This evening, Saturday 28/1/2012 my husband, grandson and myself went for dinner at Speights Ale House Invercargill and I have to say I we will never go back again ever.
We arrived at 10 past 8 and ordered our mains, these arrived perhaps 35 minutes later and we all enjoyed these, Husband had steak, child had kids burger meal and I had pasta. All 3 mains were scrumptious. We ordered vegetable side and this was cold and was told there was no potatoes as asked for (serving potatoes with roast but hmmm a minor quip) Vegetables were all but raw.
So far everything was pretty well ok and the veggies a minor complaint.
We all finished our meal and waited for the waitress to return, after 45 minutes my grandson saw the waitress who had served us sitting at the bar so went downstairs and asked her for some desert menus, Waitress then said she would be there in a moment, 10 minutes later waitress came up the stairs placed 3 desert menus on the table addressed my grandson only with the specials (he is 9) and left us to decide on desert.
25 minutes passed and we then seen waitress put her coat on and leave the restaurant. We approached another waitress who then told us she would take our order and she did so, after waiting till 5 to 11 for our desert even though we had a new waitress still no desert we decided to leave. We also spoke to another couple at a table beside us who had incurred the same fate as us and were also giving up in disgust.
I must admit the young guy who was on duty as manager did come out to talk to us as we waited a further 9 minutes to pay for the food we ate. He had the deserts put in take away packages and took these off the bill.
The duty manager also took our names and number as he has promised a voucher but going by the service, or should I say NO service we will not hold our breath waiting for that.
If anyone out there wants good service when they go out to dine I would suggest you do not go to Speights Ale House in Invercargill.
Since writing this review I must admit the manager has now been in contact and has sent us a $100 meal voucher. We will eat there again and present the voucher after the meal and will report back on service.
I thank speights ale house for at least trying to compensate for the service and the manager who has not been there long looks to improve things greatly.
Thanks Speight’s Ale House.!! Thumbs up for the after care.

We were the first diners of the day, late-morning on Sunday 9th October 2011. A luke warm welcome, didn’t listen to where our seating preference was and when asked again we were taken upstairs after having to ask for a high chair for my 23month old. Taken upstairs, where the windows looking out on to the street had been covered over. What a shame to be in a empty dark area with not one bit of ambience. We were given an unsafe looking high chair, with what turned out to be the incorrect tray. When we ask for assistance the server finished something else she was doing and eventually at our suggestion brought over the correct tray. No sorry or help with the chair at all. We were asked if we wanted drinks (prior to even getting seated), and when I asked if there was a barrista working, I was told with a sneer and much attitude that “I caaan make coffees”. Expression, tone, body language and what she said was an example of how not to do it. Awful customer service!! I declined the coffee, I didn’t want to take the chance – it wasn’t going to be made with love! Our orders were eventually taken. What appeared to be the duty manager came upstairs and walked by without a glance or a hello (in an empty area apart from our table), it wasn’t like you could miss us. She poked a finger and made some baby-talk with my 23month old as she went back past. Having eaten many times at the Dunedin Alehouse, the Invercargill version is quite frankly poor! The server ruined my brunch out with my parents with her attitude and I’ve actually taken the time to join this website so I can write this review.

WE ate here on Sat 30 July…Were seated upstairs, very comfortable. Service was OK Meals that we had were excellent. I had seafood chowder would have to be the best I have ever had served in a loaf, then charity meal which was a venison dish. It was top quality.Others had Fish in batter and all enjoyed. We made it through to a dessert which was really good so all in all WE WILL GO BACK

First time here by invitation with 12 others. Busy and noisy , Friday night rugby time at a Pub as I would expect. From what I could see all meals were ‘excellent’ in proportions ( substantial ) and presentation and from mine and most others brilliant in taste. We didn’t go for deserts as quite frankly , very full..I will certainly go again . Most definitely very impressed .

My wife and I had a 6pm booking. Our first visit to the Ale House. Well looked after by staff. We had a lunch-sized blue cod and a ‘shared dessert’ which featured many of the dessert items. The fish was excellent in taste and in quantity and was great value. The dessert was average in all respects. Quite a noisy place to eat, but that is part of the Ale House experience.

I had a lovely lunch there last week. My friend and I were looked after by a lovely smiling, polite and friendly waitress/bar person, the food was promptly delivered to the table, hot and tasty. Good value for money and would definately go back. Well done.

I thought this place was absolutely fantastic when it first started down here, i have tried just about everything on the menu. Anytime there has been something wrong with my meal (not often) it was always sorted asap. I tend to not go there now simply because of the way the waitresses gas bag around the espresso machine while you wait to be served.

Well I’ve been back 2 more times , had the Southern country Hog again , very good again (thats consistancy ) and to night 9-8-2010 I had the Rump steak , more good news they modified the meal for me , I substuted the potatoes with chip and substitued the salad with a medely of vegitable …. top marks. It took 30 minute to get the order onto my table but it was worth it , the medium\ well steak was mostly just as ordered.
Monday 2-8-2010 night and the Southern country Hog was so good , I want to go back and try the steak.
My server was Daniel , she was informative…as per script , plus help full about customizing the meal and polite.
Wednesday 4-Aug-2010 the place 2/3 full , lots of chatter ,music was just in the back ground..OK
Arrived and seated by 6:30 ,4min for my coke order to arrive…OK
I went for the….Southern Giant T (not for the faint-hearted) $32.90 , 450g T-bone steak cooked to your liking served with eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, fried onions, hash browns and fries. The hash brown just sound to much so I dropped those of the order.
Ask for Medium well and mostly it was the thick bits still just medium.
It was not that massive a smaller meal the the Pork I had on Monday night.
But on the whole OK.
It’s hard to find a perfect steak , top quality meat with a known trail back to the farm is not a KIWI thing yet.

very good dining fun atmosphere

Was very impressed with Mason, who went out of his way to ensure we were looked after, food was enjoyable but felt their selection was lacking. Not a fan of the style but understand that is a brand design, think they are good at what they do – pub food.

The Worst in Town food and service what can i say dined here twice giving it a second chance but failed again where to start hair in my bread talk about away to put you off and would definitely suggest staying away from the pasta who thought you could ever have to much cheese but that was all i could taste it was over whelming made me feel sick even tho i didn’t eat it all and the young girl who served us was bored out of her mind well looked like it even when she was chewing her gum talking to us gross.
you need a wake up speights ale house

Went here with friends 2 weeks ago on a Sunday lunch time. The waitress (who was very hung over)took forever to come and take our orders and when she finally did she was looking into space while trying to write down our orders! One meal was completely under cooked, chips were cold, and we waited forever for drinks too. In the time we were there we saw other diners come and go long before us and still we waited…We did complain! will we go bak? NO

Was really loud. Eat there last night and both me and my partner have upset tummys 2day, the waiters were no good. Would problery not eat there again

Loudest place ive had to eat amoungst, found it very difficulty to talk to company and found the staff to vary a bit, some were smiling and some were just there because they had to be.

Slow service in an atmosphere which seemed to push over drinking. I ordered a pasta meal which was massive, and under cooked. Meals were underserviced, and drinks over serviced to the point it got annoying when a staff member approached our table. Another ILT travesty i guess.

what else can i say except..Absolutely superb!!! Me and my partner go out for tea quite frequently and after being around all the restaurants in town we couldn’t help but rate Speights the best!
Good menu, great food and lovely service! A+++

I think eating here depends on which staff are working & how busy the night is. I have eaten here quite a few times & have had a burnt meal, a good meal, average meals, sometimes slow & sometimes on time.

If I really want a nice meal out I would give it a miss because never know what you are going to get here but if you are going out for drinks & want to grab a feed in the middle of town then Speights is good enough.

Have been to this venue on a number of occasions and feel the biggest problem is its inconsistency. Fantastic venue in its had a huge amount of money spent on the venue however is struggling to gain a consistency in its product and service. The beer is O.K
You need to be able to nail a steak. Southland can produce the best food in the world that can be produced at home on the BBQ to a quality personal experience.
The premium challenge for any restaurant is to beat the home experience in Southland. At home the beer costs a dollar per stubby. On several occasions at this restaurant they have failed to do this.
Staff in generation X need to believe that if the food is not that much different than at home. They need to be the difference. A pleasant experience is not going to cut the musted consistently. They need to be champions every time they arrive at work. Outstanding is needed. Here they are not consistently delivering.
They should have visited the Lone Star in Queenstown at my last visit they would understand. The staff made the difference.
The meal could have been duplicated however not the service.

GREAT FOOD. only ever been to one other place that can cook the steak exactly the way i want it well done. service was good apart from the attitude from one of the waitresses. very good place

Lovely food although a bit slow coming out to the tables, nice friendly staff and great atmosphere