Bitterly disappointed. We booked a table on Saturday for 4pm. When we arrived we were told we could sit where we wanted. We sat down. We got told to move because that table was booked for a party. We moved (nobody sat there at all for the next two hours). A salt cellar smashed on the floor and my husband mentioned it repeatedly (kids were running about all over in socks.) No one came to clean it up so he had to try and push it out of the way to avoid children getting hurt. We hadn't wanted to sit so close to the little playpark which the kids love as obviously keeping them sitting down is a challenge and it was very busy - you are not sat two metres away from the next person, even if the tables are two metres apart. We also did not get asked to track and trace. Very few people were supervising their children in the play area which while not the fault of the restaurant is something to be aware of. We had ordered our drinks at the first table and they didn't come despite my husband asking repeatedly so we asked again at 4.30 and ordered our meal at the same time. At 4.45 a waiter wandered past, caught sight of my furious face and asked me if I was ok. I said I'd been waiting for my drinks for 45 minutes and his response was "that's bad". That was it. Eventually the drinks came. Food was after 5pm. When you've got two small children obviously this isn't great. The food was lovely however and we enjoyed it. At 5.20 I tried to go to the loo (too busy) and asked a waiter for the bill and a pizza box for our leftover food. I watched the waiter walk about outside for the next twenty minutes before I gave up and walked inside. I had to queue - not socially distanced - to settle my bill for over fifteen minutes. The lady in front of me had to tell the manager what they had had because he didn't have a record. There was a further 4 or 5 people behind me in the queue. When I got to the front I said politely how unhappy I was and that two hours for one course of food and one drink (we were never offered another and every time I tried to catch the attention of the waiter I was ignored). He said they were new and would be better by next week. As an afterthought he said sorry. He then added up the cost of our bill by hand and when I got home I realised we were overcharged by around £7 or £8. I left, angry, disappointed and carrying our leftover pizza wrapped in napkins. I appreciate they'd had difficulties that day - something to do with the gas being switched off and the police attending, but the service was absolutely terrible, COVID rules were not followed and two hours for one course is terrible. We were so disappointed as this was always one of our favourite places to eat and a really horrible experience for our first meal out in however long. At least the food was nice. We are unlikely to return anytime soon.
Caesars Den Restaurant and Bar – South Shields