Moor Mill Beefeater in St Albans

This place was lovely thay couldn't do enough for us as my granddaughter has special needs so thay made sure we got served quickly and nothing was to much for them thanku

Went for lunch. Sat on the decking area. Beautiful pub. Beautiful surroundings. Lisa, the waitress is an absolute star.!

Was celebrating a special Anniversary for my parents . The food was below average ,portions were small .No real choice for gluten free . Now for the service ,we sat for about 45 mins with empty plates ,I had to find the waitress to clear the table. I complained to the manager who wasn't really bothered .I have been to the Moor Mill many times but will not be returning .There were other guests complaining & 1 couple actually got up & left after not receiving any initial service. Very disappointing.

Awful food & service tonight 12th Sep 24. Wrong starters brought to the table, not once but twice. One main meal never actually arrived. Food that was served was overcooked. I booked a table for 7 people some from Australia & the evening was ruined. I will never be back!! If you're short staffed that badly rather close for the night instead of alienating good customers!!

We received the wrong starters twice and then only received 2. We waited 90 minutes for our main meals. One of which never arrived. The first drinks arrived OK, but we had to go downstairs for our second round. The staff tried hard, but there were clearly not enough of them, or enough chefs. Would be better if they just told people they are closed until better staffed. Extremely disappointing!

An enjoyable experience, just what we needed

Terrible breakfast . Mushrooms completely inedible . No care or pride taken by chef ! Shame as nice place !

Its great except when Chef goes to lunch between 4 and 5 and we wait after booking 4.30.

Great food and service. Food came pretty quickly. All you can eat breakfast and kids eat for free. Beautiful outside seating area and lovely walking trails up and down the river. Pletty of parking. Loads of seating outside. 5 star food hygiene rating. Right next Premier Inn

In dire need if a refurbishment. Looks tired and dirty, but what do you expect these days in corporate UK... not the staffs fault, Beefeater clearly only interested in profits.

Food was very good, however the drinks selection wasn’t too good. The first two drinks ordered were unavailable or not stocked (despite being on the drinks menu). Staff were good as well.

Good food, pretty good prices, not very atmospheric. Overall, A really nice time!

Delicious lunch and dinner every time, great atmosphere, very friendly staff.

Premium surf and turf steak luke warm, garlic prawns cold and no garlic, calamari burnt, dip had a skin on it

Just look and sure that.... The food was really good...

Don't have the rib-eye steaks. I usually love this cut as it's so full of flavour, moist and tender. The two we had were dreadful with a layer of inedible sinew throughout. The rest of the meal was fine - oh, except for the stale, probably left over from lunch, peas.

Friendly, welcoming waitress.... Food freshly cooked.... Lovely family experience...

has a nice playground, nice for days out, near a river with ducks that you can feed if you buy their duck food(£1) . would go again.

This used to be such a nice pub when I was growing up in St Albans in the 90s. Popped in for lunch whilst back in the area and found an overgrown, undermaintained outside area, surly staff and - to be frank - awful food. A real shame to see such a significant decline.

I recently dined at Beefeaterand was quite disappointed with the experience. Despite having a reservation, we had to wait for over [specific duration] before being seated. Once seated, the wait for our food was excessively long. The delay significantly impacted our overall experience, making it far less enjoyable. When the food finally arrived, the portion sizes were surprisingly small given the prices on the menu. This was particularly disappointing as we expected more substantial servings based on previous visits and Beefeater's reputation. The staff were polite, and the atmosphere was pleasant, but the long wait times and small portions overshadowed these positives. I hope Beefeater addresses these issues to improve the dining experience for future customers.

the size of the portion is small.very small kids meal portion.we had waited for over 1 hour,even when the restaurant is almost empty.

Got to restaurant 7,50 pm got seated and served by the only lady who I think was working, as the other servers just couldn't seem to understand the simplest of task from even bringing condiments and them asking of desserts were wanted and then walking away but never returning with a menu or to take the order . But KAY saved the day and did pretty much everything . ,KAY deserves a big medal and staff to work with, a pay rise for this extremely hard working and very professional lady is running the restaurant pretty much on her own and souly deserves all credit. thank you KAY for making our visit a great time

Pulled in pulled out after not visiting for a while thought we'd try as use to love sitting in garden but after seeing state of overgrown hedges on drive up and seeing same outside most of garden fenced off decided not to even bother and reading comments glad we went elsewhere place use to be lovely really gonna lose summer trade if something isn't done quickly

Didn't stay as they were short staffed, and the playground was flooded.

Very bad service waited 2hrs for food

Lovely impromptu lunch and a few drinks. Short staffed today but never felt like it - attentive and friendly service, good food and nice surroundings. A good Sunday all round.

I can't slate the manager. None of her staff turned up, but the place has become a complete dive massively in need of a freshen up garden overgrown and toilets out of order 20 years ago it was great these days I'd advice going up the road to the gate pub.

Don't bother, it's not a patch on what it used to be. Short staffed (I am led to believe this is always the case), grounds and stream not kept tidy, terrible selection of drinks with staff not knowing the difference between tonic and lemon, and ten minutes to pour four drinks. Food has not been available outside for a long time and friends tell me the food is average at best in any case. It should never have become like this as I remember it being excellent 10-15 years ago. Beefeater you should be ashamed of the terrible standards you've let it fall to! Sell it to someone who will love it back to the beautiful and well run venue I know it can be.

Felt so sorry for staff only 3 on duty and restaurant was packed. Such a shame food was not up to usual standard and we are not sure if we will return

I remember going twenty odd years ago. It was stunning way back. Its rough now. Food good though

Me and my friend had a burger We was very satisfied, it’s was very tasty and fresh Was a pleasure experience 5⭐️

Extremely overpriced for what it is! Burger was small for price and the chips prob was small, which if brought as a side in ours own would be nearly £5 is ridiculous. Cannot fault the restaurant manager, her service was brilliant despite a challenging evening she really was the positive from this experience - clearly extremely understaffed.

The Moor Beefeater is a very cool little place. The steaks are excellent. Nice place, we had a good time.

Served by Phil and had exceptional service! Best service I’ve had in a long time!

The majority of the order was taken wrongly. We had to wait more than an hour to get just the drinks. After more than 2 hours we received the starters and then the mains of which half were incorrect. We had to ask for tissues and cutlery to eat the food. The staff was permanently absent and disorganised. We ordered some cheesecake as dessert. After half an hour they brought us a warm cheesecake (I think they defrost in a microwave). At the end they didn't even get the bill right as they had to do four versions. They were trying to overcharge us for an additional burger and several additional drinks. Awful experience at this Beefeater.

Service was shocking. Long wait for glass of wine and long wait for food. When the meal arrived it was the wrong meal so had another long wait for the proper meal to be cooked. Restaurant wasn’t busy so no excuses. Would never eat in this restaurant again. No discount offered for poor service or the fact that the first meal was wrong order. Couple on next table had the starters served at separate times…..

We were brilliantly served today, great food and good value for money

Had a dreadful experience there. A place with awful service. It took the staff several repeated requests and 45 min (no exaggeration) to deliver ordered tap water. The food was delivered another 30 mins later, and only after we had requested it a number of times again. We then had to wait another hour (thereabouts) for the bill to arrive, despite asking three separate members of staff for it; their repeated retort was that they are understaffed, but that did not help to salvage our visit in any way. Given that each visit to this place overburdens the staff, I recommend to avoid visiting this place; we certainly will not be returning.

Food was really nice cooked perfectly

Lovely historic pub in lovely surroundings

Beautiful old mill with original wheels gear's and grindstones off the beaten track, great place for the whole family.

Great place, stay at many premier inns and this a gem on the outskirts of London, Sarah our waitress was really helpful and looked after us all week, we will be back!!

Beautiful, historic restaurant, friendly staff and very good food. I recommend and I will be back.

Sarah is greatest, very attentive, and was happy to help no matter the request

Served by Phillip, good food, friendly service and nice place to eat

Very friendly staff -sarah lisa kay. good food and value

The worst beefeater I have ever been too. Ever! Saturday night and it was quiet, having worked in hospitality as a manger for 7 years, I was absolutely gobsmacked that the manager on shift was a manager. Her name was Kay. We got to the desk where they seat you and she was slating a member of staff to the couple infront of us, who clearly felt extremely awkward. I can now see why they’re understaffed and have job advertisements over the restaurant. When it was our turn to be seated, we got told they were fully booked, then we we said we were at the hotel she said that was fine but was turning away a lot of other customers. The she told us we have to go to the bar for a meal deal, shoved some menus in our faces, off we went. Bar staff were genuinely really helpful. Back to the premier inn we went. After speaking to the lady at reception we explained we never wanted the meal deal so off we went back to the restaurant. At this point we were frustrated as we had a really really long and busy day and just wanted some food. We told the bar staff we wanted the evening set menu, they said that was fine, got back to the seating desk. After waiting 15 minutes to be seated again, Kay got us out the set evening menu. We got seated, I was gobsmacked at how quiet it was to say people were getting turned away for being fully booked. I think they were just extremely short on staff so that’s what they were saying. We waited a good 25 minutes for our server to come over, who was lovely. But she said we couldn’t have the evening set menu as it’s only Monday to Friday. We explained we’ve been told by the bar staff and your manager we can. She went to get the manager who came over moaning about how her shifts are everywhere so she’s losing track of days, to which we replied that’s not our fault, we want this menu as you’ve said we can have it. We did get it but the whole atmosphere, service from the manager and rudeness was shocking. The bar team and our server were lovely but how on earth she has a job in hospitality I’ll never know. Safe to say tonight, we’re going to Toby Carvery.

Pleasant place. Food nice enough. Service was alright but they are obviously understaffed (still served with a smile though)

Just wanted to say how amazing our service was yesterday Sarah was great very helpful and friendly. Nothing was to much trouble for her. Thanks for a great evening.

Sarah was really friendly and so so nice.

Absolutely wonderful service here from all the waitresses but especially Karen. Sometimes the managers on duty are rude and unfriendly though. It's a lovely old building and nice to see the water mill and the grounds are pretty. Nice large car park. The only negative thing to report about the food is that the roast dinners have really gone downhill. They have a cheap, frozen food quality to them and the vegetables are absolutely rock hard. It really puts us off coming on Sundays or at Christmas now so please sort it out. The burgers and other meals are still very good

Booked a table, arrived and was told they didn't have enough staff so couldn't seat us! Terrible service, not what we expected from beefeater

Bit run down now visited many times over the years , food was good , service was average (understaffed)but waitress was pleasant

This is such a hidden gem. Housed in a centuries old mill on the River Ver. Beefeater offers great value, and Moor Mill is no exception. Families are well catered for with a play area along with cute duck island, but couples are equally welcome, there are enough private nooks for dining in the unusually laid out main restaurant. One note of caution- be careful to park in the correct car park and enter your registration at reception or risk a fine.

Amazing building, staff are very helpful and hardworking. Good quality food especially the steak. Been here many times over the past 10 years. Thank you. Sam and Betty the little white assistance dog! It's a shame the old chap who maintained the water wheel turning is no longer with us as the wheel no longer turns.

Absolutely top marks the service was amazing in fact we were spoilt. The food was delicious I had surf and turf and was more than impressed. There were 10 of us and we all agreed the visit was fabulous,willrecommend to everyone. Thankyou for our mega experience

Very nice place with well priced food and drinks. Had the beef Sunday Roast.... was not the best I've had but well priced anyway.

Service by Sarah was excellent and very welcoming and very helpful with a smile, and very helpful explain all our meal deals requirments

It was closed due to flooding 🙃

The setting is wonderful but unfortunately that’s where the positives end. The food is poor at best, tasteless bland over and under cooked, slow sloppy service and dirty. Everything is sticky and needs a good cleaning. It’s a shame as the location has potential and there are some staff who really seem to try but the food really just lets it down.

Lovely old Mill building, great food and service.

Ate here for evening meal and breakfast as was staying in the premier inn next door. Service was extremely slow, not just for food but just to be seated, order to be taken etc. For someone first visiting the pub, there are no signs to suggest you need to go round the hidden corner to get a table or to be served. Very strange layout where some signage would be useful. Staff during my 2 visits at times was quite rude, although this is likely due to the lack of staff for the amount of people that visit here during the week. It almost seemed like a skeleton service.

All I can say is this was the worst meal me and my wife ever had. Save your money and have a meal deal from tesco you'll enjoy it a lot more.

The restaurant is a lovely building. The watermill is great. However was massively let down by the food and service. It took about an hour to get starters. Within that time our kids were getting very fidgety. Drinks also took a while. Chicken wing starters had a dense coating on them not thin and crispy. But overall other starters we had were OK. After starters the mains came out straight away. We sent back one of the sirloin steaks as it was over salted and the mushroom was burnt to crisp. We also sent back a rack of ribs as they were really dry (un-edible). Probably been under the hot plate for a while. No amount of BBQ sauce could save them. The staff didn't really seem to care they took the food back without any fuss but there was no apologies or anything they could recommend in replacement. Received refund for the ribs. We couldn't wait to leave in the end which was a shame. Having EV charging on site was a nice touch though!

Booked a table 19.30 Friday evening. Warm welcome. Seated immediately. All menu items were available. Our meals were hot, fresh and very tasty. We had a lovely evening, great service by Sarah.

Great service shame food came out cold

absolutely disgusted at the fact that there are visibly a few things about this establishment, firstly badly managed and really feel for the staff members very clear they are ran ragged, secondly although advertised as sweet potato fries not available on the menu so not a good start , secondly again main menu describes a 1/2 chargrilled chicken clearly not that as served was a roast chicken breast so some more attention to detail required or at least I expect is what I pay for not "alternatives" among that a few minor hiccups along the way but again staff are clearly helpless as they are ran around like headless chickens, only restaurant area is available for eating you cannot eat in any other area but apart from that an enjoyable experience but a lot more minor adjustments need to addressed .

Staff is excellent and very prompt. Manager (Pradeep) going to every table and asking the customer if they need anything and making sure they are comfortable.

We had arranged to meet another couple for dinner at this restaurant We had great difficulty in finding the entrance to the restaurant, some signs at the entrance would have been helpful as the restaurant is set back from the road down a long drive full of holes and ruts. We were totally ignored by the barman, who was obviously unhappy. When we finally gained his attention, I enquired whether our freinds had arrived he said he didn't know. We also asked about the length of time we had with the self booking carpark he said he didn't know and to ask the Manager who wasn't available then. He then proceded to have a heated argument with another bar man The disabled toilet was a flight of stairs and a long walk through the downstairs bar and a long corridor away from the dining area There was no offer of help or alternative way of access given The food was poor, I had Christmas Dinner which was obviously warmed up, it was dry and tastless The ice cream was OK The drinks were overpriced and my husband went down to the bar where again they were ignored, they were the only ones there as the place was unsurprisingly empty for a Sunday evening. When the barman deigned to notice him, he slammed down the drinks. The young girl who served us was very pleasant as was the Manageress. Overall I would not recommend this restaurant, it was dirty, rundown, service and food poor. The atmosphere was awful and unwelcoming, staff obviously unhappy, there needs to be a radical change in staff training, cleanliness and cooking. Also the disabled facilities need to be better accessed. Such a shame, as it could be so picturesque, as it is situated by the side of a river and the building was a watermill, it still has the watermill (covered in 3" of dust) inside.

Every thing was fine until a Caterpillar crawled out of my wife's salad. Need I day anymore?

I'm really lost for words where to start with this horrendous place.we arrived Sunday night went across for food was awful and cold waited to book table no one came to see me so I had to find someone. Second night as thought might just have been one off was exactly the same. The pub kept closing early open to 11pm but we were been told to leave at half 9 as person in charge had her car running and waned to go. Bar staff kept leaving bar so left waiting for ages to get a drink and tonight on our last night all credit card machines failed so it was cash only or no food and drink. Please don't go there especially if don't want pneumonia it freezing in the place all the time

Put on some thermal clothes it's absolutely freezing 🥶

Moor Mill is a beautiful disused Mill, full of character and past history. Dinner was good though charged more than we should've been for meals deal, sorted it with waitress but was made to feel uncomfortable about doing so. Service at breakfast following morning not so good, had to wait half an hour for cooked food 🙃

Awful service and food. Only one waitress working two floors. Waited ages to order. Then after waiting ages she came out and said beef and ale pie that I ordered wasn't available. Should have been informed by kitchen staff before taking orders. I settled for burger which was poor quality considering the price and the chips were awful. They had a horrible tang to them as if they'd been cooked in old oil that had been used to cook other food. It was my birthday so very disappointed. We've been here before and have always had good meals.

Such a lovely Boxing Day, food was fantastic, so was service, very generous thank you

Went for Christmas day, getting a second drink was near on impossible, despite asking 3 times, main course had hard/raw parsnips, anemic roast potatoes with grey spots on them, child's meal came out incomplete, tried clearing mains, and bringing dessert while one person still eating. No sauces offered. After desserts, wasn't offered the 4th course of hot drink and mince pie that had already been paid for, just wanted us to get the bill (didn't see anyone else offered their hot drink either on other tables). What I presume was the duty manager was quite rude tbh.

Lovely stay in premier inn, lovely mill building setting for beefeater but needs a change of management. Fawlty towers meets monkeys tea party (without enough tea). Stood and told to wait alongside a very old couple who should have been seated immediately for a period of 10mins while being shifted around by the manager as we were 'in the way'. Eventually pointed out a table we could sit on and waited another 10 minutes for it to be cleaned. No spoons (eat cereal with a fork), no bread (waited until the end of breakfast for it to appear), no cooked breakfast still by 10.30am. Spilt cereal and milk on stairs not cleared up and when shift manager was told he replied 'we are too busy', offered to clear it up myself after it was still uncleared before older gentleman slipped on it. The poor girl running around doing 90% of the serving apologised and the manager absent. Mountain of bowls and uncleaned tables. No pastries, son only wanted a croissant for breakfast. Tiny cooked breakfast arrived at 10.35am pic attached (did have 2 uncooked sausages and a spoonful (fork full) of beans more, given more beans and tomatoes as out of bacon, hash browns, eggs, mushrooms, croissants, yoghurt, coffee machine broken, no gluten free bread, no bowls for cereal and manager takes zero accountability. Sorry to say there are rats in car park near beefeater bins - Lovely building though!

We booked for Christmas day, 6 people, 3pm sitting. Very overpriced, servers were lovely, but well over worked. We waited over an hour for our starters, which were hit and miss. Then another very long wait for lukewarm, not great quality main course. Will not be returning. Very disappointing, and very much overprice. And was missing an electric heater, was freezing downstairs, in the accessible area.

Was staying at the nearby Premier Inn that included a meal deal So went to try it I must admit having to pay for drinks before they were poured was something I've never ever encountered before and spoilt the visit almost before it had started

Lovely place, enjoy meal staff very friendly.

just been to moor mill for our christmas get together..slow servise..very poor food..and dont want to go back again..left most of my overdone steak..was prety grim..no wonder it was quiet...such a shame as this is our local steak house

Great staff great food all round great visit

if you enjoy cold food you will enjoy this place Not first time we've had cold food here

Waking up in Premier inn hotel after a good nights sleep that we would expect, remembering i have an eat as much as i like breakfast to attend, belly rumbling with excitement, to find the portion to be worthy for a squirrel and coffee machine wouldn't operate past two drinks with the message to call an assistant yet again pops up, no cups stocked, croissants are out, then your table gets cleared so fast whilst waiting on the coffee machine yet again, that you don't have the chance to say ' I'm not finished' well you don't even get asked either, as the moment your turn your head, oh your juice has gone, need not say, a tomato, and one mushroom, was ok, the beans seemed to be last week's reheated 7 times, and the egg was edible if you like them with plenty of calcium, we had the impression as customers we are not welcome and they certainly don't want you to be there eating their food, overall the best thing about it was leaving and seing a kingfisher outside catching a better breakfast in the river.

Lovely old building with the remains of the working mill still inside. Bit of an odd atmosphere, not unpleasant or anything just a bit odd.

Absolutely awful. Ordered a mixed grill, nearly an hour later it appeared. ICE COLD and had to send it back. Second one came hot but UNDER COOKED! AVOID AVOID AVOID! If you like long waits and awful food this is the place for you.

Food nice service very good and building very quirky

We arrived here at 18-30 for our booking time and was taken up to the table for four people the lady was very busy and under considerable pressure due to two big groups of people attending here aswell, it became obvious that they didn't have enough staff to cover all the people that were there, so this meant that we could only get the main meal which was very good 👍 but it was tough watching the few people working very hard and looking very stressed, so we left shortly after 21-00 as we couldn't order anything due to lack of staff. Beefeater needs more staff

Bad service, poor quality of food 😢 Small portions.

Very good customer service. Food took longer to come out

I felt the service was quite poor; we were left waiting for quite some time to be seated and when I approached the manager his attitude wasn't very good. Once we were seated and given menus it was a 20 minute wait to place our order, I did consider just paying for our drinks and leaving at this point. When our food did arrive the pie was very good but the triple cooked chips were disappointing, I'd guess they weren't triple cooked properly. There was also a sauce missing from the other dish we ordered. Our waiter was very friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was a little rowdy for my taste, I expected a better experience for the money being paid, I don't think we'll be going back to eat at the Moor Mill.

Had to wait 30 minutes for someone to take my drink order and another 15 to order food Understaffed

Great experience. Really enjoyed the food with friendly customer service.

The Moor Mill was very under staff, with no manager of how many tables the staff had to look after. We asked for refill drinks 4 times before they were seaverd. The chicken and ribs were very dry. The whole experience was awful and will never go there again. At the went paying the bill, we were overcharged.

Had the unlimited breakfast today. Hot food was cooked fresh to order. Lots of different food and drink items to choose from which is included plus kids eat free. Will definitely be going back for another breakfast in the future. Make sure you put your reg in the machine before heading up stairs to the restaurant, staff do ask before seating you. We went at 9 there was still plenty of food left, cereal was just starting to run low.

Only eaten here once and the food was terrible, been a few other times just for a drink, that’s when you can get served, the service is disgusting, usually there is no one at the bar, waited for 4 minutes one day and just as I decided to leave a staff member walked in, it is in a great setting, beautiful in the garden, pity about the motorway behind though but that doesn’t take away from the lovely setting. Definitely needs a new Manager and better staff.

Had a roast run out of chicken no cauliflower cheese which was on the menu and the waitress said it wasn't Small portion of roast for the price not enough veg

Take ten minutes to get off the M1 / M25 to visit this restaurant in an old watermill. You will have to go doun a single track, roughly surfaced road to access it and the nearby Premier Inn. Usual Beefeater fayre, done well.

Avoid anything grilled! The menu says grilled meat, but you'll get it oven cooked or fried. We had two full sized bbq ribs and half "grilled" chicken. I returned the chicken because it was oven cooked instead of grilled, but sadly, the same oven cooked chicken but slightly grilled was returned. The image of that chicken made me ask for a refund. Anyway, we struggled to eat those Lidl-like "bbq ribs," and we regret it because we didn't feel good afterwards. The staff was excellent, polite, and friendly. That's why I gave two stars!

Moor Mill racks up a good score in my book with its ribs.