I'd never heard of the Harvester chain before until I came across a review on DooYoo. Then nearby, a pub that was originally Brewer's Fayre closed down, and was later re-opened as a Harvester Pub & Grill meaning I could now try a Harvester Pub.

Harvester Pub & Grill restaurants are a family run chain and they have over 160 outlets in the UK. They bought a large number of Brewer's Fayres and Beefeaters, which explains why the nearby Brewer's Fayre suddenly re-opened as a Harvester pub.

They run an offer called the 'Earlybird meals' which offers some meals for £4.99 until 6.30pm, 7 days a week. A good bargain considering the prices of meals in other places! They also do some early bird meals for £5.99 and a selection of starts for £2.50. The £4.99 meals consists of:
- The original spitroast chicken
- Simply Chicken
- Gammon Steak
- Fish, Chips & Peas
- Simply Pasta
- The Harvester Burger
- Chicken Burger
- Garlic Chicken

The £5.99 meals have:
- The Original Combo
- Chicken N' Mash
- Bacon Burger
- Scampi & Chips
- Simply Pasta with a Cajun Blackened Chicken Breast
- BBQ Chicken & Bacon

I have tried the gammon steak and harvester burger. The portions are always a good side and usually come with chips or potato's and peas. There is of course the full price menu which has a large selection of other meals to choose from such as steak, salmon, mixed grills and a rack of ribs. There is a good choice of meals to choose from. There is also a children's menu, I've never needed to view this, but this is a great place for families.
When I go to my local Harvester pub I always go for the earlybird offer, the usual prices of the meals are between £8-£10 so you effectively pay double after 6.30pm.

Harvester Pub's are quite famous for their Salad Cart. You order a meal, any meal, at your Harvester pub and you recieve unlimited salad from the salad cart. The salad is actually really good too, I wasn't expecting much. It always has the usuals of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onions, beetroot, carrot but also has pasta and potato salad and various toppings such as croutons and a good selection of salad dressings. They always have baskets of bread rolls, both white and brown, and the rolls are always nice. You collect a bowl or plate from the cart, and you can eat as much salad as you like. You don't pay any extra for this, even when eating off the Earlybird menu.

The service is usually good, I've found on weekend's it's extremely busy and you can wait for half an hour for a table. On a week night we get sat straight away. The staff are usually young, probably students but they're always efficient bringing you your drinks and meals. You get shown to your seat very quickly.

The decor is pleasant, has a nice pub feel to it. Our local Harvester has a nice fire burning, and behind the bar are some huge barrels and it gives it a nice and comfortable atmosphere. The toilets were average, but clean which is obviously the most important thing. They have a seating area outside, not for eating, but nice to sit outside in the summer ('summer' being a rare term for the UK!)

Overall the Harvester is good quality for money, the food is good typical pub food and you can have unlimited salad from a tasty salad cart. The Earlybird menu is great value, something I'm sure everyone needs in this current economic climate!