Polite Vicar in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Visited lunch time today. Quite a few of the items were unavailable as they are launching a new menu next week, but chips and onion rings?! Long hair in my salad!!! Not good! My husband's chicken was overcooked and very unappetising. The young girl waiting on was very quick to rectify the issues however, the chap behind the bar needs lessons on customer service, a smile would help! Will not be returning!

Had a great meal and great value even on bank holiday Monday. The deals were still on two meals for £11.99. What a bargain. Good atmosphere, football was on and plenty of room to park my car.

Absolutely amazing food here today especially the sharing platters, will definitely return 🍗🍖 Kid’s thoroughly enjoyed it xx

I am not sure what has happened to this place but it has gone from one of the best places to get food around Stoke for pub grub to a place where the food is either overcooked or bland. We were there at a quiet time and the food was terrible. Fried eggs not even cooked so had raw egg and instead of a sizzling skillet it almost looked as if someone had reused an old plate of food. It is such a shame as the quality used to be excellent but this seems to be the way of the flaming grill pubs across the country so I would assume it is something to do with the way Green King are running it.

Following recommendations on the review website I booked a table for 5:45, when we got there the booked table was taken but the very helpful staff managed to locate another one. The meal; very disappointing ordered Gammon with egg plus pineapple and chips, the chips were cold and soggy as of they were prepared way before and only partly reheated, there was no pineapple, the Gammon was chewy and lacked sauce again looked as of had been prepared some time before serving. Positive aspect the in house staff. Negative aspect very poor food preparation and not fit for the previous ratings given.

Every time we visit here it's always nice, staff are nice and polite. Food is always really nice 😋

Very rare to find somewhere we all l liked. Thank you 👍

We had a super experience here for Mother's Day. We were a party of 7. Service was efficient and friendly. The food was truly amazing. The steak in the fondue sharing platter was melt in the mouth tasty. Plenty of beers on tap to choose from, along with Koppaberg alcohol free for me. We will definitely be returning.

Took them over 40 minutes to give out food on a quiet Monday. One of our guests got their food 30 minutes before we did and we all ordered about the same food. No apologies no update until we asked. Shocking service & wont be coming back. Plenty of other restaurants in the area that offer quicker service & are busier than they are by a mile

Just had a beautiful meal here, lovely atmosphere. Food and service exceptional. Very accommodating. Brandon and his team, excellent. We will be back.

Nice little pub restaurant food was limited in choice but it was very tasty and delivered quickly, they have a quiz night this sounded fun , will be going again

Regular visitors, and usually very good, but can sometimes let themselves down a little by being a little rigid, which prevents people with mobility issues from using the pub at times

Went for a cuppa with a friend for a catch up. Staff were very welcoming. Lovely atmosphere.

Very friendly helpful staff. Great value but sadly a 40 minute wait for two bowls of loaded fries spoiled the visit.

Great food, friendly staff and a bargain as didn’t realise by one get one free on Thursdays Happy days

I don't have any food , but it did look really nice when it was delivered to a table that it . The service was very good. I didn't at any time I went to the bar, did I have to wait . Nice pub to take the kids, even with the football on ( it was a Saturday lunchtime ) nice place for food and a chat ..

Food was OK, nothing to write home about but nice enough. Staff were nice too. But we were seated next to a family who thought it appropriate to have their kids play hide and seek in the pub which was annoying. And you don't even want to know the state of the gents toilets. I've never seen anything like it.

Food was brilliant but service was terrible, we was waiting 45 minutes for food, when I went to tell them they brought it straight away which makes me wonder how long the food was there waiting to be brought to us

Good food,friendly staff quite busy pub,

I came to the pub today with a friend. We ordered food and had drinks. Food was excellent, the service was quick. All the staff that were there were lovely and polite. Definitely will visit again

My husband and I visit the Polite Vicar late afternoon/early evening for meal and wine whenever we are in the UK. Always happy with service and value for money, but today was exceptional. Food was better than ever, wine perfectly chilled, and staff so pleasant, efficient and couldnt do enough for us. And all for just over £25 for meal for 2 and a bottle of wine. Keep up the good work, Jess and all your excellent staff.

Reasonably priced good quality food.

Booked a table and when we arrived we were told there was a 30 minute wait, we ordered our food on the app and it took 1hr 10 mins to arrive. I complained and the food arrived shortly afterwards but never received an explanation or apology. Good was terrible the gravy boat was less than half full and had to ask for more gravy. The sauce for my husband’s steak was also the same. The chicken was very dry end inedible. Really disappointing visit and will never return

Really enjoyed. My dad is a very fussy eater, and even he enjoyed.

Strange arrangement of tables and chairs reminded me of a school room! Obviously designed to accommodate as many customers as possible. Rather pricey for what it was.

Welcoming staff, very well presented pub/ restaurant. Met with a group from our race team for food and drinks. All the food was great… I had the steak fondue, not expecting much for £25 but wow! 2 of us struggled to finish it. Cooked very well and seasoned perfectly. Well done! I will be back

Been here many times before and never reviewed, so my 3 star review includes previous great and not so good visits. It seems like there's always something not available or poor quality, flat drinks or miserable staff. Not really sure whether I would visit again as it seems to be getting worse.

Enjoyable and staff were nice. Good value and food came quickly. First time visitors and will probably go back in the future

Got a taxi to pub at our usual time to be notified that they wouldn't serve food between 530 and 730 as fully booked. We were there for an hour and there was lots if tables still empty so we could have eaten in this time. Overpriced drinks!

Cosy pub,good ales and excellent quality service with a great menu and excellent food,well worth a visit

Cheap food great taste and value great pub.

Ordered on the app. Took 45 mins for fish and chips and a mixed grill to arrive. Staff were nice and friendly. No mention of the long wait on the app. Not many chips with the fish probably 12 and a distinct lack of mushy peas. The fish batter tasted like it was burnt possibly for over using the frying oil. Quite expensive when compared to the same food in Wetherspoons £20, polite vicar £31. Quite disappointing really.

Food always good, and the same every time you go which is what you want for a quick bite to eat. Staff always friendly and welcoming. Burgers are good. Sometimes a wait on food but they tell you this when ordering so the choice is yours to wait or not.

Over 1hr wait for food and explanation. Only half of the menu available and yet again no proper explanation even when you ask why

Had Christmas dinner with my family. Sprouts were hard, turkey was processed, roast potatoes were over roasted and the pigs in blanket were anaemic. Pate and salmon 🤮. It was a shame because I had a laugh with a couple of the staff.

The Christmas day meal for all 14 of us was fabulous, Excellent service, we all really enjoyed it. Thank you

Booked a table for 6 and did the same this time last year. Unfortunately on both occasions the share menu was off. I'm guessing they want to make as much as possible. We then went for 2 sirloin steaks which were really good. After we finished, within 20 minutes we got told if we're only drinking we need to move to the bar area. Basically if you're not eating do one. Not sure we'd be wanting to go again after that.

Very busy but the food was quick and good. Sport on the TVs and a good atmosphere. Big carpark too. We enjoyed our visit

Great place wether your with friends or family and children. Staff extremely organised and friendly. Food was of a great standard.

I put in a request for a table for 22/12/23 for 8 people on Saturday 15th Dec. They should have replied within 24 hours. On 18/12/23 got an email saying thank you for booking at the polite vicar. I got menus sent etc. on Friday 22/12/23 at 9.25 am got an email to say that my booking was cancelled when I rang them i spoke to the manager and I was given a pack of lies. I was annoyed as I had people coming from Telford and Cheadle. I wont be trying there again and I won’t recommend them to anyone

Pre Christmas lunch with friends today We had a fabulous get together Table booked, but we swapped tables as not enough space on table allocated Time limit given , however, we were fine with this, and happily vacated the table in time for the next booking, (plenty of vacant tables) Food not good I had the strangest chicken 'fillets' ever. Miniscule, fatty, spongy texture. Coleslaw,usually my absolute favourite, tasted like machine oil? Corn on the cob inedible, full of water/ no butter or flavouring? Fries were good, peri peri sauce too, (hard to get wrong when poured into a ramekin from a catering jar) Wrap with chicken was cold , returned. Fresh one offered Swapped my chicken 'fillets' for chicken 'strips', which were edible and hot,(replacement meal offered) Staff had 'never heard' of liqueur coffees. Agreed that they could serve Americano coffees with 'squirty cream and a shot of whisky/ brandy. Not somewhere that we would ever 'eat' again, great if you want a pint and to watch the football Very cold in the pub despite heating appearing to be on. Prices reflect the quality of the food About 3 staff on shift. They were polite, efficient and incredibly accommodating. Credit to the company Thank you so much, and wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Nice decor and set up, but the food is not great but edible..

I went to the polite vicar for lunch today with a friend. We both had mixed grills and the food was absolutely fantastic. The steak was cooked to perfection and the food was so tasty. Extremely good value of money and the staff were great too. Will definitely come again

Steaks were lovely however the place was freezing had to keep our coats on spoiling the night . My friend visited yesterday and said the same waitress served their meal with her coat on !!

The large male bar staff has been very rude. I am an Asian lady. I was the next one waiting in queue and he was on purposely chose to serve another couple who came later and waited by the bar. When I asked about the selection of the gin, he was obviously inpatient and was not happy to introduce them or just pass me the drink menu. Awful man putting in the bar. Terrible service

Been coming to the Police Vicar for years for a pre theatre dinner. Always been very pleased with service & good. But sadly on Wednesday evening we were very disappointed. Firstly problems actually booking - no confirmation received so tried a again & this time I did but on the day had reminder for both. Ordered our 4 meals. When we began to eat they were all cold, The 2 gammon meals were burnt & heaving smothered in black pepper, scamp was cooked hard, the fish was not what was ordered. I not know what's gone wrong but sadly we won't be coming back.

This is a shame to post ! Absolutely shocking food quality 😑 burger was overcooked missing items of the burger, and they couldn't even get my loaded chips correct ! What a shame as this palce was amazing for food quality and atmosphere.

Best meal I've ever had there. Gammon steak was beautiful

Food took a astonishing long time to come out , ordered ribeye but pretty sure it was rump, because it wasnt very nice at all.

Came for a meal before going to the Victoria Hall. It was ok, but should have really carried on up into Hanley I think. Service was dire. We allowed 90 minutes to have food and we're told it was a 30 minute wait for food, No problem we said... After an hour our food came out... We chased it twice... Once with "Mr Happy" behind the bar and once with a server. The food was nice, nothing special, but that could be because we ended up feeling like we were rushing to eat it so we could leave. Won't bother again.

If you are considering visiting this pub for the Christmas Fayre I suggest you don't bother. I booked for a party of 10 yesterday. I was asked to pre order the meals which I did at the time of booking weeks ago. One of the party was unable to attend so I rang and cancelled their meal the day before. First problem - When we arrived the table was laid for 6. Complained and got that particular issue rectified. As previously stated I had preordered our meals. That didn't stop us waiting 45 mins for our food although customers who arrived after us were served first. The steaks arrived on skillets despite being ordered on plates so they went back. The food was decidedly underwhelming and no one enjoyed the Christmas dinner which was barely warm not hot. Turkey appeared to be pressed not an actual roast. Desserts hit and miss - I'm GF so my choice was limited to ice cream. Sorry ( not sorry) but won't be returning anytime soon.

Had a lovely time for our works Christmas do . Loved the quiz . The server was lovely will defo come again

Terrible. Waited an hour and a half for our food. I then cancelled it only for it to be delivered to our table minutes later. we didn't eat any of the food and we were told by the staff we wouldn't be charged. However we were charged and the money has taken from my bank. Spoken to them to try get a refund only to be told I have to go through my bank. What absolutely terrible service this place has been going down for years.3/10.

Absolutely shocking service it is so slow! Two large tables were priority apparently however while I was waiting we only got to see one table actually get food. 1 hour 45 minutes later we give up to get a refund! Couldn't wait any longer due to going the theater, we were Not the only ones either 3 other people before me, we had booked in advance not quite as long as the lady in front hers was booked in April so surely they knew how busy in advance it was going be?. If this place can not cater for large groups they need get more staff who can get the food out quicker and need stop walk ins Very disappointed to say the least so if you are going for an occasion even if booked in advance give it a miss.

Went last night for tea,table booked,arrived a little early to be told there was an hour wait for meals,we had a drink ordered food,after an hour no food arrived,when asked we were told it would be 10 to 15 minutes,1hr 45 mins still no food,as we were going to the theatre we couldnt wait any longer so we complained and cancelled food and requested refund which was granted(although we will have to wait 3 to 5 days to get back)we noticed we werent the only ones to do this,we did get an apology but no explanation as to why the food was not delivered,they were busy yes but it was still unacceptable,we then had to go on to the theatre feeling hungry and then had no time to get anything else!!I therefore feel that this experience has put us off from returning to the polite vicar in Newcastle

Great place,very family friendly and very competitively priced

Would like to leave a review of the food but never actually got any! Ordered at 5.40 and at 6.50 still had no food. Went to query what was happening and another lady at the bar was also waiting for food having ordered at 5.00!! It was her birthday and she very kindly gave us some of her birthday cake which was all her party had! Money was refunded at 7.10 as we had theatre tickets for 7.30. To add insult to injury we were sitting by a board advertising booking a meal for your theatre visit! Several other parties got up and left. Never again - awful service.

Excellent service and quality as normal with the new refurbishment food was amazing, visited again today 24.02.2022 although didn't have bread for 1 meal it was still as normal....just great, visited again today and again new bar staff but food and drink as always very good 11.09.2022, 25.11.2023 and had chips and scampi and mushy peas with few madris.

Dropped in for a quick drink with friends and ended up eating. Decent food, service and value for money

Pub is normally great, most staff members are really good (bald guy with the glasses it spot on - not sure of his name, and I think the blonde girl is called Jess, she is also lovely!) However, there have been a few times now on a Thursday where a new older-looking guy does not call last orders and then we go to the bar and he tell us he has closed it, which is disappointing as we were never told that it was last orders by him, this has happened 3 or 4 times now with the same guy (the last one being Thurs 23rd November). Just seems a shame as it's more money for the pub and we are in there at least once a week! Would just like to be told or even just shouted from the bar, as he hasn't been doing this so far!

Unfortunately I'm now having to amend my original review, as we had a very disappointing experience this evening. We arrived for our reserved booking on time and ordered our food and drinks on the app. We then waited 20 minutes for our drinks and 45 minutes for our food, which I feel is unacceptable. The food, when it finally arrived, was good, but certainly not worth the wait. The pub wasn't overly busy and we were not informed of any wait when we arrived. Unfortunately we will now be reluctant to visit again.

Me and my partner came for a meal here on 19th October, we ordered food at 2pm and still hadn't our food by 3:10pm we had not been informed about the slow service so in the end we ended up cancelling the food after waiting for so long without even an apology on us leaving the pub. Very disappointed with this as we love to eat here as eve never had a bad meal or experience.

Pre booked for a family meal, and gave our food choices at booking as it was the festive offer. It took 50 minutes for the starters to come out instead of chicken strios we were serve cheese sticks (with the explanation there was chicken inside.. there wasnt) so chicken strips were brought out after. And the prawn cocktail had no Marie rose sauce so just dry prawns on a lettace leaf with dry bread. Then after 2 and a half hours after arrival we still hadn't had the main course, so our party walked out! The 2 ladies working were lovely and it was no fault of theirs, however the kitchen obviously couldn't cope and they should have stopped taking other people's orders as we were not the only ones to walk out

Oh man, where to start. We had this table booked for a few weeks. When we booked, they told us for larger groups we need to order from the festive menu, so we pre-ordered our meals weeks ago. We arrived at 1pm and the starters didn't even come out until 2.20. And they were wrong. I mean like, completely wrong. Battered cauliflower cheese instead of chicken strips. Prawn cocktail boiled with no sauce 🤣 The kids were getting hungry and restless. At 3pm we asked for an update on the mains, to be told 20 mins max. Kids food came out weirdly overcooked and undercooked. Chips were cold, veggie nuggets overdone and tasting entirely of cooking oil. My brother was not happy. At 3.30 we asked for another update on the mains. 5 mins max. OK. Kids pudding came out, but they're not hungry now, just tired and irritable. My family ate their pudding as we were famished. Asked for another update on the mains at 3.45. 5 mins again. Left at 4, having eating a starter 🤣🤣 Wouldn't have minded so much but other tables came in after us and got their entire meals and left before we'd eaten anything. Thankfully they gave us our deposit back. Happy birthday Mum! 🙃

Got sky sports so good for watching football. Gives you 10% off drink with the Greene King app. Food is okay, mainly American style dishes. Often understaffed recently, although the people on shift are doing their best.

My friends and I from the local Royal British Legion Branch, whent for our our yearly after AGM meal, the room and area we were in was both clean and inviting, the Staff friendly and welcoming, and the food and beer excellent, we enjoyed it so much we booked our April meal before we left.

It's probably one of the pubs I go to most often in the Stoke On Trent area. It has an excellent quality/price ratio and the people are super friendly. Some menus are served with a lot of quantity, especially hamburgers and fried foods. In summer you can enjoy the heat on the terrace.

Called into this venue out of the blue and was immediately impressed by the surrounding and atmosphere staff were polite and friendly 👌

Called in for a late lunch, place was less than half empty with people dining, ordered drinks and found that the wait time was at least an hour for food which appeared to be unbelievable given the amount of people in the place. On top of this, empty tables had dirty plates on them, part of the bar area had piles of dirty plates/dishes piled up, not a very good look. Place needs to get it's act together!

Excellent service .. excellent food.. excellent price .. will definitely be coming back. There is plenty of choice.. lovely environment.. The Biscoff cheesecake is a winner 🥇

Excellent service, excellent food will definitely be coming back, thanks to all for a really great evening.

Family meal table behind full of people that continually swore. Some food okay one meal forgot so everyone had finished theirs by the time the forgotten meal arrived. I ordered sirloin steak it was awful and definitely not sirloin. Yes I should have sent it back but was put off by the whole experience. On the plus side polite staff.

We went to the polite vicar on Saturday the 21/10/23 when we arrived we were served by a nice and helpful member of staff only to be rudely interrupted by an older member of staff demanding we pay for our drinks now even though we were opening a tab,the food came and was OK the fries were cold and it was slapped down on the table by a young girl with the food falling of the plates,then when we had finished the same girl told us to tidy our plates and pass them to her so she didn't have to walk around the table.we then stayed to have more drinks and then at 8.40pm the same brush and rude girl came to our table demanding to know if we were having more drinks and demanding we left our table as she was tired and wanted to clean our table,we politely declined moving tables as we had pre booked for the evening and as it was 4 women out for a meal and a catch up we didn't want to be moved to the bar where the football was on,she then gave us dirty looks for the rest of the evening, and to finish off our terrible visit we were at the bar ordering our last drink of the evening when the older member of staff was taking hot drinks over to another customer and then he tripped over a loosmeme tile on the floor with the tile coming off the floor the same rude girl preceeded to pick the tile up laugh her head off and show it to another customer still laughing she then put the tile back on the floor thinking it was some kind of game so I took it off the floor and gave it to the older member of staff explaining it was dangerous and a trip hazard and a sign needed putting up straight away he said he was going to gorilla glue it down and then started telling us what a terrible day he had,we won't be returning to the polite vicar this is not the service we expect when we go out to relax but it did make sense to the pub been nearly empty if the staff are trying to close half the pub before 9pm,very disappointed in the service and the youg girl definitely needs more customer service training.

Had the chicken sharing platter for 2. Lots of lovely food cooked perfectly and piping hot. Most enjoyable. Will have this again.

Heard a lot of bad things he about this place before but since a new manager took over things seem to get better each time. Service was good and food was excellent.

A bit disappointing, waited a while for food for four of us, two of the orders came out incorrect, the member of staff seemed a bit confused and so we swapped items from our plates ourselves. Food was lukewarm and couldn't have tea or coffee as told there was no milk. Don't think I'll be returning in any hurry.

Booked a table but when we arrived there was no booking. Food was over cooked, when I complained I was told that they would shout at the chef by a female server

Popped in for a spot of lunch which was excellent, piping hot. Staff very friendly, definitely going again

We went for a family meal in the evening. There weren't many diners when we arrived but it still took 45 minutes for our meal to arrive. When it arrived it was unfortunately not the best of meals. Both steaks were tough and difficult to...

Been going for quite a few weeks now. Can't fault the food, piping hot and plenty of it. Best pint of Abbotts for a long time. Didn't have to wait too long, although a few times it was very busy. Staff always helpful and jolly....

Excellent quality food at extremely reasonable prices.

Very poor choice of alternative dietary menu.

Called in as a pit stop on a long journey. Stayed for a couple of pints ( those who weren't driving ). Great atmosphere, plenty of room. Would definitely pick it out for a stop if passing again.

Have been here many many many times. Staff always super friendly, always accomodate our group for NFL games each Sunday. Recently the food has seen a really positive improvement. Coming out hot, flavourful and succulent. Really impressed. Beers have been on form too. Smashing it!

We have been before and it was nice, we went today and not so much, most food was not hot. Chicken and burgers were overcooked but still cold. service was ok.

I have been here numerous times since it opened it is consistently good quality food... I have never had need to complain

I'm only giving the food 3 stars because it's standard pub fare. Everything was cooked as good as it could have been. Always busy which can lead to a queue at the bar sometimes but nice atmosphere with sport in multiple TVs and families so a decent place to go

Best steak ale pie with chips I've had for a very long time . Staff were great to , polite and helpful.

Really good pub good food also very friendly staff five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Went for lunch with friend really friendly staff and atmosphere, food was lovely throughly enjoyed will definitely return

Although excellent service...n great meals ...2 for £11.99...the burger lacked any salad 😧

Large pub which serves food and good selection of beers. Free car park. Located on main road, just off A500 near Newcastle under Lyme. Need to visit again to try the food. Seating area outside at front of pub.

Credit to all the team! Lovely pub and amazing food! Would definitely recommend to anybody!

The food was nice and the atmosphere was very pleasant.

We had a great meal, Really nice food 😋 The staff were lovely and helpful. We will be returning soon Thank You

All I can say is terrible service and food. I came for dinner and to start off the food was terrible, cold and dry. When complaining the staff member she was rude and didn’t seem to care about the awful service provided. The staff member...

I used to come to this out regularly I’m glad I stopped going. Decided to have a trip in to see if anything had changed and I was wrong! First of all food was below average came out cold. Secondly certain staff need to rethink...

Great evening, good food good service, will be calling again.

Honestly I am appalled at how your older staff treat you younger new staff. Over the last yea ri have been into this pub a lot. I've seen staff come an go and the interactions between your staff members and to be honest what I...

Great hot food fast service pleasant staff Enjoyed everything would go again thanks