The Swan in Guildford - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Food was lovely and amazing service. Asked after the kitchen staff to give my thanks. Thanks to Tony for a lovely meal.

First time I have ever been to the swan and I was very impressed by the service. One member of staff stood out more than anyone and that would be Chloe. She made sure all of our needs were met and just went above and beyond, Happy smiley girl will definitely be coming back

Came in for brunch on Saturday, Dan and Mike made sure we were well and helped us with all our orders. Thanks to Reece on the bar as well. See you next time!

Had a fantastic dining experience at the swan. Irron cooked all our food to perfection. We’ll definitely be back again.

Excellent food & service. Cooked by Irron Really glad we chose here for dinner. The staff created a great experience and the food was so good we had to get desert. Will have to make this our new local.

Read great reviews and was not disappointed! Had the most amazing roast dinner today at the wonderful swan, thank you to the kitchen team Josh Tony and Rowan 👍

Great place to stop off before or after a canal walk. Very friendly staff, perfect location and nice garden area 😊

Had an excellent meal at the Swan today. The beef was cooked perfectly and so moist. I asked who made it and was told by Emily who was also a great server that it was Tony and Josh in the kitchen. The service and quality were great and I cannot wait to return. Highly recommend the Swan.

Beautiful pub,staff very friendly, but food a big disappointment.

This was my 2nd time to the Swan, and I wasn't disappointed either times. The food, service, and atmosphere were perfect. I highly recommend the Swan, but because if it's popularity, you will need to book a table.

A lovely canal side pub with excellent food and ale.

We’re new to the area but been here a few times and always seems to be very nice and has a lovely garden going onto the canal.

A lovely evening meal in pleasant surroundings. They did forget our puddings but they came after a reminder and were delicious.

Booked a 2pm lunch with friends. No table was even ready for us. We were an afterthought. Spent ages queuing at bar to order NO TABLE SERVICE. Kids (I mean 18 to 20 year olds) running the bar and front of house (... one of them told me most of the staff were sent home...) this was stupid as the pub could not even cope with our pre booked table. Queued to order some meals. Half the stuff not available. Not one special meal. Queued again and something else not available. 40+ mins to food (which was at least hot). Ordered deserts but 45 mins later I had to tell them not to bother ss we couldn't hang about all day getting more and more frustrated. They took over 100 quid from us for the worst service I have ever had. All 4 of us agreed the place was a shambles and we would never go back. Not even an apology. Shockingly poor service and a total shambles of a business. Also major safety issue... one of our group is strictly gluten free. There was no attempt to provide the gluten free menu despite asking. It should have been on a tablet... was pretty shocked about this too. Avoid this place if you want service...

Appalling service. Staff are friendly, food is fairly decent. On our first visit we waited and hour for our food. Today the main came out reasonably quickly, but the puddings took over 30 minutes and the coffee was served wrong. Two of the four drinks were incorrect. These were supposedly changed, but came back and one guest had asked three times for a decaf latte as they are unable to drink caffeine and were served caffeine and are now in bed with a migraine. Please avoid this shambolic service at all costs.

Everything is average except the price. Very overpriced.

Very charming pub, variety of drafts, plus the place looks clean and appealing. Food is good.

Love this spot for a casual drink with friemds, Amalie is an extremely attentive waitress and knows my ordet immidately! Lovd this spot and will recomeend to all !!!

Excellent staff food atmosphere and ale. I attend regularly and have done so for some 27 years and will continue to do so.

Great place lovely staff and fantastic service from amalie. Would definitely visit again as it's a picturesque setting

Popped in the Swan for a couple of drinks and dinner on a Thursday evening. Really amazing atmosphere with superbly attentive staff in Amalie and Madison who could not do enough to make the evening as enjoyable as possible. The burger was also off the scale in terms of taste and presentation. Definitely coming back again!

So... I've been here a few times before and the food has been serviceable. Not great, but fine... just good enough. However, we went on a Sunday, for a change, to try the Sunday roast. The main courses took a looooong time to come. Not blaming the staff for this, as I'm guessing they were under-resourced and stretched. When the food arrived... not good.... not good at all. Wife had the Mushroom Wellington... which looked like the cheapest, lowest quality, frozen garbage (and apparently didn't taste great). Both our meals had very unappetising looking carrots and broccoli that we both attempted to eat and quickly gave up. Both our roast potatoes felt... weird. Can't describe, but something wasn't right in flavour and texture (probably cooked from frozen?). My Yorkshire pud also looked odd and didn't feel fully cooked. I had the aged rib of beef... which was SO fatty (the waitress had mentioned it might be a bit fatty, so I was warned... I guess they've had complaints about this before). Onto dessert... maybe that'll save the day? Nope! Wife fancied the crumble, but then was told not available. So, we both went for the chocolate fondant. This comes with ice cream inside... again, it had a weird taste and texture. Seemed like it had thawed and then been re-frozen. Waitress asked afterwards how everything was... I just paused and said "fine". Didn't want to give her a hard time about it, as the crappy experience was largely out of her control. But it was not good and we probably won't be going back.

Great service, friendly people and good beer!

Good breakfast yesterday but please bring sauces and cutlery before our meal so it isn't going cold whilst we wait another five minutes. Dog friendly. Drinks prices on the high side (esp soft drinks) but we enjoyed the garden and canalside views.

Staff are always friendly and very helpful.

Fantastic location next to the canal and great service.

Great place along the canal to have a drink and good food.

Good food, nice atmosphere. OK service

Very nice place, our usual go to when the sun is out! Parking can be a little tricky, but lovely place overall!!

Food was Very good but service was a bit slow.

I guess it's not a bad mark against the pub but messed up the visit for me anyway although staff were very welcoming of my dog whilst I was correcting him another guest tried to tell me I was wrong in the way I train him and it just pit a downer on what was supposed to be a peaceful relaxing catch up and conversation with a friend. Might go back but the argument ruind everything for me on that occasion. Edit: dear swan team I had left service unawncerd as my friend went to do all the orders ect not me but changed to 4 * as I think it's slightly underhand to ask someone to remove their comment simply because you dissagree. I gave 5 * for the food as the food was the best part but ultimately not why I was their. My mum ran pubs and pub restaurants and we would not have tolarrated this and would have suggested they move to another part of the pub or leave as we had been there for some time before they arrived and started. I asked several times for the person to mind their own buisness and they continued. It's at that point we would have stepped in. The 1* was for the atmosphere as like I stated before it Spoiled the visit and instead of talking about the things we were ment to the conversation was over as I clearly couldn't say anything without the person taking some objection so was very awkward after this and I couldn't wait to leave. I probably would have changed this if I came back but I won't be back now after the comment as I really don't think my review was unfair as it was how my experience with the place was sorry you feel it's unfair.

Lovely canalside pub. Food served in reasonable time and very tasty. Good selection of beers. Nice beer garden with sheltered area if it rains

Went here for lunch. Ordered the soup of the day which sadly wasn't hot like warm The main was a toasted sandwich with chips much warmer. A big sized garden to sit in during the hot summer days

Great place. Open wide space kids can play.

We spent a very pleasant few hours at the Swan, sitting out in the garden by the canal enjoying the sunshine and friendly atmosphere, served by welcoming attentive staff. Would more than happily visit again.

Very mediocre. This used to be my local until I moved away six years ago. The prices are now very high for what you get. There were five of us, two had the steak and two had the trio roast. The other person had ribs. The steak was average, the salad uninspiring and overall the food was lukewarm. The two roast dinners were very average and the vegetables scarce. Paid extra for a side of cauliflower cheese which disappeared in two mouthfuls. Not worth £170 (inc two drinks each). A real shame as this used to be a fabulous pub.

Popped in today for a light dinner and a couple of drinks. Due to the sun being out on a bank holiday Saturday it was really buzzing with a great atmosphere. The staff were amazingly welcoming and friendly with a special mention to Saffron who was attentive, friendly and really helped make a super evening! I cannot recommend this pub enough!

We love coming here! Always great service and excellent food. We always feel relaxed and the team are attentive. Thanks guys for a lovely lunch

Meeting with a friend its ideal for a beer or two, Excellent cask beers an wine to taste, if you are hungry a good selection of meals is available. When the sun is out the garden is next to the canal with plenty of tables and staff are very helpful .

We have just relocated from abroad, and staying locally with our daughter. She suggested we go for Sunday Roast, so we booked a table for 17.30. We arrived early and waited 5 minutes to be seated. In fairness they were quite busy. We sat at our table and ordered our drinks and food together as we knew what we wanted. After quite a long wait the lovely waitress Chloe said there had been a mix up in the kitchen and we’d have to wait another 20mins for our food. Unhappily we said ok, by this time it was 18.50 when the food finally arrived. Ben the duty manager had come to apologise for the mess up in the kitchen. He was very polite and apologised again. We started to eat what can only be described as second rate meat. My wife’s pork had curled up where it had been reheated and my beef had two really large lumps of gristle. In fact the whole dinner was very bland. All in all I’d have to say I was totally appalled with the food. The service from the staff couldn’t be faulted.

A lovely mid week meal. Staff were very good.

I really like this place! Been several times and still very good. I have never had an issue with the staff or the food, always top class and in my price range, which is a rarity these days! I would, however, give a shout out to Chef and Brewer to look at their classics menu, I think it could do with an upgrade! Please bring back the chicken curry, though, that was a real favourite of mine. Well done, The Swan, you did a good job with my visit, and Josh and his team nailed it again. Thank you

we had a lovley evening for my grandmas birthday! the food was amazing and our server Janine was amazing her service was great! the wait for our mains was a little bit long but the lovley food was worth it.

I had a 3 course meal and every dish was so delicious. I would highly recommend this restaurant. The staff are all so lovely and welcoming.

Went for a date with my girlfriend and the Swan was lovely!!! The atmosphere is warm and inviting. We had a camembert sharer to start which was cooked to perfection followed by the lamb shank Shepard's pie and a steak both tasted amazing. Will definitely be returning soon. Thanks to all the friendly team especially Emily our waitress who looked after us with great banter.

I rarely go to a pub to eat, but although the service was good , at 5pm on Thursday , I was disappointed with my meal, the sirloin steak was rare when I asked for medium , the steak was pretty rough and the half tomato was burnt on the top and barely cooked., chips were ok although could have been hotter. I did not complain but I would not recommend this place to eat as the chefs cooking needed improvements. it is some years since I last visited the premises and even though I live within walking distance of the venue, I shall not be visiting it again in the near future.

Nice pub with a big garden. Good selection of beers, e.g Ruddles Best which you don't often see in Surrey 👏👍

Much better sitting outside in the sun beside the canal than inside.

It's ok if you can stand the dogs continually barking and yapping (inside the restaurant)the staff are oblivious to the noise and are frightened to say or do anything about it .This spoils it for everyone ,who come in for a quiet meal

Overall value for money for lunch. Lot of frozen food...don't pick the scampi but veg tart and fish cakes were delicious!

My wife and I unwisely chose a three meat dish and, apart from the turkey the meat was like shoe leather, impossible to cut or chew. This was by far the worst eating out experience ever. The helpful staff gave me a container to take it home to leave out for foxes. Hopefully they had very sharp teeth. I was foolish enough to accept an offer to only charge for one meal and paid £19.14. In fact the food was worthless and we should not have been charged at all.

Awesome pub, nice laidback atmosphere, good food and great portions. Excellent service. Well done, Ellen.

Went for a roast all the food was very nice and well cooked had trio of roast only thing that let it down was the roast potatoes I had 2 tiny pieces of broken potato.

Wasn’t very happy yesterday at the swan pub. I have never had a bad experience there, or bad food. But unfortunately we waited over an hour for our food with no warning upon ordering which was fine because we understood it was busy so had a drink and chose to let it go. Sadly when the food came there was no gravy, it was so thick and wasn’t even enough to cover just the pie, the vegetables were not cooked they were very tough, my partner had 2 roast potatoes which was smashed all under the meat. After waiting so long and being quite hungry from not eating all day we were very disappointed. The “manager” toke 1 meal off the bill which was nice but upon paying I tried to explain that we weren’t told about the wait and what was wrong with our food. He proceeded to tell me we were the “back end of the booking” and they were busy. Which I felt was an excuse but sadly isn’t an excuse in my book to have bad food when you’ve been waiting for so long. I told him it sounded more like he was trying to make excuses he got a little bit flustered and cleared the bill which was not what I was asking him to do, he then proceeded to look over me and look at my partner to talk. My partner doesn’t speak for me, I am very capable of talking for myself and don’t need a man to talk for me. I found this incredibly rude and down grading in the end I just felt it best to walk away. I have been in this pub lots of times and not had a bad experience ever, I’m not sure if the chef had changed, we’ve never experienced bad food until yesterday, but sadly after the experience yesterday we probably wouldn’t eat here again. Apart from that bad experience the atmosphere was great and the other customers were lovely. It’s just a shame about the customer service, food and the wait. It seemed the other customers were also growing fed up with the wait. Maybe in future you should make people aware of the wait before ordering as this just creates a snow ball.

Madison looked after us really well. We have excellent service and Madison was incredibly helpful. Just a couple things I wanted to highlight: 1) There was no vegan spread. 2) The soup of day, butternut squash and sweet potato, was very bland.

The food was cooked to perfection the waitress Madison done a fantastic job looking after all her customers not leaving any one out. Great asset to your team.

The Swan Pub exudes the quintessential English pub experience with its rustic charm and inviting atmosphere. From classic pub fare to an impressive selection of beverages, every aspect of this establishment radiates tradition and hospitality. With attentive service and cozy surroundings, The Swan Pub is the perfect spot to unwind and enjoy a taste of timeless charm. One standout feature of The Swan Pub is the exceptional service provided by their dedicated staff. Among them, Madison shines brightly, effortlessly enhancing the welcoming atmosphere with her warm demeanor and impeccable attention to detail. Whether recommending the perfect dish or ensuring every guest feels right at home, Madison's passion for hospitality truly elevates the pub experience at The Swan.

This is a beautiful, very clean traditional pub with an extensive menu, good service, and plenty of parking. Disability friendly as well.

Came here with my friend on her recommendation for a roast dinner. To begin with, the wrong order came out and the roast was sub-standard and that’s being kind. Very disappointing. But Chloe turned this experience from what was going to be a 1 star review to a 4 star. Her service was 5 star, she completely turned my experience around, she let the manager know of my disappointment and came back with an offer of free pudding which was incredible. Chloe is an asset to your business, superstar service.

A very nice meal with great service

Lovely pub, well arranged. Friendly, helpful staff. Unfortunately my seafood grill was over cooked so very dry. Other meals for our group were very nice which is why I didn't mark the food lower

Fantastic pub, travelled a distance to visit family. Pub catered for gluten free for me, thank you.

Lovely evening. The menu is limited in the evenings when they run out of stuff but that’s only complaint.

the worse roast i have had out on our long dog walks to be honest the pork was like leather roasties were anaemic considering its green king think your chef should take a trip.to oxford by the thames think its called the rose and chrown now thats a roast sorry to say

Good location, could do with a spring clean in the beer garden area.

i hate to be the type of person to leave a bad review but i just had to. for my 21st birthday i wanted to have a nice meal with my family, my mum kindly brought balloons for the table. when we were served the waiter didn’t even acknowledge it was anyone’s birthday, then when my brother was ordering his food, i made fun of my brother for being fussy, the waiter assumed this was directed at him and i then got a snarky response back. after when the food came out, my dad had to wait an extra 15 minutes for his food meaning we had already finished before he got his food (because he didn’t want our food to go cold) when he did get his food, there was no apology or acknowledgment that the rest of us had finished our meals. we then decided to get the bill, when we asked for the bill it was rudely and rather over dramatically smacked onto the table as the waiter walked past. then when my parents were paying, the waiter was rather loudly complaining about me and my family, quite rudely, and when the rest of my family walked round the corner and he realised we heard everything he quickly walked in the other direction. in the end we did get a little bit of money off the meal, but rather disappointed with the attitude of staff, especially on my birthday.

Good, clean, quick service. We found a table ordered via the phone app, food came fairly quick. Very tasty. Dog friendly.

Spent a lovely Sunday afternoon having a delicious lunch with our friends. All the staff were lovely.

We used to come to the swan regularly, but about 3years ago we stopped as it appeared to have gone downhill. We are so pleased to say that when we returned today for Sunday lunch it was great. The roast potatoes were crispy and full of flavour, the carrots and parsnips were so tasty, and the meat was perfect. We were served by ‘Paris’ who was extremely professional and friendly. We will definitely be returning.

Had a delightful family meal. Our server, Janine, was helpful and attentive.

First time at The Swan for breakfast. Food was very good and service was great. Good place to stop for something to eat before going in a Sunday morning walk over the ranges or along the canal.

Very poor service 😢 had to find someone to serve me, very overpriced. Poor value for money. Will not use again. Well nearly 2 weeks later a reply. I'm from the Midlands, just see what greene king reply with.

Fantastic pub , foods great , love the outside area on the canal , relaxing family experience

Excellent meal lovely atmosphere

We had a really good time at the swan on Christmas Day. The food was very good and the staff were extremely helpful and pleasant. It was a very good 3 course Christmas meal, the staff were very accommodating. Thank you

Likely I chose a bad day to attend. (27th Dec). Starter was good and quick but then a 45 minute wait for mains (surprising as it was an empty pub for the day, it was 2pm). Had to send medium rare steak back as it was decimated. Came back just as bad so gave up. Going to assume this was just the 'B Team' in the kitchen due to the day and maybe try again but I'd avoid their steaks for sure. Waitress was polite and apologetic, service overall was good but let down by the kitchen.

Never been to into a Chef & Brewer, living as I do in deepest kent, I was in the area with my friend to source a door for an Audi TT mark 2! I planned the journey to end up here based the good reviews on TripAdvisor! I have to say I was impressed by the friendly welcome and warm atmosphere within (it was a cold wintry night in December) the pub was well laid out with a big restaurant and open bar area with plenty of seating! The only sour point was the noisy woman by the door who in the hour or so we sat having our meal did not stop yapping at the top of her voice, her child was equally loathsome with an incessant questioning drawl! On the plus side great steaks with chips, good car park and in the summer it must be heaving! With a nice location on the canal!

Great service, good food particularly as 19 of us arrived for lunch, not having booked and the waitress sorted us out brilliantly. Lovely pub and great food. Will be going again.

Nice meal at reasonable price. Visited on a Monday so quite quiet. Good service.

Janine, Paris, and Josh were great. The food was lovely and the service was brilliant. Very attentive and friendly.

Cole, our waitress was very attentive.

I visited the Swan for lunch on 23 October. I asked to sit by the fire and the table was perfect next to a roaring fire. I had the sirloin steak and asked for it to be done medium rare. Whilst it was a little overcooked, it was tender and I was really happy with the food and service. I returned for dinner on 3 November and had the same meal. I asked for the steak to be done rare this time in case it was overcooked. It was murdered. My steak was fatty, chewy, sinewy, dry and I would say medium to well done. Really disappointing, consequently I left half of it. I love the Swan and I think the staff are great and provide a good service, but this is let down by the chef/kitchen/quality of produce. I think this needs to be addressed as steak is not cheap on the menu. Our food bill for two was approximately £70, not good enough for the price! It’s been a very long time since the Swan has provided consistently good food and service. I’ve been going there for over 10 years. I’m hopeful they will address the quality of food provided. Reading the reviews, I think the quality and cooking of steak needs to be addressed.

Had some minor issues with food, quickly resolved great atmosphere, like the old Swan is back

Dalton is always a pleasure to have looking after us when we visit the Swan!

Such a beautiful pub, a brilliant menu and delicious roasts! And they cater for gluten intolerances too. 10/10!

Amazing food, friendly atmosphere

Great local pub fantastic food and service depending on who working , staff like a moan but what staff don't, Big shout to the manager toby who seems to be trying to take a worn down local pub to new level . Good luck Toby hope it works

Great food and drinks in cosy surroundings

When I arrived it was very quiet. Was served quickly for my drink but when I went up with a colleague, their drink was out on my bill without asking. Food was easy to order and was nice and hot, however, the dessert was asked to come out with the main which it wasn't. A colleague joined us later but they didn't have great service, server ignored them and the others didn't stop to help or ask for somebody to serve them.

What a nice pub! Loved the garden, the four-legged friends, the atmosphere, the canal andcthe pub is beautifull inside. My food was absolutely delicious and I most deffinately become a regular.

I have avoided this place for ages after previous bad experiences there, despite it being my local. Today's visit, however, was lovely. Really fast and friendly service, and the food was delicious. I hope they keep up with this standard!

We were served by Georgina. First class service. Thank you

We had lucie as a waitress, she was very friendly, polite, helpful and smiley

Joe was a fantastic waiter. Funny, friendly and attentive. Made our evening enjoyable 😉

The service was slow and mistakes were made when writing down orders. A number of dishes had already sold out, this wasn’t made clear prior to ordering. When the food arrived it firstly took ages and not all our party got their food at the same time. One dish was a burger the burger was cremated and we managed to get a refund. Have visited a number of times before and always had good food and service. After last night don’t I don’t think we’ll go back.

Very nice pub right on the canal popular place to stop off on your boat or cycling food was great service good and friendly

Sadly bit disappointed, visited in May & was fantastic. Service bit slow & think staff maybe new not trained properly. Food came out and was like warm. Very slow between courses.

Went for a birthday meal there was 11 of us 4 of had the Sunday roast, the beef was tough as leather the potatoes were half cooked so we're vegetables. I complained and they replaced it with the same beef. So they changed the beef with roast pork which was also tough and tastlus so complained again. The only thing edible was the Yorkshire pudding. The total bill was £257 pounds the manager only knocked off 10 pounds of the bill. For your information we will not be eating there again.

First time there, went with friend who recommended it. Having experienced it, I'd have no hesitation recommending it too. Asked for a change with the desert I had & that was no problem for them. Will happily go back again.

Staff member Ben was very polite and apologetic when I pointed out my medium rare sirloin steak was in fact quite well done. When it was replaced the steak was medium. I didn't send it back again, but it was a poor piece of meat with frozen oven chips. Not a great experience.