Arlos in West Berkshire

I haven’t drunk my coffee as I saw the assistant blown and wipe his nose and then pick up cups and saucers without washing or antibacterial hand gel use. Ugg 🙁

Just stopped to get some breakfast here and I would normally never think to write a bad review anywhere but myself and my boyfriend were absolutely shocked at how awful the service was at Arlo’s Pantry. Firstly.. When asking if I could swap my fried egg to scrambled (baring in mind all food is pre-made and kept on a hot plate as we saw into the kitchen) I was met with a hostile no, not possible to which I initially thought out loud ‘oh I might not get anything then’.. The lady behind the counter practically rolled her eyes at me and made me feel very awkward so I decided to just get the breakfast anyway. When the meals came the plate was oily and clearly the food had been sat around for a good few hours. We don’t expect anything special from a service station breakfast but it was flavourless and bland so we were very disappointed. Secondly.. Half way through eating, the table next to us had ordered eggs benedict and were brought eggs benedict with avocado to which they made the server aware that they didnt ask for. The same lady who had served me at the main counter then proceeded to come over to their table and bluntly tell them that they had ordered it with avocado. The couple clearly hadn’t and told the lady that they don’t even like avocado. The lady continued to push them basically insisting that they had ordered it and they can just eat it anyway to which the couple said no and wanted what they had ordered originally. This went back and forth and finally the lady said she’d swap it to which she again rolled her eyes and got the food taken back to the kitchen. The kitchen staff clearly weren’t happy as they huffed and puffed at the fact they had to make another plate of pre made food which took about 2 mins just to change over. Just absolutely appalling. Clearly they need to learn some customer service skills. Completely put me off Arlo’s ever again.

The server behind the counter was initially very friendly. We asked for two avocado on toast with a poached egg on top. We were told there were no poached eggs - they had run out as they were pre-prepared (!!! really? They only take a couple of minutes!) We opted for scrambled egg instead. We were served with a muffin sliced in two with a thin scraping of avocado, a slice of tomato and cold scrambled egg on top. At £6.99 this was terrible value. It might have cost all of £1 in ingredients. As we were waiting a customer came to exchange a cup as she had been served with a dirty one. We complained to the server who was basically not interested, the kitchen staff did not understand English and pointed to the manager who remained unapologetic. Simply dreadful.

There now. Basically they are shut.Now 8.20 in evening . We got here at 7.40. They had no beef and no chicken fillets. Now people are coming up, reading the menu, going to the counter to be told they are closed. What food we had was ok. Wouldn't come again.

Not a great experience today at Chievely Services. Upon arrival ALL tables were not cleared and dirty, had to clear one myself, chairs were dirty, floor was filthy under the tables. Ordered Gammon and Egg, egg was not cooked enough and plate was swimming with water and found a hair on the plate. Will definitely not be coming back here again.

To say we weren't expecting much from a service-station restaurant was an understatement but oh how we were proved wrong when we took a seat in Arlo's! From pleasant and helpful staff to huge plates of delicious food our whole experience here was amazing! We heartily recommend the Trio Chicken Feast which was outstanding, piping hot and promptly served. The value for money here was brilliant. We will be back.

Not a bad attempt at a cafe/diner in a services. Even offering things like eggs and avocado (although when we visited at 0830 they had no avocado!!). One big bit of feedback for the food and beverages manager; you can buy really great veggie sausages now, and not serve veggie sausages from the 90s with peas and potatoes in (your veg breakfast already has fried potatoes on it!). All in all. Ok.

As a group of 6 on a busy morning we had quick service, the food was quite good and with as we were staying in the nearby travel lodge we got 20% off which made it reasonably priced for what we had. One breakfast was missing but this was very quickly rectified.

Food ok. Premises filthy, food on floor, tables not cleared. Staff member looked bored stiff. Wished we'd not bothered.

Looking for a no frills lunch during our long drive home, we stopped by the services. It’s a Whetherspoon/Nando’s style eatery, where you order at the till and the food is brought to you when ready. Menu choices were safe old time favourites like hot dogs, fish & chips and nachos. The food arrived quickly, but my hot dog bun had been microwaved and was tough. Nachos came with salsa, guacamole and imitation sour cream, all tasted as if they were squirted out of a bottle. Service was ok, seemed rather disinterested and I can’t really blame them. Glad we stopped when we did to stave off hunger, just wished the food was a bit more edible.

After our first Arlo’s experience couple of years back we used to altered our journey travel to enjoy their breakfast. Good food with pleasant service. But sadly to say we are altering our journey again to get as far as we can get. How such a nice place could fallen so badly. Staff uninterested in their job and when before nothing seems to be problem not everything is a bother. Surely to say we will not bother you any more. Bye

Food expensive and average, we had breakfast. Didn't realise about the 20% discount for Travelodge guests, they said it was too late because they had already rung up my bill, disappointing!

I have used Arlos several times now and have always found their breakfasts to be excellent . Coupled with the friendliness of the staff this remains a very desirable place to call in en-route to the South coast

I stopped off at the Newbury services to grab breakfast on my way down to the South coast for a business meeting. I ordered the full English but it wasn't good, the mushrooms we're dried out and had a strange taste, the hash browns we're overcooked on the outside but undercooked inside and the egg was verging on raw on the top. Not a good meal whatsoever and to top it all the 2 make staff who were taking orders and making coffee were using the sort of language thatfoes not belong in a customer facing environment. One my next trip past the services I will sail by and find another site for a breakfast stop.

Fast efficient service. Breakfast menu was good. Nice to be able to eat with a knife & fork as the other breakfast options were all takeaway places i.e. Greggs, M&S Costa a.n.other. Would be happy to eat there again

It was a Monday evening and maybe that's why Arlo's was only moderately full. We each ordered a burger and they came in double quick time delivered by a friendly waiter who happily found the ketchup for us as well. The burgers were nicely cooked, not dry as cardboard, and really very good. I am sure they were nicer than at the well known chain next door and at a similar price. Portion of chips was sufficient and they were hot. Pleasantly surprised and, who knows, may even stop by again.

We stopped for breakfast on our way to Badminton and thought the food was very good. We had the Scrambled Eggs on Wholewheat Bread with mushrooms and vine tomatoes. It was very tasty and extremely good value for £5.49.

We have stopped there 3times over the past 3 weeks and each time we have one of their burgers and the kitchen service was very prompt and the burgers were first class ,clearly better and better value than the flame grilled Berger next door ,keep it up

Friendly prompt efficient attentive customer service, I think the waiter's name is Kuba, delicious cod with sweet potato chips and a good pot of tea

We stopped here in our journey to and from Oxford.

Shame this is the only establishment in the services to get a cooked breakfast. One particular staff members attitude is appalling, the refusal to swap type of eggs is ridiculous- would have been happy to pay the difference to get what i wanted but was advised “they only do what it says on the menu”. Eggs were over runny, tomatoes not cooked well and sausage not very nice. Most of it could have been forgiven if the plate itself didn’t appear to be covered in mould from its design. Overall disgusting and largely disappointed.

Off the ferry at Portsmouth, stop for breakfast.

Not the usual standard of road services I have come to expect in Britain. Only a short stop for coffee/tea and danish pastry / toasted teacake. Would have looked better had the coffee been reduced by 40p and the danish increased by a similar amount. The food quality was good and service pleasant.

To be fair the chips and peas were ok, but the fish was terrible. The batter was so crisp it just shattered into tiny pieces when you tried to cut into it and the fish inside was tiny and all dried up. It was inedible.

A swiftly served good value dinner. The server Harvey was pleasant and informative. The food of chicken tikka on skewers was tasty. Another dish was bbq chicken stack... equally excellent. The portions were a bit big. We could have been satisfied with just one portion we decided. The place is a good find!

So stayed at at the premier inn and showed my key to the man at the till in Arlos and got a discount the food is basic obviously most of it is ping food but it was hot and tasty.. I had the chilli...

Ordered 2 lots of Fish and Chips which came reasonably quickly and looked excellent but fish batter was about 1/2" thick, very crisp and oily. the fish was a thin grey brown leathery thing in the middle. could not cut some of it and had to pick it up and chew it.

We popped into the Motorway Service station at Reading for a hot drink to break up a long journey, and as an alternative to Costa etc decided to try Arlo’s.

I had a gammon and I'm not an egg lover so I asked to switch it and asked for mushrooms but I got some mushrooms and all the oil they were cooked in too in my plate it was swimming in oil I used so many napkins to mop it all up and to top it all the mushrooms didn't taste good

Ate here whilst at travelodge so get 20% discount. Fairly busy but did not have to wait long for food which was good. The tables however could do with wiping down between diners - mine looked like it had not had a wipe all day.

had a few hours here waiting to be picked up its reasonably clean, the meal was quick and for the services not expensive .had the fish which was lovely chips were ok it was what it says on the tin ,have had much worse would stop here again .

There was a long wait with only 2 serving. They were under pressure. One was friendly, the other pleasant enough. There was plenty of comfy seating which was a bonus. We did not have to wait long for our food. The bacon bap was yum. The child's bacon and egg was demolished. My vegetarian was served with bacon! But the fresh plate was lovely. The cups are so big you could fall in! The crockery is delightful.

we made a quick stop on a journey to Bristol. we saw Arlos and decided to eat there. We both ordered the chicken and bacon melt . they both arrived later , both were cold in side with not much melt happening !!

This is a street restaurant and - guess what - they offer pub food. Do not expect fine dining or you will be disappointed. Currently, visitors are either truckers or tourists, all looking for a fast dinner, and yes they serve in a very short time frame.

As we got 20% off here from staying in the nearby Travelodge, we thought we'd have some breakfast. Was served very quickly (almost too quickly but I guess as it's a service station, they have all the food ready to go), but it was very tasty fry up. Good cup of coffee to go with it as well

Very nice helpful lady. The 2 English breakfasts we ordered arrived as we sat down with our super sized cappuccinos. Have to say probably the best breakfast that we have had. Well cooked,well laid out on platter and well served. Well done!

As I checked into the adjacent Travelodge, the receptionist helpfully handed me a 20% discount voucher for Arlos "restaurant". Feeling in a somewhat unusually frugal frame of mind, I looked forward to a good honest meal at a bargain cost. Sadly, " restaurant" is not an accurate term for what I can only describe as a grubby services diner, with not only indescribably slow service, but from staff who clearly haven't experienced any form of wash this side of the millenium. Not just that, but they insisted on handing me a fork, holding it in their grubby fingers by the prongs. Where do these people crawl out from?? My "food" took around 40 minutes to come ( after 2 chases) and obtaining a drink - well, it would have been quicker to have driven into Newbury and back. Anyway....I could carry on, but the simple message is don't touch this place with a barge pole!

We visited this restaurant as we had no other option as we were staying at Travelodge opposite. We ordered two breakfast plus eggs benedict. The breakfasts were swimming in grease and the eggs Benedict were rock solid. Will not be using this restaurant again

This is a terrible tale of a turgid bacon butty. They couldn't have made less of an effort if they tried:

Stayed at Chieveley Travelodge and popped along to Arlo’s for a bite to eat. Plenty of choices of food, excellent portions and reasonably priced. Staff very polite and efficient and the food was served up in good time. Very impressed and would definitely recommend for others to try.

@ArlosKitchen great service at your chieveley services!

We use the travelodge here a lot for family visit to Newbury.

Stopped off at the Moto Chieveley services at the intersection of the M4 and A34, just north of Newbury with the kids for a quick evening whilst waiting for a friend.

Wasn’t expecting much as visited other moto based restaurants but this one was a little different. Smile when we arrived and the smiley theme kept on coming during our visit. Went for chicken dish and chilli dog I must say we loved it. They swapped nachos for chips with no fuss. Were offered hash brown instead of corn as not in stock but it was good swap. We will be coming back.

Had full English tinned mushrooms , cold fried egg, 2 slivers bacon , retfried hashborowns

For the 2nd time on road trips we've hit Arlo's for a chill & some sustenence. And again we've had some quality grub at a very reasonable price. Service has been fast, efficient and friendly and this time the curries [Indian & Thai] we had were spicy & filling.

We had dinner and breakfast here as staying in the doubletree hotel. Must say, it was fantastic. Food was incredibly tasty, excellent value, good sized portions and lots of choice. Excellent.

While travelling back from London via the M4 and A34, we stopped at Chieveley Services but wanted something quite substantial to eat. There were four of us and none of us had ever heard of Arlo's, but the menu sounded appetising and the prices reasonable so we decided to place an order. The staff were very friendly and helpful, while tables and the general environment were all kept clean. Having ordered, we were told that the meals would take about 10 minutes... but these were delivered in five, The food was piping hot and well presented on the plate. Having discovered Arlo's, we will certainly pay another visit when we make a repeat journey and are more than happy to recommend other people to do the same.

Decided on the American waffles with bacon. Was too sweet for me, the beans on toast were filling. 20% discount staying at the Travelodge.

Not to much that one can say about this place, the breakfast was pretty good but the staff seemed to be arguing with each other, and were quite surly with customers as well.

Stopped off at Chieveley services for late breakfasts. Have had better, have had worse. The cooked breakfasts are served on plates shaped like frying pans which was quite cute. Most of the food was fine but the sausages were awful - really cheap, pink sloppy mush. Thought it was overpriced for the quality but you can't fault them for speed.

Although relatively cheap for what you get, from ordering to sitting down I barely had any time to sit down before being served, I expect a fast turn around due to the location and type of venue but the food come to my table worryingly quick. Positive was the staff were friendly enough

Service with a smile Helpful staff as soon as we entered and told all about a 20 % discount if you held an AA card at all Moto services never knew this previously.

It's 9pm and you are greeted with a warm polite and professional welcome from a person who clearly was born with a "half full" glass ! It really was a pleasure.

I travel on business regularly and have grown to detest service station food. However, this is different, fresh cooked and tasty. Had lovely chilli bowl which at just over £5 was not expensive. Highly recommended.

Had a look in at the menus we had a discount from Travelodge.even with this it was quite expensive and the quality of food was poor and poorly presented.save money and go to Greggs nearby it's more filling and the open at 5am.

Stopped here today on our way back from a long trip from Spain. Fancying a good breakfast, the wife and I rolled up expecting the normal motorway services fare. We both went for the Arlos full English and we both our expectations were exceeded. Fantastic food and a real friendly service. Although we usually avoid stopping here as we have to come off the M4, in futureI'm going to make the detour...well worth it

Just got back home; we ate at Arlo's on Thursday morning the 7th of September. We arrived very tired after an overnight ferry crossing from Cherbourg but we were greeted with smiles and chat from Rares and Ella so even before we ordered we had had a good laugh.

Haven't been down this way in a while and was suitably impressed with this addition to this services. Cheerful people taking orders, lovely rustic but stylish tableware and most importantly tasty food.

Looking for a stop between London and Bristol go to Moto Chieveley.

Good food, excellent service and really nice plates Way better than the standard food at service stations. Food surprisingly quick to arrive considering it was very busy. Would definitely visit again.

Called in on the way to the nearby County Show. Had the full English. Quickly served, pipping hot. Unusually served in what can only be described as a China frying pan! Been here before, and definitely will again. Unusually for a motorway service station, the loos are good too.

Friendly service,great manu choices and really decent food and affordable prices.Thank you Rares and Ella you made my day . I will be back!!!!

Stopped at these services a number of times, this time decided to eat, the restaurant was busy but managed to find a table, told food would be 20 plus minutes, it arrived in 10, looking good and it tasted great, plus 20% off with my AA card, good news all round.

The only reason I didn't give just 1 is because the food was edible - but barely so. Stopped and had a small breakfast each - had to wait a bit a the girl behind the counter was pretty much singlehandedly doing everything. My sausage was hopelessly overcooked, the egg was ok, the potato rostis were probably from yesterday and cooked several times and the bacon was...err what bacon - tiniest slivers of bacon. Not the worst breakfast I've had but it's right up there. Also a wipe down of the counter every now and again would be helpful.

Called here whilst staying in the hotel on-site not particularly impressed with the food.probably wouldn't eat here again

We ate here because we were offered a discount - 20%. It was average although my husband enjoyed the cook breakfast. Speedy service.

Went together with my Son, both had chicken dishes which had been cooked a long time before we ordered our meal and was very dry and overcooked, chips were also suffering for having been kept warm.

Ordered the vegetarian burger it was tasty and full of flavour. The staff were also friendly and helpful, I will definitely be visiting again!

The service was slow and had to repeat my choice twice. The food looked pale and tasteless and all looked inedible. The sausages were still pink the egg was snotty and it was just warm. Would suggest to try and eat elsewhere or go to the next services.

This is in Chieveley Services and so was a logical place for us to stop on the A34 as we travelled to the south coast for our holiday over Whit Week.

Had a pleasant meal, had a the chicken three ways. Nice chicken wings, pleasant enough chicken breast.supposied chicken tikka which tasted nothing like chicken tikka. Decent portion of chips, and a corn on the cob. A decent enough meal. A bit pricey but get a discount if you are staying at the nearby Travelodge.

A few years ago (not that many to be honest), you knew where you stood with motorway service stations. It was part of the ‘fun’ of motorway travel that you were forced to break long journeys at these shabby looking, jumped-up car parks and spend ludicrous amounts of money on sub-standard, unappetising (sometimes barely edible) food and drink. A meal and a drink for a family of four would probably cost you more than the price of the car that you arrived in and health-wise you would probably have been better rooting through the bins outside than to have to endure the slop of battered lard, served up with ill-disguised contempt by a bored, acne-ridden teenager who would have preferred to have been anywhere but serving you.

This is the second time I have used Arlos and the second time I have been impressed.

We stopped here on the way back from a XC meet. The food was served to us after a very short wait piping hot. I had the traditional fish and chips meal which was really good. My daughter had a mac and cheese which she said was scrummy it cam ewith a garlic bead that was too garlicy for her. But I personally loved it :) Highly recommend to stop for a bite here :)

Went here whilst staying at travelodge. Had the breakfast but was not impressed so now we drive to the toby

This is a great facility at the Newbury services. The staff are very professional and very polite the food is great and priced well. Great relaxed area for a stop off from travelling and we will definitely be in again when passing.

Stopped here on the way home for a late lunch having visited relations in Maidenhead and wouldn't ever want to eat here again. Incredibly slow if polite service despite two staff working at the counter. Food arrived very quickly but tasted like it had been pre-prepared, left on a worktop and just nuked in a microwave to cook it. Ordered burgers/hot dogs and chips. All food was luke-warm at best and the hot dog didn't contain a proper hot dog sausage, more like an overcooked pork sausage with a very chewy bread roll. We ordered the toffee crumble frangipan pudding but wouldn't recommend that either...

It is worth mentioning that if you are staying at the nearby Travelodge, the reception staff will give you a voucher allowing 20% off your meal. Arlo's shares the building with Burger King, Greggs, Marks and Spencer, Costa and W H Smith. At first sight, Arlo's looks smart and clean. They have on offer a variety of sandwiches, cold drinks, tea, coffee and alcohol for sale with your food. Order your meal from the menu at the counter. On offer are Burgers, Hot Dogs, fish and chips and a few side orders. I have eaten twice in Arlo's. The chips were barely warm; as for the fish, it was too hot, therefore overcooked and tasteless. I suspect the fish had recently been stored in a freezer. The second meal, a Burger was not much better. Warm chips and a burger that lacked taste. Even the tea I ordered wasn't hot enough. I will be staying at the nearby Travelodge over the next few months. I am going to find a nearby pub and hope for a vast improvement.

stopping at arlo's with my family on the way to Wales hungry tired and exhausted food came out very promptly, restaurant set out very nice for a service stop off how ever the food wasn't to my understanding of how food should be cooked. most chained food company's stick to a safe minium core temp of 75 degrees Celsius which is understandable for certain bacteria to be destroyed.. i think our hot dogs were a tad over done. couldn't be asked to complain.

Outside few different food areas. We should have had eaten from one of these.

Broke my journey here between Sussex and Wales. The food and coffee were both good and the service very friendly. An unexpected gem on the motorway!

Oh dear oh dear, from the poor welcome and non plus service to the terrible food. What a shame! We arrived about 9.15am found a table and decided to order the full English as the posters made it sound great, but more than we would usually pay at £7.49 each. The young woman at the counter kinda took our order but without any of the pleasantries you would expect. Far too busy chatting to her colleague. Before we had sat very long breakfast arrived...not a good sign, definitely NOT cooked fresh! We were hungry so we ate it, we were having a night away and didn't want to spoil our day so didn't make a fuss, but that must have been the worst breakfast ever!

Dropped in to Chievely Services on a long drive back from the coast with my 7 and 9 year old . Wanted to sit down to eat a proper meal . Took a few minutes to realize you had to go up to the counter to order - but perhaps my fault . Anyway went up to place an order - not complicated - Fish & Chips ,Macaroni Cheese end a basic Burger . The place wasn't busy but 4 members of staff obviously felt it was ....dreadful attitude - even had to ask for glasses for the Fanta .

We had a good experience at this restaurant before and this made us specifically chose this restaurant rather than other M4 service restaurants

The second time I have eaten here, not disappointed on either occasions, had breakfast this time and it was fantastic, very quick arrival and fresh and tasty. Lovely thick toast. Not the smartest of places, could do with a bit of a make over as may put people off first impression but once tried food, you change your mind. Staff always friendly and chatty.

Arlos at Chieveley is not your normal motorway services restaurant. The staff are friendly, polite and offer a good service. The food is brought out quickly and is tasty at a reasonable price. If you have to stop somewhere on the M4 head for this restaurant.

We stopped on the way back from a long day and I must admit I didn't have great expectations but we were hungry and it was late.

Off Junction 13 of the M4 We both ordered the Classic Chicken Burgers and fries with Peri Peri Dip and they were lovely with thick moist chicken. Nice food!

What a find this place is. No wasting of time and staff and food excellent. Definitely worth a try. Good value too. Netty

I was wary of Arlos as I know what breakfasts at motorway services are like. But we tried it as we were at the Travelodge and had 20% off.

this restaurant is located in the service area of cheiveley on the m4 as I was staying at the Travelodge you can get a discount voucher as a guest to eat here

It was a nice change from costa, service did seem a little chaotic but food wise it was hot and tasty, and the coffee had flavour.

Nothing wrong with this as a stop-off. Have been before and had a great full English. The couple sitting over the way from me are tucking into a lovely looking eggs Benedict. I regret I chose badly. Quaker Oat So Simple porridge is disgusting. Somehow I had expected something Pret-like. I think I have been spoiled. Stop her by all means, but avoid dire Quaker Oats!

What a nice meal we had at Arlos good service and a good value for money and if you stay at the travel lodge there you receive a 20 % discount at arlos.

Stopping in the travel lodge for the night and we're giving 20% voucher off their food. I had chicken skewers and enjoyed them the wife had the vegarterian curry which she had no complaints. The staff were very helpful and friendly and didn't have too long to wait for our meal. Will definitely use this place again.

It is very hard to get excited about service station places as they are often over priced for average fair.

Ordered eggs benedict,it arrived cold,eggs hard,thin piece of cheap ham on top of the cheap muffin the sauce was tastless ,I told the waitress and she took it away,returned with another it was also cold ,the only difference was the eggs were not rock hard ...

Food was good and quick to arrive was a shame it took me 15 minutes to order food. 2 members of staff on front of house 1 working till and sorting drinks etc other clearing tables and serving food.

We found a little gem in Chieveley services called Arlo's. Proper restaurant on Motorway and not fast food/ preheated with helpful staff and amazing looking crockery . Love it and be back. A.P.