S.P.Q.R

Service is abysmal. I worked in a hotel for years...if I did half of what the waiting staff did, I'd have been fired a long time ago. Rude, unhelpful couldn't care less attitudes...need some serious customer service training.
Food was lovely and fresh, ok price wise.
Was there previously for breakfast, which was excellent, service was way better....extremely hit and miss...take away the compulsory service fee and staff would be a whole lot friendlier.
don't think I'll back, which is a shame because the food was good....not worth the hassle though, the service would just annoy you all d

Service abysmal, asked to move table even though place was empty.
Menu unwieldy.
Crockery chipped.
Ravioli overcooked with boiling tasteless thin sauce with small (al dente) bits of courgette in & about 2 square inches of artichoke in. Offered pepper from huge grinder but had to ask for parmesan which the dish needed as it was very bland.
Didn't bother with coffee. Asked for bill & saw it included 12.5% service charge. I was sure I had seen 10% on menu but couldn't be bothered to query it. On leaving, looked at menu outside &, sure enough, it said 10%.
How to improve....close!

We had a very unpleasant experience at this restaurant when we dropped in for a late lunch. There was no service at our table for 15 mins, and when we asked to order, the waiter was extremely rude. In fact he repeatedly cut us off when we started ordering by demanding we hurry because 'we have other customers to serve' - although there were only 3 tables in view occupied when I looked around. Next he walked away to talk to another staff while we were mid-speech in our order. When we protested, his response? 'Yeah, that's ok, we got other customers'. Needless to say, we walked out then.

This weekend, friends were in London who wanted to see the Changing of the Guard at Horse Guards Parade at 11am. We arrived with 20 mins to spare & thought we would have a coffee while we waited.

SPQR is opposite with a smart & festively decorated interior and wonderful Italian cakes. Unfortunately the attractive surroundings and products on offer were in total contrast to the service we received.

On arrival & before we sat down I asked the older blonde woman in the restaurant if it was OK for us to order & then leave the restaurant to see the change of the guards & then return to finish afterwards.

We would be gone only 5 to 10 mins & as the restaurant was totally empty, apart from the three of us & another 2 customers, I thought this would be OK. Indeed the woman said this was fine, so we sat down & ordered 3 coffees & 2 cakes for £24.

We paid immediately & when the time came to leave, I said to the woman we would be back shortly. She looked annoyed so I clarified with her asking, “Is this not OK?” Her surly reply was, "This is not a coffee shop, darling, you can't just walk in and out."

I said we had asked if we could do this before we even sat down, but she didn’t seem to care. The rudeness and attitude of this woman was quite shocking. It seemed that once she had our money she couldn’t care less about what she had said before.

The exchange was very unfriendly & was a very disappointing experience, particularly as we had paid £24 for coffees we could not even finish. Of course if the restaurant was busy I would never expect a table to be held, but including us there were a total of five customers!

She told me she was the manager and owner, but I have no idea if this is true. It would seem her view is that the restaurant makes money from passing tourists, so she can do what she likes & doesn’t have to worry about repeat business.

Based on my experience today I would not recommend taking your business there.