The Maypole Inn, Thurloxton in Taunton Deane

It's OK. Food average and a bit over priced. Service is stretched due to lack of staff.

My family and I have been loyal patrons of the Maypole for years, but since it changed ownership, I can confidently say that we won't be returning. I rarely leave negative feedback, but after our recent experience, I feel compelled to warn others. A family member of mine ordered a dish that, when it finally arrived, looked like a frozen meal deal. It was tiny and nowhere near the standard we're used to from this place. Naturally, she mentioned that it didn’t look right. Instead of fixing the issue, what happened next was straight out of a bad sitcom. The new owner, Vas (or however you spell it), decided to take this poor woman—mind you, a lady in her fifties—into a side room, away from everyone else. There, he proceeded to tell her that her opinion was basically wrong because -his- wife "likes it," so she should like it too. He continued to berate her in private, insisting that she's a trouble maker and barred her from the Maypole. Oh, and to add to the absurdity, he brought the plate of food in with him and performed some kind of amateur theatrics, tearing apart the food and eating it in front of her, declaring, "See? It's fine. There's nothing wrong with it." Honestly, it was unhinged behavior. But it didn’t stop there. When she returned to the bar, Vas wasn’t done. He continued to interrogate her, even dragging her husband into it by asking, "Is she like this because you’ve fallen out?" Excuse me? Since when is it acceptable for an owner to dive into someone’s personal life because they didn't like the standard of food? The whole interaction was disturbing, violating, and completely unprofessional. You do not humiliate a paying customer, let alone drag them into a private room to do it. To top it all off, the prices have gone up while the portion sizes and quality have nosedived. At this rate, they’re going to lose every last customer. So, Vas, if you're reading this, here's a bit of unsolicited feedback for you: Learn how to handle customer criticism, or brace yourself for more reviews like mine. And if you’re thinking about barring me—by all means, go ahead. You’d be doing me a favour.

Food was great and service was fine .

Made reservation online and on arrival 15 minutes before my booking time kitchen was closed, unacceptable to accept bookings and for customers to drive to the restaurant to be turned away

Just had a large family reunion from all over the country including two family members from America, Vas laid on an Amazing Buffet for us absolutely lots of quality morsels for everyone including vegetarian and Gluten free for those that needed it, the Staff are exellent and Vas and his partner really looked after us thank you so much! from Heather and Dave!

Great food and atmosphere. Staff polite and thoughtful . Thanks guys

Recent change of ownership: oh dear, what has happened? We’ve regularly come for lunch at the Maypole 2-3 times every month over the last 5+ years and have always enjoyed the food and efficient service. However, today was so disappointing. We were a table of 6 and had ordered by 1 pm but were not served our meals until 1:50 pm. The pub wasn’t even busy which is very unusual for a Saturday. The steak in the baguettes was cold, as were the lamb chops, fatty with congealed gravy. Chips were pale and undercooked. Service was slow with noticeably fewer people working there (new staff). There was confusion over what we had ordered with plates having to be taken back to the kitchen. When it came to paying, the card machine now asks if you want to add a 10%, 15% or 25% tip. Cheeky. Maybe this is teething troubles but today was such a letdown. The lower dining room was empty – it’s usually full. Perhaps people have already voted with their feet.

Local to us.So frequent visitors.Warm welcome,very polite staff.

Nice friendly pub with beer garden dog-friendly with disabled toilets and large car park the pub is split level so not fully wheelchair friendly although you do have access to a couple of tables the beer garden and the toilets in a wheelchair, the food and pricing is very good with a varied menu.

This is a Oldie World Pub selling a good selection of beers and drinks and the food is excellent and freshly prepared and the puddings are delicious especially the new addition Devon Apple Cake

Great place to come for good food at really reasonable pricing and the Daime Pavlova was to die for! Excellent service, prompt serving, all the things you need for a good value meal!

Went for Sunday roast today.Food was excellent, especially the chefs gravy! Waitress was lovely.Will definitely be going back.

Very generous portions, pleasant staff and nice atmosphere

It's a nice place to go with plenty of parking and a nice cosy atmosphere. There's a good menu selection here and daily specials available.

Dined with my father, I had the hunters chicken which was very tasty and my father had the slow cooked lamb which I was told was delicious and very tender. Portions were very generous as well with a friendly team of staff.

Always drive past but never been in so we decided to take our parents here for there 59th birthday, great. Service nothing was to much trouble no wait on food nice traditional country pub thanks to the girl who served us

Good food, reasonably priced. The cod and chips was excellent.

Very nice,very welcoming, food excellent nt

The food was amazing and so much. All fresh too. The staff were helpful and friendly. The people in there were chatty. Dog friendly aswell.

We had a great time as a family! We had a few beers and some sodas for the kids. To eat a little with all this we ordered a few starters and fries. We don't speak English very well but the waitresses made the effort to speak slowly so that we could understand. Thank you very much for this evening! See you soon

Beautiful carvery! What I love about the Maypole is that they let you order a child's size. Not many places allow an adult to have the child's size, which is plenty big enough if you've had bariatric surgery. The food is delicious here, always hot and plenty of choice. Everyone who works there is happy and welcoming. It's always clean and tables cleared quickly. And such a great atmosphere! Best of all, they allow dogs!! Super place to pop in for a meal or a drink. They also have a lovely beer garden. There are plenty of meal options as they cater for vegans, vegetarians, and can adapt to suit when they can. Wonderful establishment, which I highly recommend 👌 👍

Fabulous pub in Taunton. Their 'home made' pies are brilliant. The service from their two waitresses was very good. Nice clean restaurant, well set out with good space between tables. Can highly recommend this place

Lovely pub, fantastic food and excellent service

Just returned from an excellent lunchtime meal at The Maypole Inn. Friendly & helpful staff, the food was hot & well presented. The pub was busy but everyone was served quickly & with a smile. To be recommended as the menu would suit all tastes.

An ok lunch could have been improved by more professional waitresses

We visited the Maypole in this evening for a birthday meal, it seemed to be only one of a few open on a Monday Bank Holiday! Well we were glad that we came here. The food was absolute top tier! The Maypole stack was whopping, and neither of the three of us who had it could finish it. My mum had the lamb rump which was succulent and fell apart. My dad had the gammon which he loved. We shared one of their sharing platters between the five of us, enough for all of us to have 2 or 3 pieces each. Lovely village pub aesthetic, great service, we will definetly be returning, and it'll be added to my top UK restaurants list!

Enjoyed our meal so much last Sunday evening that we came back today, April 30, 2024, and had another excellent meal. Great service, an impressive chef and very varied menu. All too often when we find a good restaurant, where the menu is limited and unchanged for months, we do not return. Not so at the Maypole Inn. Highly recommend.

Fantastic place! We come here several times a year and are always left happy! Excellent food and excellent service! I will say im bias towards the stack burger as it is incredible! I also proposed to my girlfriend (now Fiancé) and several of the staff went out their way to congratulate us making the whole experience even nicer for us! 10/10

Food above average, but not brilliant.

We thoroughly enjoyed our most recent visit to the maypole. All the staff were friendly, helpful and worked quickly. The food was exquisite, steak cooked to perfection and the burgers were amazing. We had the creamiest cheesecake for pudding.Would highly recommend trying this establishment, service is second to none and food amazing

Good food and plenty of it great service 👍

Had the flat mushroom with Stilton starter, which was drenched in oil... pressed on it, and oil was oozing out. Lasagne was bitter and not very pleasant to eat. Garlic bread was solid. Venison pie was stewed, and there was no taste whatsoever. I could keep listing things...! Mentioned it to the girl at the bar when paying who was very apologetic. She attempted to get a manager who came over and went, "What's the problem?" Confrontation is not our thing, so we just said we'd like to pay our bill and go, please. Paid full price for an awful meal, and now sat at home feeling not very well at all. Definitely won't be going back to The Maypole Inn.

Absolutely lovely place and food delicious. Great staff

Cold pub so had to keep coats on. The meals were warm not hot, as if they had been sat there for ages before being served. Red wine tasted like it had been open a few days. Waitress was so shy she dumped the food on the table & almost ran away. We were with an elderly couple who were taking us out for a treat so felt bad complaining so we just decided we won’t go here again. It’s a real shame as the bill came to £120 & it certainly was not worth it.

Food was really nice. Would have given 5 stars but the place was cold and ate our meals wearing our coats.

We were celebrating a birthday so a lot of us, lots of different meals and all arrived pretty much together. The staff were just lovely very friendly, we had a two year old and they made sure her food came out first and all meals were delicious.

The pub is in a lovely location and has lots of outdoor seating. A roaring log fire. Staff that were friendly. Unfortunately, there was no cans, then no Diet Coke, then the o2 machine was not carbonating the drinks. I felt so sorry for the waiting staff who had to keep coming back and saying sorry. The food was average, but this was my daughter’s birthday meal and it got frustrating.

I eat here quite often and find the meals are good. However having said that I often wonder if all chefs go to the same training school when it comes to chips and salads. I am getting used to it and when I go for a meal with chips and veg I request gravy be supplied separately so the chips aren't swimming in it. At another pub I didn't realise the chef likes to pile on the salt for the chips which I don't like. This month I thought I would have a change and try the hunters chicken served with salad & homemade chips. I knew the chips would be good but didn't realise there would be a sauce for chicken resulting in the chips and salad to be swimming in it. Must remind myself in future to request sauce or gravy to be kept separate and also no salt.

What wonderful People, food & atmosphere x Thankyou so much for keeping the little red gloves that were left behind,but mean the world to my elderly and dearest friend x I give you 10 stars 🤩

Not impressed with the Xmas Dinner last Friday 12th. Very disappointing

Couldn't fault our service or food. Always a good experience at the Maple inn. Thank you

Yet another good meal ! My third in about a month

We booked for a family Christmas meal, unfortunately it was not up to there usual standard. Our booking was mixed up with someone else's so we had to wait untill that was sorted before we could sit at our table. The steaks were lovely. No complaints at all. The Christmas meals were not great, cold gravy, meat obviously taken out of a packet rather than sliced off fresh, roast patatoes that you could crack your teeth on. Burnt Yorkshire puddings, very dissapointed in the Christmas Dinners.

Nice pub reasonable prices good selection of beer. Food OK.

Visited for lunch today. As always warm welcome, excellent food & friendly service. Staff & chefs go above & beyond. Thank you so much

Fabulous evening celebrating christmas and birthday with very special friends. We all had the christmas set menu which was fantastic. The staff were absolutely amazing and the service exceptional. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy our evening we cant wait to come back 🙂🙂🙂

What a lovely time we had. Christmas Party Lunch. 5 ladies. The food was very good and hot. We all had traditional Christmas meal. The timings between arriving and our 2 courses was spot on. Nice clean bar. Friendly staff. Will return

The new Landlords at the Maypole Inn who took over in November 2017, have really revived this great village pub. The ales are well kept and the food is excellent. The premises are spotless and the service is friendly and prompt. Highly recommended 😊(It is now July 2018 and the Maypole is getting better and better. New decor is great and lots of nice little things here to be happy with. Food continues to be great) UPDATE again at 6th Dec 2023 - Same team runs the Maypole to the same high standards. Great pub grub, good ales, great service.

A lovely pub and restaurant. Even on a busy day the service was friendly with lots of apologies for any delays. The venison pie was excellent. We will return!

Lovely welcome ,& Service good!! But found it REALLY cold that we had to keep our coats & scarfs on , which is awful ,as I like to take coat etc off when eating !!Food tasted ok ,but was cold too ,& IV noticed this a few times when we've came here ,so dippointed REALLY,I'll think about coming out again!!

Excellent meal, friendly staff. Good value for money.

Always a warm friendly inviting country pub 😀

Building was very chilly food and service very good

Extremely disappointed by our trip to the maypole today.. I acknowledge that it was busy but after a long wait to be seated our table wasn’t laid and the waitress I believe to be called Lucy almost threw our cutlery into the middle of the table as we sat down. Asked if we knew what we were drinking before we had even sat. Carvery - meat was lovely the rest was a complete let down. The potatoes were so hard you couldn’t cut them let alone eat them! High chairs were left in the middle of the room.. Complete chaos. We were going to Jane desert but couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Staff very welcoming especially the lady on the front desk.

Nice that I could get something gluten free need to keep in some o wines

My friends and I often go for lunch. Good value food, efficient and friendly staff. Deservedly well subscribed by locals in the know.

Absolutely amazing food & very welcoming & friendly staff🙂

Was told how good the Sunday Carvery is but it was only average. The meats were perfectly cooked but I had difficulty cutting through the roast potatoes. Vegetables overcooked and the Apple Pie was just a soggy open apple tart. Can't anybody actually make pastry anymore? The decor in the Elmhurst was awful and full of dogs. Staff were very professional and friendly.

Lovely pub, lovely staff, lovely pint but most of all LOVELY cheesey chips.

Stopped for lunch and a drink, good service and pleasant surroundings

Party booking of 14 for lunch today. They were very busy and we had to wait quite a while for our meals. However the staff were really nice and the food was enjoyable, especially as all meals were from the £10 specials menu.

Lovely friendly atmosphere great food and service

Lovely friendly staff . Food is fantastic. So good to have a pub like this.

Very nice food good price. Will be seeing you again soon

Popped in for a quick bite to eat and waited at the entrance for someone to seat us. No problem with that except the lady on front of house was happily petting a customers dog rather than keeping her eye out for customers. Eventually seated and ordered. Mine arrived but was burnt. I didn't make a fuss because the filling was alright. Asked for another pint for my husband but after taking ages the waitress advised that his choice was no longer available. We decided to finish and leave without a second drink. On leaving I mentioned the burnt pie and immediately offered money off so I expect they were aware of the burnt offering and served it anyway. Pros, nice friendly waitresses and offered compensation Cons, no atmosphere and should not have bought out burnt food Come on Maypole you can do better than that.

A very disappointing end to a mediocre meal. We were asked to vacate our table for another group of people, before everyone (there was 6 of us) had been served their puddings and we would have liked a coffee afterwards. We were told that we had been late for our booking, which was not true, we were kept waiting by slow service. We will not be returning!

Very nice pub great food friendly staff

We had a wake there, the staff were friendly, helpful and the food was excellent. A very good selection of food. Will go back and try there meals. Will be recommending it to everyone. I want to say a big thank you to all the staff, you were amazing.

Good pub food, staff with a good sense of humour.

Went for Steak night excellent meal good value for money accommodating with slight changes .Dessert out of this world we will be returning

Had a superb Sunday carvery. Delicious fresh food at a very reasonable price. Good selection of drinks. Very friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended.

Brilliant lunch time menu for £10. The home made pie is lovely

Came hear today and the meal was very nice and good value for money would definitely come hear again a nice pub at nice price

Recommended by a friend. I can recommend it to anyone . It was the first time we had been there and were made very welcome .

How disappointing, have been to this pub before, for the first time the food was awful, I heard someone on 3 tables down had a live bug in their salad, The food was replaced with no sign of a huge apology from either the chef or the waitress. I’m afraid our dishes were not much better, broccoli cooked into oblivion and the sauce I had was very watery. So it has out us off going there again which is a shame. But there we are

Went along to their BBQ & live music evening it truly was amazing something for the whole family lovely garden bouncy castle for the children and fantastic live music! The staff didn’t stop and worked their socks off the whole place was buzzing can’t wait for the next one!

As fairly frequent visitors to the Maypole it never fails to impress. Great food, atmosphere & Management & staff always present ensuring that everything is to your satisfaction, nothing is too much trouble. Food always freshly prepared and hot. Sunday Carvery one of the best!! . Great garden for children which is well fenced off ensuring safety . Highly recommend .

Two lunches with family and friends; Feb and again in March. Latest meal in March we had meat lasagne and lamb. Lasagne was hot and tasty. Full of meat and not loaded with pasta. Salad was fresh, colorful and nicely plated. Lamb was served on a proper mashed potato and lovely gravy and was beautifully cooked and fell apart. Served piping hot. Sat next to a lovely open fire which gives even more 'ambiance' to this lovely old pub. Too full for dessert. Staff are friendly and polite and we were served in good time especially as it was busy, it's always busy, that should tell you what you need to know. Always love to visit when we are in the area.

Food was very mediocre in flavour and presentation and veg was stone cold. Very strange tomato sauce in a gravy boat served with chicken, brie and cranberry, not sure why. Veg reheated would have expected replacement instead. Did not taste brie in chicken. Parsnips beans and swede did not really suit the dish

Nice welcome. Table had been booked for lunch - 6 people. Drinks and main meals all good. Tasty homemade pies. Deserts - 2 of the roly polys were sent back as absolutely rock hard. Replaced with new portions. Shame they were sent out in the first place. The pub was so cold and draughty. Also dogs barking a lot at the bar. Not for us. Won’t be returning. Ps nice staff

We visited The Maypole on the spur of the moment. Although we hadn't booked a table, this wasn't a problem and we were seated immediately - the pub getting busier by the second. For a weekday, it was wonderful to see a country pub so full of happy diners and is obviously a testament to their success. My partner had the sausage and mash; each component of the meal was flavoursome, tasty and perfectly cooked. I had the triple vegan burger which was huge, accompanied by chips which were so yummy. I was unable to finish my meal despite my big appetite as it was such a generous portion. It didn't go to waste as my dining companion was only too happy to help out! The White Mud Pie (?!) which my partner ordered was heavenly, and served with both cream and ice cream. Although the meal was faultless, the politeness and efficiency of the staff were what really made it for us, as personally, staff attitude is right up there on my list of what makes a great dining experience. 10/10.

2 of us went in for a meal, I had a steak medium rare and it was cooked to perfection my daughter had the lasagna that came with a huge side salad & garlic bread again really nice Service was polite, welcoming & quick.

We were a group and had pre booked the Christmas lunch, having visited the Maypole, as a couple, quite a few times over the last 8 years we have not been disappointed I was, therefore, looking forward to my lunch. Unfortunately, with the exception of the roast potatoes and parsnips the meal was lukewarm - lukewarm soup is not nice as it is cold before it’s finished, plates were cold and the sauce on the salmon did not do it any favours. There appeared to be a shortage of cutlery - no knife to butter the roll with, only a spoon with the sweet and had to ask for a knife for the cheese and biscuits. Food looked appetising and service was good. Possibly they can’t cope with serving hot food when there are bigger groups

As part of a large group, we propordered our food. I asked in advance for a vegan version of the stilton garlic mushrooms for myself, which they were happy to provide. When we got there, the garlic mushrooms were tasty (the best part of the meal). However, my wife got the same, although she was expecting stilton garlic mushrooms. No explanation why. I then had a vegan pie (good) with chips (limp, not great) and brocoli slightly (overcooked) with carrot and beans (both very overcooked and not pleasant). My wife's risotto was quite good but too salty. We had one glass of wine and one soda and lime - £46,20. One meal came out much later than the others We wre not unhappy enough to complain, but would not wish to go back there again. If I could have awarded 2.5 points, I would have done.

Im am the worst person to take for a meal after working many years in the trade. Starter was hot and plenty of it. Chicken pie was the best ive ever had anywhere! Hospitality was second to none. Honestly cant fault this place. Ive worked with some amazing chefs but your my new favourite

Everything was perfect, well done maypole. Lovely food all hot and well cooked. Service brilliant 👏 Thank you

We hadn’t been here for a while but decided to give it a go after some friends who had recommended the food. The pub was busy, it the service very good, there was a great atmosphere in the whole place & the food was excellent....

Had a roast dinner which was lovely even though roast potatoes were quite tough but couldn’t eat a lot of the veg and some of my food as we were inundated with flies and spent the whole meal swiping them off of our food …I...

Had lunch with friends after walk. Friendly service and good food at a reasonable price. Nice atmosphere. Main menu looks interesting so will return.

This is my second visit! Great place, such happy smiley staff and superb food! Totally stuffed having had the carvery, again served by a happy chef!

Waitressing staff are lovely However, parts of the roasts are obviously microwaved and just weren’t very nice. Does the job though - the carvery would’ve been nice as it would have been fresh but we weren’t told it wasn’t on until we were ordering.

We were extremely lucky to get a reservation for Fathers Day Sunday Carvery. Great to see the staff and owners of this establishment never fail to get a great meal at very reasonable prices, A great place to eat and also fantastic service. I would...

Friendly pub with a good selection of pub food on the menu. Food is fresh, hot and tasty and nicely served. Our 'go-to' pub when we are in the area as it's not the usual 'chain pub' food. Did great takeaways during Covid. Nit sure...

Group of 7 4 steaks perfect. Pork belly delicious (not easy to get that right) venison pie bang on. And steak and ale pie very possibly best I've had. 7 clean plates. Great value decent service clean fairly quickly served but was very busy. Defo...

First time here and impressed with the service and food. I went with my husband for lunch and the portions of food were very large and good value. We had main meals for £10 each. Would definitely visit again

Fabulous Sunday Lunch - 3 meat carverys and one veggie. Lovely choice of well cooked veg and good quality meat. Friendly, kind and attentive staff, will return in future. If you are in the area would definitely recommend.

Very much improved since a visit a couple of years ago, great service and great food Very good choice including smaller portions for those with a smaller appetite, Went for a steak and it was cooked perfectly my only gripe would be that the Stilton...

The food is good 'pub grub' but sadly the service was poor. Oou order was taken and served promptly but then we seemed to have been forgotten. Having finished our main course we waited for over 35 mins for someone to come to take away...

It has nice atmosphere very frieandly staff Dog friendly value for money good selection of food defiantly going back again