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There are currently no specials on offer.
love everything about the place.
with the exception that the only times the bouncer's downstairs have ever let me in is when i'm with my mother or a girl. and i certainly cannot be with another guy or i will hear "there's a guest list tonight" (yet there's no list to be seen anywhere), or apparently my leather jacket and boots are "too casual"
if i'm lucky enough to make it up the stairs, yeah, waiting for a drink will take at least 10 minutes.
infuriating.
2/5
louise - 02/10/08
Dont even bother, bad attitudes all around - i was just trying to book a venue for our work Xmas party - didn't even get past the first phone call!!!
0/5
Henry - 09/07/08
Shayne is a butt hole. Serious attitude problem and then tries to say the hard working, friendly staff at Cookie have problems. i've been going to cookie since it firsted opened and have never come across a problem with the food, drinks and absolutly nothing wrong with the staff that i would come here to bitch and whine like a total wanker, the way people like Shayne. Cassie, Sarah etc. you all need to wake up from the last hit of whatever cheap drugs you injected directly into your neck you smack head douche bags. cookie and toff rock the tits you losers.
Ps i have never had a better steak in my life so blow it out your fat ass Sarah, you obviously need a root. and 'Jannet's' an old hag. A.L is a pin dick and needs a smack in the face.
5/5
Shayne - 22/06/08
Quoteing Rachelle - 11/12/06:
"My fun memories came from the company I kept, not from Cookie. The 3rd visit showed me there's a pattern with the behavioural problems there. No amount of good food and drinks (beer hall) are enough to compensate for the lack of staff professionalism. It makes me wonder if this attitude is encouraged/accepted by management"
Spot on.
0/5
Shayne - 22/06/08
Well... Where to begin. Please note my first post in 2005 (second from the bottom of this page). I went to Cookie/Toff in Town on Wednesday night to see a band and have a few drinks with friends, the band was great! However the young girl on the door was not in the right line of work. I work in hospitality myself and was amazed by the way she conducted herself. We had to wait for her to get organised when we arrived which caused us to miss a lot of the support act which was ok i guess because at least we got in eventually. Then i was at a table with friends and decided to buy a $60 bottle of wine which was on display at the bar. When i asked one of the young guys at the bar if i could please have that bottle of wine he told me to go to the bar next door. After some discussion and asking to speak with his manager he finally went and got the wine for me. I also just realised the girl on the front door over charged me $10 for the cds i purchased there. And as we were leaving i said to her "not impressed with the service tonight" and she replied "why are you so agro!". The staff in 2005 were so much better, where have they all gone?
0/5
cassie - 07/05/08
Go there for the food only - i like the food. but no matter whether you're seated for dinner or perched at the bar, you'll be waiting too long for service and when it comes it won't be gracious.
2/5
Sarah - 23/04/08
What the hell is with that wine list?
I've never had to skim over so many pages of crap to find what i'm looking for! Impressive selection, yes, but is it really necessary to have 75 pages? (yes i counted!)
And i'm totally in agreement with the staff comments, excluding the boys in the cocktail bar, That man with the spikes really knows his stuff, but the rest of the staff are just atrocious! i stood and waited for a good 5 minutes, while the young brunette bartender chatted away with her friend over the bar, only to have her walk past me and serve a man down the other end of the bar who had only just walked in.
Very un professional, young and too cool for school.
I remember going to cookie a few years back, and the bartenders all had their own style and flair, gone are the days of the flamboyant neckties with their aprons.
Young girls with their boobs out wearing singlets is who you'll be served by.
I'd rather go to a tabaret.
1/5
Frankie Sanchez - 26/12/07
I decided to give cookie one last go and see for myself and see if the bad press it has gotten of late was all real...once i got the doors, I actually got turned by the very dodgey looking security as it was "full"....hahahahahahhahah...yeah right...i actually think it was because i look like your standard Melbourne bar going gen-x'er, and not the lawyer in training suits he let in after me.
0/5
Grace - 20/12/07
Went to this early one friday night, was insulted by the bouncers, said my ID was faked because my sister and I have weird names. Showed my uni ID then they let me in.
The Second time I visit I am with a group of girls same issue again, we finally make it up to cookie to be snubbed by the bar staff for 20 minutes!!! I order a water to spite them. I do believe when bar staff are so bad you order a water to get at them the place should be closed down for ebing to Sydney like.
0/5
Louise - 29/11/07
I used to really like cookie and ate there a few times but I won't be going back anymore. I rang to book a table for 16 and the loser who answered was so incredibly rude to me. Conversation went like this:
Me: "I was wondering if I could book a table for 16 this Sat night"
Him: "NO"
Me: "Ah, OK..."
Him: "We're full" and then he hung up. Give it a miss people - the staff are stuck up and have no idea about customer service!
1/5
Miss Mia - 15/11/07
I actually went upstairs around 8pm on a Saturday night after the races (the lifts weren't working). It was really nice upstairs, the vibes good but there was no music?! Downstairs sucks a bit, bar staff take ages to serve.
3/5
Paul - 12/11/07
I agree with the last couple of reviews, managment is getting by on a 2 year old reputation.. too many other places with better service and vibe.
1/5
kiera - 19/10/07
I have to say as a visitor to Melbourne but also someone who has lived here many years before,I have never been so rudely treated by staff in my entire life!! I stood at the bar for almost 10 minutes waving my money while the staff did everything possible to ignore me. There were NO other people at the bar waiting and it was obvious that I was being snubbed! The little female barperson with the ponytail and piercings even walked up in front of me and started cleaning FRUIT while avoiding eye contact. I said 'hello?' and she ignored me and turned her back. Another woman next to me even asked me what I had done? I said "I don't know, we have only had one round of drinks?" .. after being treated so rude my whole work group left and went to the Lounge across the road where we were treated with RESPECT as PAYING CUSTOMERS - something the staff at Cookie need to learn! Horrible bar, keep away unless you want to get treated like crap by pierced emo students with bad attitudes.
0/5
Julie - 08/10/07
This bar has got to be one of Melbourne's most 'un-Melbourne-like' bars. The staff are rude, arrogant, do not acknowledge or value their customers and the atmosphere is dismal. I wouldn't recommend you go there, even if it was the last bar in Melbourne - you'd have a much better time at your own place and you sure would get more alcohol! They serve under the standard amount of wine per glass, so beware!! And if you ask the staff for more wine, they consider it to be 'wasteful'. I sincerely hope the owner puts his staff through some serious bar-tending and customer service training if he/she wants the bar to survive. Terrible place!
0/5
Steve Jovanoski - 06/10/07
It took us nearly two hours for the staff to find us a table booked two days in advance. I had to ask for the same drink 3 times as the waiter forgot 3 times. They mixed up our food. Forgot to tell us the table is ready and the stake I ordered tasted like cardboard. Do yourself and go on the rooftop...if it's a nice day that is.
1/5
jody - 04/10/07
The attitude of the staff is unbeleivable - guys, it's a city bar with cheap food, very little room, bad ventilation, randoms suits wannabes and blow-ins and the more pedestrian elements of the after-work crowd. Get over yourselves. After scoping it out for a quiet mid-week drink, I'm taking my bookings elsewhere. Shame, the food looked interesting. Staff totally ruined it.
1/5
Jannet - 10/07/07
Fair enough. But lets just say the old (05-06)staff successfully earned Cookie the rep of the place to go if you wanted to be served by the rudest 'drink pourers' in Melbs. It will take Cookie a long time to recover from this. Can you imaging what it has cost them to employ those people!
2/5
Kristy - 09/07/07
All i can guess is that the staff have turned over in the past few months, as i've been frequenting this place lately and the bar staff are great- obviously some more than others.
Give it another go... not only that but the door guys are awesome, now as you al know, great door staff in melbourne is VERY rare.
5/5
jenna - 08/07/07
what is with everyone saying that the bar staff are wankers! i think they are fantastic! friendly and make the best cocktails i have ever had. i suggest a long island ice-tea, or if ur served by the cute new zealand guy ask for a fancy glass of water :p he even makes vodka lemonade and lime taste amazing
4/5
A.L - 29/04/07
The bar staff need to get over themselves!!
2/5
Raymond j - 29/04/07
Loser staff and a very dull crowd. Meanwhile....what's with the doylies on the tables??
1/5
barman - 20/04/07
Great food but yeah, what's with the surly (one in particular) staff??!! Lose the attitude please!
2/5
Antonia - 31/03/07
The Wank-Factor of the staff far outweighs all the good things going for Cookie. Great looking venue but the food is average and the staff act like they're doing you the most massive favour when you ask them to do their job.. ie. pour you a drink.
1/5
Jason - 14/12/06
Great atmosphere
4/5
Rachelle - 11/12/06
The food's good, which explains the 1 point I gave - but there's plenty other (Thai/Italian) restaurants that can provide the same quality dishes (to whom I will give more than 1 point). A lot of those restaurants are also better and/or cheaper.
Staff at the restaurant, especially the one that checked our booking, was extremely rude! We were 10mins EARLY and instead of politely asking as to wait for our table, she brushed us off and told us to leave and come back AT 8pm. She didnt even suggest for us to go to the bar. We looked behind her and there were heaps of tables vacant! And when I mentioned it, she literally just told us to step away! When we came back, 8 minutes later, we were given those very empty tables! So obviously, I saw no point to her earlier disgusting attitude!??!! No matter how busy, they should have still been courteous! If it wasnt too much hassle to organise meeting other friends elsewhere, I wouldnt have let them spend our money there.
Sure, some people talked about being there before, I was one of them. First and 2nd visits, I wasnt ecstatic with my experience, but I was more accepting of the staff/food. My fun memories came from the company I kept, not from Cookie. The 3rd visit showed me there's a pattern with the behavioural problems there. No amount of good food and drinks (beer hall) are enough to compensate for the lack of staff professionalism. It makes me wonder if this attitude is encouraged/accepted by management, since a lot of people seem to have a problem with it, as can be seen from the reviews I've read here and in other forums. If the staff cannot handle the pressure of the big crowd and not treat customers right, the management is at fault for letting it happen. We as customers are also at fault if we continue to patronise them. In Melbourne we are SO LUCKY to have a HUGE selection of places we could go to instead. Go there once for experience if you have to, but dont settle for their mediocre service and bah-humbug attitude.
1/5
Mark - 09/12/06
The Balcony on the south side of the bar area could possibly be the best seat in a bar in Melbourne.
The rest of the place is still good, the only downside is the speed of service and arrogant doorstaff who treat the place like a "singles bar" of the 1980s, trying ever so desperately to preserve a precious 50-50 ratio.
3/5
John - 04/10/06
Bad service, Too packed, Loud Music... guess it's one of those places that is be there to be seen.
0/5
Joel - 02/10/06
Still have to give it a 3, but could not agree more with Emily. The staff are doing a good job of bringing this bar undone. A real shame as it really is a fantastic venue. If you get bad service, take your money elsewhere. There are so many other fantastic bars in Melbourne.
3/5
Emily - 02/10/06
Used to be so good! Now the extremely rude staff make you feel as though you are a terrible person for going and spending your money there.... The bouncer is on a terrible power trip, the bar staff act as though you should worship them for pouring a beer and the bussies yell at the people lining up for the toilet about how the toilets look...usually people need to have used it before messing it up...
The cocktails are not that fantastic, they are nice, but not as good as at other bars in Melbourne. Basically, Cookie appears to believe it's own hype, such a shame when it has so much potential.
0/5
DaTruth - 24/09/06
The bar looks good, small balconies are nice, the range of beers are good, and staff know what they are doing, but it really falls flat in atmosphere due to a very dull crowd. It is primarily after workers, so the suit and tie crowd tend to dominate. Which sadly demotes this nice bar to nothing more than a place to have one or two before you catch the train home from Melbourne Central.
Furthermore the quality of the food on offer over the bar is very questionable; I ordered the calamari which came highly recommended, it was oily, rubberly, limp, and not really eatable.
You would be better off seeking out one of the many other quality bars located in this part of the city.
1/5
Greg - 04/09/06
Awesome Beerlist ! Over 200 to choose from and Chimay on tap
WELL DONE !!
5/5
Nomes - 25/08/06
Only been to Cookie a few times...The staff were professional and friendly... Nice place for a few drinks, but wouldn't go there for a big/great night out.
Music was alternative and more "chill out" kind of style when I went there, personally not my favourite. Generally kind of older/alternative crowd, again personally not my kind of scene.
However will go back there for a few quiet ones every now and then!
Overall OK!
3/5
Artz - 18/08/06
Just to add some balance to the glowing reviews below (do you guys work for cookie?)
This was one of Melbournes great secrets a few years ago....
It drew a fantastic crowd with a great vibe...
BUT NOW, it is nothing more than the most mainstream of bars.
The crowd that made it what it is has moved on, and the place feels very souless.
Sadly, this place has officially jumped the shark in a big way.
1/5
Dorian West - 16/08/06
Cookie is a great bar, maybe one of the best, in Melbourne. It caters to all age groups, the people that frequent it are friendly, even though most of them seem to be affluent professionals, that is to say, the group whom you expect to be the most snobbish. The beer is 10% cheaper than that un-nameable colossus of a hell-hole that blights Melbourne's landscape. Don't eat there much, but the food seems of good quality, although pricy.
Very importantly, it's not too loud, so you can talk to somebody at least.
5/5
Roddy - 16/08/06
I have been a regular at Cookie for a few months now. I've never had problems with food orders being slow, but I eat there infrequently anyway. I think you punters need to understand that Cookie is different to other pubs and bars. I go expecting slow bar service...I just stand and chat to others waiting or look at the decorations. No rush; try to relax. If you want to get drunk, just order one of the heavy 10% alcohol beers. Problem solved. It also has no plasma screens...woohoo!
5/5
Alice - 21/07/06
Most friday & saturday nights it's too crowded. The seats are uncomfortable, like a cheap coffee shop. Basically it's unrelaxing and noisy and it takes too long to get served at the bar. Diverse crowd, but not the most interesting or exciting.
2/5
Jackie - 29/06/06
the beers are too expensive and people need tro realise that Czech Republic is the owner of the original budweiser Budweiser - american budweiser is a copy and is crap
1/5
Cesco - 25/05/06
Hiccc!....Best bar in Melbourne!
5/5
Kymm - 14/03/06
Although this place has an interesting and extensive Thai menu, the wait staff were rude, our main meals came at four different times and one of our party did not recieve his meal until he complained and then did not get it until we had all finished ours. I will never go back!!
1/5
Jade - 08/10/05
Went there for lunch - meals served 1.5 hours apart and the guest of honour didn't even get hers! Might be a good place to drink, but it's a crap place to go for meals.
0/5
Shayne - 18/08/05
Cookie is the best bar in Melbourne. The staff are really on the ball and know their beers! (Unlike at 'Transport'). I highly recommend checking this bar out. Try as many beers from all over the world as you can. The place to go any given night. Cheers to all the staff at Cookie!
5/5
Laura - 11/07/05
My favourite Melbourne bar! Has one of the best cocktail lists in the city, and all the ingredients are fresh - so I'd recommend a daiquiri ;) Open late most nights and I believe they do a good selection of Thai food earlier on - but I've never made it out early enough to test this out! Awesome atmosphere great bar staff, fantastic quiet night out xx
5/5
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