I have to say when it's done right table service is fine and mercifully avoids the bar blockers and other low life, however it does require sufficient on the ball staff (at extra cost) and adequate signage or beer menus.
When it was the norm' in saloon or lounge bars of course there were bell pushes to summon a waiter/ess, as we can still see in many old pubs, but I guess taking your own bell nowadays would be regarded as the action of a "dick" in spite of the shortcomings of the staff.
Most of my pub visits so far have been to pubs where I am familiar with the beers that are likely to be available. Partly this is because the pubs have anticipated low demand and stuck to a core range of beers, and partly because a lot of the best pubs around here are owned or part-owned by breweries: Neepsend (Wellington, Blake Hotel), Kelham Island (Fat Cat), Loxley (Raven Inn), Stancill (Closed Shop), Tapped (Sheffield Tap), Chantry (Cutlers Arms), Abbeydale (Rising Sun) - so I know what they've got and I know what I like (or don't like). Once the likes of Shakespeare's and Crow Inn emerge from hibernation I'm going to want to get a glimpse of the pump clips again.
Come On You Hatters!
People may like table service but it's slow and rubbish and IMHO will equate to a round less while visiting for a few hours. So additional costs to implement table service means you are losing money as a landlord and passing costs on to the customer who are actually keeping your business alive.
At current times we will order next round when 1/3rd of a pint generally remaining. Not a great experience in my eyes and certainly nothing to bother going out of my way for a new visit or even a revisit if this is how a visit to a pub becomes. Boris just needs to say pubs can become pubs again and not a minefield of online bookings, QR codes or apps to get a drink and I can just order it by standing at the bar.
Some table service works reasonably well in the right pub, in others it's poor but I don't like any off it, It's the restriction of freedom of movement thats the real pain and as for pubs that require pre-booking, well I haven't done it or intend to. Hopefully these requirements will all cease over the next couple of months.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
Work is the curse of the drinking Class - Oscar Wilde
It looks attractive, certainly from the outside and would probably make for a good triple-header with The Pembury Tavern.
Flight Club has push button service, but that's where the old 'norm' comes to an abrupt end.
I think that's the idea come the 21st - hopefully masks too.