Coal Grill & Bar

Being in town already me and my partner decided this would be somewhere new to get a lunch/​dinner out, it looked very averagely priced online and we were able to see the menu’s for this particular coal, and noticed the £7.55 all day lunch menu.
We arrived at 3:30 on the dot, got served immediately by a very clean and presentable bar staff gentleman who was very polite. this however is where the magic wore off.
Wanting to wash my hands i headed to the bathroom before ordering, there was a broken fixture slung on the floor, the door was hard to close due to the lino floor being un-​even however they were overall clean, if you ignored the half empty dirty cocktail glass sitting on the sinks…
It took ten minuets until i called over someone to take the order, she seemed in a hurry to server people for extra drinks before people who had been waiting to get their first round, but we persevered, she served us immediately rather than making us wait which made us feel even more like she was getting us out of the way.
I asked about the £7.55 lunch menu and she asked what that was, i mentioned i had seen it on the website, then said she’d have to ask her manager; even though the aforementioned menu was printed on an A2 board outside their door, however she did return with them; my partner did wonder if it was a ploy to get people in but not offer it, i’m inclined to agree.
We ordered straight away, i got the mac’n’cheese which was stated to have a mushroom sauce (this drew me to this restaurant in particular), the drinks arrived after afew minuets and were fizzy with ice in a clean glass. disappointingly while waiting for our mains to arrive i noticed that the kitchen staff; being in full view because of the open kitchen style were eating food (it did look asif they were chips however i wasn’t able to see all that well) and even got their phones out at one point to show a funny video, for a few minuets…
When the mains arrived, this time served by a third waitress they seemed okay, however the mac’n’cheese was lacking any sign of a mushroom colour let alone pieces or chunks, believing they may have ran out of used an infused olive oil i didn’t say anything, the girl that came to collect our plates leaned all over me to get to my partners board his meal was served on, she couldn’t pick it up to she made him do it instead, despite the painfully obvious fact he couldn’t because his wrist was in a cast she just looked impatient so he did it just to get rid of her; at this point we asked for the bill so we could make a speedy get away.
We waited ten minuets before a lady in a leopard print skirt with no sign of a uniform or a badge asked us if we were okay, when we said we were waiting for the bill she went and got it immediately. however the girl that lazily collected our plates came back when the bill was on the table and asked if we need a card machine, the other person for a want of a better word was sorting it, i wouldnt have said yes becuase it might have taken even longer and we did want to get out by this point.
When i asked the presumably high ranking staff member why the mac’n’cheese didn’t have a mushroom sauce she told me the first waitress had put me down the the side instead of the meal, which was apparently «the same size only has no mushroom chunks, and costs £3.33 less so i got a better deal»…
I noticed on the menu on the way in it said the tip was optional, i had made my decision not to leave one as we felt this was sub standard service and less than good food, when the oddly dressed waitress gave me the card machine it did not ask me to leave a gratuity, i assumed she had read from the expression on my face i was not going to leave one, however like teresa. k that has also left a review i was also charged the tip without being asked, which is a small amount at 10% however did seem awfully presumptuous.
Overall i will not be going back or recommending it however it is a shame because with some staff shake’ups it would be a nice place and i would try it again, just maybe not in swindon =[

This place is relatively new and is decked out really nice, I like the dark lighting which gives a good atmosphere. However, we visited one hot Saturday evening after booking a table online (which is a great idea) and the air con was either not on at all or up high because it was that hot in there is made my father ill, we were all sweating buckets within about 5 minutes. not a great start.
We ordered starters and main courses for 6 of us, we were given our starters and before we had chance to even start these, one of the servers bought over one of the main courses, to which I asked him to take it back to the kitchen after he had stood there for a minute with it in my dad’s face waiting for him to take it.
I had the breadboard with oil and vinegar to start. The bread was advertised as freshly baked, it was disgusting, it was so dense and hard like it had been sat out in the hot kitchen for god knows how long.
Our main courses were not much to be desired either. Another server bought food over but there was no room on the table to put any plates, I had fajitas which came with overly dry tortillas and not enough salsa/​sour cream etc to go in one let alone four wraps. I had to ask for a plate and a spoon for mine which due to the fact there was no room on the table was given to me to hold… anyone who eats fajitas will know you can’t make them up whilst having to hold your own plate. I eventually lost my patience and asked them to clear all the empty glasses to make some space.
Not once did anyone ask us how the food was. It’s not like it was that busy either.
Then came the bill. .be very AWARE of this because they added a gratuity to ours without our knowledge, at no point was this mentioned to us and nor did we read it on the menu. The ironic thing was that our server had seen us all putting money in the silver dish for the tip as well and still never said anything… very deceitful if you ask me as we ended up giving a tip of nearly £40!!!
Needless to say we won’t be back. Food was pants, cocktails were small, restaurant far too hot and cramped tables.