Dollar Grills & Martinis

We went to Dollar Grills after planning a trip to the area and a friend had seen it on online and like the look of the place. We walked past Caravan on the way and were amazed at how packed it was. Being a rainy day we were keen to get inside and hoped our restaurant wasn't similarly packed. No need to worry, it wasn't. In fact, we were literally the only people there. We soon discovered why...

We came inside and waited. And waited,. Eventually someone came out from the back and showed us to our seats. We asked the waiter if we could order cocktails and he audibly sighed before leaving to get us a cocktails menu. Then we ordered some drinks. Then we sat and waited. And waited. We looked around hoping to order our food as the drinks were taking so long. We debated leaving. Then some more people came in. Out from the back comes a waitress. She ignores ourhopeful glances and seats the new people, before taking their order and disappearing out the back again. We make plans to leave but we spy our waiter out the back carefully wrapping napkins around our drinks and fiddling with garnishes. So we stay and he brings our drinks. When he plonks them down and goes to leave I say 'We're ready to order now', and he literally says 'Yeah I know' and walks off. He comes back not long after but by then we're almost finding it funny. We order the food and my friend asks what's in the burger. 'They're all beef' he sneers at us. Um... except for you know, the chicken and vegetarian burgers. Or the sliders. But hey, we don't know what to expect because obviously we've never been here before and won't be coming back again.

The food - really nice. Sliders were interesting and tasty. Burgers were thick juicy and fresh (though they come with onions which didn't appear to be on the menu). Chips were a bit average but hardly neccessary after being filled up by burger. The drinks, when they arrived were also tasty though we were never offered replacements or recommended which ones we might like. The value was also okay. I think it worked out about £30 for a meal plus a cocktail. Not fantastic but not breaking the bank either.

It was just a massively disappointing experience from a service experience. There are loads of cool restaurants in London and you don't have to put up with being treated like second-class citizens. The toilets were also annoying being both male / female, dark and dingy, and having mirrors positioned at crotch height (not really how you want to be looking at yourself). I'm not sure what the target- market was here but judging by how we were treated, it wasn't us. And by the looks of the completely empty restaurant on a Saturday afternoon - it's probably not you either.