The Stanley Arms in West Lancashire

Lovely place, atmosphere and staff. Lovely fresh food and reasonable prices

Not the greatest pub food I have ever eaten, the chicken curry was very much a jar of ready made curry with chicken pieces, Service was fine and efficient, plenty of staff.

We went for my Son's Birthday as it was homemade foods, although the starts where good, the mains where shocking their was 10 of us and all of us left our homemade chips they where dry and tasteless. Had to send 2 meals back as they where cold. Cheap burger cheese slices on burgers. Even the steak wasn't tasty. We was disappointed with our food totally. The girls couldn't of done enough they where all lovely and work really hard. Just a shame about the food we where hoping to have found a new little gem as not alot of places do homemade foods.

Fine selection of beers Food excellent

I was going to give this place another go after a 18 month gap but after reading the reviews I don’t think I’ll bother

No food but a good pint of bitter

Arrived with Skelmersdale U3a group for Sunday lunch. (12 of us) reception great, staff great, shown to table and given menus. Extensive choices available, including the traditional Sunday roast. Good beer served plus hot drinks. All meals served within 30 minutes. Food excellent and well cooked, everyone was amazed by how large the portions were. Followed by a wide range of sweets. Everybody happy. With a set price for meals under £20 per person. An impressive deal. We all agreed we would return. Thanks also to the very attentive serving staff.

Avoid at all costs. Awful service. Takes hours to get served, multiple tables complaining and having to go up to the waitresses stand to get them to take their order. Absolute chaos

Great food and drink options available. Large portions and super value for money. Make sure you book in advance.

Nice pub with a good selection of beers and great food

Omg if you’re in a hurry or hungry don’t bother An hour and 45 minutes and still waiting. Haven’t even been asked if we want a drink Absolute joke

Meal booked for 7pm food didn't arrive till 8.45pm not an apology till just before food arrived. Not a good experience

We booked the Stanley for a private reception after my father in law’s funeral- the side room newly built and recently opened accommodated 50 plus people. The booking process and communication with the staff was excellent and couldn’t have more accommodating prior to the reception. The reception on the day was outstanding and food, (buffet) freshly prepared and a high standard and all the staff helpful. I would not hesitate in recommending the Stanley.

Called in for lunch today, lovely atmosphere and beautiful pub, we had the steak and kidney pie, has to be the best one iv ever had. Portion size very generous, I will definitely be back.

Had a light bite birthday celebration lunch today 11th Feb. Excellent food, great atmosphere, staff lovely. New extention looks amazing. So lucky to have this so near.

We held our Dads wake at the Stanley Arms in the private function room and it was fantastic. The food was lovely, really great value and the staff were brilliant. Steph was amazing and really looked after us so a huge thank you to Steph x

Called in on the off chance of a table & was greeted by the super friendly young team of staff, who were very helpful in finding us a table. Husband ordered the cod fish & chips with mushy peas. Although it looked crispy batter, it was soggy. Chips were chunky & homemade but needed to be a lot more crispy, they were a bit like soggy roast potatoes. I ordered the cheese ploughman’s salad, however I was very disappointed as it was grated cheese with, albeit, very fresh lettuce, tomato, cucumber & red pepper salad & a pot of coleslaw & ‘Branston’ pickle. I’m sorry but putting a pot of pickle on a plate doesn’t make it a ‘ploughman’s’ and for £14.95 not worth the money.

⭐ 1/5 – Awful Service & Disappointing We waited 1.5 hours for our food, and when it finally arrived, it was bland and the meat wasn’t even fit for my dog. On top of that, I had to wait 10 minutes just for a clean glass after ordering a simple glass of wine. The waitress had an, uninterested attitude and never once apologised for the wait. We could hear other tables complaining about the long waits and terrible food too—so it wasn’t just us. Then came dessert… another hour of waiting for something that wasn’t even worth it. Wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Avoid at all costs!

This pub is a great throwback, h9w pubs should be, how they used to be. Bar area was full of drinkers enjoying their Friday evening wind. A great atmosphere, we sat just down the steps to the right, ordered our drinks and food with ease. Food was great pub fayre, all fresh and not your generic pub chain menu. My only gripe would be after our 1st round of drinks no one came to offer any more. A potential sale could have been lost if we hadn't just gone to the bar. Excellent pub/restaurant do not hesitate to book s table here. Well worth the journey

First and last time. I was so disappointed by my visit for Sunday lunch. We arrived for our booked table which should have been 5.30. Eventually seated at 6. ‘Food’ eventually arrived at 7pm. I say ‘food’ but this was school dinner standards. From the packaged and sliced flavourless meat to the watery gravy. Staff are working hard but no apologises for late seating, late dinner or the late dessert that we ordered as our roast arrived as we had to leave by 7.30. If you are thinking of eating here I really wouldn’t waste your money and your time spent waiting for below average ‘food.’ Disappointed to write this review as we (4 of us) were really looking.forward to a good roast.

Had Sunday lunch here with family great atmosphere and service was good although busy. I had turkey roast and the plate was swimming in gravy, far too much!! Which made the rest of the dinner taste just of gravy and messy to eat. There was very little veg on the plate too.

Felt rushed as only allowed table for 1 1/2 hours tables too close together unabling my elderly mother in law to access seat

Will go again when the refurbishment is finished, food wasn't as good as previous times but still nice and it felt dark and crammed

We ate here last night for a family occasion...11 of us, 3 generations. We all had starters and mains...all different. Steak,lasagne,mixed grill,pie,curry,shredded beef chilli and a salad. All were very good size and delicious. The service was excellent despite being very busy. Would highly recommend.

Been going here for years and have been to a better pub! The girls are so friendly and helpful and if your looking for quality home made food and handcut Chips, you won't find better.😉

Lovely meal. Couldn’t fault service or food thankyou. Went between Christmas and New Year. Great atmosphere and lovely and warm

Lovely food friendly staff great atmosphere gets busy so would book but they will do their best to find you a table dog friendly

Positives first: The chips are amazing. Proper home cooked chips. Pricey but decent size portion and so nice. Kids meals although a bit over priced were nice. Unfortunately that’s where it ends for positives. Table was not ready for our allocated time so had to wait in way of the door with a baby in a buggy & a disabled family member. Roast dinners only option for 2 courses for £20. Which is annoying as I didn’t want 2 courses. There is nothing really on the menu below £20!! Roast beef dinner consisted of beef sliced so thin it was almost translucent. Half the plate swimming in thin gravy. 4 roast potatoes completely flavourless. White cabbage and carrot and swede again no seasoning at all. You only get a Yorkshire pudding on the roast beef dinner!! If you choose any other meat you don’t get one and have to order one at £1.50 per Yorkshire pudding!! Why?!?! The plate was that sparse we ordered extra mash which low and behold came and was completely flavourless. No butter or cream or salt & pepper. When paying £5 for a portion of mash I’d expect it to taste pretty great not lukewarm and flavourless. The open fire was on full roaring & the place was heaving it was so, so hot. No windows were open. Surely there is a H&S limit on how many people can be in there. Getting attention of a server was near impossible. Waited for over 35min for dessert order to be taken by time it had got there I had, had enough and I left as it was unbearable to be in a place so hot, stuffy & crowded. I would never return to this place. Ridiculously over priced way below average food, and so crowded it’s unbearable. We did get the mashed potato & a coleslaw removed off the bill for being very poor.

Cold day, warm welcome and good food. In the middle of being extended should be finished in January. Will be back.

Just been here for a meal with my wife 2 daughters son in law and 3 grandchildren. We was booked for 3pm and didn't get seated till 3.30 it took till 3.50 to have our order taken. Only 3 of us had starter which took 30 minutes to comes then another 40 minutes for our main course. The grandchildren wanted ice cream but we was told we couldn't have a sweet because they wanted the table back for other customers. My wife and I are regulars at the Stanley arms but after today's performance we certainly won't be going back after upsetting our grandchildren my wife and daughters like this. The service was the worst I have ever had and definitely not what you would expect from this place

We booked a table for six 18/12 to celebrate a friends 96th birthday- the staff so accommodating and the food was outstanding The atmosphere was amazing and had the Aughton male voice choir and local bell rings - great to have the Stanley back.

Lovely bar, cozy atmosphere and very fairly priced food. Staff are kind with excellent service

A lovely pub in Bickerstaffe. The menu is varied and provides good choices for everyone.. My favourite always has to be the Steak and ale pie.. Amazing value, yummy pie too.. Tasteful decorated, but still has the charm of a traditional English pub.. The service from the staff is fantastic, polite and tentative to your needs. Great atmosphere..There's plenty of parking . Make this your choice if you've never been here before, you won't be disappointed.

We found the stanley arms when we were looking for a change mentioned it to my daughter who had been with her friend and said we should try it and we were not disappointed food and atmosphere was loverly

Not what it used to be. Roast was pretty basic.

Excellent experience and lovely canal

Don’t know if it was an off day but the roast was bad and my father in laws pie was an end piece with no meat in it. My wife had to give him some of the meat from her roast. Beer was good though.

Having moved up to the area . We have now been here a couple of times and what a lovely atmosphere . The food was beautiful and I asked for child meal as I can’t eat much and it wasn’t a problem . The food was beautiful on both meals . The staff are a great team , they look happy , very attentive ,polite ,pleasant and chatty and a big thank you to steph who went above and beyond to make sure our experience was a good one .. we were not rushed like other restaurants . Been back few times now and now booked again for Father’s Day . Well done girls x

Always lovely food, never disappointed, staff so friendly too. Highly recommended .

Food and service excellent as usual.I think previous reviews must be about another establishment. Never had a bad meal here.

Drop in standards, please read the reviews before you visit. I had the half chicken, and to be honest it was awful. Dried out, and so small this was more like a chicken leg, and I've had bigger and tastier from the fish and chip shop. Stanley Arms you can do so much better!

I have read recent reviews about the Stanle Arms and honestly cannot understand the negativity. I have been at tea-time today with my family. We travelled from Wigan after being recommended by other family members to go for a meal. We booked in advance and its a good job we did because the pub was packed. Two courses for just under £20 was fantastic value. The meals are generous portions and everyone enjoyed their roast dinners. I had a vegetarian curry which was lovely. The choice of desserts was really good. Highly recommend the Biscoff sundae, delicious. The pub is being refurbished but it was only the car park that was a bit of a problem but this was due to two cars parking inconsiderately. The staff are lovely and efficient. Definitely visiting again.

Very friendly staff but sadly let down by the food. I had the half chicken, which wasn't really half and was very dry and overcooked. Poor food and overpriced, I wouldn't recommend.

Great selection of beers and really generous portions of food.

A really nice place with good food on Sunday. Well worth a visit. Recommended

Very nice food and staff are friendly and efficient..quick service. Building having work done and needs updating as very old inside but traditional. Top class pub food and as good as restaurant quality.

Came in today for a family meal the service was awful we asked for them to take the order never cleared plates away we had to ask for hot drink & dessert & we asked for the bill the girl never came to our table customer care was zero today will be looking to go else where from now

A really nice place with good food and service. An easy recommendation

Show area looking fantastic Going to be a lovely development

Really great English Pub. Great atmosphere. The food was amazing. I had the special Butter Chicken and the gf had Gammon. The staff were really nice. We were a little gutted with the work going on at the rear as it was a lovely sunny day but I guess it'll be YOU that enjoys the work their doing once their done 😉 really worth a visit.

Absolutely gorgeous you can't fault the place.

We used to visit all the time, mostly on a Sunday as we enjoy their extensive menu and Sunday roast. The last few times we have been - it’s been ridiculously busy and if you know the Stanley Arms, there’s not much space. Eating your meal whilst having people standing around for a table is really rude. People knocking into the table whilst my children are eating is poor management. The customer service seems to have slipped too. We ate here yesterday and whilst the meals were ok, the desert was absolutely awful. Inside the cheesecake was part of a bracelet. If my children had of chosen this, they could have choked. There wasn’t much of an apology, the young girl took it away and then another young girl brought a new one “complimentary” she said. 🙈🙈🫣🫣 At this point the restaurant was even busier and no one could move. I needed to pay the bill and get out. We won’t be returning.

I have been going to the Stanley for years as the homemade food is always lovely, the steak and kidney being one of our favourites. Unfortunately on our last 2 visits both myself and my husband found the pie very disappointing mainly kidney with one or two small chunks of steak, obviously cutting back on costs. Come on Stanley get back to the quality food standard you have given in the past.

Fantastic traditional pub, everyone is lively, wonderful service.

Wow…. Just had an early tea with my 2 grown boys. Fish was huge and delicious. We are home now, stuffed and grinning at how full and content we are 😊👍

We are here tonight as a party of 9, we had pre-booked but added an extra person last minute & they were great about it. The food was amazing, so fresh & tasty & the service was really good. We will be back again soon thank you 🤩

Roast dinner was absolutely delicious well worth a visit.

Great pub, lovely food. The staff are very friendly and professional. Highly recommend going for lunch during the week

Went for a Sunday lunch. Really good. Excellent service.

Nice countryside pub reasonable prices lovely home cooked meals

Very pleasant and welcoming, the food was lovely and the atmosphere was great,all in all a very good experience.

Food good . 7.30pm booking. Turned coffee machine off and wouldn't make custard Then told at 25 to 9 that they were closing at 9!

Nice pub. Decent food (home made steak & kidney pie spot on). Great service; everyone friendly, helpful and couldn’t do enough to help us. Very busy, and tables quite close together.

Family get together for mothers day. Very busy, but excellent food and service. The roast dinner was lovely and the roast potatoes delicious. Staff were very helpful and courteous even though they were rushed off their feet.

A cosy country pub with a good atmosphere. Have known it for many years and Still return to meet up with old friends regularly

Outstanding pub food, great service and lovely atmosphere. I have been many times for lunch now over the last few years and haven't been let down once.

We went for Mums birthday, in February lunch time. There was alot in there, & sevice was excellent. Good valve for money. My Sister asked question on how hot curry was. When it came it was the way she explained it to her. We are going back in 3 weeks for my birthday. Cant wait.

1st visit , very quaint pub and very nice. Staff and service excellent and food very enjoyable. Will visit again for sure.

Typical English country pub, very pleasant. Good range of food and drinks.

Spot on pub restaurant always busy we didn't book but were lucky to get in 6 adults Sat afternoon. Food excellent at really good prices all freshly cooked with real chips not oven chips, menu has plenty of choice from sandwiches to jacket potatoes to main meals. Staff excellent waiting on bringing you your drinks save waiting at the bar as it does get very busy here.Been visiting here quite a lot over the years and will continue to do so.

Food was ok but very unimpressed to hear the staff discussing other customers in an unpleasant manner .. won’t be returning

Just had a steak from here very nice will definitely be back. Staff help full as well up the tics

A visit with my parents for an evening meal, the staff are friendly, very helpful and pleasant. The pub had the coal fires burning it was so cosy. The food was delicious and piping hot we could not find fault and we finished everything on our plates. Can't wait to go again.

Great food , staff and atmosphere highly recommend

Great pub, always busy which is a good sign.

Very helpful staff. Fantastic disabled toilet so helpful.

Made to feel welcome and lovely staff

Really nice place food excellent service very good can't wait to go back 😀

Very cosy Pub. We normally go on Sundays and have a roast dinner. The food is always delicious and the staff are helpful and friendly. There's a good selection of food on the menu and also beers and wines. I highly recommend but I would always book at table.

Gorgeous pub lunch ,great service, and delicious food .A great bonus for me. They have a gluten-free menu ,so I'm so happy .

Not been for years was excellent and fantastic beers

Really enjoyed our meal here first visit will be coming back, the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Been to Stanley umpteen times over the years but after going yesterday we don't think we'll be going again. Meal was nice but sat with our coats on as it was cold inside. The people next to us were also cold and we exchanged our views on it. They used to have the lovely fires glowing on cold damp days which added to the ambience of a country pub. Warm and welcoming. There was no atmosphere at all. I asked a young waitress why there were no fires on a cold wet day. Her answer was basically that they (the staff) decide whether to put them on or not because it gets too warm for them !!!! especially when there's a full pub. Isn't it for the paying customers to enter a country pub and sit at or near a table with a glowing fire on a cold damp day and remove their coat to enjoy their meal? Not sit there wrapped up in their coats because the staff get too warm whilst they're working. Seems it depends on what the staff want.

Sat with coats on as fires were not on. I asked why and was told from a young waitress that it gets too warm for the staff whilst working!!! Incredible!!! Surely it is the paying customers who should be able to sit in comfort without their coats on to enjoy a meal. Never again.

As always, excellent service, food and staff. Can't recommend highly enough. Advise to book a table to avoid disappointment

Great place to eat, very friendly staff and food is superb. Always seems busy so book ahead

Really great tasty pub food, reasonably priced. Good friendly service. We just walked in on a Friday lunchtime and were lucky to get a table. Would advise booking especially for larger group.

Lovely pub with delicious homemade food. Will definitely return. Thank you

Home cooked but overcooked potatoes and vegetables, mint sauce like water and liitle meat, thin and tasteless. I ordered lamb but it could have been beef for all I could taste. My friend had lamb and was thicker cut and bigger portion. They may well have given me beef by mistake Gravey tastelass. People say british food is bland and tasteless, it is if served like this. Waitress didn't appear interested. So didn't pursue. Should have gone to somewhere cheaper as it couldn't have been worse

Extremely pleased with this lovely old traditional pub. 3 of us turned up for lunch, not having booked, and despite being v busy, it was no trouble to get a table and get served v promptly. Lots of choice on reasonably priced menu, we all had something different and were all very happy with our meals. Well done Team Stanley!

Busy pub for food, booking recommended and usually essential at weekend. Good range of real ales, gins etc. Gluten free menu.

Good food and reasonable prices

Great little pub with good pub food classics

Lovely place,been going for years,staff Very friendly, and home made food is delicious! Would highly recommend

Great roast dinner in the stanley.been going here for years now never had a bad scran .

First time visiting this establishment, I was very impressed with everything about it from food to staff. Highly recommend the Stanley arms to anyone who wanted a lovely meal and chat.xx

Nice and friendly staff with excellent cask beer

Excellent food for the price, excellent service,will go again.

One of the waitresses is VERY rude no manners at all. Shouting at customers all over the beer garden and very sarcastic

Thank you Taylor and all the staff for a great late lunch for mums 80th birthday x Great food and excellent service - cocktails great too