Pie And Ale Shut?

If its gone, its because we didn't use it enough

I quite liked the cold meat platters on a lunchtime, but was a once every 2 months sort of thing. Not had a pie in over a year, felt they went a little downhill towards the end. And of course the cider....

What Tek says. We felt it all got a bit well... Not even a proper ale on last we went.
Such a shame though
G x

As others have said this is a huge loss if it has gone for good as it was one of the very few truely individual places left in the town. If it has gone though it is because people for whatever reason weren't going there enough. From my point of view the last time I went was about a month ago, took the wife and the little one. Always thought it was very child friendly which is why we liked it in there. That said I think the quality of the pies had tailed off a bit from the high standards they set in the early days, also I was pretty disappointed that they had very few actual ales on at the time and alarmingly none of them were local which is enough to put me off - if I want to buy a pint of generic Burton-on-Trent sludge I can do that anywhere.

Ironic in the sense that they have spent years staring out the front towards a run down, vacant unit - now that unit is in the process of being fitted out for the new Cash Converters it looks like they have gone.
I think on the one hand we should all heed the warning - use your High Street or lose it, on the other hand local businesses should stick with what they do best, offering unwavering quality at all times - as soon as standards slip even a little bit then in our socially interconnected age word spreads like wild fire.

Agreed with all the comments above.

It would be a real shame if the pie and ale and for that matter chambers to disappear. The owners obviously put a lot of effort into the business initially because internally both the buildings look fantastic. I really do hopenew owners can be found for these pubs and turn them into profitable businesses.

Maybe we should start a campaign to try and get Chris Lewis to buy it as the lewis partnership does seem to have a fantastic abilty to improve business models and find gaps in the market.

Just heard today they have gone bump sad news.

Any one know where has a function room for a do??




Admin edit: Threads merged.

Gotta say they were very child friendly, thats why I liked the place. But as I've said many times, they stopped selling drinks I liked. As my primary reason to be there is to have a drink, I went elsewhere. I used to go every Friday after work and meet the GF, we haven't really bothered lately.

I've not eaten their pies for a while, but I noticed there were less people eating the last few times I went in.

So very sad to hear this, was always such a nice place to go. I hadn't been for a long time what with one diet or another and now I feel guilty.
Such a huge shame.

There is a theme developing here, lats few times I went it's been disappointing, and it was never that full of people eating (see Chambers too) - since that's where the money and the profits are to be made I'm not surprised it's gone under. It is a shame, and I hope it doesn't stay empty for long...

Would now be a good moment to point out that the pies in the Hand & Cleaver are really very good indeed and that it is clearly in need of custom? If we don't trek out there in Winter, I very much doubt it will survive until the Summer. Meat stuff. Veggie things. Amazing pastry, better than anything my mother ever cooked (although...in fairness...my mother was a terrible cook). It's going to be a gorgeous weekend - cycle out there and you won't even notice the calories.

Edit: in the interests of transparency, I do have some vested interest as we will be moving into Ranton at some point and I'm hoping that the pies are still there when we do!

I agree with Wormella there is a definate theme developing, it seems that my recent P&A experience has been shared by others, a tailing off of quality and service. A month or so ago when I was in there it had a general feel about it that it was going downhill, very quiet and this was at lunchtime.
Other places fall into the same trap unfortunately, they open with a huge fanfare and expectation and offer really great food/service and then over time corners are cut and standards drop, maybe only slightly but enough to be noticable. Chambers had the same problem as did Apres. New places that have recently opened like the Butler's Bell & the Post House need to really take notice - drop your standards at your peril. People are more savvy than ever with money these days & just won't put up with falling standards

As we all know, it works both ways. There's little point maintaining standards for the sake of custom that isn't there. Personally speaking, I was more than happy with the standards in the PandA House and would have been there last night, if it had still been available.

I will miss it, regularly.

Gramaisc:

Its a fair point but you could also argue if standards were kept tip top then would they have been struggling? In the early days of the place opening it was always very busy & had a vibrant atmosphere - when I've been in recently it was totally the reverse. There is a reason for this, if they had worked it out sooner then they may have been able to keep the customers who now clearly were put off from going.

I will miss it too, a lot.

I'll definately miss it, we still used it just not as often.

Standards are of course subjective - what is clear is that people voted with their feet for some reason or another

From my own experience the Pie I had a month ago tasted as if it had come out of a freezer and then been microwaved for a few minutes, like the type you might expect to get at a football match, the mash and peas both tasted processed. Added to this they had no local ale, only a few national brands that every other pub in the town sells.
Now this is at total odds to the experiences I had in there in the past. I loved the place which is why I went there but if I didn't enjoy the food and they didn't sell the beer I wanted to buy then why would I (or I expect others) go back? Answer is they probably wouldn't and worse still they would tell all their friends.

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:

Its a fair point but you could also argue if standards were kept tip top then would they have been struggling?

Click to expand...

I am in no way privy to any of the details, but I'm sure that it's possible to spend more 'raising standards' than the subsequent 'risen standards' then bring in as profit. It's just a matter of in/out money flow in the end. Perhaps 'we' just didn't want it as much as 'we' want McDonalds, etc..

Not surprised

I thin we can take The Butlers bell out of the discussion, it's a a spoons, it will do well - they can buy in such bulk quantities, and make such a profit on food and drink it will survive. I'm pretty sure if we ever suffer a nuclear apocalypse there will still be spoons opening the next day for breakfasts of disappointing bacon and microwaved toast to feed the cockroaches...

See also Bella Italia (on indeed KFC) - by rights any Italian (or fast food chicken place) that runs out of pizza (or chicken - as happened to us last weekend) shouldn't still be going but they are parts of massive corporate companies so they will keep going unless the market shifts. Pizza Express is in this bracket too (my last experience there was less then express).

As it is, any independent going concern needs to keep an eye on every spinning plate - Pie and ale's prices had risen £2 pound in a year or so, from a branded, recognized pie to a non branded pie - they weren't bad, but what seemed like excellent value for £5.95 didn't quite seem to be for £7.95, top that with sometimes cold rooms, and a general feeling there wasn't the same care and attention lavished as previously - if you make a big thing about having the owners around, and then they arn't, people notice. If you start posting regularly on a forum, or on twitter, or on Facebook in order to engage customers, and then you stop, people will notice. As a rule people have short memories, and the new, shiny thing will take their attention- or a cut back in finances e.g. why go to Pie & Ale and spend £7.95 each, when we can get 2 x pie minister pie for a £5 from Sainsbury's and some local ale and we won't even break a tenner...

I'm not saying I wont miss it, I went a lot when it first opened, and as time went on, mainly just the functions, or live music nights etc - and it's a shame town has lost a decent function venue, but my main hope is it doesn't stay empty for too long...