The Ember Lounge in Stoke-on-Trent

This pub on the Staffordshire University campus has a cool, student vibe. The atmosphere is great, mostly filled with young people and students. They’ve got some decent food and snacks to go with your drinks, plus fun stuff like a pool table. The staff are super friendly and nice. Overall, it’s a solid spot to hang out. Definitely recommend!

Waited over an hour for food, which we only got because we went up and asked, just to be told "there was no one at the table" when there was 3 of us sat there, subsequently, the food was dry as it had been under a heat lamp for so long, and the plates were very hot which we weren't warned about, and my friend burnt her hand. If we weren't so hungry after waiting for so long we would've left it. Other people around us had the same issues. This place used to be really nice, not anymore.

No meat in the chicken wrap. Undercooked chips. Lovely service.

I think everyone would like this place if ....

Waited in line for half an hour. Got to the bar where the staff served a good 5 or so people that had blatantly cut in front of me causing me to have to wait another half an hour. 1 HOUR IN LINE! By the time they actually got to me they had stopped serving food. TL:dr I waited in line for an hour to get a pizza just to get told to jog on due to the absolute joke they call "Service" at the Ember Lounge.

Nice Venue, a real shame the uni dont utilise it as much as they could, not open saturday sunday... no events to engage students other than ONE night a week (Karaoke). as a student bar it should be doing more events and nights for students... real shame the management are lazy

I'll give it a 4 stars and not 5 because of the following The atmosphere is wonderful, really enjoyable , you've got variety of foods and drinks alholic/non-alcoholic The only problem is sometimes the food is not tha great , you can tell that they either haven't changed the oil in a while or the food wasn't that fresh. It can happen . The staff is always kind and they do their job

Good food, nice area to hang out after lectures and unwind. Not too busy most days but can get very busy with events

Cheap and cheerful, good drinks, but food is hit and miss. Dont bother with the veggie breakfast - you could hammer in nails with the sausages.

A very sharp drop in quality since my student days here. Used to be a staple of uni life, and also used to have very good food and drink. Its a shame...

Great place to chill and eat back in my days at StaffsUni.

Visited as part of daughter's end of year exhibition event. Made very welcome

Nice place to sit in but the food is not great sometimes it hot other times its cold or not cooked properly

Good prices and great atmosphere

I like the pool table and my drink and it is accessible for disabled people

The Karaoke on Tuesday night is a must. :)

The Ember Lounge is a pivotal location on the Staffordshire University College Road campus. During my first year of study, it was the place to be on campus to have a social life or grab a bite to eat between classes. During the lockdown, it appears that anyone with any clue how to run a hospitality venue left, and the people left behind have just kind of winged it for what they're supposed to be doing. The staff are unprofessional and lazy, multiple staff members will stand behind the bar and just stare at you while you wait to be served. The long waits would be expected if the venue had an atmosphere, but the footfall is low and the environment feels cold and unwelcoming. The venue used to also boast one of the most popular events on campus, a weekly karaoke where students would drink the night away and sing merrily to notable cheesy tunes and popular classics. This fantastic event has turned into the same 20-30 students screaming songs from anime's and cartoons or absolutely butchering other songs that you've never heard of. This would be kind of tolerable if you could hold a conversation with someone at your table while you tried to enjoy your drinks, but the music is at such an unbelievably loud level it can probably be heard from the Leek Road side of campus. The LRV has made conscious efforts to control the noise level of their events, but no regard is taken for that at Karaoke and if it wasn't so far onto the campus I'd expect noise complaints from the neighbours. Finally the pièce de résistance of The Ember Lounge; the food. I'm without words for how far the standards in the kitchen have slipped. The food at Ember used to be a staple of the Staffs Student diet, grabbing a bite to eat between lectures or having a nice lunch on the weekend you'd see many students dropping in throughout the day to refuel and catch up with their friends. What comes out of that kitchen now you can barely call food. The service is slow and staff seem offended when you ask to place a food order. The photos I've uploaded with this review just show you what they class as a "Pizza" which tends to be a burnt to a crisp cardboard base drowned in sauce and cheese hoping you forget you wasted £5.90 on this insult to food, even after sending it back they struggle to make an improvement on it.

First class food. Staff amazing

This has been my go to for the last 3 years, brilliant atmosphere however after today I would not say the same, all 3 of us burgers and sweet potato fries came cold, the emburger had 3 tiny bits of jalapeños and was not the warmest either, the garlic mushrooms were breaded and slimey on a bed of old salad and now you have to pay for little pots of sauce which is new, sad to see this place slipping :(

3 years ago this was my favourite bar but over the last 2 years it's been steadily dropping in standards from drinks that are over priced and food that's cold or undercooked to staff that dont have proper trainings.

Service at best is below average

Foods ok, shame about the speed of service ! They even have a thing in the menu that says if food takes more than 30 minutes to arrive you get your meal for free. Unfortunately they will argue about this fact in practice. My meal was literally 30 minutes till it reached my table, I enquired if I could get my money back or a voucher, but was told it was exactly 30 minutes so didn't apply !? In reality it was 30 minutes and 40 something seconds so technically 'over 30 minutes' . But still, it took 30 minutes for my turkey burger to arrive, while other make ordered after mine were coming out in good time. And it wasn't even that busy !

Ember is a great place with good food and affordable drinks. It brings together hardworking students as both staff and customers as well as bringing events for visitors and customer's to enjoy. Definitely recommend Ember Lounge.

Poor bar service on event nights

Love the staff, especially Sam Ellis, he made me feel very welcome on a day that I was feeling especially down. The drinks are cheap and great and the social environment is also great.

Always nice, welcoming and accommodating.

Good food decent prices ans most drinks are nice

Really nice place, there's a pool inside. Nothing special but it's quite alright for a student pub

Best place on campus to grab food. Tasty and quick food that's pretty reasonably priced (although the prices have jumped up a bit this year, putting them more expensive than spoons for the first time). Absolutely adore their cocktails and highly recommend (though I'm totally heartbroken they've taken two of our favourites off the menu). Still, great atmosphere, lovely staff, comfy seating. A great spot.

Serve food at some point during the evening hit and miss when as they make up there serving times to suit the staff, not run like a business

Great food, really good prices and staff are always really welcoming

Cheap food and drink, decent student bar

Great space, great food and staff. Food could be quicker.

Really good place to chill with mates and have a laugh

Comfy seating and great university pub.

If the cost of food is cheaper it would be great but £3 for 6 hot wings is disgusting. They are bland overcooked and quite frankly disappointing. The cost of drinks is extremely high. £3.60 for a kopperberg When i can go to spoons and get 2 for £5

Nice restaurant, decent prices and nice staff.

Food is outstanding, and the staff are lovely.