The Reading Rooms in County Durham

Not surprised to hear this place didn't make it to 2022! Staff were lucky if they got paid on time, and not open when you would expect it to be. R. I. P TO THE STAFF great bunch wish you all the best and better employers in 2022. Xx

Truly awful experience on Monday lunchtime there were enough alarms to say how great this was going not to be. 1.We were just taking our coats off when we were asked if we wanted to order… 2.We asked if they did Earl Grey tea. No only “normal tea” 3.Food is standard food service fare and nothing prepared,unwrapped and placed in Toaster. Sandwich we asked for had sold out. Bland and tasteless. 4.Asked to pay for food directly after ordering. 5.This is the best bit…. Wife who is disabled asked what cakes they had on offer. The reply was “no idea so you are better off looking at them yourself” . I was expecting the waitress to see the wife struggling and step in. No.. she just watched her walk to the counter. Disgraceful. 6.We ordered 2 choc cakes, which took 10 mins to arrive, mainly due to the staff nipping out the back door for a cigarette. I watched them with my own eyes. 7.Cakes arrived directly on the paper napkin so we covered in Chocolate, cake was dry and unappetising. So that summed up our experience .. next time we will just get pasty from Greggs. We were going to say something but thought there was no point as if they don’t care about customers then they won’t care about people who make a complaint.

Quite a long wait for drinks & food. My wife and I ordered two Mexican Chicken Batons. To be fair, they could have called it English Chicken, French Chicken or Spanish chicken, it had no Mexican ingredients at all. Very plain, it was just chicken & cheese. All in all it was ok and well priced at £3,69 each, however the alcohol was expensive, two pints of Stella £9.00, you can go next door to Wetherspoons and get the same two pints for £5.00. Staff not very pleasant, everything appeared a chore to the waitress.

Had one drink in here during the food festival. Nice service but the prices are very steep. We had two pints of bud and a large wine £17.00. Needless to say we just had the one round. I don't think the price reflects the surroundings.

We spent a wonderful Saturday night here sampling the cocktails, which I can honestly say we're amongst the best I have ever tasted. The team working here are a great friendly bunch, hard workers, cheerful with a genuine love of what they do. There was a great singer on. If you love cocktails (as well as a large selection of other drinks) do not miss out on this place. HIghly recommended!

Sat outside for a leisurely meeting. Food, drinks and service were very good and the prices don’t break the bank. Cocktails looked good....maybe next time Recommended