of wine, good price) - there is a quiet "library" section that's great to relax in. Staff were very polite and friendly. The only slight downside is no breakfast, but there's plenty of choice nearby

Hotel part of the business is pretty tired, light shades dusty, lot of water marks in the taps etc. bed pretty comfy, walls thin, hopefully don't end up next door to someone who snores loud! A lot of road noise but use to that from home so wasn't such an issue for me. No real service, the bar is clearly the priority, no night porter etc. No breakfast, which I think was advertised when I booked. Would probs have rather gone a premier inn on reflection but was cheap(er) and ok.

Good service, good @Rahul he served us soo well, we had a good time and enjoyed.

For the money we paid this hotel was very good, we were only here one night, it work for us.

Budget hotel in Reading with historic features Clean. Comfy bed. Stairs from hell and no elevator. Beware if you have heavy luggage or are less fit. Multiple entrance step, stairs and fire doors throughout. NO ELEVATOR

Whilst visiting Reading for my 70th birthday we booked this amazing restaurant, you could not wish for friendlier staff, we were made so welcome and the food was amazing, will certainly be returning

Dear Rahul & the Calico Bar & Eatery Team, I just want to say thank you for the excellent service and food last night. From the beginning, booking a dinner for 10 people in the private room was a pleasure, with great and quick communication as well as flexibility. The service was outstanding, and the food was fantastic. Thank you, and we will be back soon! Marta

I went to the restaurant for my birthday meal and I was served by a man named Rahul. He was incredibly quick, kind and made me feel very special on my birthday!! Food was great and his service was amazing. Thanks Rahul 😊

Really good food and great service. The manager was warm and welcoming.

Stopped off for a quick drink (first time I've spent over £20 for a pint and a cocktail in Reading! - neither of which reached the level of mediocre). Definitely a triumph of style over substance

Great place to stay for business and leisure trips to Reading.

Excellent Food ,drinks and Outstanding service from Rahul see you soon again thank you.

The food was amazing and drinks were so nice. Rahul was lovely and very accommodating, he managed to get us a table very quickly. The music is also a good vibe.

This place has had a complete refurbishment and is so completely different that its hard to believe it's the same grotty old pub it used to be!!. Now highly modern cocktail bar that looks fabulous. Staff were friendly and prices reasonable. We sat in the library away from the main bar area and it was perfect for a drink and a chat with friends with wine!!

Amazing experience! Lovely staff, amazing food and drinks and an overall wonderful vibe! Highly recommend!

Wonderful authentic Indian cuisine, brilliant service from Rahul and some tasty cocktails! The Gobi Manchurian small plate was incredible! Will definitely be going back

Great night for a girls night or a date! Drinks were yum and quick! A big thanks to Rahul for serving us and making sure we were happy! Calico is not advertised enough, visited due to recommendations from a friend!! Defientely would recommend, super cute and great vibes!

Great experience, loved the drinks and Rahul was fantastic!!!

Great service, really good food, good music and nice ambience! Went for a meal with family, friendly service, Rahul made us feel welcome and will definitely be going back!

Not the newest and shiniest but comfortable rooms and friendly staff. Well located for town centre, but quite a lot of traffic noise and sirens from adjacent main road.

The other photos did this place dirty!!! Calico Bar is beautiful and bright. Me and my family couldn’t be happier with how our night turned out.

Also a great dinning experience here. Food is super tasty and the cocktails are lush.

went for a bottomless brunch on a saturday. wasn't overly busy. the music didn't fit the tone of the time of day, more what I'd expect to play in the evening ready for a night out on the town. the price didn't reflect the quality of the food. cocktails were very nice and we'll definitely go back for an evening drinks but didn't feel like the food was up to par with the charge for it. still a nice place though, love the aesthetic.

Came for food and cocktails with my friends and had an amazing night. Great service, food was immaculate& super menu. Cocktails & wine list was also great. Ambience of the place is 10/10 and the DJ was playing such good music throughout! Would highly recommend for a special night out

One star would be overated poor food massivley overpriced really weird staff rude manager rasist staff what more can i say about this dive dont waste your time

I booked the private library room for my 40th birthday celebrations in Jan. The booking process was really easy! I'd been talking to Emma via email since November and she answered all my queries really quickly. When we arrived the staff were lovely, very friendly and accommodating! The venue itself is beautiful. We stayed all night until close and everyone had the best time! Special thanks to the DJ for putting up with our song requests until the end! Would highly recommend Calico!

I entered the establishment with 2 fellow Punjabi's - we ordered 2 mixys with bare sides. To be completely honest it doesn't blow AQ out the park however the service more than makes up for it. Our waitress "brura" (tbc if that's her real name, could be an alias) was different gravy. She knew the menu and wasn't shy in giving us the details. The chilli chicken is otw and the gulab jamun cheesecake looked techy so will probs order that next time. Unfortunately I have deducted 2 stars because we were not given any complimentary chocolates upon paying the bill. Hopefully brura fixes up and delivers Baddys goods next time :)

Front room lovely feel like a modern colonial members club, the main bar more like a trendy cocktail bar/club

had a 30th birthday meal here on a Friday night had the private room booked out the staff were really helpful great service good drinks menu and the food was amazing the place is decorated beautifully great lighting ambiance and good music the bar looked amazing very vibrant had a lovely experience here and will definitely be back for me

We have just had our team Christmas meal in the private dining room. The room was decorated nicely and was great for our team meal. The food was, as always, excellent. Great menu choices. A great selection of drinks too. We all enjoyed the evening and I for one will definitely be back.

Would never stay here again. Dust everywhere. Stains on the bed. Room was so so small. Felt like I was in a box. Awful. Alarm went off when having a hot shower. TV so old and small. Basically a monitor. Weird noise randomly ever 30 mins. Like pipes churning. Was so glad to get home. Worst stay I have had in a hotel. The 1 staff member I met was nice though.

No heating and no hot water. Pretty basic requirements for a hotel. Massive fail.

Attended a party here and it was awesome. My lil one burnt her hand and the girl working there took care of her,did the bandages etc. The whole team were really helpful and nice..!

My family arranged a 40th birthday dinner for me here, from the start the staff were excellent they changed our table to help with someone who couldn't sit at the high tables. The waitress we had i think her name was Lillian, she was great really looked after us, my newphew took a shine to her and she was so friendly and nice to us, made sure we where looked after.. The food is spot on i would definitely recommend the mix grill it was lovely one of the best mixed grills ive had.. The price was good including drinks it was great value for money..... I will definitely be back and highly recommend...

For those that remember this place as "Great Expectations" it is now very different. Now a trendy tile and LED light cocktail bar, the environment seems a little cool and sterile. Seemed fairly popular and busy for a Wednesday night

Great place. The menu is fab, something for all. Veggies, vegans etc have plenty of great choices. Food was lovely and price feels about right too. Staff are very helpful and friendly. Atmosphere fits well and decor has been done nicely. Great for groups, families, dates etc

I’m assuming the restaurant/hotel is under new management, but I’m not sure. The restaurant looks newly renovated and it’s absolutely beautiful. The food was also tasty and well presented. Definitely worth visiting.

Poor customer service before you even get in the door. Tried to organise my 40th for 25 people for December 9th. Via email all seemed friendly and polite was in correspondence with Emma. Went in the view the place and decided on the library as a private area where would have buffet and was told it was available and a deposit of £150 was required. Emailed said Emma to confirm, no response but as excited to get things organised rang the next day to make the booking. Two times I called and was told Emma was in a meeting until the third call was told she went home. Rang back the next day spoke to Emma. She spoke to me as if i was bothering her, she told me I kept ringing and she will ring me. As I was at work colleague in the office could hear her and was surprised at her tone for someone o hospitality. She concluded by saying she would ring me.Waited a good few days no phonecall. Asked a friend to ring and try and make a booking for sam time and room my friend was told venue was available. Wondering what kind of establishment speaks to future clients this way, the venue is either availableor its not. Why are you stringing future customers along. Did I not appear to be the type of clientele they want to attend their establishment. Just found the whole experience unpleasant and extremely unprofessional. Would never go there they obviously want to pick and choose whose customers money they prefer to have. Having not opened for a year am surprised this is how they have started to treat people.

This gorgeous bar never let's you down in terms of a casual but smart drinking and dining experience. Highly instagrammable and a little away from the main areas of Reading, it gets local and grown up crowd. And the Indian inspired food is superb. You mouth starts watering on arrival as it smells delicious.

Dusty rooms, worn down, lots of overdue repairments, bad sound isolation

Stayed over the weekend, which I will never get back. The music was so loud and vibrations so intense, I couldn't sleep or just enjoy my evenings. I could actually hear individual lyrics. The manager and DJ refused to lower the volume. Not allowed to have a single moment with my own thoughts.Even inside locking myself inside the bathroom didn't help at all. Kept up till 3am and I'm expeccted to pay full price. Totally disgusting and should advertise as a nightclub and bar NOT a hotel.

This was my first visit to Calico last night for my hen do! Beautiful decor, clean, friendly staff, excellent service especially from Nico and Emma. Food was sooo yummy! The music was on point 👌🏼 We did a cocktail making session with Nico in the basement private room and it was just perfect and great fun! I will definitely be returning to Calico in the future. Thank you for having me!

The restaurant has had a revamp. The food was of good quality and tasty.

Calico bar and restaurant is exceptional. The food was incredible and really quick, service and atmosphere was perfect. Will come again very soon.

I had dinner at Calico last week and was very impressed! The grand pillars at the entrance make you feel like you are entering a stately home - amazed that a building like this exists in the centre of Reading! The ambience inside is fantastic - a blend between an upmarket cocktail bar and a high-end restaurant. Plus there are a couple of private areas including a library room (!) and a private dining room. The food, which is global (Indian, steak, modern European, Pizza), was absolutely awesome (I had the Indian options on the menu) - in fact, some of the best Indian food I have had in a long time. And it was all beautifully presented too. Service was warm and friendly! Highly recommended!

I came for the R&B bottomless brunch yesterday and it was amazing. Our waitress Liana was amazing and a credit to the Calico business. She had a good friendly approach about her, was never to busy to help us and overall a brilliant young lady. The drinks were amazing and the food was as good as ever! Hope more events like this happen more often!

This place thoroughly met our high expectations, rooms are plenty large, staff friendly, good location to the discotech and we even made friends with a few pigeons

We spent one night here a Sunday the bar was closed but were pleased with its location and had a quick and efficient check in lovely large room with four poster and a very good nights sleep. Breakfast was great and the staff very friendly would definitely use again

This place is incredible. Love the theme of the interior and it looks like they even brew their own beer here. Nice selection of drinks too!

Not a great hotel. I booked 2 rooms and one was pretty disgusting and the other okay. The floor in the bar was so dirty and sticky you could barely walk on it. The staff were really nice and friendly and the breakfast really good value for money. It is in a great location but it's a bit of a lottery if you get a clean room.

Quirky place to stay in Reading with a decent pub. Our bedroom was massive and nice and warm. Bathroom was also large. Breakfast decent.

An easily to get to place, away from the madding crowds. Just outside the main high streets, it's a nice pub with a cosy atmosphere. Very friendly staff who go out of their way to help you when needed. Nice menu selection and very good quality food on offer (I recommend their sticky toffee pudding). Little nooks to hide away in if you want something intimate, but able to handle larger groups with social distancing kept in mind. Definitely worth a visit or 5...

This is a quirky venue with a literary theme. The pub has many little cubby holes in which to hide, read and write. I am a bookworm and love this place. There is a good variety of real ales, craft lagers and food. I stayed for one night, in room 8, on November 9th in a single room. The room was very clean and the bed was cosy. I was disappointed that the shower tap wasn't functioning properly, the hot tap on the sink was so loose you had to hold the base to turn it on and the radiator didn't work. I've stayed here before and can see that maintenance is not always given the priority it should be. These issues should have been picked up on when the room was prepared. That said, the staff are very friendly and helpful and one member of staff went out of his way to help me with a WiFi issue.

Very pleasant stay with attentive owners. Only slight disappointment was the sound of water flushing loudly from other rooms.

We had 3 night stay here, what a very interesting place, great breakfast, good choice of food, lovely staff. I would have got a better night sleep in premier inn, but not the same experience

Good for the money but I would not 236 for 7 night as I couldn't get any sleep at night

No real ale on & the barmaid explained the difficulty of sourcing this. Fairly nice stop

Good location. Pub downstairs has a well stocked bar and the breakfast is nice. The rooms have paper thin walls though. A normal conversation in an adjoining room can be heard clearly, and the bathroom is next to the bed. That means every time the next room uses their extractor fan it sounds like you're next to a plane taking off.

The staff on the day were very friendly. The service was excellent. The environment was very clean. They spaced out tables in line with covid 19 rules

Great, very nice and supportive staff.

I’m a regular visitor at the Great Expectations pub & hotel. Lovely atmosphere, good food and affordable drinks. I would like to leave a kind message to Paige in particular who always makes me and my friend group feel very welcome. She always goes above and beyond in her service to us. We have become regular visitors, usually on a Thursday night. She was exceptional when we celebrated our friends birthday, by putting a birthday song on as well as providing us with plates and cutlery. I can’t recommend Great Expectations enough! Great experiences all in all!

Decent beer, good burgers. Some quiet corners away from the noise.

Following a long period of closure, it was good to see Great Expectations open again. My stay was not without issues, the shower in my room did not work however I cannot fault the great customer service provided. In particular the service provided by Daryl, he was professional polite and couldn’t have been more helpful. The food so the breakfast was delicious, fresh and well presented. Thank you.

A great little place, such friendly staff. Went in for an after work drink and a game of pool! Honestly one of the nicest, quietest places in town center to have a quite drink with friends.

Awesome staff a pool table thats not wonky, a working menu woth quiz entry that won't break the bank and and slots machines that will leave you crying to your bank on the phone pretending you didnit just soend all your money trying to win the jackpot, win win I say

Food was really good, not bad selection of beer

A quiet and quaint, themed pub and hotel. Excellent value, friendly staff. Tidy room and spacious room. The only let down was a leaky bathroom tap, which was audible if the bathroom door was left even the slightest bit ajar. My go-to recommendation to anyone when staying in Reading.

Really friendly staff, great atmosphere, tasty food, original interior design and my favourite pool table in Reading

Only popped in for a couple of beers. Good selection of real ales.

Brilliant good beer, excellent food

Evocative, brilliant staff, lovely quirky place

I suppose you get what you pay for.

Friendly service and great ambience.

Fantastic for the Thursday pub quizzes

Interesting combination of pub and hotel.