The Happy Hour in Watford

I visited the Happy Hour to primarily watch football and have dinner. The place is downright horrid. Asked for cider, they had Strongbow on draft and one bottle of Bulmers. The Strongbow tasted terrible. The place is just a dive, falling to bits. Filthy interior, wonky tables, dirty furniture, dirty toilets the lot. Anyway... I decided for some reason to eat here, and i picked the Crispy Duck. This is the absolute strangest meal I’ve ever had, its like they heard what goes into Crispy Duck wraps and just guessed. Had a sizzling plate of crispy duck on fried onions brought out, with four wraps, diced carrot and halved cucumbers! But the duck was in chunks, so it was impossible to eat in a wrap. The cutlery/condiment stand was on a par, with three forks and four spoons available, and the tomato sauce sachets were filthy, i had to wash my hands after touching them. It’s as if they didn’t care about customers or their presentation on a whole, I’ll never come back here, even at gunpoint. I’m genuinely struggling to list a good point about Happy Hour. The TV was pretty much on the ceiling, and I couldn’t hear any of the commentary. Avoid at all costs, please, save yourself..

Sometimes the service and food is okay but when they change their staff (which is often) it's awful. Last time my family and I were there is ordered all our food, asked the new bar 'boy' if they had the meat we requested to which he said 'yes'. I was not confident it was and was right. So I ordered a salmon salad and approx an hour later my salmon come out and looked like it had been deep fried as it was drenched in grease. This is not the first time we have left the place after waiting a long time for food, disappointed and hungry. We will never eat there ever again!!

looked good but not warm at all ...maybe I just like my food hot or warm ...Great menu ...looked great smells nice but not warm ...no hot ..took long time coming too

A shambles total chaos and cold food and dirty toilets not enough staff on while beer deliveries were going on one member of staff running around all over the place ... Sticky tables won't be visiting again

Always a warm welcome at the happy hour,not just for an hour but for every minute of your visit,Food is always very good,and a hot meal will be hot when it is served,not lukewarm because it has been standing on the side waiting to be served for a while,which is sometimes the case in other pub restaurants.Ice cream will be straight from the freezer,not left sitting on the side until the ice cream turns to liquid which I have experienced in other pub restaurants.Staff are often run off their feet,could do with extra help here,yet it is always service with a smile.toliets could do with a makeover,but you do not spend long in this room,before returning to main bar or garden to enjoy your visit.

Enjoyed the visit with my family, the meal was delicious, compliments to the chef James. Warm jolly atmosphere, could do with a bit of a spruce up but other than that was great.

Staff simply wont pay attention to serving causing frustration in trying to get your order across if new there you will notice it smells a bit in there as well. Not nice when u r trying to eat. The staff should pay attention to what they are doing instead of chatting or even both going out for a fag terrible

Received messages via Twitter observe owl about showing the boxing tonight but as usual not showing it as normal people come in to watch it's false advertisement sizzling pubs

Yo solía ir en noviembre de 2014 (Semanal) y me di cuenta lentamente el pub empeorado y peor. Paramos cuando me di cuenta de lo mal que está la pequeña moscas estaban recibiendo lo que te desanime mientras come.Decidimos, teniendo en cuenta la mala crítica al observador watford, sin intentarlo en las esperanzas que la gestión hubiera sido allí rápido para ordenar los problemas.Todavía me vi moscas, no como muchos, pero unos pocos, el servicio era lento a la orden. Las mesas estaban un poco más limpio, utilizada para restringirnos a ellos, pero parecía mejor.La comida estaba en buen tiempo y era muy agradablees una pena porque este pub vendría bien si la dirección a la derecha. Lugar necesita una completa renovación y el personal necesita más manos para ayudar.

Once in November and twice in December,I organised for 3 parties each catering for 17 people,Once again it was service with a smile from the initial greeting on arrival until it was time to leave,The food was perfectly cooked according to each persons request,The plates were cleared promptly between each course,The staff could not do enough for us,and the free prosecco for booking early went down well also.A good time was had by all on all occasions,and I have already had a few people ask me if I would include them next year when I book for our Christmas parties.These were people who had a journey of 1hour or more to reach the happy hour,This Emma whatshername needs to make a humbling public apology to the Happy hour management and staff,and it would be good to see a token of compensation to all who were so unfairly slated.

Estado viniendo aquí desde que era un niño pequeño y ha sido siempre un buen lugar para relajarse y socializar. La comida es muy buena y hay una buena selección de bebidas. Ahora soy más viejo y este se ha convertido en mis amigos y locales, y estamos en cada semana y nunca hemos tenido ningún problema o molestia. Se viene aquí por muchos años.

Well worth a stop for lunch. lovely burger and chips and a soft drink for £4.99. cant go wrong . For a saturday that was busy we did not wait long at all.

Having been a regular customer on and off in the last number of years,and having had numerous business meetings which in turn lead to me taking my partner and our kids for lunches,dinners etc.I have never once had the need to complain or moan,and yes on rare occasions(only when it's packed)has my dinner taking an extra 5/10mins to arrive,at which point a member of staff has informed us of the delay and offered up an apology.I for one WILL be returning with colleagues/friends and family and encourage all to try this little gem of a pub in the future.Congratulations to the landlady and her ever suffering staff strangled by large companies who seem to put profits before ensuring budgets are adequate to enable a gold mine like The Happy Hour to flourish.

I have heard that this pub has a bad reputation but i completely disagree. I have eaten here on two separate ocassions and would definitely go for a third. The staff are lovely and friendly. I had the fahita wraps and it was perfect, i asked for rare steak, which i got, and everything was lovely. Great atmosphere in the pub. Will definitely return and I feel that this pub has bad cop unfairly. People need to give it a chance.

First and last visit to this pub. Only just got round to doing a review from a visit several months ago. Staff were friendly enough and food was ok. However while walking from the garden into the bar 2 men in their mid 40s started mocking the noises that my 6 year old autistic son was making. I had to take a deep breath and carry on walking. This is not directly the fault of the pub but it gives an idea of the mentality of the sort of people who may go there and why it is worth avoiding, especially if you have a family with you.

I have previously reviewed the Happy Hour and I was honest then,as I am going to be honest again,If you want a 1st class service with 1st class food at a 3rd class price,then this is the place for you,a family friendly pub with happy,friendly staff(even the boss is one of the very hard workers and she is happy and friendly too)The fact that it seems to be busier every week must say something positive about this venue too,My husband and I have once again enjoyed a very good lunch here today and I am feeling very positive that everyone who is looking forward to joining us for the forthcoming festive meals will also be full of praise for both the food and the service received.WELL DONE TO ANGIE AND HER TEAM

Having used the happy hour on many occasions I never been disappointed. I find the service always good and attentive (service with a smile ).The pub is always clean and well looked after, the arrives hot and well presented. Drinks come at the correct temperature and at the right price.

I have been to the happy hour now a few times and thought it was only right to write a review. I have worked in the industry now for many years and can safely say that the happy hour is understaffed and you can see that the staff there try their best to deliver a high standard. Everyone on here has moaned about dirty tables etc but look around and see how many staff are working. I have been in when there has only been one girl(Tasha/sasha) on and she is taking orders, serving drinks, running food and cleaning up all at the same time just to ensure that the guests have a pleasant experience.... The food we had was fab for pub food, good size portions and a fantastic pudding menu and at affordable prices. The only down sides are that it is very out dated and needs TLC. My advice if you are thinking of visiting the happy hour then see for yourself not what other people are saying about it... So many people are quick to complain but never as quick to praise.

I reviewed this pub once before, 3 years ago, when I gave it a three-star rating which was what I thought it deserved. I've used the pub regularly since and I'm still not convinced it merits a fourth star. However, it certainly doesn't deserve the recent trashing it got from rookie reporter Emma Duggan in the Watford Observer. Her first two words were "Dirty tables" which set the tone for her piece. In fact, the pub has a 5-star rating for food hygiene. It's fair comment that, when the pub is busy, the staff are often too busy to clear dishes etc from the tables (one reason it doesn't get a higher rating from me!) but that's a world away from implying that the place is in need of cleaning.The Observer piece ends with the words, "The Happy Hour was contacted for a comment but did not respond", which - for the benefit of anyone unfamiliar with journalistic jargon - means "I couldn't be bothered to visit the place to check the facts". A shame, really, because The Happy Hour is a decent pub and probably worth a visit.

Had to wait for staff to finish having a cigarette outside before got served and was then told i should knock on the outside window

A nice quite pub suitable for family meals. Food is lovely, I eat there quite regularly and not once have I had a bad word to say about the food. They also do a lovely Guinness lol. Staff are polite, helpful and friendly. Always feel safe there as most are regulars and I have never seen any trouble at that pub. Highly recommended for those wanting a quite pub grub.Clean cutlery, tables and toilet facilities are clean too.One of the best family pubs I've been too with my family in Watford.

had a quick bite to eat came and out in good time food was realy good and the staff were friendly the reviews i have read so far shows that some people must have gone in on a bad day but ive worked in pubs what feels like forever this place is a local pub/resturant and everyone seems to love it in here the regulars are a laugh and as i say every pub has its bad day

popped in for lunch was very happy with food and service iwas almost put off because of all the reviews,it shows some people can have a bad day so you should never judge a book by its cover it also shows how some people have else to do ,due to this pub it must sell thousands of meals each year,some people have the nerve to run a place down from just one visit

I went to the happy hour for dinner with my daughter and friend and food was great and service was great a very welcoming place would defo go back again.

We had gold star buffet the food and the presentation was fantastic couldn't ask for better staff they were very kind and helpful we are going to book a birthday party next march so thank u very much u made my son and his wife very proud

The recent reviews show comments from the General Manager advising problems being rectified. Oh no they have not. Food poor, lousy service,. dirty tables. It reminded me of the pubs of 20 or 30 years ago before pubs offered food. An example of our meal was 45 minutes to serve a small mixed grill when no other customers were waiting for food, apologies for the delay as the "chef" cooked it well done instead of medium so it had to be done again. Since it was burnt to a crisp one can only imagine what the well done looked like. The onions were swimming in fat, had I not waited so long for the food I would have sent it back but I was not prepared for another wait. Probably the worst pub food I have ever eaten.

Stumbled upon this pub by chance after stopping by after a business meeting. Upon approaching the bar I was greeted by enthusiastic staff whom served me in a quick manner. I ordered the Mega Mixed Grill and was blown away by the quality of the meal, exceptional value also. Served on a sizzling skillet, my mouth was watering before I even began to taste the exquisite mixture of meats! My steak was cooked rare as requested, perfect! I couldn't finish the meal due to the sheer size of it! Next time I am in town, I most definitely shall be stopping in again! Excellent.

This is a perfect place to eat if you enjoy very small portions of cold, dry, tasteless food. Although you have to search the entire pub for any cutlery, you will be pleased to know that the odd fork you do find will not fall off your table as they are so sticky! Never again, the worst place ever. PS don't try and ask the staff for any help as they will probably be talking on their phones and wave you away.

Went to the happy hour on Monday 15th aug the service was awful my medium rare steak come out very well done my chocolate fudge cake come out stale! The women working behind the bar (Sasha) was beyond rude refused to clean up broken glass from under a table where a child was sitting and when we ordered coffee her response was just no, i feel embarrassed as i work for the same company i can ensure you her service was not mitchell and butlers standards!

On way to visit friend in Harefield Hospital, stopped off for a Sunday roast. Rowdy atmosphere, décor and cleanliness left a lot to be desired. A 35 minute wait after ordering, beef and chicken O.K. rest of meal far below average. Ladies toilet disgusting. Sadly we did not experience a happy hour.

A large typical British Pub with full bar service and meals served until 2200hrs. I found staff to be both friendly and helpful and they all appeared to be happy at their work. Toilet was clean and in full working order. It has large screen TV and soft background music. Free WiFi is also on offer. I had no reason to complain and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

Dined here around 1:30 with my family of 4, Ryan on the bar was very helpful, and very polite. The food we had was excellent value for money, and certainly lived up to the "Sizzling" name! We would all like to thank Ryan, and the Chef for a lovely experience! We will definitely be returning. Only down side was the decor. Very dated and could do with a touch up!

very friendly staff,whether you go for a snack,a main meal or a special celebratory meal,always good value for money,food always cooked to perfection,no matter how busy they are staff always have a smile on their face,even if you are asking them to change something,yes,sometimes,a mistake may be made with an order,,after all they are only human,and we all make mistakes sometimes,I have no hesitation in recommending this pub/restaurant,Only downside is very occasionally,there is a long wait for food,I feel that customers should be told at time of ordering how long they are likely to wait for food to be served

Every time I have been here been greeted with a smile from the staff, the food is good local pub grub def worth a try if you in the area

It's ok if you want cheep drink or cheep food and don't mind waiting for them as they never have any staff on 2 max one in the kitchen cooking one on the bar serving drinks taking food orders running food clearing tables washing glasses

Not sure where to start on this review, upon arrival there were were few tables empty, which were unfortunately not cleared or cleaned. Menu had a good variety of choice though! Upon ordering the bar staff were rude and unpleasant 'what do you want' when I was waiting to order and a sign when I also asked to order a drink with my meal, as if this was unheard of! We then waited 45 minutes for my food to arrive, chicken fajitas, with around 4 pieces of very small chicken bits! Even though I ordered at the same time as the couple with me I had eaten and finished for at least 15 minutes before there food had even arrived! With the portions being so small we opted for a pudding.... Which took a further 55 minutes to arrive! But the desserts were good qualify food, the only good point! The restaurant was dirty and dated and the toilets were vile, both toilets were blocked and failed to flush and the sinks were dirty with hair in and around the sinks! The staff were rude, unhelpful and looked like they had just turned up from a night out, scruffy clothes and footwear and not looking all to clean! Probably one of the worst experiences in a restaurant after spending 3 hours stuck in there and will 100% not be returning to this restaurant!

I've already reviewed this place before but decided a quick update was in order. As per usual the staff were very friendly and willing to explain the new options on their new menu. It was explained to us at the time of ordering that there could possibly be a bit of a longer wait for food as they were currently getting to grips with their new menu (apparently it was launched this week). Food came out a lot quicker than expected, no complaints there. The upkeep of the pub on the other hand is a bit of a problem. There appears to be quite a bit of dust in a lot of places, that's without the abundance of cobwebs. At one point there was more spiders in the building than customers. The toilets whilst basically clean are very dated and are not enhanced by yet more dust. Overall due to the quality of the food, the friendliness of the staff and the value for money i would recommend this place, however I feel the quality of our experience could be improved if the establishment was cared for a little bit better.

Myself and my family went to this pub/restaurant for dinner a couple of Sundays ago. We didn't even order anything, just walked out after a few minutes. I cannot therefore comment on the quality of the food but the fact that I didn't even want to find a table speaks volumes. The place looked filthy; the floor was covered in rubbish (empty packets, food, straws, stains....etc.) and the tables that were empty hadn't been cleaned from the previous customers. We stood at the bar for a few minutes deciding what to do and there were two women serving behind the bar. To be honest, they looked like they'd just got out of bed and were so miserable looking....one of them practically grunted at us 'do you wanna be served?'. I am not a snob at all but the place just made me feel itchy. As we left, I was greeted by a load of second hand smoke as people were standing in the doorway having their fags. Just wasn't a pleasant place - maybe we got it on a really bad day but I will not be going back to find out!

I have reviewed the Happy Hour previously but thought it worth re-doing. Once again great food, great bar staff but had to wait 45 minutes for the main courses to arrive. No apology. No reason given. Still, we stayed for desserts. This time we were pre-warned of delay but desserts arrived promptly. Always very good food but time from food ordering to arrival is unpredictable. Will continue tiles eat here regularly because bar staff great, food and drinks great value but, please, make food delivery times shorter. At least one table of potential customers left because they got fed up waiting.

Quite a long wait for food but food was good and well priced I came with a group of friends and kids and the kids were allowed to play pool which was nice the bar staff were friendly

Visit here on a monthly basis. Food is usually very good but sometimes you have to wait longer than you think is reasonable (and I am a patient diner) and on more than 1 occasion they have run out of some choices and on one sunday lunchtime had menus on display but was told kitchen was closed when trying to order food at the bar. Sometimes desserts don't look the same as pictured on menu because an item in a sundae may have been replaced with a substitute (nothing major, like strawberries instead of mixed berries). May sound like it's not as good as the awarded rating but with the friendly, helpful staff and the generally great food at great value prices I will still be coming back as it is a great friendly local place to be, eat and drink.

Visited today with friends and my children and the service was terrible. Waited over 40 mins for main meals and nearly 50 mins for a bit of ice cream. Had to return a steak as I was very over done and had to return a starter too as so badly burnt . Food on the whole was good but terrible service and no effort was made. Will not be returning

had great experience with family value for money if your brave try hot wings too hot for all of us mixed grill is big even the small one is enough for most people

Me and my family, waited for our meal for a long time- I wasn't impressed. We had cold food and burned food. Also, we had to keep sending the food back, and sometimes we never get what we ordered. Half the people who work there our miserable, and just dame right rude.

I've just waited 45mins for breakfast and there are only 5 customers in the building. The servers are rude & have no idea about customer service

Serving till nine don't think so couldn't get served at 8pm Sat 24not a good attitude at all from staff had gone in to treat family 4of us and told they had been to busy and couldn't cope Not a good sign was 2tables with Hardley touched meals left very dissopointing but not the first time

If you going in for a pint its fine.If you are having a meal forget about it service is very very poor we waited well over a hour for our food which was a couple of burgers and chips and when I complained no so much as a sorry. Never again.

Despite the bad reviews this pub has had, we decided to chance our luck instead of spending half our day waiting for public transport. We visited this establishment yesterday (8/6/2015) & I have to admit I was quite pleasantly surprised. The food (we opted for the Sunday roast, I would recommend going for the ultimate option) was delicious, if a little standard. I found the place to be clean, although the decor looks like it could do with a little a bit of a spruce up. It looks like they're getting in the mood for the World Cup as there was flags all over the place & we was Informed that they are showing (& staying open for) all of the England games. The waiting time at the bar was nothing out of the ordinary & the staff were polite, friendly & (surprisingly) very sociable. Impressive drinks deals (2 bottles of corona for £5, just what you need in this lovely sunshine we're enjoying). Overall I was very satisfied & will make more of an effort to go back again.

I took my family for lunch on Sunday 27th may 2014,although from outside the place looks appealing,as soon as you enter,the place looks as its out from 1920's.we thought looks can be deceptive! So i stood at the bar for at least 10 minutes to be served as they were clearly short of staff.After ordering our mains at the bar and paid for and waited and waited and waited!!!After about an hour,we asked where our food was,to our surprise they had lost the order!!Although we got a refund,as my teenage kids were not willing to wait any longer we would NEVER go back to this place.

visited this pub yesterday with Friends - Staff were totally uninterested and basically had no customer service skills what so ever. Tables were left with empty glasses Some of the group ordered food and as it was such a sunny day, decided to eat outside. We asked a member of staff if we could have the table cleaned as it was covered in bird droppings. We were told that there was not a cloth in the pub at all so no the table could not be cleaned. Eventually we managed to get a bottle of some cleaning liquid and blue paper towel and cleaned it ourselves. After 3 hours we asked if the table could be cleared -response there is no one to do it. Eventually as we were leaving a new member of stafff come on duty - she referred to herself as the Duty manager and I have to say I believe that we would have had a better experience had she been on duty all day. She was polite effiicient and seemed to care. Not a good experience at all. We have been visiting this establishment on and off for at least 20 years and this is by far the worst experience we have had to date. We shall not be rushing back.

Was in here today, around 150-200 glasses all over the place in pub. Plates everywhere food all over the carpet. Place looked like it had not been cleaned in a week. Told by some large lady behind the bar minimum wait 1 hour for food. Had to wait around 10 minutes to be told this and struggled to find a table to sit as place was uncleaned Absolutely shocking place needs immediate management action. Walked out without placing an order, Used to be a regular at this place but it has gone to the absolute dogs. Judging by what I seen today the place will be bust within the next 6 months maximum

We visited this pub/restaurant on 24 Oct 2013, and found it did not open until 12 noon so we had to wait outside as we were meeting friends from Dorset. After ordering our food, we had to wait a very long time before it was served and then one member of our party was presented with the wrong meal. By the time it did come out the rest of us had finished our meals. The tables were not cleared and we ended up doing that ourselves. The deserts also took some time to appear but I have to say that the food was hot and pleasant. Parts of the pub could do with sprucing up but as we were with friends this was not too important. Shame, as this could be a really nice place to come again. Not bad value but have had better.

If it were not for the kitchen staff casually topping up on beer every 10mins or the fire alarms going off due to their neglect of someones meal in the kitchen, or even the abrupt attitude of the staff then I might have enjoyed my experience more. It took them until they delivered our desserts for them to clear away our table, something trivial but quite annoying. The steak and scampi I had were delicious but the chips were awful, covered in grease and evidence that the oil in the vat proberbly needed changing/filtering. Other than that the venue was nice enough and drinks prices are good.

Typical pub-cum-restaurant, the Happy Hour's menu is reasonably priced - it's part of the Sizzling Pubs chain owned by Mitchells & Butler. As always, you get what you pay for but the food is generally reliable, although unexciting, and occasional hiccoughs are not unknown. Best deals are during the week - for example, Wednesdays offer a £5.99 curry-plus-drink (pint of beer/lager or small house wine or soft drink) and Thursdays offer grill-plus-drink combinations at similar prices. For parties of six or more, I'd recommend booking, otherwise just turn up - but before 9 o'clock, when they stop serving. There's a garden which is handy in good weather and also an outside sheltered smoking area.