Judge Roy Beans

This place is big. Alot bigger than I was expecting. If you love TGI’s you will love this place. I don’t unfortunately so it was a no from me. Menu ranges from burgers, wings etc. so great for groups and parties or if you just fancy a quick bite to eat.
Lots of christening parties going on and outfits that would give «My Big Fat Gipsy Wedding» a run for it’s money. My jeans and flats definitely weren’t cutting it that day.
Beer was brewed locally which is a trend I am happy to see getting bigger. They went down well so would go back to visit for drinks.

Will not be returning. Arrived at 6pm on Saturday, asked for a table for 2 left waiting for a good ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minutes while it was discussed if they had a table or not. Terrible front of house service. Got a table and the waitress was overbearing from the get go –constantly checking if we were okay and generally annoying. Tables seating too near to each, felt like I was eating with the family of 4 next to us. Sent one meal back as it was the wrong order and should of sent the second back. Terrible quality of food. Odd aspect of being able to pay cash at the table but pay by card at the bar — where we had to wait another 10 minutes to try and pay. Terrible quality of staff, when paying we were asked if everything was alright, responded with not really and the staff member said nothing, didn’t attempt to find out what was unsatisfactory — obviously not bothered about customer feedback. Do not know what all the fuss about this establishment is, won’t catch me in there again. (in order to post I had to rate it 1 star, in reality I’d give it no stars)

The food was delicious. Beef tip pasta was good but very peppery. Buffalo chicken burger was good but I would eat it with mayo instead of the sauce it comes with. The ribs were very tender. My only complaint was it took too long. But it was sat night. The servers were very friendly.

It’s Friday. I’ve had enough of canteen sandwiches so, lightheaded with excitement, I went to JRBs for lunch. Had been before a couple of times so knew exactly what to expect. It was quiet and service was efficient and friendly. Fairly extensive something-​for-​everybody menu with a whole separate menu for sandwiches. Steak, ribs, burgers, fish and chips, fajitas, quesadillas, ½ chicken. Etc etc etc. Not normally a good sign. A few things done well usually trumps a lot of things done poorly. However, I ordered ribs with Jack Daniels sauce and whilst the eponymous Jack probably wouldn’t recognise it as such, it was nonetheless more than adequate for a solo lunch experience, the meat literally falling off the bones and the accompanying sizeable portion of chips and ‘slaw providing excellent compliments. On previous occasions, I have tried several different dishes and have had little complaint. It’s not fine dining so I’m judging it accordingly. It’s a pub that serves food, it’s not an ‘occasion’ place at all but, for what it does, it’s hard to really fault it. The premises are vast and I expect the joint ‘leps’ on a busy Friday or Saturday night. And the pint of ‘ken was just what the doctor ordered.

When you and your companion are discussing how long one should wait for the bill after requesting it, before legally being allowed to saunter out the door without paying, it’s not a good sign. Neither is the fact that we both had to studiously avoid the crunchy part of the Crunchy Chicken Salad as we didn’t know what it was and it looked and tasted like something deep fried, unhealthy and unappetising. And the Guinness was a bit off.
The waiters were friendly, the place was warm (a good thing considering the ice out there at the moment), and it was pretty busy. But there was something missing. Judge Roy Beans tries to be everything to everyone and ends up being the one who has a load of acquaintances but no real buddies. You’d go there but you’d have no reason to be faithful as it lacks the ambience of a cosy local pub and the efficiency and individual attention that comes with dining in a restaurant or café.
The other time I came here was for the band they were featuring (King Modo). It was packed and the music was great. All types and age groups enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere. And we discovered that they served Havana Club, which isn’t stocked in every pub, so that was a definite plus.
It was free into the club upstairs before 12.30am. It would have been rude not to… The venue was spacious and the good tunes inspired us all to dance. A lot.
I definitely wouldn’t rush back here for the food or Guinness but I’d love to fill the dance floor with my friends and bop the night away between long gulps of Havana Club and Coke.