Dig in the Ribs

Our group arrved at 1.30. At the time there were only 2 other people in the restaurant, also, spookily enough, there were only 2 staff. The restaurant filled out pretty quickly but the staffing level remained the same, needless to say there were a lot of unhappy customers, 4 of which left without even being served. One particular customer complained on 3 separate occasions.

The atmosphere, as you could appreciate, was pretty negative by now which was something I didn't want as I was trying to celebrate my birthday. However the staffing level increased and our starters arrived at 2.45, without an apology I may add.

The food, when it arrived was average at best, my sister had to return her "soft Burrito" because it was leathery, the mince filling had turned into dried black pellets and I could describe what the re-fried beans looked like but I don't want my review to be rejected.

We didn't leave a tip, in fact we should have made more of a complaint on the day but the staff didn't give the impression that they would accept criticism in any shape or form.

This place is truly awful and something should be done about it.
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Raf - View all reviews by this user
Monday, July 07, 2008

Four years ago Dig in the Ribs used to be top restaurant in Brighton! Friendly staff and wonderful food, really good service!!!

I don't know what happened then now it is sad staff, sad food, awful restaurant! It is a shame! Maybe is under new management!
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Monday, May 26, 2008

I also wish i seen these reviews before last night. 3 of us were out yesterday Monday and ended up in front of Digs in the Ribs. There was only 2 customers inside but it was a Monday so we thought, let's try it. The atmosphere was not very inviting but at the time we put it down to how quiet it was. We ordered 3 starters and 3 main courses and were really hungry by the time the food arrived. The sight of the starters was very unimpressive - like previous reviews say, a lot of side dry cucumber, olive and salad mix distracting attention from the below standard ready-made-packaged food. The corn on the cob wasn't grilled, it tasted like microwaved corn that had been boiled the day before; the guacamole tasted full of dry powder type mix with hardly any real avocado taste. I didn't have the potato 'scalps' but my boyfriend and my friend were not impressed. We thought the main course was what we really came for so gave it a chance but after the starting to eat the wings, the ribs and the burger it was clear that there is no chef in this place. Just as all the previous reviews say, everything was bland, some bits were cold and those ribs were certainly not grilled. All our plates were also decorated with the dry salad stuff from the starters and the chips were hard and over browned. Starting to feel disgusted by everything we decided to complain. The waitress seemed very used to it and cheerfully went to get the matron - i'm assuming it's the same one people mentioned above! She had such a bad attitude, i wish i had asked for her name. She started by saying we should have complained straight away "it doesn't work like that". When we pointed out the poor quality of the food they were selling us at such steep prices, she certified they had a real grill downstairs in the kitchen. Afterthoughts, i'm wondering why they send the manager when people complain, instead of sending the Chef. I'm really certain there is no chef now, it's just her microwaving stuff and charging £12 for reheated ribs and greasy half cold chicken wings. We ended up paying more than we could negotiate for, but we were so annoyed by the end we just wanted to leave! At least we warned the couple behind us as we left and wished them luck. This was by far the worse food experience i've had in my entire 12 years in Brighton. It's the kind of establishment that appears on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare, except this one really deserves being shut down rather then being rescued. Please do not go there, you will regret it.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Have been to this restaurant every year for near enough 4 years for my brothers birthday. The food is absolutely sablime, service is great, the atmosphere is buzzing as it has always been busy. Totally recommend it!
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Richard Packham
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

went there on our wedding anniversary there were only 3 other tables occupied and we noticed one of them complained about something and refused to pay. not a good omen. starters were ok - nothing to complain about, main course, we ordered fajitas the combo of chicken and beef, the waitress kept coming back asking if it was the chicken or the beef and I kept telling them it was the combo which was on thier menu, the staff kept looking at the order at the bar looking confused. we ordered some cocktails - mine was meant to be in a chocolate rimmed glass that came with no chocolate, husbands pudding came without the ice cream and they also forgot the shortbread or something that was the main ingredient, my pudding was ok portion sizes were small not enough sour cream etc for two fajita orders. husband asked if he could pay using maestro and they didn't understand, it took many times to tell them that it wasn't mastercard! they charged us 12% service charge too, we were too knackered to dispute it and just wanted to get out of there. we will never go there again.
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Tracie
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I would just like to point out that the previous owner of Dig In The Ribs, who put his heart and soul into the business, died in a plane crash in October 2005. The food, staff and atmosphere were award winning in their time, and prove that nothing produces results like passion and hard work. It is a shame to read about a place that used to value its customer's experience above all else. It holds good memories for me, and I will not ruin these by going back there now, when everything has changed.
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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I wish I had read all of the reviews before I visited this Saturday 27th October. We had booked a table for 14 for 8o'clock on the Saturday and as pointed out below we were asked for a £5 deposit up front in order to secure our booking - something every other restaurant in Brighton seems to be able to do without!

The 14 of us turned up, were taken to our table that was only laid for 12 and proceeded to order our drinks. Once the drinks had arrived, 20 mins later we were then told that we could not order food until we had paid for the drinks - discraceful - we had already paid the £70 deposit and now they wanted more money! We were informed that this was because a lot of people had walked out recently without paying for what they had ordered - Now I understand why!

Once we had ordered the food and waited an hour and a half for the main meals to arrive, they were cold, raw or completely the wrong order. When I went to speak to the manager about the same she did not want to know and quite simply kept walking away from me. Instead of taking the blame herself she also blamed the waiter for serving a table which was obviously too big for him to cope with - in no way was this his fault!

I was informed that they would take off all of the wrong orders from our bill which left us only paying for the drinks and starters. The most interesting part of it all though was the fact that three other tables also left without paying for their meals - I'm starting to see a pattern!

It was such a shame, many people had talked about how good Dig in the Ribs used to be. Now it seems that customers mean nothing to them and that all they seem to care about is money.
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Melanie Symes
Monday, October 29, 2007

I have to reiterate all the comments written below - I went to Dig in the Ribs a couple of years ago and had a great time. We went again last week and my god things had changed! We ordered drinks which took ages to arrive despite us being the only people in the restaurant (we should have realised then that things weren't going too well). We then ordered food, including fajitas and a chicken dish. The fajitas arrived with no sour cream, 'We've run out' was the reply when we asked about it. Noone had mentioned this on ordering our food, and surely for a place where the fajitas are surposedly their specialty, we could expect sour cream... Then another dish arrived, with none of the mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese or peppers mentioned on the menu. When we asked about this, we were told that we were wrong. The chef came from the kitchen to also tell us that we were wrong and this was the dish we had ordered. It was only when we showed him the menu that he conceded that he was wrong (what happened to the customer is always right?). It returned with the missing ingredients unceremoniously dumped on top. At this point we paid for our drinks only and walked out - the first time I have ever done that. We had a lovely meal at China Garden down the road!
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Cally Dean
Saturday, August 18, 2007

After reading these reviews I felt compelled to write. I booked my work friends for a team night out (14 of us)most of who had come down from London for the night. Having been to dig in the ribs a few years ago I remembered it as a buzzing atmosphere with great food and a great night for groups, it's amazing how much a restaurant can change.

Starters took 45 minutes to arrive (we were the only people in the entire restaurant!!) - 3 main meals arrived 15 minutes after everyone elses, the ranch chicken was tasteless and was so dry it was difficult to swallow, the barbeque sauce was basically flavoured tomato sauce. Chips were cold and sent back + I always thought fajitas were supposed to come out sizzling!!! basically food was bland and cold.

Staff were terrible, when we complained they disputed all our comments and said the best they could do would be to not charge us service + give us £15 off!!! Never go to this restaurant, you will definately come out disappointed. If you want to sample good mexican food, go to Los Amigos in Hove, fantasic food and service at great prices
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Mandy
Friday, August 10, 2007

We have been going to Dig in the Ribs for years, and have always had a great meal and great time. However, the place has been taken over and appears to be run my a matron who is bossy, messes up what the waitresses are doing and seems incompetent! We have been twice in the past 6 months and the food and service were awful on both occasions. We actually refused to pay for one dish, and that is the first time in my life I have ever done that! So, if you are thinking of going for a meal, do not go to the Dig in the Ribs! Its a real shame because the place used to be brilliant and I have many fond memories of eating there. I would not risk going there again.
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Peter Puttock
Thursday, August 09, 2007