Rioja in South Lakeland

Our party consisted of seven people all aged between 32 and 41. We all felt ancient in here. Loud, brash and the beer was not great. Probably not for us. Was our last pub on our tour of the town.

Rioja could be a superb place for a late night/early morning club except they hold on to some outdated rhetoric that old school songs are better. The fact really is that the DJ and the club don't recognize certain tunes will attract the right audience and won't adjust accordingly. It's a crying shame given the monopoly the club could have on ulverston

Won’t ever come back here after my friend was refused entry for what type of shorts he had on…whilst on a works do, guy on the left got in but guy on the right refused entry, door staff could not describe the difference and stated “tHeY aRe JuSt ThE RuLeS” ruined our night and split our team up, it’s a little bar in Ulverston not the Ritz, get a grip

Superb venue for a birthday get together, great range of cocktails made and served expertly by friendly staff. If you're thinking of a venue in ulverston, you will not be disappointed

Shocking! Last time I visited a rioca it was lovely, I insisted my friends come for the best cocktails in Ulverston, oh I was so wrong, the drinks were made, see pic, we were over charged by £1.50, when we pointed out out we were told sorry, I'll change the till, (no refund) the cocktails were horrific (pina coladas looked like they were out of a pre made packet and nothing like a pina colada). We just walked, 2 out of 3 martini espressos were un drinkable, as were the pina coladas. We were offered a refund but for some mad reason my friend declined! To top it off the most discusting thing was having to peel my feet off the floor after every step. Sorry rioca but I will never step foot in your establishment again!

Loud banging music with lots of young people. If you get the right cocktail its as cheap as chips. Only gave it four stars this time as it took a while to get served.

Staff are really friendly, cocktails amazing, vibe was unreal! Definitely would go back! Fast service, cannot fault

Average age of our group was around 32, we felt totally out of place here. Loud music, ear splitting at times, odd bar that took up most of the space. Not terrible, but not for us.

come here for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks, shame they no longer do food but still advertise (they said they stopped 2 months ago) really good cocktails and they lost another star as the floor was really sticky.

In Ulverston the most beautifully done out old Bank premises.Really lovely. A Spanish Tapas Bar served an Estrella in a Fosters glass:Hola & dreadful. No atmosphere:No front of house. I timed it at 16,00 on a Friday with a gathering crowd of all ages. No cheese on the counter:no feeling of Spain. I guess just a young peoples Weekend house. A shame as the place is lovely with The Vault area for private parties etc. What a shame.I guess The Owners are happy."La Vida".ant

What I liked about this place, it doesn’t serve impatient people. Quickest beer I’ve ever had. Thumbs up.

Possibly the quickest service for drinks I've ever had. No waiting time at all, it was brilliant. The staff have super lightening speed talents to deliver tasty and fast drinks services. Only downside was there was a starnge blond woman standing at the bar for an hour ordering nothing

We only went in here because nobody could believe the reviews could be so bad. In reality it's not that bad, there are plenty worse but I can see why people dont like it. It wasnt particularly clean, the music burst my eardrums and it was empty. Staff were nice but then we were the only people there. No cask beer but the keg wasnt sour. Toilets very smelly.

Someone has spent so much money on this place. Looks like a million dollars from the outside. I wasn't going to bother posting a review as I kept thinking "don't kick a dog when it's down", but then I thought about other people like us who might go in the place. They need to know. Service is terrible. The staff are not interested, scruffy and slow. They made a point of serving all their friends before giving my group a glance, we'd been there for ages. The drinks are just boring main street keg rubbish with cocktails as a back up. The staff pulled faces of annoyance every time someone ordered a cocktail. It was incredibly noisy with the speakers at full blast at 8pm. The place was full of kids, I hope they age check carefully. It was a mess, tables covered in glasses and fluids. The toilets smelts awful and there was an edge to the place that made our group unhappy. It's an embarrasment to the fine town of Ulverston.

Dirty bar, floor, and seats. Food spilled on floor all around the bar area. Mixed drinks were awful. Music was being distorted by poor sound system unable to cope with the volume. Paid £7.50 for the worst attempt at a Margarita I have ever tasted.

This place is really bad. When we went in the table we sat at was covered in spilt drink as was the floor. Took ages to get served and had to send the drinks back as they were disgusting 🤢.

Sorry but this place has gone down hill, it's freezing with no heating at all, the bar staff were crap. Not been in months and thought idd give it a try as all the other pubs in town were busy but god this place is crap never going again, ever....!!!!

Went for cocktails last night. Four bar staff,one serving a couple. Other three walked round the bar avoiding eye contact with us. Eventually after they had finished chatting with each other one came over. We ordered 3 cocktails,which took the lad over 20 minutes to make. Really need to sort the staff out,all of them looked liked they didn’t want to be there.

well quiet its not music far to loud, bar staff look 12 , a fight broke out and the bar staff just carried on serving and when we asked if they had door staff they said no and just carried on....amazing ....NOT

Tables dirty, Toilets a disgrace, Floors were like walking through Treacle!! What is going on here? A quiet drink on a Sunday night....what a joke. Huge background noises of heavy hip hop, a lone bar staff member who used the place like his own personal jukebox. Left after one drink holding our breath through a ‘guard of honour’ smokers in the doorway. We will not be back.

.....spend so much money on fitting a place out and then leave it in a terrible state?

We were soooo happy when we found this place. 5 girls all looking for a cocktail bar with good music and when we got in we thought "amazing!". It all went a bit wrong. The music was so loud it gave 2 girls a headache but the biggest problem was getting served. It just took ages and ages. We ended up spreading out across the bar and waited until one of us got the bar mans eye. I think that took about 20 minutes and it wasnt even that busy. The cocktails were meh, too sweet and im not sure the man knew what he was doing. Still cost nearly £40 for a round. Didnt stay for long.

The place is trying desperately to do what other smaller places in the town are doing well. Badly finished off, clueless staff and a poor wine list.

Good selection of cocktails and it's good to see that customers are visiting. Visited on two seperate occassions for drinks. The layout suggests this is a bar but the music is SO loud that you're shouting at your friends to be heard. Feels like it's trying to be a nightclub and a classy, relaxing bar at the same time. Anything to get customers in really. Unlikely to return.

I visited here earlier on this year as I had never been before, I swore not to come back, but tonight I found myself here again. Second chances and all that!

Where do I start? Booked a table for two for a celebration, about a week before we were due to visit. After being shown to our table we were informed by the waiter that our pre-booked order couldn't be served because the menu had changed since ordering our dishes online... only a couple of days before. To cut a long story short our replacement/second order then didn't arrive, the room (upstairs) was so cold we had to keep our jackets on, and after about an hour of waiting for our meal we noticed staff starting to tidy up.....we then informed them that we still hadn't eaten!! only to be told by the waiter that there had been a mistake with our order....it seemed to have got lost??? he then informed us that now there wasn't really anything left to eat?!? The manager was rude and arrogant with absolutely no people skills, it was shocking! Ended up having some chorizo sausage and potato, all that was left. Kitchen staff and waiters were most apologetic but the manager was just rude, felt sorry for the other staff as they weren't being managed properly. Worst service I've had at any bar/restaurant in the world, it was so bad we actually couldn't believe it!

Only stayed for a pint with friends. Place is very smart indeed. Big bar right in the middle. Music was quite loud but the girls enjoyed that. They had a cocktail and we had a pint. Good to see something new in Ulverston. Drinks were very cheap.

We called in with no reservation, looking for food. The tapas menu caught our eye, and we went for 3 * meat and 1 * veggie tapas meal. The service was good and the food great. The main bar area can get a bit noisy as there are few soft furnishings, but we had an enjoyable evening.

Food was good and staff were excellent except for the chap who seems to be the bar manager. The only problem is the big screen TV which is a let down as the place is, sadly, just becoming another place to watch sport which takes away from the eating experience and there is enough of these places already.

A friend booked a table midweek to “try somewhere different”. When given the menus we also got a list of items which were not available. There were 11 on the list!!!!!! The menu only ran to 30. Someone said they were changing chefs. Impression was only pre prepared cold dishes were available. Cut our losses and left to eat elsewhere. While I love the concept and would like it to succeed it really needs to get its act together in a hurry.

Really wonderful atmosphere and great staff. Had a tequila sunrise on the 2-4-1 offer which was the best I’ve had! Ordered 5 different dishes. Chorizo and Patatas Bravas were amazing. Served by the manager who was a lovely guy. Would definitely return :)

We had the deluxe tapas menu which was a bit of everything, maybe 9 or 10 different dishes each. Next time we might have the smaller menu. The 2 serving staff were very pleasant although having to cope with orders, serving, drinks and money. At present there is a discount for early birds on both food and (some) drink, well worth while!

I have been staying in Ulverston for the past week and have driven past this place a few times and decided to try it as it looks really nice from the outside. When I entered the place was like a ghost town at 7 pm. I placed my order and waited in excitement, as I was waiting I observed a waitress rushing back and forth from the kitchen with what looked like take away trays for about 20min which I found very odd. I could only assume that the people who ordered had too much and wanted to take it home as it must be really nice. That's when after 50 minutes of waiting a starter off burnt toast arrived, then the rest of what seemed to be last nights reheated mess turned up. The place is a shambles and also overpriced. It was only after I left did I notice another tapas restaurant over the road and it was packed. Lesson learned last night that I will never be going here ever again

Perfect place to watch the world cup, staff friendly and helpful and the selection of drinks is superb. Unsure why there are negative comments, this place is great.

I have been wanting to visit rioja ever since it opened, but haven't until tonight. The bar was busy enough but not crazy busy, it took us 10 minutes to get served. The bar staff kept looking at us and ignoring us. (I know it's hard to keep tabs on who came to the bar and when, but there was no system) I was wanting a cocktail but after waiting so long I decided I couldn't be bothered, my friends did the same! The bar staff weren't friendly, there was a total lack of customer service and I doubt I'll be coming back! I was expecting way more! I hadn't heard great thing originally but thought I'd give it a go!

Witnessed one of the male bartenders throwing the card machine at the only female bar staff. She handed it very well, didn’t fight back at all. Those 3 lads need to be sacked! All they did was stand in the bar talking amongst themselfs, not serving anyone!

Food was brilliant, couldn’t fault it at all. Waiting staff all lovely. Music could have been more in keeping with the Spanish theme. We ordered 3 bottles of wine which they didn’t have in stock but they served more expensive wine at the same price as our original request. Definitely would recommend!

A real shame! We went as a group of 16. Despite pre-ordering, no food was served until an hour and 20 mins into our visit. The food was fairly bland and barely enough to share with our large group. We collectively agreed we wouldn’t be returning.

Nights out for myself and my husband are rare with having three children so we got babysitters and wanted to make the most of it so we went for a meal elsewhere in town and called in here for a drink on the way back home.

Went here for a meal,waited over an hour for grim food Bar staff only serve at one side of a four sided bar Place doesn’t know what it wants to be Better and friendlier places in town

Visited with a group of 4 adults, 3 ordered the set tapas menu and the other ordered 3 separate tapas dishes. The food arrived quickly and seemed to be plentiful however the dishes were just thrown together. The ribs were small with sauce thrown on top, not cooked together, the paras bravas were the same just sauce poured on top of flavouless potatoes. I really wanted to love Rioja but I didn't. £20 a head was way too much for the set menu with that quality of food. Sorry Rioja there is too much competition around.

The service was brilliant, food was lovely. I recommend the goats cheese spinach and mushrooms. I got a G&T;, the menu said bloom gin with fevertree tonic and strawberries for £2.65 Which i thought was quite cheap. When the bill came they charged £3 for the gin and £2 for the tonic. They reduced the gin to the price it said on the menu but had to still charge me £2 for the tonic.They need to change that menu immediately. Its very misleading and unacceptable that they overcharged me in the first place and didn't even offer the tonic as a gesture of goodwill. I would still recommend the place as the service and food was lovely but will tell them to make sure they check their bill thoroughly.

We didn't eat here but we did come in for cocktails. The place was lovely, busy and a great atmosphere. Great cocktails, great beers, would love to try the food next time.

I wouldn’t have wanted to return here following my last experiences (and associated appalling review I gave it) but my friends opted for it so went along. Went for drinks at about 5pm on Good Friday. First thing of note was a giant screen the size of the entire wall of the bar area showing Sky sports. I wanted to cry. Surely this is the kiss of death for anywhere that is trying to be seen as something more than pub to watch the footie in. Place was practically empty. Sat in the downstairs bright white room. High seating without foot rests is uncomfortable after a while but thankfully it was still pretty empty so we moved to the normal tables. Was freezing cold - we all had coats or scarves on. Lighting harsh and bright. At one point they started up some ‘ambient’ colour changing lights but those were switched off after about 30mins (what was that all about?). 2 friends ordered pornstar martinis but they did not get the prosecco shots that should have accompanied them. They realised later when they saw other people drinking them. To be fair when it was brought to the attention of the staff later in the evening the manager apologised and brought them - however they were not really any good at that point so whilst the he technically rectified the situation, I personally felt that it would have been more sensible to offer them a free drink or something.

We went to celebrate my birthday and it was cold. Everyone wore their coats on their legs! The food was mediocre, tough lamb, nice garlic bread, boiled beef which wasn’t nice. The meat balls were lovely, the halloumi was too salty but the chicken was nice. The girl who served us was really nice but the owner/manager seemed more interested in his computer than us, which was a bad decision as we would have stayed there all day and ended up spending £600 on champagne and drinks elsewhere as there was a lot of us. The ladies toilets had no toilet roll in any of the three toilets and had drink spillages and looked like they hadn’t been cleaned for a while. It was a shame because we had planned on staying there all day but the pub we went onto were delighted and more than happy to keep our glasses topped up!

Me and a few of my family went last weekend just for drinks so can't comment on the food.

The food here was amazing. Me and my family went for the deluxe tapas set menu which had plenty of choice and definitely a lot of food!! Delicious drink selection :)

I prefer to have a few glasses of wine on a midweek night as opposed to weekend, so on a v quiet Tuesday night myself and my partner decided to try the all new Rioja. We didn’t order food, just a bottle of white wine placed at around the £25 mark.

Went into this bar on a Saturday night,it was very quiet.We waited at the bar to be served,and waited and waited.The three male bar staff were just stood talking to each other,then one of them seemed to lose his temper at one of the girls on the bar,and sent one of the card reading machines flying,disgusting behaviour towards a young girl.We gave up and left,never going back.

We were hoping to book a table for two people for last night (Saturday ) but nobody was answering the phone, and when the answerphone kicked in it was " Cumbria teaching agency" asking me to phone back during office hours Monday to Friday.

Having read the reviews I was hesitant to go here. How wrong I was. The place was warm and the welcome good. Toilets very clean. They also have a disabled loo on the ground floor. There were 4 of us and we all ordered different tapas. All the food was really very nice. No complaint at all. Will return.

After reading all the bad reviews I didn’t hold out much hope of a nice meal, and also went well wrapped up as lots of reviews said it was cold. However, the warmth hit us as soon as we went inside. The bar area is impressive and we were promptly taken upstairs to our pre-booked table. The restaurant area is also beautifully decorated, spacious, warm with plush comfortable seating. We were the first ones in, and by the time we left there were only three other tables taken. There were two waitresses on service and although pleasant enough I think they were a little disorganised and lacking in confidence and knowledge of the menus. We went for the £19.95per person taster menu which we both enjoyed very much. We will definitely be returning, but probably to a booth in the bar area which had more going on.

This has to be the worst place I have ever been too. The place is stark, and cold (everyone sat with their coats on)..The food was cold with no taste, the waitress did not know the dishes she was serving! AVOID.

Very smart and trendy place. I don't think I've ever seen so much immaculate white leather. Part of a group of eight ladies, we all had a cocktail and loved the glamour.

After being so excited waiting for this place to open the experience was beyond disappointing. This place misses the mark on just about every level. Getting hold of the place to book a table took about 2 days of persistent trying as they ignored the online booking request, emails sent through the website and my constant calling multiple numbers from their site, Facebook page etc got permanently engaged tones or were wrong. Even when I finally spoke to someone they passed on message and still never called back. Bar service painfully slow even when the place is pretty empty. I have been in the bar twice more since and that has been the case every time so I cannot imagine they would cope if the place was actually busy. Cocktails not great quality. The decor of the bar is strange - the area around the bar quite gastropub-like with a separate area behind that is more tacky, flash bar with super bright led lighting and high perch seating. Restaurant decor even weirder . The ambience was “new build show house idea of bland luxury”. Harsh white walls, blindingly bright lighting, silvery grey velvety chairs, non-descript pale grey wall art. The whole ambience was off and didn’t fit with idea of a tapas restaurant at all. We were the only occupied table in the restaurant and we had to raise our voices to be heard over speakers banging out Christmas songs. We asked for it to be turned down and were told they couldn’t as was linked to the music system for the bar. Waitresses were nice and friendly but lacked even most basic knowledge of menu - couldn’t even tell us how menu dishes we should order for number of people in our party. Lots of things unavailable from menu, some things we were told we could have that were not even listed on the menu only to be told later they were unavailable too. The food plates we ordered ranged from average to terrible. I do not exaggerate when I say the plate of fried mushrooms was approx 1 medium sized mushroom sliced up small and mixed with 2 garlic cloves. We barely got 1.5 dessert spoonfuls out of it. Disgraceful at a cost of over £6 per plate. The tomato bread was literally just that - mashed up unseasoned tomatoes spread over some toasted bread. If you are going to open a tapas restaurant on the opposite side of the street to a really great tapas restaurant you really need to be at least as good or have some other USP. This delivered neither.

Have wanted to try the bar for ages. Went here for drinks with friends.

Recently visited for a friends birthday and was sadly disappointed.

Called in for an impromptu drink at 5pm on Friday. Bar area is nicely decorated with good furnishings, but it is too bright. Lights needed dimming and candles would be nice. The place was not very busy, probably about a dozen people sitting around or at the bar and we easily got a table at the back of the room. However, we noticed a lot of the tables had not been cleared away with dirty glasses left from other previous customers. There was one bar lady serving everybody drinks. She was doing her very best, however, some of us were ordering cocktails, which of course take time to make. We noticed another member of staff, who looked like a female manager, sat at the back of the bar staring at her computer, eating a box full of chips, looking totally disinterested, seemingly unable to offer any assistance to the poor lady who was serving all the drinks to the customers. Its just disappointing, Rioja. You've just opened up, trying to make your name here, but it is not a good start. The owner needs to look at staffing levels and to make sure the so-called "Manager" is actually doing her job.

We visited Saturday night with friends. What a lovely addition to Ulverston. The staff were very friendly and helpful and the prices were very reasonable for Ulverston. The newly refurbished old bank is really nicely decorated throughout with modern furnishings and lightings and the old vault proved to be a hit with revellers with its own tv and tables so you can enjoy your food and drink in there. The atmosphere was very relaxed with music just loud enough so you can enjoy a good catch up with friends. We will visit soon to sample the food as the menu looked very good. Well worth a visit

Could not fault the food or service but it was very quiet when we were there.Maybe a little more variety , possibly a cheese option , may be one but i didn't see it.

Only visited for a quick drink last night. What a reinvention. It's a cocktail bar with an Ibiza type feel (or how I would imagine Ibiza is!!), lots of cocktails and a decent selection of beers. It was a bit "young" for us, but it had a good atmosphere and the service was super friendly. It's great to see local people investing in old buildings, this place has been transformed and I wish them all the best.

Start with the positives, the staff were very good that’s about all, unfortunately the food was overpriced and poor, nothing was hot they blamed it on being dished up in cold dishes ! The Gambas were about the size of a ten pence and hard as bullets, probably been overdone in the microwave, they did knock some money off to be fair but unfortunately won’t return

I was more than satisfied with my visit. The food was amazing, the staff were lovely and very welcoming. I had the steak which was cooked to perfection. For the tapas choice, I had Calamari (fried squid rings) which I have never had before but was very impressed.

Had a great tapas meat in the old hsbc bank. They have made a great bar restaurant of this old bank keeping the fantastic ceiling. They have not quite finished yet but it is worth a visit the staff were friendly and attentive.

Ate here between Christmas and New Year, after hearing reviews from other people in the town I was a bit apprehensive but I was pleasantly surprised. Upon arriving we were greeted by a Spanish waiter who gave us the option of eating in the restaurant or one of the booths downstairs. We opted to eat in one of the booths in the white area downstairs. The room was well lit and was adjusted depending on the atmosphere which was a pleasant surprise.

I have been twice once for our work Christmas do and once with friends on New Years Eve. The food is fantastic!

No complaints at all !! The food was incredible. A true Tapas experience !

We went after it had been open a couple of weeks.

Went here for our works Christmas party, 9 of us in total. The food was stunning, I had the tempura prawns and chorizo in red wine followed by a rib eye burger (I like my food) I was far too full for pudding. Went in a few nights ago feeling peckish so tried the deep fried ice cream - just wow!

What a huge disappointment!! The bar/restaurant looks stunning from the outside and looks just as special when you walk in. It was January 2nd so it was quiet. Staff were polite and quite helpful.

Never been to a Brit tapas bar, but it looked stylish in a contemporary way which I liked. The lady who attended to us was very helpful and it all looked promising... But, there's nearly always a 'but'... It was more than a tad chaotic. The music was akin to living next door to a teen party: all you could hear was the boom-boom of the base, and as it was so repetitive it must have been the same track playing for two hours! The staff could hardly be heard! Anyway, after an age we ordered and the dishes began to arrive... but one at a time with huge gaps between! They were cheerily served, but we wanted to dine 'together', not individually! It was a nightmare, but we, and they, kept their sense of humour... The three 'English' main meals all arrived together, and were thought to be quite good, but the 'tapas side' of it was chaotic. My wife's chicken kebab was dry and hard and the chips were cold: this dish was happily deducted from the bill.