This pub has an impressive four-year waiting list for its Sunday roasts.
The Bank Tavern in the Bristol city centre has had to stop taking new bookings to clear the backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has grown in popularity for its Sunday lunches as landlord Sam Gregory says "we’ve created a massive rod for our back" because of its popularity, BristolLive reports.
Sam says he's had to switch off the pub's online reservation system for now to honour all the tables that were booked since the start of Covid and throughout the various lockdowns and restrictions.
He says he's only now seating tables that were booked in January 2020 as the pub has always had a long waiting list.
Sam says: “It had got to a four-year waiting list until the pandemic but because we had a huge backlog of bookings for people who couldn’t eat here due to Covid or lockdowns, we made the decision to honour every booking.
“We’ve actually closed off the booking system so you can’t book online and if we get any cancellations, we are simply back-filling with people in the diary from two years ago. We are up to January 2020 now so it’s going to take a while to get through all the bookings.
"A lot of the tables of two have been easy to rebook but it’s the larger tables of eight or ten which are taking a bit harder to fit in.”
Sam says to speed up the rebookings, the pub now runs an extra fourth sitting on Sundays, from 5pm to 7pm.
He says that the pub does still suffer from the occasional "no show" even after sending reminder emails and phone calls.
Sam recommends people still check out the pub on Sundays in case a table is available last minute.
He said: "We always say to people if you are in town, stick your head around the door because sometimes tables come up if we get no-shows. It’s always worth checking just in case.”
Sam says it is "consistency" that has led to the continued success of the pub's Sunday roasts as well as the attention to detail.
He added: "We stick to the same meats all year round but add seasonal alternatives like lamb and venison, but our starters and desserts change every week.
"A lot of places doing Sunday roasts only release bookings for three-month slots and if we knew we were going to be this popular, we would have done that but it’s a nice problem to have!”
