I used to love the George - in my opinion, it was the best pub in town and had great and not too expensive vegetarian (with vegan and gluten-free options) meals.

When I came back to Brighton after travelling in April, I notice the place was close for refurbishment. As it re-opened, I decided to visit the place with friends to celebrate my birthday - the celebration took place yesterday.

I was first disappointed because I couldn't make a reservation but decided that since it was a Saturday, it was understandable. When we got in (around 8.00 pm), the place was full and looked really nice - the (now 'Prince') George needed some work done and it looks great. However, the kitchen closed at 8.30 instead of 9.00 because they ran out of food (?!), which my friends and I were told after some of us had ordered and others were waiting. We weren't allowed to bring food in from elsewhere (although this meant that some of us would not eat as the others got their meals) which was annoying. Since I had told friends to meet at the George, we couldn't really leave anyway, in case others showed up.

The menu has changed a little but still offers typical pub meals (burgers, chips, chili, pasta, kebabs, sandwiches, etc.). They changed some of the beers on tap, still sell Guinness (not vegetarian), and I didn't feel like the staff knew whether the other beers were vegetarian or not.

I might go back to see whether they got their act back together, but wouldn't invite lots of friends for a celebration anymore.

Oh, and one last thing: while refurbishing the pub, the owners didn't change their toilets much (painted, but that's it) and therefore they remain inaccessible for disabled people - it would have been nice for them to take their needs into account.

For the second time in 2 weeks we were told that the George had no Soya Milk! On the first occasion I remarked to the person serving us (who apparently was the assistant manager) that it was odd that a veggie vegan pub didn't have soya milk. Her response was that they were not obliged to stock soya milk and the last time they bought a carton they threw half of it away. We left and took our custom to Ideas, where we had pleasant service, delicious vegan cake and soya milk for our tea! The second time there were 5 vegans wanting tea. One of our party went and bought a carton of Soya milk, the George declined to pay for it and charged us the full price for the tea. Where does the George get off treating people like this? Not only is it rude, but it is also bad business practice.

Most of the food is very carbohydrate heavy. Burgers, Falafel, Burritos, chips. No vegetable side dishes available. Which is odd as vegetarians like vegetables. If your looking for something to soak up the beer then this is for you. If your looking for a proper meal Brighton has better on offer.
Updated from previous review on Monday February 10, 2014