Raby Arms in Hartlepool

I was asked to arrange a family party at 2 weeks notice. A Google search for a function room brought up The Raby Arms (a pub I’ve visited since a child that does not have a function room!) How wrong I was, they now have a beautiful room at the bottom of the garden that is fully accessible. The food was amazing and the team at the pub couldn’t have been more accommodating. I couldn’t recommend it enough if you’re looking for somewhere to host a party. We had 50 people and there was loads of space.

Always great food and service. Full English breakfast is amazing

this was my favourite place to eat out to, my first time trying today it was unbelievably outstanding, we got seated straight away, food came out within 15 mins of ordering and it was amazing, hygiene and cleanliness was really well looked after to, lovely staff and lovely place for kids as there is a slide outside, toilets clean and baby change. 100% go again and if you havent i suggest you go!!

Lovely pub, great food. Loved the dog friendly area in the bar.

Called in for a breakfast which was over £25 for two breakfasts and two regular black coffee. Must be one of the worst breakfasts we both have had. When they arrived the eggs were hard, the bacon horrible could hardly cut it ' Dispite having told our waiter that the eggs were well overdone and the bacon ? She couldn't care less. Hash browns were fried and soggy with oil as were the mushrooms. The whole lot terrible !! Won't be going back

Great Breakfast we had, flat mushrooms topped with poched egg and hollandaise sauce, full English breakfast 😋 cooked very well fresh eggs home cured bacon Lincolnshire sausage hash brown fresh tomatoes and gravy boat of Beans jackpot. Thanks to all staff 🙌 ill be Back.

Went on Wednesday 4th September for a meal and I can honestly say I will never darken there door again. The waitress was the most miserable person I had ever met. It was chore that we had turned up. The meal was basically all over the place on the plate due to her trying to carry three plates. I said sorry I carnt eat that and the look on her face was atrocious. I will change it she moaned. Within 30 seconds she was back with the same meal rearranged claiming it was a fresh one after we had waited over 30mins for the meal in the first place. Yeah right of course it been cooked again. Please folks save your money and eat elsewhere.

Lovely place for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or as I did this morning met friends in a comfortable quiet environment for a cuppa and catch-up. Staff lovely.

Gammon steak tougher than expected, but chips were great. Large portions. Service ok, but no-one checked on meal. Atmosphere, typical pub with chatty clientele.

Outstanding village pub. Great food and tentative and great staff

On the whole the service was really good but the food let it down. Mine for instance was bland and the potatoes was rather sloppy .My husbands was very dry and could of done with a little curry sauce with it . Our conclusion was that maybe we made bad choices at the time as it was our first visit. We will visit again and perhaps try different meals from the menu.

Food good ,service Poor manager to full of her self to care for paying customer's needs further training, hope owner will get in touch to discuss my Poor treatment

Really lovely pub with a really nice outdoor area and a play area for kids. Food was great also

Sat outside in the garden, ordered our food and drinks fast and friendly service. I had scampi and homemade chips with salad which was lovely. My granddaughter had chicken nuggets chips and beans from the childrens menu. It was really good value for money .will definitely go back

Booked Sunday lunch 1 week in advance for 8, informed 45 minutes before booking that there was only chicken left. If I could have booked somewhere else at short notice I would have. Chicken was tough. The food and drinks are expensive. This pub used to be very good, I will definitely look elsewhere for Sunday lunch in the future

Disappointed with duck pizza and so was hubby who had the same. Son said the parmo was OK but had had better elsewhere. Overcharged but quickly sorted out when hubby spotted and went back to bar. Don't think we will be returning as for the prices can get better food elsewhere.

Enjoyable food and good service.

Went for the Sunday roast which was delicious with plenty of veg, tender meat, Yorkshire pudding and delicious gravy.

Had a lovely breakfast.... proper sausages

Friendly service though did get overcharged but refunded. Duck pizza wasn't great. Seafood linguine too spicy for my daughter. Not that impressed I'm afraid.

Second visit. Staff were excellent as was the food. Not to be missed ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Visited today and with my 2 friends and we each got a Parmo, the Parmos were absolutely vile, mushy and watery and undercooked! I’m not the type to complain about things in restaurants but this has to be said. We told members of Staff and their attitudes towards us were appalling, making digs about us to each other. We did get a refund on the Parmos which is a positive but they clearly begrudged giving us one. Our Pepsi tasted like water. For an expensive pub this place is laughable. Serving £1 microwave meals for nearly £20. Absolute joke. If you want food poisoning then this is the place for you.

Table of 4 to eat and we all had lovely food. I had the Salmon which was on the Specials menu and was lovely. The other 3 diners has the small sharing platters 3 for £17, all had 3 small plates each, all enjoyed the selection they chose. Highly recommend the Duck Bao Buns, delicious, and the loaded fries also lovely. We will be returning soon

This is a really nice pub. Good food and a great selection of beer. The Fish and chips we had were excellent and there were lots of menu options that looked nice too. Would definitely return and recommend.

Called in for lunch, very impressed ,service very good, food really good. Would highly recommend.

The ambiance felt wonderful. First time we have visited. Food was tasty. Will go back again.

had sausage couldn't cut with the knife I had had to have a steak knife☹

Disapointed .... Looking forward to a lovely diner with the family for fathers day and i was very disappointed by the one spoon scoop of mash that tasted like smash and had to ask for extra to make the kids plate a bit more fuller and not many veg choices. The prices are ridiculous for the amount you get. Will not be back...

Great night at The Raby. Top class singer on.

The food at the Raby arms was amazing. I went there as a group on an afternoon. Was not packed. So food was delivered quite quickly. So we're the drinks. Nice place with plenty of seating inside and out. Was a few spots of rain in yhe air so took a co.fy inside seat.

A very standard pub menu, but food was good and also great value for money. The service was excellent at the bar and the table. Shame not a selection of real ales

Good bar food. Staff were ok but seemed unhappy. No banter etc.

Friday fish/chips/mushy peas/bread & butter /cup of tea large portion home made chips really nice £24 all in fir 2 people

Food is not bad ..atmosphere is ( ok)..

Food prices have gone up and quality gone down unfortunately. Batter on fish was soggy no crisp in it at all. Chicken and leek pie pastry wasn't crisp and chicken was quite tough.

Good food and generous portions.

Delicious grub in a friendly village pub.

All staff were very friendly and attentive and the food was tasty, and also served really quickly. Looking forward to a return visit.

Must say one of the best pub meals we've ever had, my wife had the 4oz rump steak, chips salad and I had sausage chips, fried egg and peas, excellent chips were fantastic. Oh the beer was great as well

Visited over the Easter weekend and it was very busy inside and out. We’d booked a table for three adults and two kids for 4.30pm. We were led to our table and were offered waitress service for drinks straight away. We were given the menus and ordered within ten minutes. We ordered a Raby Royale burger, Sea Bass and Steak Pie and mash along with two kids pizza meals everything was good. The kids wanted ice cream and they enjoyed it. As I’ve said, it was very busy but the service we received was top class, prompt and very pleasant. It’s nice not having to queue at the bar👍 Hadn’t been for a while but would definitely go again.

Great food and an even better price with even better service. Lovely blonde lady behind the bar was extremely welcoming, big smile and made are whole experience great.

Loved it. Great food and atmosphere

Is not what it used to be!! Heard poor reviews about the Raby lately and having been twice the in the past week I can see how. The food has always been hit & miss, also the menu is little bit to pricey for what it is. Had a Sunday dinner in there and it was like they did not want to serve you. Asked for some mint sauce for the table and got given a tiny little pot, when we asked for more the lad who looks like he must be a manger, wear's a shirt, tall slim build, just give us the impression that he couldn't be bothered. Took far too long to get someone's attention when our food was on the table. Thought we'd try again during the week. When the meals came out one of the dishes was wrong so we had to wait 10 minutes for the correct dish, not great for someone to sit there whist the rest of the table is eating. Same thing happened again when we asked for some tomato ketchup, tiny little pot and they expected it to do 3 out of 6 of us, then when asked for more they took far too long, be nice to have sauce with our dinners not after it. One of the serving basket handles was covered in what looked like yellow grease, so clearly it had not been cleaned properly. Choice of beer & cider on draught isn't great either now, they used to do Strongbow Dark Fruits then replaced it to Carling Dark Fruits which is popular with most people but now have changed it again. Replaced Kronenbourg with Moretti which are both good but now do Staropramen which isn't the best but you don't have much choice. Yes I get they want to try other products but I will never understand the reasoning to take something off that sells and it is popular. I understand products go up in price but people will pay for what they like to drink. We Should be able to keep coming back and be served what we enjoy drinking, hence the reason for wanting to return. In all honesty the place has not been the same since Kate left a few years ago. She really knew how to look after the customers and keep the staff in check making sure they were doing their jobs properly. I appreciate that in the restaurant industry they will go through some staff but is it really hard to make sure they are trained correctly and can ask them to smile towards the customers every once in a while. The place has lost its personal touch towards their paying customers, especially their regulars.

Isn't what it used to be!! Heard poor reviews about the Raby lately and having been twice the in the past week I can see how. The food has always been hit & miss, also the menu is little bit to pricey for what it is. Had a Sunday dinner in there and it was like they did not want to serve you. Asked for some mint sauce for the table and got given a tiny little pot, when we asked for more the lad who looks like he must be a manger, wear's a shirt, tall slim build, just give us the impression that he couldn't be bothered. Took far too long to get someone's attentions when our food was on the table. Thought we'd try again during the week. When the meals came out one of the dishes was wrong so we had to wait 10 minutes for the correct dish, not great for someone to sit there whist the rest of the table is eating. Same thing happened again when we asked for some tomato ketchup, tiny little pot and they expected it to do 3 out of 6 of us, then when asked for more they took far too long, be nice to have sauce with our dinners not after it. One of the serving basket handles was covered in what looked like yellow grease, so clearly it had not been cleaned properly. Choice of beer & cider on draught isn't great either now, they used to do Strongbow Dark Fruits then replaced it to Carling Dark Fruits which is popular with most people but now have changed it again. Replaced Kronenbourg with Moretti which are both good but now do Staropramen which isn't the best but you don't have much choice. Yes I get they want to try other products but I will never understand the reasoning to take something off that sells and it is popular. I understand products go up in price but people will pay for what they like to drink. We Should be able to keep coming back and be served what we enjoy drinking, hence the reason for wanting to return. In all honesty the place has not been the same since Kate left a few years ago. She really knew how to look after the customers and keep the staff in check making sure they were doing their jobs properly. I appreciate that in the restaurant industry they will go through some staff but is it really hard to make sure they are trained correctly and can ask them to smile towards the customers every once in a while. The place has lost its personnel touch towards their paying customers, especially their regulars.

Sunday lunch with family, service poor. Woman serving couldn’t even crack a smile. Got up to ask if we could order as had waited 30 mins after having a table booked at 1pm, had two children with us so they were becoming impatient. When the dinners came the beef and pork was tough as old boots, not sure how long it had been cooked for! Very disappointing.

Great pub for kids and dogs. Breakfast is perfect

Great service and friendly staff with excellent food..... Coming back for the cheesecake..

We don't often go out for Sunday lunch as, being vegetarians, we often find the nut roasts uninspiring. We were taken to the Raby Arms by family yesterday and what an amazing experience. The location and venue are beautiful with stunning views and a first class renovation of old farm buildings. The service was second to none: Josh was friendly, personable and couldn't do enough to enhance our experience. We shared starters, delicious, and had the nut roast Sunday dinner. Not only was the roast exceptional but I counted 8 different types of veg served with it and a massive beautifully crisp Yorkshire pudding. It was like going out for Xmas dinner, it was so special. Coming from London we were also impressed with what good value for money this was. We can not recommend this restaurant highly enough and another visit will be a highlight when we return to the area.

Nice hot chocolate after my bike ride

Worst pub about, asked for the 2 course for 17 rump steak then they give us sirloin and it cost us 38 pound for the useless young woman servings mistake, never again will i go here, severs mistake cost me over £20

Called on a Friday, fish & chips for 2 including peas ,horseradish, bread& butter and a pot of tea .£24. Quality

Reasonably priced food, lovely breakfast! Dog friendly bar area Outdoor play area for children Helpful, friendly staff

Heard rave reviews about this place and was desperate to try it. The range on the menu is decent but the food didn’t wow me and I wouldn’t say it’s value for money. The service is horrific. Not one member of staff cracked a smile the whole time. Not attentive at all. Really, really poor. The place itself is decent, and could be a really good pub if they inject a bit of enthusiasm and attentiveness.

Really nice friendly pub. Staff, food and drinks all very good. Recommend a visit.

Fantastic night out here, place was completely full when we arrived at 6:30pm, we pre booked a table and what fabulous meals and service, do yourself a favour and give this place a try you won’t regret it. 👊

Nice breakfast. Shame bout the customer service. Don't think we met one pleasant member of staff.

Absolutely shocking food, slowcooked featherblade of beef was in fact fast cooked brisket, it was inedible and couldn't be cut with the terrible cutlery. Raby burger dry and tasteless. The cutlery is a good indication of the standard in the kitchen!

Great staff,excellent food and rather quiet so near Xmas...just the way I like it...thanks.

Eat here quite often. New menu is now available too. Meals have always been lovely especially the Sunday lunches . Kids menu available too .

Staff were great we were a big group and they were very attentative and efficient

Had a Teesside Parma. Good bit of scran, service was good and the pub was cozy. Had a great lunch there

Only been once bit the food was excellent 👌

A lovely village pub, good food and great service

It was one of the best Sunday lunches I've eaten. This was our second visit in a month, just to make sure that the first one wasn't a fluke. I'm glad to say that it was every bit as nice. There was literally nothing wrong with the meals.

Had a nice lunch with 5 other people here food was good and staff helpful reasonable price for food will definitely be back next time visiting in area.

We had Sunday lunch for four people and were very pleased with the food quality and quantity and also the attentive service. Our food order came very quickly, which did not give us much time to relax and chat with a pre dinner drink. Next time we would ask them to wait a little while before serving. Our only criticism was the presentation of the food which was not particularly attractive with roast potatoes scattered randomly on the plate and pieces of the meat hidden in different places, buried under veg or mashed potato. It would have looked much more appetising if a little more care had been taken in placing the food on the plates. However, it was still very nice, well cooked and reasonable value. The staff were warm and welcoming and we would recommend it.

We had a very nice Chicken Katsu Curry that came with rice and chips. Big portion, hot and freshly cooked. The coffee was really good too.

Lovely, friendly staff always get a nice welcome

Cater for my dairy free needs without any fuss. I make my order and the chefs replace the dairy aspects of the meal with vegan alternatives without any fuss. The food is always delicious and the portions are generous.

Went for the Sunday Roast...had the Beef dinner, it was lovely and very tasty. Got plenty of beef and a extra side of pigs in blankets. The food came out within 10 minutes of ordering... before the drinks even came. Took photos of the duo meat dinner as we went back again a few weeks later. Probably the best Sunday dinner I've had in a long time.

Had an amazing night last night In the Raby arms. Was a little confusion with our seating arrangements but the staff went above and beyond to accommodate us. Great service. Food was worth every penny. The band they had on was brilliant. This place is gem.

Great to sit out in the extensive beer garden with a pint of Estrella after walking on the Durham Coast Path. Close to Crimdon Beach where I finished walking that day

Food OK. Nothing special. Service very good.

Great local, excellent beer, good food friendly service very well run pub. Favourite of the area.

Nice place. The food was enjoyable. Have been a few times now. Would recommend.

Burger with proper chips and gorgeous cheese sauce with a pint for a tenner (Wednesday deal). Friendly staff and great service. Recommended

Good food, was heaving Sat lunchtime. Well worth the visit.

Had probably the best fish and chips I've ever had!!

Will never return standard of food is very below average…..we had visitors from Scotland and were disappointed as we were …Katsu Curry breadcrumbed chicken breast with very little curry sauce absolutely no flavour….Fish & Chips although large fillet very greasy and tasteless fish …chips were ends of potatoes and not wholesome at all mushy peas warm served in a gravy boat ! Our visitors children not impressed with pizza or chips…and mini scampi triple cut chips just about black in colour ….what a waste of £80 …..drinks of Coke with lots of ice flavourless what is wrong with bottle coke? …..sorry but this pub needs to up their game homemade wholesome food is strongly advised check other venues ie The Angel, Poachers Pocket, The Engine Wrekenton serve tasty food service here was very average we had to go to bar on two occasions for drinks to our table …. Sorry I think it would take time to improve before we could even think about returning we eat out at least 2/3 per week not recommended !!!

Great lunch meeting up with family from Sunderland who enjoyed it too.

Food was ok but waitresses were not very friendly. Not a smile or a friendly word, not even to the little girl with us. Would not happen in the rest of Europe. Get some decent staff please 🥺 Children's food was very good. I would not return.

We hadn't been to the Raby Arms in awhile and love the new decor. We found the service to be lacking and once our food was brought, the service ended. I ordered a fish fajita on a flatbread and it was a mess. Very dry as there wasn't any sauces and the flatbread was under deep fried fish and chips. So really, it was just fish and chips with peppers. Quite expensive for what it was. Very disappointed.

As a family of 5 we enjoyed their small lunch menu. Great food and even better value. Staff were very good.

We visited today and had Sunday roast- outstanding, very delicious. Also had sweet which was amazing too. Very good atmosphere and inviting. We'll be back ❤

Went for a family meal on Friday of the tall ships weekend and must say I was disappointed. We were served by about five different people so there was no consistency, they seem to choose which specials to show you. I had to ask to see the family deal which I knew was on but I wasn't given info about it. We were told that they only had blackcurrant fruit shoots for the kids (no problem) to then be brought two orange fruit shoots by another server?? The whole place had an overwhelming smell of salmon which was really off-putting as it just didn't go away the whole time we were there. Food was alright, the margarita pizza was a bit bland and very thin and the cheesecake was soft and sloppy. The icing on the cake was when yet another staff member came over and told us that the table was booked out to someone else at half six (this was at six pm when she said this) we hadn't even had our desserts which had been ordered, but we just felt like we were rushed,we can only eat when the food is served after all! Other times that we have eaten here have been lovely but on this particular night it just seem to lack senior support for the server staff. Positives were the playground for the kids and the kids dessert which my kids thought were really great.

Excellent food and decent sized portions.

We're had a delightful meal here, managed to squeeze us in without a reservation. The food was good, a very large parmo, but the chicken on the shawarma was a bit dry.

Brilliant food massive portions and service was great

Typical pub food small plates for price

All of our meals were amazing - fish and chips were perfect. However, the waitress/front of house person was extremely rude. She ignored us the whole time we were there, when we asked for menus she gave us the filthiest look I’ve ever seen, then threw one menu on the table and walked off. Really put a downer on our experience

my wife Christine and i booked at table for 5pm on 29th October, all covid rules adhered to perfectly. We both ordered mixed meat chicken and beef skewers with sweet potato chips , salad and sour cream dip. Meal was ok but salad was non existent , few leaves and nothing else , no tomatoes , cucumber or nothing. dessert was nice , bill came in at £44, waitress told us we would receive 20% discount but we never got it. Meal was ok but need to up effort in kitchen with competition they have.

Great breakfast on a sunny Sunday morning outside on terrace . Well presented and very tasty . Staff friendly and helpful . Would highly recommend

We visited as a family for my husbands birthday. First time to the Raby Arms and would highly recommend. The staff are very welcoming and service is impeccable. Food - we all had different: chicken beef and lamb and everyone was faultless - very tasty and generous portion size. Great value for money

So this is our second time eating at the raby arms since reopening after lockdown and I'm afraid it will be our last.Both times have been very disappointing due to the very small portion sizes.Our order was a chicken parmo and cod with chips (see photos), the portion sizes have massively reduced since lockdown and now are not value for money.The cod was the skinniest I've ever seen and the parmo very small these used to be very large portions.Thats our opinion and we wont be back for food.

Ordered a burger with bacon and chips . Burger was mushy and greasy and the bun was dry . Do not come here !!!

10/10 on food and service. We both had the trio of meats for lunch, then Carrot Cake and Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert. Perfect from start to finish.

We celebrated my Granddaughter s Exam Results with a lunch here Thursday 13 August. The whole experience was first class ,we were met at the door and explained all the social distancing rules and where everything was.The service was excellent and the standard of the food exceptional.Many thanks for a totally safe experience..Will certainly be recommending to my family and friends and will return soon

After pre-booking a table we arrived 5 minutes early. The car park and beer garden were very busy with little sign of so ial distancing talking place in the garden. We noticed signs warning of hour & half wait for food .We stood at the appointed place to wait to be taken to our table. While we were waiting we noticed inside looking quite busy but not packed. When someone came to ask if we had a table booked we asked if the wait also applied to people with booked tables we were greeted with a shrug of the shoulders and a yeah. We took our money elsewhere

The food really was shockingly bad. Now my standards are low but this stuff was inedible. We went there as a family of 5 because the reviews looked okay and we were dining out on the government 50% off 'meal deal'. The starters were 'okay' Prawn cocktale for my Father-in-law and the rest of us shared a chicken platter. At the end of the starter, we felt quite "greesed out". It was into the main course that we all started to feel queesy. It really was just lard piled up with lard and the stake (which cost £20) was really really tough. None of us ate any more than about 1/4 of our maincourses. My wife and I went to bed when we got home as we were both feeling sick. Beer was also badly kept - Timohy Taylor as well, one of the worlds great beers but the pint had was almost flat with no discernable head.We asked for take out bags thinking we might return to the food later on, but it all went in the bin. I noticed other people doing the same. I also noticed that the staff seem to have learnt not to ask if everything is okay with your meal when you are paying. They ask when it is first put out in fornt of you ( and it looks okay so you say fine) but they don't ask again. Total bill was almost £100. I would have refeused to pay but I was with my children and father-in-law who do not like to make a fuss.This is literaly the worst meal out I have EVER had. Avoid Avoid Avoid.To end on somethng possetive - the staff and ambience were very pleasant. It is just that the food is awful.

Going back home after a week at crimdon Dene caravan park the three of us and our German shepherd stopped for food and drink. The food and service was impeccable and social distancing standards of the highest level. Will definitely return and recommend to anyone to pay this lovely pub a visit. Many thanks xxx