The Lydiard Beefeater in Swindon

I am not usually someone to write a negative review about a restaurant and with all of the recent struggles with the food industry, there is normally room to give people the benefit of the doubt. However after Sunday’s experience I feel obliged to highlight that if you go to this restaurant then there is a likelihood that you will be served food that is still frozen and rock hard, with little apology or shock from the staff!! We booked a table for 6 at 13.30. We were greeted by a pleasant and friendly young waitress on arrival. We were sat next to the kitchen door and till station. The only issue of this was the door did not have soft closers on it and was banging continuously as waiting staff went in and out of the kitchen. Also being sat so near the till, also where the staff were congregating, we could hear unprofessional chit chat and moaning about other customers. We already knew someone else had complained as we heard all about the issues of their gammon and what the staff thought of this. So unprofessional and not appropriate, let alone so close to paying customers. We ordered starters which were fine. No issues at all. There was about an hours wait for our starters. We ordered another round of drinks. It then turned 3 o’clock and no sign of the meal. We asked a waitress, to be told by her that it was being dished up now. 3.20pm came and no sign of our meals. We asked the same waitress who was very rude and could not even give us the time of day to stand still and listen to our query, as she turned her back on us mid sentence and walked away and said “it’s coming”. We then highlighted that we were told this 20 mins ago and if that was the same meal surely it would be cold. No apology. Our meals suddenly appeared and they had got the wrong meal orders for the meat. We were asked how we wanted our beef and it seemed such a luxury to be able to say medium etc. We asked for 2x medium and 1x pink. The waiter said “one well done”. We said that’s not what we asked for. But he plonked it on the table with no apology. The medium meat looked like an old shoe sole. To make things worse it was all cold! My mum ordered a “fake and ale pie”. It was frozen inside and rock hard. She made the waiter aware and they didn’t apologise and just took the plate away and did not appear shocked. The manager came across and hardly apologised and ran into the kitchen with the frozen pie and we never saw him again. How our issue was dealt with was shocking and appalling. No one wanted to apologise and all the staff disappeared. We asked for contact details for head office and they sent a young waiter out with the card. Appalling. Don’t waste your time or money or risk getting ill at this establishment.

Have been staying at premier Inn and had breakfast and supper for two days in the Beefeater at Great Western. Had delicious fresh cooked food and excellent table service under difficult staffing conditions due to COVID. Will be back !!

I really don't know where to start. We were staying at the Premier Inn next door and as part of our stay we had a Meal Deal to use here. On arrival we were seated at our table efficiently and told someone would be over to to take our order. 30 minutes later someone finally arrived, 30 minutes after we got our drinks and starters, 30 minutes after that COLD food arrived and had to be sent back, 20 minutes after that the recooked food arrived. We gave up trying to order drinks as it was taking so long to get them. The duty manager Jack agreed it was below their standards (apparently only 2 chefs in the kitchen) and we were given a full refund. If the restaurant had been busy I would have been sympathetic but 100 covers is nothing for a place that size. We saw people walking out due the ridiculous wait times. Over 2 1/2 hours for 3 courses is ok if its by choice. Breakfast the next day was no better. It was chaotic. Our booking didn't exist but they agreed (reluctantly) to find us a table. Yet again we had a long wait for an order to be taken and when it did arrive there was no bacon. The barely cooked bacon arriving 5 minutes after the rest of our breakfast. Dinner on the second night was worse. 15 minutes late being sat at our table, another 30 minutes to place an order, 30 minutes later drinks arrived along with a barely warm starter for my partner. After another 35 minutes our mains arrive. My partner's was missing onion rings (got none but not told). His mac and cheese had obviously been microwaved and was just warm. The rest of his meal was ok. My chicken and ribs initially looked good but on starting to eat the second chicken breast it was undercooked and border line raw. The General Manager Christian was called over and he agreed it was unacceptable and agreed to give us a full refund yet again along with several other disgruntled diners. With trepidation we arrived for breakfast on our final morning to find a completely different experience. The General Manger was running the ship with experienced staff and you could see the difference. Cooked food, well managed and constantly restocked cold buffet did restore a small modicum of faith in Beefeater and there partnershp with Premier Inn. We did pass on our praise to Christian and his staff as it was a pleasure to eat there that morning. He admitted they have staffing issues and these need to be addressed if they want to run at a profit. Keep giving refunds for poor food and service is no way to run a business. If there were other options to eat within a short walk we would have used them after our first night but unfortunately you would need to drive or order in (not sure if allowed at the Premier Inn). The whole point of being by the Premier Inn is to provide their guests with the option of good food - this is something they are currently failing to do.

My husband and I arrived at the Premier Inn around 6ish and booked in with this Restaurant for some dinner, we were tired after a weeks holiday in Cornwall and just wanted some food and drink before retiring to our room and setting off early to go to the Moto GP the next morning. We entered the restaurant and didn’t have to wait too long to be shown to our table. Our waitress Bea was very lovely, very friendly and like nothing was too much trouble. She was happy and smiley and we could tell she really enjoys her job. It was so lovely to see, especially whilst we were so tired and grumpy. Bea knew her stuff when recommending a wine for my husband and was not too pushy about asking if we wanted a desert ( like some places are ) As I ate my dinner I watched Bea whizz around serving people, happily jotting orders down. Making sure everyone ( including us ) was ok. We really enjoyed our meal and you made it extra special. So thank you! Keep up the good work my lovely. We think every Restaurant needs a Bea to work for them!! Please have a glass of wine on us xXx All The Best Kerry & Adrian

We ended up at this beefeater after being told that on Sunday 19:50 another restaurant down the road could not cook steak nor burgers (see my other review)When we arrived there was a sign saying that because of staff shortage only pre-booked reservations were accepted. We were really hungry after a day work, so we asked the manager if he could accommodate 2 of us.He was very understanding and gave us a table.The 2 staff and the manager were really busy serving everyone, but they pulled it off.They should be given a reward for dealing with so many customers. We ordered a steak and a burger.Usual good beefeater quality for the steak, but the burger was excellent. Beer was very cold, a nice addition to our dinner.The apple crumble was good too.I must give 5 stars to this beefeater for the staff effort on its own.Well done and thank you.

Waited a while to order. It took over an hour and half for food to arrive lunch time. Guests arrived after us served first even though our meal was not out of the ordinary. 3 adults a a child age 6 in party. After long wait one person food was forgotten. No apologies or anything but we won’t charge for that meal. Food was cold as if sitting the kitchen for long. May be all due to we wanted to change the seat because we were sat under air conditioning. Horrible manager didn’t like that. Previous week he was very obstinate too. Got there 15 minutes early so waited in bar for half an hour and had to remind him. Will never go again. Used to go for lunch every other week with a friend.

Met up at the Lydiard Beefeater for Lunch with my Sister, it was halfway between southwest and London.Had a lovely lunch, 5 of us, were well and truly looked after, by a Lovely lady by the name of Bea, had a good laugh as well!, food was great, really well worth it, will be going again, and just hope the Bea will be there next time.Thankyou Bea,

My friend Tom and I are pretty much regulars who visit at least once a week. We love the food and the staff. Especially Emilia. She is wonderful. So hard-working, funny and a credit to the team. She makes us feel at home and make sure that we are well looked after. Katie and Tom.

Came for lunch, absolutely spot on. I had the Steak Sandwich which was excellent. My partner had the curry, great portion sizes and great service. Top notch gaffer, friendly alway takes time to say hello.

Great place for a breakfast. Situated next to junction 16 of the M4, perfect start to a journey. Continental buffet style, more than enough to choose from topped off with an all you can eat cooked breakfast for a very reasonable price.

Fantastic set up, friendly and welcoming staff and nothing is too much trouble. Had a working breakfast meet, exceptionally clean and covid-19 compliant. Great job guys!

Lovely clean place, friendly staff.. food very good. Great value for money. Would Deffo go back sometime soon.

Only had breakfast here and everything was okay, though not amazing. The buffet was well organised and stocked, the coffee was good, the tables well-spaced. The disappointing aspect was the cooked breakfast which was ordered at the table and served to you. There were about 8 items to choose from for the full-English, but having chosen just 3 items I had hoped that I might get "extra" of some of the things I did have (e.g. another rasher of bacon, an extra egg). The attitude of charging a single price and then not even offering to substitute one item for another was very mean.

Visited tonight for ours sons birthday ,food was lovely service great ,even though short staffed .we definitely be back .

An excellent meal in a COVID secure environment. Good tuna steak and varied vegan dishes! Successful meal. Varied range of drinks on offer. A pleasant serving lady as well!

This was a really enjoyable meal , our server Jo was amazing , so friendly , polite and efficient . All our food was delicious , I had steak which was cooked perfectly. The thing that spoilt it was the miserable welcome re received from who I think was the manager ? We checked in , no smile, he just grabbed the menus and walked away, expecting us to follow . He threw the menus down on the table and that was it . Not a very nice way to be welcomed to a restaurant . Luckily Jo saved the day otherwise I expect we would have left . I did notice the miserable manager cheer up a lot while he was flirting with one of the blond waitresses … so it was obviously just us he couldn’t smile for

Slow service but great food and good Covid restrictions. Not too busy at this time of day. Been before but the tables could do with better cleaning

Before arrival we have checked website and noted we can book table for 9.30pm the latest for today with main menu option. As we were told at hotel reception it’s not too busy we decided to skip booking and headed to restaurant. Have been waiting at the door for 10 mins while every single member of staff just walked passed and looked at us. Eventually someone approached (believe to be manager on duty) and when we asked for table we were told that kitchen is closing in 10 mins (it was about 8.45pm at the time ) despite us asking if we were to order in seconds we were still refused table . No apology or offer to sit down for drink just been sent away !

Visited this restaurant as hadn’t been in a little while, we booked ahead yet when we arrived we were left standing at the front for 5+ minutes despite the restaurant being very quiet and catching several workers eyes. The manager finally came to us but then had to prepare a table which took even longer (more standing and waiting) one tip for improvement would be to acknowledge your booking system and be prepared for booked guests. Once seated a waitress came to take our order I asked for I dish by saying “please may I have to cannelloni” the waitress simply said “no”! I was confused as to why she just said no so I had to ask if she was joking or it wasn’t on menu? She then just shook her head and laughed so the second tip for improvement would be some customer service training for the staff And it’s more professional to tell customers what is not available from the menu before they start deciding what to have! The food then came in record timing in fact I’m concerned with how quick it was, I had to go for lasagne and you could tell it was just reheated food there was nothing fresh about it and it had no quality. I have had better food at a supermarket cafe it was just awful (completely solid and hard around the edges too where is has just been warmed carelessly from frozen I would imagine) my other half had bbq ribs which tasted sour. This is just not good enough the food is not priced cheap so for the food to be so terrible I feel totally robbed of £36 and upon reflecting wish I’d asked for a refund. Another thing to add was the staff and manager were more focused on setting our breakfast for the next morning it really ruined the evening we had breakfast items being brought out on loud trolleys beside us the whole thing was just terrible I will never return here or recommend to anyone and can’t believe I paid for this experience

Breakfast for 2 had been booked with a one night stay at Premier Inn. We arrived before the 8:30 am slot arranged by Premier Inn but had to stand queueing for at least 15 minutes before being seated. We did see a waiter serving drinks and a table of 4 eating cooked breakfasts, which reassured us. Our order for drinks, yoghurts and fruit (only apples available), and cooked items together with toast, was taken.After this nothing happened for about half an hour then drinks arrived, juice and tea fine but coffee cold. After another very long wait yoghurts, an apple and some toast and marmalade arrived but no sign of anything else. Soon after we asked to cancel and this was done with a refund at the Premier Inn at about 9:45 am. What a waste of time!Owing to covid arrangements we were not close to other customers but we could see that others were not receiving orders either. It became evident that there were great problems behind the scenes and we were told when we asked to cancel that no hot orders had gone forward to the kitchen. Why on earth were customers not told that there were big problems on arrival or very soon afterwards? Early on the manager came around several times saying generally 'one minute' as though something would soon happen but no member of staff came near to explain the delay after we had ordered.We had an appointment in Kent at 2pm which we just made without any stop for food. The breakfast had been booked to make our journey easier. We could not have been the only customers with travel plans from that location i.e. M4 junction 16! Indeed we were not the only ones receiving refunds and some were very angry. We felt that we had been much more patient than we would normally have been in the restaurant knowing of staffing and other problems caused by the pandemic but we were treated shabbily in return.

Utterly appaling. Charmless greeter. Miserable and incompetant bar woman. Both made me and my wife as welcome as the proverbial in a swimming pool.Lump of rubber for 'steak' Waitress not concerned apart from wanting us to have more drinks. Didn't present my reward points as we will not be going back. Give this place a wide berth. GARBAGE!!

Emelia , our server, as always is the main asset of the restaurant ! Nothing is to much trouble. A star ⭐️ in the true sense of the word. Well done lovely 🥰

Where do I start! Firstly I had pre booked a table before our visit as we were staying at the Premier Inn next door, the Manager (I think his name was Lee) showed us to a table, no smile or any niceties at all, we had a lovely waitress called Bea, she looked under pressure as did the other two waitress, this manager seemed to be having a bad day, barking orders and was even chewing gum, not a nice way to converse with customers and staff, maybe he was just having a bad day. We chose our meal, we had a meal deal and two of us paid a supplement to have steak, one fillet and one rib eye, the fillet was tough and sinewy and Bea got it changed for us, my rib was ok but again sinewy and some bits I just couldn't eat, kindly Bea had our supplement taken off our bill, such a shame but Bea made up for it with her lovely personality.Next morning we came in for breakfast and the happy manager was working and still as grumpy as the night before! Nice breakfast though.

Having visited this place several times, The improvement in service and food is great. Food was cooked well and quickly and our server Emilia couldn’t do enough to help. Felt welcome and well looked after

The staff went out of their way to make sure we had everything we wanted at dinner and at breakfast. Despite being busy they made us feel special.

Had a meal on a saturday night here with family, ordered food and then we were told a lot of things werent avaliable, it would have been handy to know before ordering or have a sign up. I did find the meals were quite pricey for the portion sizes, however i do appreciate restaurants need to make their money back from a tough year. One of the meals had fatty steak which was cooked incorrectly and one meal had hard cold chips. They also forgot things like an egg on the mixed grill and kids veggie sticks. However the rest of the meals were lovely. I was also pleased with the service of the staff and the manager who dealt with it very well

After an hour of waiting, only had drinks, when food arrived it was cold, and came with no cutlery, had to ask again mid breakfast about the continental breakfast we had ordered which was meant to come before the cooked breakfast as well as asking for more drinks. After 20+ minutes, still no drinks, toast or continental breakfast. Staff are very friendly but poor service overall.

Visited here whilst stopping at the Premier Inn. Easy online booking system and al covid regulations we’re adhered to. Food was great, mixed grill was well cooked and tasty. The desert was a bit of a let down for nearly £7. Service good throughout and prices reasonable.

Very good breakfast. Perfectly cooked Thankyou chef. Jo and sally where very friendly and helpfulHighly recommended!

The food in this place has really stepped up a gear (I even asked for the chefs details to leave this review, her name was Ren)... steak cooked perfectly, which is a big thing for me. Waitress named Emilia was friendly and polite as she always is when I visit, even grabbing a bowl of cooked chips from the kitchen to entertain the baby. She can never do enough for us when we’re in there.... she entertains baby if he kicks off when I’m trying to eat, keeps my drinks topped up all whilst serving other customers too. Brilliant

We enjoyed the dinner . It was served with professionalism and a warm welcome by Emilia S.Thank you very much Emilia!

We were looking forward to our breakfast after our hotel stay, something we’ve often done and always enjoy. This however has to be the most disorganised and disappointing we’ve had.First off we booked our breakfast for 9.30 with a view to checking out of the hotel at 11. Plenty of time to relax and take our time. We appreciate with covid rules things can be a little slower than normal but on walking over to the restaurant we were confronted with a queue stretching out to the car park. Only about 3/4 families so weren’t too worried. It took over 30 minutes however for us to get in the restaurant and ready to be seated. We then spend another 10 minutes waiting for someone to come to us to see us to our table. At no point did anyone think to apologise for the wait or explain why there was a delay. On being seated our drinks order was taken straight away. However 15 mins later we were still waiting for someone to take our food order. After seeing a waitress take orders from 2 tables who arrived after us i managed ti call her over and ask how ling the food wait would be and if she could take our order (keeping in mind we had to leave by 11). On taking our order we were told no pancakes were available. Sadly the kids had been looking forward to these so were very disappointed. She took our order and to be fair the food did come quickly, however some items were wrong (brown toast with just butter, rather than white with butter and jam), croissants instead of pain au chocs, wrong numbers of items etc, and the food was tepid at best. We ate up and left, all disappointed. Again, at no point was an apology made. The waitress did say they had more staff than the day before and the impression was that they weren’t short staffed. We also saw another family complain as they hadn’t been served before others who arrived after than and overheard other customers complaining about wrong orders so know we werent alone. All in all very poor and put a real downer on what should have been the start to a nice day out.

The breakfast is slightly different in this Covid-19 era. You have a slightly slimmed down menu from the pre COVID-19 time but most of the favourites are still on it. You have to order everything you want from tea and coffee, porridge to toast and then what items of the full English breakfast or continental breakfast so it can be brought to your table as table service. On our visit we had a great breakfast but some items were not available like the pancakes but overall left happy.

Booked a table for 10.30 on a Saturday for breakfast, only to wait 10 minutes at the door to be spoken to and be told even though a table should have been reserved there was no chance of eating there for breakfast

Amazing restaurant .... we eat a lot at beefeaters across the country..... this one I would say is in out top 3 ..... absolutely amazing food cooked perfectly which sometimes isn’t the case , all the staff were amazingly friendly, 10 out of 10 for our waitress Zoe , amazing customer service and a credit to your company, highly recommended for a place to eat if your in the Swindon area , thank you very much for making our family meal amazing

Stayed at the premier inn next door which was outstanding and service was brilliant. Had a table booked at 10 and had to wait to be sitting at 10.40!. At one point they said breakfast was finishing soon like noooo we have pre paid! Ordered croissants but had none. Still waiting for our drinks which is now 18 mins. God knows what the food is going to be like. Was 9 tables uncleared for over a hour or more not enough staff on think there mangerment team need to look at how this pub is run.

Really recommend this place. Food, staff and price all perfect. Quick service and perfectly cooked steak.

Very good food and service was great. There was one male manager who spent a lot of time with our table, taking our orders and being very friendly and chatty with my family, definitely making the visit more enjoyable. However, possibly due to reopening after lockdown, there were quite a few things that weren’t available on the menu. I would definitely return again though and recommend it to others.

Went here with friends for breakfast and the food is average. I do understand that with All You Can Eat food, it is not going to be the best quality food and that’s fine as I knew this before going. For an All You Can Eat breakfast it is one of the better ones in Swindon and I enjoyed the food I had. The decor is nice but pretty standard for these kind of restaurants, and was clean which was good. The staff were friendly and always asking if we needed anything else, food was quick to arrive and never short of what we needed. The choice and variety of food on offer is good and cooked and presented well. I would eat here again.

My husband and I went here in September for our wedding anniversary and did not have a brilliant time but the restaurant is next to the Premier Inn so there’s no other choice if you’re staying at the hotel.This time we went as a family and were very sceptical but decided to give them a second chance. What a mistake!I ordered the surf and turf and the steak wasn’t just overcooked but it was cold. The scallop didn’t even look like it hit the grill! We sent the food back and it was much better but I had to eat on my own as the rest of the family’s food would have gone cold if they waited for me. We then ordered the caramel apple Betty, and the same again - the apple pie and custard was stone cold! We also ordered a chocolate fondant but a slice of fudge cake arrived. We spoke to the manager who apologised and admitted that they knew it wasn’t a fondant but it was what the suppliers sent! And what is it about having a drinks menu that had prices for everything except the gin and mixers?! They did not charge us for the desserts but it wasn’t a very nice cake anyway and the ruined experience doesn’t really make up for it. Breakfast was much the same - it was lacking in every way. I just hope the managers pay more attention to the food and service, or is it simply because customers have no choice that they’re lackadaisical.

This restaurant is in walking distance from our home and we use it many times a year. With the lockdown, we decided to dine on 2 thursdays and Christmas day in december just to get out. The 2 thursday where fine, but very quiet with few customers. Christmas dinners had to be pre ordered and this showed as my dinner looked as it had been plated up and left under a heat lamp making the top of the food become dry, my wifes dinner was a lot better. Starters and sweets where OK, but again only 20% of the tables where occupied making it very quiet with no atmosphere. The staff tried their best, but for £100 I'am sorry this was a big disappointment. I know things are difficult, but ????

Just paid £75.14 for the Boxing Day three course meal and l need the word MUG tattooed on my forehead. We had booked the feast I’ve menu but initially was given the standard menu , this was correct about 5 minutes later after the drinks had been ordered. The service was slow to say the least and thr Chef( thr person dressed all in black chef gear) was sat out on a table opposite what appeared to be his family or girlfriend and children without any face covering on. He later reappeared with a face shield that he frequently lifted up so it may have not been there. Starter eventually arrived with steak knife & fork, this for prawn cocktail and bread! We had to ask for fresh cutlery for the main dish of steak when that arrived. No wipes were provided until asked for when the waitress - l use the word lightly - decided to enquire how the meal was.Seafood is smelly and it is usual policy in decent restaurants to provide cutlery and wipes without customers having to ask.Eventually desert arrived 15 minutes after clearing main course away. We asked for the bill that took a further 10 minutes. Normally l don’t complain but given there were only 6 tables with people at them including us and there appeared to be 5 staff the service and attitude was appalling. We have used this Beefeater 6 times this month but are unlikely to bother again. There did not appear to be a Manager present but l did not ask for one.

Just a quick line to thank the staff today. We had a family Christmas Dinner and it was perfect. Thanks to Callam, Kaylan and Amelia for their service and the guys in the backgroud and kitchens who did a wonderful job today!

Used when family from Scotland were staying nearby. managed to cope well with 3 adults and 2 very active young boys. Nice touch was to give children some activity packs whilst waiting. Gave them something to do. Other restaurants please note. Food and drink excellent. Whilst not as good value as J D Weatherspoons some thing no one has yet managed it is still OK.One important thing make suer you park in there car park check if unsure. or else you will be charged lot of money.

A really great value breakfast well just under 9 pounds and a huge choice of croissant, bread, full English breakfast . All served by very pleasant waiting staff in a very COVID secure atmosphere . We were felt to be made very welcome and enjoyed the whole experience. Heartily recommended

Staff weren’t very happy to see customers Food was basic, no dressing, no effort in making the food look appealing, minimal chips with meal, Should of gone to mc Donald’s £60. Waste of money

Myself and my wife visited on Thursday night. Quickly showed to our table upon arrival . Didnt have much communication with the manager who sat us which I found rude. Once seated our waiter "Lee C" came over and seen to our every need. I must add Lee is a credit to any business, very perfessional,very polite and nothing was to much trouble. Food was very good. Our steak was cooked perfectly. Will be back again in the future.

Have had breakfast here a few times now. £8.99 and you can have a cooked breakfast, choosing how many and which items. There’s a choice of juices, pastries, toast, yogurt. Unlimited teas or Costa coffees.Free parking.

Upon entering we were seated quickly and met with a friendly welcome. Our order was taken promptly and was served correct and as requested. Served by Lee C;friendly, approchable,engaging and he made our visit very special. We shall be visiting there again very soon!

we had breakfast the food was lovely. Service was very quick and welcoming. Highly recommend. Excellent

I had a lovely meal at the Lydiard, food was delicious and service was quick. Sally was our waitress she was friendly and nothing was too much trouble. She provided us with high chairs and made sure they were clean. A very happy customer.

We were on a rare weekend away from the kids staying in the Hilton across the road and booked a table for 745. We shown to a table in good distance from other guests although it was a little dark that we needed the torch on our phones to read the menu. I had a gin and mixer drink - no price on the menu! The peri-peri/bbq chicken wings for starter was hot and delicious. My husband was also pleased to see a T-bone steak for £30 and I had the swamp and turf (sirloin, calamari, prawn and scallops) for £22. I asked for medium-rare but my steak was cooked well done so they had to replace my whole meal because of Covid apparently. Unfortunately that took time to come back so I had to raid my other half’s chips to tide me over while I wait. When my steak eventually turned up, it was cooked better but the cut was grizzly and fatty and the calamari was frazzled, and the prawn/scallops were overcooked and hard. I was famished by then so just ate quietly. My husband ordered our coffee/dessert combination while I went to the loo but the server came back saying the coffee maker was broken. He said he’ll wait for me to choose another dessert but when we ordered a few mins later, we were told that the kitchen had closed. It was only 930! They could have even told us the kitchen was closing! We are aware the restaurant need to close at 10pm but was very disappointed as it was their doing that my main course was late and I could have at least had an ice cream in that half an hour. Poor service Beefeater! No apologies made and it ruined my evening out. Very disappointing.

What d'you expect from a chain. It seemed to be the only place open at 8am for breakfast, so we went, not expecting much. We were right. Mushrooms were oily (why not cook them in butter, they're 100% nicer), the beans were overdone (almost impressive, that), there was no black pudding, and the bacon was disappointing. The "premium" sausages were better than the usual fare at cheap breakfasts, to be fair, and the coffee was nice (apparently), albeit squirted out of a machine. But hey, we did choose to go to a Beefeater, so maybe it's silly to expect nice food.

Booked a table on line, not a problem.service was very good, a little slow but that is expected these days.Because it was a special occasion the 4 of us went mad. I ordered a T Bone Steak. £30. Medium too well. My wife ordered a 12is Fillet, £24 again Medium too well.My brother in law ordered a Mixed grill. Medium to rare.My Sister in law ordered a Burger. Of all the meals! Only the burger came out correct.My T Bone was as tough as old boots, my wife's Fillet was medium to rare. Red as hell.My brother the laws was Well done and burnt on 1 side.Absolutely disgusted with our meals. Needless to say most were sent back.Hopefully your visit Will be better than ours.

My wife and I ate here for my birthday, the meals were excellent and the service was very good. All Covid-19 precautions were observed.

Came to the Beefeater as had heard good things so though I'd try it out.Well it didn't dissapoint. I had the smothered chicken which was cooked beautifully and it just melted in your mouth. Service was excellent of it's ok to do so I would like to comment that the service provided by Bea was amazing. Nothing was too much she was friendly and extremely helpful.Will come again soon hopefully Bea will serve us again.Keep up the good work everyone.

Rather than eating indoors with the Covid risks, we sat outside for lunch in what can only be described as grubby, unkempt surroundings. The area needed a good deep clean as there was rubbish everywhere ( paper litter, empty packets leaves, fag ends etc )on the ground around us. In fact, the first table we sat at, had stubbed out fag ends across the surface!We moved away and found one that looked cleaner but the whole area clearly hadn't been swept in a long while, even though it was near the entrance. Had we seen this before we had been inside and ordered and paid, we would not have stayed. To start with, the beer was off and had to be changed (apparently the end of a barrel ... ) Our food was served by a waitress not wearing a face mask and not observing social distance.The quality of the food was very poor. £11 for a chefs salad ( which consisted only of a bowl of chopped lettuce, drowned in dressing) with a fews stale croutons and four tiny pieces of over fried, dried up chicken. This is the last time we’ll stop at a Beefeater.

Bea was amazing great service very friendly and kind really attentive!!!! Such good value and tasty breakfast!!!!

We have used this beefeater many times in recent years as it is a convenient place to meet with my son and his family. The service and standard of food has steadily declined but today was truly dreadful. None of the serving staff wore face coverings and did not observe social distancing at any time. The only Covid 19 precaution was a poorly marked one way system. The service was appalling, it took the waitress three attempts to finally clear our main course plates away. To round off a pretty awful meal my dessert of meringue kisses was clearly straight from the freezer as the strawberry mousse was still completely solid. This was a very disappointing visit and we will not be returning.

We were staying at the PI for a weekend and decided to eat here. As a chain, you may think its just bog standard food and service. NO!! Our server was so lovely, you could tell she loves what she does. Social distancing was observed perfectly. I love steak so thats what i went for and i wasnt disappointed. It was perfect. Im incredibly fussy so to find a restaurant that can meet my high steakstandards is a delight. I grew up 5 miles from Lydiard and i visit friends and family in the area. We WILL be back. Thanks guys, keep it up. You are a credit to the Beefeater brand

My fiance and I had an amazing meal out to celebrate our 6 year anniversary. The night was made by the outstanding service from the waitress, Hannah T. Highly recommend!

Having been to The Lydiard little more than a couple of weeks prior, I was hoping my return was as enjoyable as the previous. Two weeks ago the team there were only too keen to point out the COVID19 one way system and they themselves were wearing face coverings. This time it was a different experience. None of the team were wearing face coverings. I realise that this is not compulsory but it portrays a level of respect to their colleagues and customers. We were shown to a table in the middle of two walkways. This was the only table without a protective screen. We asked to be moved and were shown to a better table. Having ordered a drink, the wrong one was delivered and had to be sent back. We were told upon ordering the main course that they had sold out of most desserts. When the main course arrived, the servers were keen to get away without asking if we needed anything else. We had to call them back to ask for some condiments. Having then to wait for 2 minutes whilst the food was getting cold, the server returned explaining they were out of salt and vinegar. The main course, albeit colder than I would have liked, was tasty. Generally I cannot fault their food. However, throughout the meal we had to put up with other guests playing videos on their mobile tablets/smartphones. The team made no attempt to ask them to switch it off or turn it down. They allowed other diners to wonder around and leave contrary to the clearly marked one-way system around the restaurant leading to diners leaving via the entrance. In defence, the staff were polite and so it is upsetting that I feel I need to leave this feedback as a disappointed customer. Will I go back to this restaurant? Probably. I hope that if things improve, shortages of menu items is resolved and they get some salt and vinegar I can return and write a more favourable review. After all, two weeks ago it was great in here. Meanwhile I will consider travelling further afield to their Cirencester or Gloucester branches.

We visited recently for lunch. We were shown to a booth but unfortunately couldn’t sit there as the bench seat was covered in dropped food. We were seated at the next one immediately. The waitress was really friendly and our food arrived quickly. All of it was really tasty. The social distancing was spot on and hand sanitiser provided. A lovely lunch and atmosphere. We’d return.

Had a enjoyable evening meal and breakfast the following day. A choice of cooked and or continental breakfast.

I met 2 friends for my birthday. In these uncertain times it’s harder to celebrate but we had a lovely lunch - the food was really nice and a great time was had. What made this lunch special was the server Gosia. She was an absolute ray of sunshine who not only made sure that we enjoyed every aspect of the meal but came out with a candle in my pudding singing Happy Birthday! She is an absolute credit to the restaurant and if this is how the hospitality industry is going to recover they need to take note from Gosia as even if the food was not good she would have made it a positive experience!

Lovely ladies serving breakfast today. We booked at short notice for 10:30 breakfast. We were greeting by a friendly lady who pointed out the drinks/toast etc. We were informed due to technical difficulties meals would take awhile. We had happy polite waitress. Pastries had just run out (as very busy and lots of customers prior to us wasted a lot of food, the one next to us had 4 untouched). Food was slow to come out but as we had bad experience at The Swindon Harvester just moments before we didn’t mind as atmosphere and waiting staff so much nicer). Will be back - thank you

I ordered a fillet steak . What I got was a rib eye steak When I confronted the waitress she said the kitchen said it was a fillet. I am 70 years old and I have had my share of fillet and rib eye steaks. I know the difference. Nobody from the kitchen came to see me . How long will they get away with this

Being a vegetarian the only option on the menu was a vegan burger! I do not like veganism forced on me. I did ask if there was anything veggie but the answer was "no".

I went to this restaurant with my husband. The staff were friendly & accommodating.We both ordered mushroom starters which were fine...except they are now using flat cap mushrooms instead of button mushrooms, which in my opinion, are not so good for dipping. My husband ordered a fish & chip main which was good, and I ordered lasagna which looked good until I tried to eat it. The lasagna was burnt along one side & I was unable to cut it with a knife, it was so hard. I mentioned it to the server who said she would replace it. After 10 minutes she came to our table to say that it would take another 10 to 15 minutes. After about 10 minutes she brought a new meal out. Instead of being in its own dish as the first one was, it was served alongside the salad & flatbread & looked smaller than the original serving & very insipid. Previously the lasagna was golden brown & smelt very cheesy & rich, but the new lasagna seemed to be missing the cheese, and the pancetta & rich wine was nowhere to be found in the ragu. There was also gristle in the minced beef. It tasted & looked like a very cheap own brand supermarket frozen lasagna. Also, the salad, which was not dressed on the original meal, was washed in a very vinegary dressing which was not pleasant. I did not finish my meal. The server did say that she would take the price of my meal off the bill.

We went to the Beefeater for a breakfast in the morning. When we got there there was a small problem with the booking, nothing major. We ordered our croissants and within seconds it arrived at the table nice and hot. We then ordered our hot meal and the lady taking our order was very polite. The food took about 10 minutes and it was lovely. When we asked for the bill, the staff said it was a complimentary breakfast due to the small amount of confusion at the start. The manager was very nice and kept apologizing, we are very happy and didn't expect the free breakfast. Best service!

If what you want is chips with everything, this is the place for you! I appreciate that Covid 19 has resulted in certain limitations, but once upon a time one could substitute a jacket potato for chips. Not now, you can’t. God help vegetarians. They can choose one starter and one main course - no choice at all. I could have had chicken salad ( how very imaginative) but elected instead to have lasagne, perfectly tasty, but chosen only because chips weren’t compulsory, but it hardly set the Thames on fire. We won’t be rushing back, I’m afraid, in spite of the fact that our waitress was lovely, and dealt with my disappointment re: chipgate very sympathetically, even though there was nothing she could do about it.

Firstly this restaurant lends itself to current conditions as it is spacious so social distancing is straightforward. We were well looked after by Jessica who was always attentive. We were there because as a club member I receive a voucher for a free main course around my birthday. We both had two courses and neither of us could fault anything... oh and the freebie was taken off the most expensive dish. All in All an enjoyable night.

We pre-booked in the morning and as a family stopped here "The Lydiard Beefeater" for Sunday lunch at 1.30 pm on our way back from a fabulous stay on the Pembrookshire coast. Well what should have been a lovely meal with the family after a great weekend was a complete disaster.So from the beginning the staff really did not seem interested to be working there at all, and did not even give me the correct Sunday lunch menu, and when I asked the staff member a customer had to give me his menu! (great social distancing!)We where then left unattended for a embarrassingly long time and actually had to get up and ask for someone to come over. When eventually they took our drinks order they then forgot to do the drinks and again we had to get up and ask where are drinks are? ...they said sorry we forgot to get them! .....and then they actually got the drinks order wrong, Really! and we then had to take the wrong drink up to the bar to get it changed as nobody seemed interested to come over to us!!. So much for all their Covid 19 policy information on the front door , and the staff did not have any visors or masks on and did not social distance with us at all , we also had to point this out to them as well when one was leaning all over one family member.Then when we asked for the roast beef, they said we don`t have any left, which was not pointed out at the time when the menus where given to us. Therefore we ordered the roast lamb. The roast lamb meals where supposed to come with UNLIMITED Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes , however when the food came it was devoid of the Yorkshire pudding and savoy cabbage When we asked where these items where they said we don`t have either of these left! When we asked for mint sauce to go with the lamb they also said these was none of that left either! The lamb was very fatty , the roast potatoes, peas , beans and parsnips where clearly frozen and microwaved , and pretty tasteless. I know that a Beefeater is not a Michelin star restaurant but the standard here was absolutely shocking. I have not been to a Beefeater for a long time but after this experience I should not think it can survive with such poor service or food. We did complain and the waitress was very sympathetic and completely embarrassed that the service and the food where so bad and said that we only had to pay half the bill, which we did but to be honest I don`t think it was worth even that. We where completely disappointed by the whole experience after such a bad ending to a great holiday.

Visited this restaurant during the eat out to help out scheme, the beefeater take a whole 50% off the bill rather than limiting you to £10 per person which in the current climate is great! The restaurant was very well arranged to accommodate social distancing. Sule s served us and she was very friendly, brilliant customer service and made the experience very easy! The food was absolutely beautiful I had the surf and turf I couldn’t fault it one bit :)

Asked for salt as the steak had zero seasoning- finished my meal and had time to chat before anyone returned with salt, I’m now sat in my hotel room thinking “I wonder if someone brought salt in the end?”... It will always be a mystery to me.I ordered a medium steak... it was well done and tasteless.I don’t smoke but I’m glad the waitress noticed that I like my food to be served to me by pushing an ash tray out of the way with my questionable meal. Calamari was actually breaded scampi.Waitress behind the bar seemed to have as much personality as their triple cooked chips.Waitress that brought the food out forgot to return with my beloved salt...or did she? Still a mystery.Scallops= overcooked bouncy balls.....But fear not, I had a charred lemon to squeeze over my meal to inject some sort of flavour into the meal.

Arrived with a big group of 7 and cannot fault the outstanding service and attention to detail - nothing was too much trouble. Trace x

Went on a Wednesday night. Well organised on social distancing measures. Good food albeit portions seemed smaller but that was ok as it was half price on the eat out scheme. Haddock was really well cooked.

Staff were very friendly. The sirloin steak and the grilled gammon steak were very poor, both our kids enjoyed there meals, also they both very much enjoyed there puddings.

Glad to be able to come back and visit this place again with my family,Came for a meal Friday evening and it was excellent as usual cannot fault the food one bit both our starters and mains were cooked to perfection.

We were luck to have a 33% discount and a £25 Reward Club voucher, But the Steaks were all excellent , 1 Sirloin, 1 Fillet Stroganoff, and 2 Rib Eyes, our Waitress Bea was very helpful and friendly, and our overall experience was a very good one

a family meal, there were 9 of us, the food was ok apart from the steak which was undercooked, unfortunately finding a waitress to talk to wasn't easy as they never came near our table and eventually I had to go stand near the kitchens and catch one as she came out, the complaint was dealt with very well, also the table and the floor was dirty with bits all over the floor, I've been to this beefeater before and the service was good, this time the service wasnt very good

Our waitress,hannah, went above and beyond to secure we were catered too. Felt very comfortable and was extremely friendly. Food was enjoyable too! Will be returning soon

This is a beefeater with the usual choice. Nice atmosphere and pretty good service. We didn't like the first table we were offered, and were moved elsewhere but not they were not happy!

I had dinner here whilst on a business trip. I was staying at the hotel next door so this place was convenient for me. I ordered a few starters and house salad. service was polite and quick. the food came quickly too and tasted decent.

We visited the restaurant early evening and provided a challenge as with children we were 14 but the restaurant staff were great. The food and service were first class and we would recommend giving the restaurant a visit.

We went to this restaurant without high expectations based on previous experiences, but we were pleasantly surprised. Decent steaks, cooked as we wanted, with prompt friendly service for the most part. Will go again.

Very sorry to say but the food here was absolutely terrible and the service no better, not something one expects in the very competitive world of eating out. We were seated promptly on arrival, the restaurant was very quiet, given a menu and our drink order was taken, the waitress returned later to take our food order, we all ordered prawn cocktail to start, this arrived and was some very cold, watery prawns served with sauce which was very wet and vinegary on a bed of limp lettuce and a couple of slices of small, stale bread, no taste to this whatsoever.Then our mains arrived, one of our party had ordered a medium rib eye steak which was far from medium, in fact it was more well done than anything with a lovely unappetizing grey tinge to it, then there were two beef strogonoff's, one ordered medium and one ordered medium rare, there was no difference between the two, all meals were served with a jacket potato, our choice, the steak had one mushroom, half a tomato and a very small dish of side salad whilst the strogonoff was served with a few wilted leaves, three halves of a cherry tomato and a very small pot of congealed strogonoff sauce, at this point I would just like to mention that these meals were not at all cheap, almost £21 for the rib eye steak and almost £18 each for the strogonoff.We called a member of the waiting staff over and voiced our concerns insofar as the strogonoff steaks had not been cooked to our request and the rib eye looked awful, she went to fetch the manager, he listened to our concerns, apologised, removed our meals and said he would re-cook our order and offered us complimentary drinks which we refused but accepted a coffee after our meal and he said that he would adjust the bill at the end of the meal accordingly.We then waited over half an hour for our food to be re-served, when it arrived there was no difference at all in the strogonoff's but there was a new steak, served rare, not medium and it was very dubious this was actually a rib eye it looked more like a rump, the jacket potatoes were stone cold and when a small piece of butter was placed onto the potato it didn't ever melt ! In hindsight we should have just requested the meals to be removed, paid for our drinks and poor starters and left but by this time we were all hungry and wanted to eat.Our plates were far from empty at then end of our meal, the food was awful, the waitress cleared our table and asked if we wanted to see the sweet menu, we declined but mentioned that we would like our promised complimentary coffee, our order was take and coffee was served.Shortly after our bill was dumped on our table, without requesting it and showed no reduction, we asked to see the manage who came out and said that he felt he had been more than fair by "replateing" our meals, he was not in the slightest bit interested in our concerns of a poor meal, basically you ate it so therefore it was OK and that we had cost him "over a hundred quids worth of food tonight" really ?The conversation did get heated, we said we were not happy to pay our bill for the full amount and as a gesture of goodwill on the restaurant's part a reduction of 10% would be acceptable, he refused to do this and retreated to the kitchen after saying he would call the police if we did not pay, which we more than welcomed.We did not see the manage again, despite asking to see him and then we were confronted by a very large man standing at our table with a cash machine, to say we all felt very intimidated is an understatement.We paid the bill, but not without complaint but this fell on deaf ears, at the bottom of the bill iftclearly states "If you find anything not to your total satisfaction, please ask to see the Duty Manager", we did, it made no difference.A truly awful dining experience which we will not be repeating, the manager clearly needs to attend courses to learn basic skills in customer relations and not send intimidating members of staff to clear up his mess.As a final note, the restaurant was absolutely freezing and although we mentioned this to the staff we were not offered a different table, some of our party sat and ate their food with coats on.

Once again this place has not let us down,visited on Sunday night with friends and the food was amazing everything was hot and came out cooked to perfection!

great value!! family meal with excellent service from start to finish. great choice and good sized portions

Great staff, great restaurant and the food was incredible we will be visiting again ASAP, we also stayed next door in the Premier Inn.

Much improved over the past 3 months. Service quicker. Food always available, especially the Sunday carveries.

Very nice surprise. Stopped off here on our journey north for a late breakfast - not something we would normally need to do. The welcome from the manager on the door was very welcoming managing to find a nice table in a busy dining room. Breakfast was excellent, hot n fresh. Service friendly and good value for money. Great!

Great staff night out. We went out with my management team. Emilia gave us great customer service, she is amazingly knowledgeable about alergens, as I am gluten free and eating out can be stressfull. This lady reassured me that I can eat out in Swindon with confidence.

Good food, good service (emilia was a star) was a great humour filled night. She recommended the sticky toffee pudding and it was stunning. Food was good and all round just a good night.

Went there for buffet breakfast there where Multiple choices for the continental and then the hot choice was excellent very good service food and cost

Took my parents here as we were staying at the nearby hotel. It’s been hit and miss in the past but this time was a miss.

The one star is for the lovely lady who served us. The food was very average! Wish we’d gone to MacDonalds.

Went for breakfast at 9.45, to be told we could not eat till 12 noon as they had no staff, what a joke, will never go there again, came to see my family and have a meal before returning home

Amazing service from our waitress Jackie she’s is lovely and is always happy to help , food was lovely and lovely staff.

No real customer service, no meaningful greeting.