The Southcote Beefeater in Reading

Staff were nice and friendly, food was good, but we sat next to a table of dirty plates for the almost 2 hours we were there.. oh and let's just say the air freshener smelt a little herbal.

I've been there a few times. Never disappointed. Food, service and atmosphere top class. I'll return.

Our waitress looked after us so well. She was kind, smiling, friendly

As all ways food great, service exceptional, as a carer for a disabled person with a wheelchair the help staff give goes way beyond expected.would recommend to everyone.

Had a lovely family meal. The mixed grill is a great treat. Server Julia sets the gold standard for welcoming and taking care of her diners... great service with a genuine smile makes such a huge difference to the restaurant experience.

I want to start off with what an amazing server we had, Chloe. I was with a party of 10 and most of us got refillable drinks. Chloe would always bring us a fresh drinks as soon as she saw empty glasses or when we were nearly finished without us even asking. They also made sure that our food was really good and if we needed anything. Chloe and a few of her colleagues even came out with a little candle on the brownie and sung happy birthday for my Nan. Chloe was very kind sweet and very thoughtful. (if you ever get Chloe as your server I definitely recommend giving a tip as you will receive the best service from them.) we will always continue coming here.

Amazing service, Everyone here is nice

Wow where do I start! To be honest I came from London a little bit intimidated I am a London food blogger and I didn’t come here to review I just neeed a place to work and there was this lovely woman called Hannah who really made it easy for me. No such think as social anxiety when the right bartender makes you feel welcome the pub really welcomed me she made the best espresso martini and was always making sure I was okay while being alone! It’s been a while that service like this has been seen so yes BIGGGG UP HANNAH EVERYTIME! I know have friends in here and reading is scary when you don’t know anyone! I can’t wait to review the food as that is my job but as for service 20/10

Lovely meal and service spoilt by very damp mildew smell in seating area where we were put toilets also disgusting

Just had a lovely meal with family, food was excellent, great value for money, server Julia was outstanding, very attentive went the extra Mile, couldn't do enough for you. Definitely be going back!!

Great service from Maria, always friendly and helpful, an asset to your team. The food was also ok, we had to swap the steak due to the poor quality, but nothing was too much trouble. We would come back!

Great food , excellent service from Maria . We will return

The meal was lovely the staff was very friendly, drinks and good food at a very good price. atmosphere is very welcoming .

Although it was full for a Monday,Maria showed excellent customer service and she was very friendly and polite. We really enjoy the service we received from her. The food was very nice, top quality. We come here very often and would recommend it to everyone!

Lovely service, much appreciated the care given. Thank you!

Sophie our hostess was amazing!! She was extremely polite and kept on top of our needs!! Made our meal a lovely experience. Thankyou Sophie!!!

Outstanding experience, food is always fantastic and the service is great every time. The waitress Maria was great and really kind. Looking forward to next visit 😊

Great food I was surprised as someone at work said it gone down hill

Went on 6th Feb. The food was very good. Love to thank Linda for an amazing service, once she came to know about my food allergy she ensured to double check my order before serving them. Will definitely visit again.

came here for my sisters birthday meal, the staff are always so lovely and accommodating

Food was amazing Staff are amazing Chefs cooked my food exceptionally and Very tasty. Very clean place to visit and a great appearance in detail. Worth coming too Nice and very busy too Everyone seems to be enjoying the restaurant and overall a great place Keep up the hard work you lot Food is always on time. Easy to get too on foot or bus or car. Carpark is available too No need to login on a computer for this place. For a car space. The staff work very very hard even the chefs work so hard too.

Wonderful staff, especially Chloe!

We were very well received by Maria, between good humor and professionalism. The meats were good. We had a great time. I recommend.

Christmas dinner was over £60 each, the starter was fondue which looked like melted cheese in a bowl in the mircowave, main was ok but mainly veg which is cheap as chips.Dessert was Christmas pudding, which resembled a smaller than a jam tart Christmas pudding covered in brandy sauce. For the price it was terrible, have made a complaint but can't get any compensation due to no receipt although I did offer a copy of my card statement, i guess profit is more important than customer satisfaction and journey. . I will not be coming back to this beefeater or another, could of easily been resolved....AVOID AT CHRISTMAS... better to use the money in the supermarket and make your own dinner.

Staff are always friendly and welcoming!! Good food at good value!!!!! What a lovely waitress chloe was VERY JOLLY AND VERY HELPFUL!!! AND ROAST WAS BANGING!!!

Went to the beefeater, had a lovely meal with family. Maria served us, was so friendly and happy to help. When the food came, she remembered whose food was whose. Great service!

Server Julye excellent. Very quick to serve us. Very efficient. Food excellent. The Beefeater Southcote, Reading.

We had a delicious family dinner here. Linda, our server, was friendly, efficient and a delight. We’ll absolutely be back. Thank you 🙏

Maria is the best!!! Such good service

Portion sizes are more like kids sizes, they are having problems with delivery so are just going to buy the stuff from cheap shops which is way smaller than usual. They don’t tell you this when you order so beware.

Very poor quality food cooked badly and served by staff who all seem like they don't care. Everything on the menu tastes like the super cheap Iceland range. Once cooked, they can't organise themselves in the kitchen so many items are left sitting under lights for far too long and take on that greesy, cardboard texture. Sure, it's cheap but still over priced for the very low quality. Worst place to eat in town!

The portion sizes are small, you get hardly any chips so we had to pay for extra and the ribs were tiny. The staff are very nice but we won't be returning here as it's really poor value for money.

Fantastic Boxing day meal for a group of ten of us. Great food and fantastic service. Well done to assistant manager Chloe and her team, and huge thanks to Joanna our waitress who was lovely and nothing was too much trouble.

Festive Feast with Friends at Beefeater, Southcote. Christmas Eve called for a festive get-together with friends, and Beefeater provided the perfect setting. Snagging a table for six was a Christmas miracle in itself! We kicked things off with their starter deal – £17.99 for four dishes. The chicken wings were a tad over-fried, but the garlic bread and halloumi fries were spot on. Mains were a real treat. The chicken burger was juicy, the fish and chips were classic, and the salmon with asparagus was cooked to perfection. But the real star of the show? The mushy peas! Service was friendly and efficient, our server (didn't catch her name, sadly!) kept everything moving smoothly despite the festive rush. Overall, a great spot for a pre-Christmas catch-up with friends. Good food, good company, and good times. Happy days indeed!

Booked a long time ago for Boxing day!The place was not very festive,tables bare and had to ask for crackers! Place was bloody freezing! All radiators stone cold! Not good enough!

Good food Good service Good atmosphere

There was 20+ of us for a work get together. From start to finish just awful service. We was not offered drinks we had to ask. The food orders was all messed up even though some was pre order. The food took ages to come out and when it did it was stone cold and tasteless. One lady didn’t even get her food and had to leave by 4pm so left hungry! One lady’s cauliflower cheese come after she her main. Another lady’s fondue was vile! One Dessert was forgotten about. The lady Maria who was serving had no manners & very rude. She made the whole experience worse to be honest. I will say the manager was great when 2 members went to talk to her. Don’t recommend going there & we will definitely not be returning! By a Facebook post we’re all not the only ones either a whole thread saying the same things.

We came to Beefeater..we booked for 2pm and didn't get out food until 3.30pm. we pre-booked food which our server, bless her was up and down the stairs serving upto 15 people. Some of our party ordered food when we got here which was delivered first but the pre-booked food wasn't hot when we got it and was rather tasteless. One of our party was gluten free and ordered her food but when it arrived it was all wrong, so as she had to leave at 4, she cancelled her order and left without eating. Maria, our server was great but she could have done with some of her colleagues helping her to bring the food all together rather than staggered.

Nice meal, friendly staff, thanks 😊

Sophie s was a wonderful waitress- really helpful, polite and friendly. Wonderful meal there- nicest, best cooked steak I've ever had and the sauce was to die for

Excellent waitress. Food was good and hearty.

The food portions are too small. Surf on turf is 23 pounds with minimum amount of chips and other bits. Visited on Friday 06/12/24. Service was Pathetic.

The place is always busy. But the food is very over priced and the portions are very small for what you pay. I only ever go when I have a discount vouchers which brings the food down to a normal price

Surprisingly good! And very good value for lunch. Non-spicy but tasty curry, perfectly adequate fish n chips.

Pub in good location with own car park. Welcomed at the door and shown to the table. Pleasant waitress. Quality food. Time slot was easily booked through Google. Would visit again if in the area.

Fantastic experience - Sophie was out waitress and was lovely - provided refilled drinks on several occasions without even needing to ask. Food was quick to come and was delicious. The person seating us was friendly and set a great tone before Sophie came to take our order. Small gripe with the coleslaw as had a bit of a weird aftertaste, rest of the meal was lovely nonetheless. Vibe, food and service were all great - will be returning soon

Good food and drinks as per usual and a special thank you to Hannah and Chelsea who looked after us with a smile, nice people!

Great place! Good people and the food is excellent! You should visit!

What an attitude! We came in from work on Thursday night the restaurant was not very busy. My friend and I sat down and ordered our meal which seemed to take ages. When I questioned our waitress (dark hair with fringe) She snapped at me that a ‘Well done steak takes 25 mins’ I felt she was very condescending. She then rushed off to deal with some customers waiting to book in done a roundabout turn appeared with our meals and left them standing. No Customer Service skills what so ever, very rude. She made us feel like we were an inconvenience to her.

Great service busy restaurant good atmosphere good food menu had good options reasonably priced plenty of discounts and deals staff were very attentive

We've got very nice dinner last Sunday. We ordered surf on turf , burger and kids chicken pops . Burger was absolutely delicious!!! Highly recommended ! Surf on turf was very good also, just the steak wasn't cooked as I wanted. I ordered medium rare and one side was good but other side was blue , by the way taste delicious . Kids meal was good and big portion :)) Big shout out for front of staff !!! Amazing service , very king and helpful . Bravo !!

We called in here on the way back from a hospital visit. We stood about for while until a waitress with dark hair and a short fringe appeared no ‘good evening or welcome’ all she said was ‘have you booked’? She never said oh hold on a moment or likewise. She went marching off looking for ‘me Julie’ who ever she was as she said there was no table plan? There was hardly anyone in there (not surprising) she glared at us like we shouldn’t be there. No Customer Service Skills whatsoever. She next appeared (we were still standing there) with two dinners in her hand again she could have reached out and said ‘sorry I will be with you in a minute’ Appalling Service! Needless to say we walked out.

María was absolutely amazing and lovely. Great asset to your company! Having more people like her with her personality will make your food even nicer!

We had a fabulous early evening celebrating my niece's birthday 🎂

Food was amazing and filling. Servers were welcoming. Met Maria who was our waitress today. She was very welcoming and respectful towards my family and I. Overall service was great! Would definitely come here again :)

Table for 4,everyone happy,my steak in my mixed grill was chewy but the rest was nice,great service from our waitress Linda,keep up the good work.

Popped in for dinner with a friend and our children. Looks a little run, but the staff were lovely and the food was pretty good. No complains from us.

Filling Sunday Roast. Mint Hot Chocolate recommended.

Professional service by our server chloe. Very polite and knowledgeable. Asked if our food was ok and we of course said yes !

Took my family of 4 for dinner and on arrival we were asked if we reserved a table which we haven't as it was a last minute decision, the waiter then pointed at a small area and said find somewhere there.. the space wasnt enough for us all.. I'm very disappointed with how we were treated as there was alot of space the other side but she refused to seat us there. We were looking forward to dinning there but won't be going back.

Nice comfortable restaurant Friendly service. Good value for money.

Sophie was our server this evening, lovely, friendly and professional!

It's all about Sophie, she's the goat. Undisputed. Made the good food excellent by her sheer presence

Had a great meal with flatmates, great food and great service. Sophie was lovley.

Linda was absolutely amazing, good food and cozy pub vibes.

Great restaurant with great service, Linda served our table and went far and beyond

Just awful food, no much more to add, from mains to fries, all tasteless and bad

The corner is full of raggedy kids intimidating everyone.

Fairly standard Beefeater, which is quite popular with the local customers. The tables are a bit close together which gives the impression of being squashed in. Consequently, the service can be a bit on the slow side as the restaurant has low staff levels. Ok if you're a local or passing...

First time in along time that I enjoyed the food ( maybe a change of chef?) Service was OK, a bit hit and miss. Really full on to start with, then asked if we wanted a dessert than didn't see them for 20mins? Swings and round abouts.

Pleasant lunch with good food and a pleasant ambience - our server was very good

Our waitress on the day was lovely. I ordered the steak surf and turf, so did my mother. I asked for my steak medium/well. My mother liked hers very well done. I was shocked when I cut my steak. Tbh, it made me quite queezy. The waitress asked if everything was OK, I told her about my steak. She said they can take it and cook it more but I refused. I get paranoid when food gets sent back. My mums steak was medium and mine was more rare/blue. Other than that, we had a loud family behind us. Like, very loud, which was slightly annoying. Again,.service was good, just picked the wrong day to go clearly :(

Stopped on the way to Heathrow to surprise the in-laws with our newborn. Plenty of parking, great outdoor seating if needed. Inside was clean and tidy, with polite and professional staff. Fastest I’ve ever had food in a Beefeater in my life, so I was worried it was just heated up, but everything was freshly made and piping hot! They accepted the Blue Light discount, which is great, and the overall bill was reasonable for these days. 10/10 from us three excited travelers.”

Our server was fantastic polite helpful my steak was cooked perfectly 😋 👌

After many years, we returned to this Beefeater Grill in Reading. Unfortunately, there have been numerous changes, and not for the better. I tried to order tilapia, which I remember enjoying years ago, but it was no longer on the menu. The only fish option available was fish and chips. So, for a starter, I opted for the Classic Prawn Cocktail, only to find it was actually a shrimp cocktail. We then decided to order the classic Fillet, advertised as "the most lean and tender of all the steaks." However, the difference between the steak pictured in the leaflet and what we received was significant, as you can see in the attached photo. Not lean, no tender. The service was slow, and it was evident that the waitress only understood the English words listed on the menu.

We went out to the Southcoute last Thursday for dinner. We had a lovely experience. Waitress was lovely and our food was delicious. Probably the only remaining Beefeater in the Reading area to still be open as most Beefeaters have closed down or about to. Thank you for making a great experience for us.

Great food, lovely staff, relaxed atmosphere.

Food great, service second to none 😀

Excellent service, we had a very attentive waitress called Linda, she made sure we were well looked after and because I am ceoliac she even brought fresh cutlery. Also very short waiting times for food.

The lovely ladies behind the bar this evening were very sympathetic and accommodating to my plight of dealing with unreliable Reading Buses. I may be forever known as "the bus lady", and I am more than okay with that! Thank you for your wonderful service!xx

Large old pub with real British fare. Super waitress Sophie. All round worth a visit.

Absolutely fabulous time. The food was lovely and the price was great, the service was amazing, I wish I had got the server's name to show her our appreciation. Will 100% see us back at the Southcote Beefeater soon.

Good experience grandsons 8th birthday

Unfortunately I lost my husband Dewi in May and decided to hold the wake at the Beefeater Southcote. We have had many special meals there over a period of over 30 plus years so thought it appropriate to hold the wake there. We contacted Ogzur the manager and he couldnt have been more helpful. We looked at the menus and couldnt have been more pleased at the quantity and quality on the day. The team were so helpful and sympathetic which was a very hard time. They let us have the area for a few hours and we shared moments reminising on his life. Many thanks

Excellent food and a super lovely service from warm friendly staff.

Visit regularly every Tuesday evening after Berkshire Royals Dodgeball Club session at The Hugh Farringdon School. Plenty of parking. They serve a good pot of tea and happily welcome a crowd of 12 to 30 thirsty athletes coming to socialise. Been a while since I last dined at The Southcote Beefeater. Update in July, busier than last month. More customers. Nice buzz. now staying open based on level of customers. Planning to switch to later summer hours from August. Watch this space.

👍but quality of steak could be better

Terrible food. The loaded nachos came out with about 7 nachos. The calamari was over cooked. The cheese and bacon burger ( no roll) came out as a tiny burger with a slice of cheese and a some chips. When asked where the bacon and coleslaw the waitress said ‘ oh I didn’t know it came with bacon’. She then said they had run out of coleslaw. When I asked for another side dish instead she was quite abrupt with her ‘ well what do you want’ I pointed out that I was paying £13.99 for this and so would like something. She said I could have some peas and they would bring me some bacon. They had also run out of eggs and mustard. 3 of the 4 meals came out but we had to ask for the 4th.

Wonderful, friendly staff. Food was excellent. Have been here several times in the last few months & have never been let down by the quality of food or the welcoming staff. The recent change which allows a table booking between 9and 10pm now is also much appreciated! Recommended.

Wasn't as good as last time as we got there at 12 and they just opened but my roast potatoes was cold and black.

We always stay at the hotel opposite once a year when going to Royal Ascot and each time we drop in for dinner at the Beefeater. Each time we have been we have found the service to be excellent and the food very good. We would like to give a special mention for Linda who has served us for the past couple of visits.....very friendly and efficient. Not the most varied menu, but the food was very well presented and piping hot. We will certainly call again next year during our annual trip!

Very helpful and quick service from Sophie, which was appreciated as we were in a rush! No issues with our order and food was all delicious.

Quick and efficient. Sophie was friendly and very helpful, especially when it came to the bill. Ask for Sophie next time.

Great service from Sophie! Quick service and very friendly and helpful. She talked us through the whole menu. Will be coming back soon! Thank you Sophie!

The food was not nice and there was a needle on floor near us and the waitress just picked it up

Love it much & evening meal. .

Today me and my partner went here for some dinner, if I’m 100% honest the main meals weren’t the greatest. The chips were very stale with a tiny portion and the coleslaw was a little too warm, I complained to a staff member called Maria and she was very understanding, polite and helpful. Maria kindly brought us out fresh chips each with a much better portion! The starters and pudding was very nice so can’t fault there. Throughout our visit, Maria assisted us with a number of things, taking our plates, bringing over our drinks/meals, handling our complaint and taking the bill, Maria’s customer service is 10/10 which made the whole experience a lot more delightful! Maria was very kind and polite, she gives off lovely energy which makes your visit a whole lot nicer! We appreciate Maria and her service today and would happy to visit again ☺️ look after this lovely lady!

Great food at a reasonable price.

Excellent food, I will visit again

Having used The Southcote for many years from when it was a public house 🏠 it needs to get back to being Southcote's meeting place. The time is right