Basildon Pitsea Extra Cafe in Basildon

There is no doubt that Tesco is one of the largest of its kind. To be frank, as a family, we do not usually prefer to do our shopping there, but from time to time, we do. We also occasionally go there to dine in at their café, though not very often. It's obvious we've known this place for years, and we have seen the changes and improvements they have made over time. Recently, we went there for breakfast, assuming that things would be the same as they had been for years. However, things had changed. Their café, which used to be located upstairs, has now been moved downstairs, and unfortunately, it has lost much of its charm in the process. The previous café upstairs had a much warmer, quieter atmosphere, and it truly felt like a cozy café. Now, the café has been relocated to the worst possible spot—right by the entrance, where there's constant foot traffic and noise. Although they have built a glass wall to separate the seating area, with blurred glass panels to offer some privacy, it still feels awkward due to its location near the entrance and exit. The new décor doesn't have the classic café feel; instead, it resembles the inside of an airport. It's noisy and uncomfortable, and I doubt anyone can truly relax while dining there. There is an updated ordering system, with self-ordering screens now available, but again, the location of these screens is at the café entrance, which doesn't seem ideal. Maybe it's just me, but it feels poorly thought out. The seating area itself is quite basic—ordinary chairs and tables like any generic café would have. I must point out, however, that they do have some L-shaped, leather-like seats with soft cushioning, which seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, the noise level in the area is so high that even the glass panels behind the seats don't help, making it impossible to ignore the commotion. This makes you just want to eat quickly and leave. The food itself was quite disappointing. We had a very basic toasted bread with poorly cooked eggs, and the avocado was spread over the toast like butter. It was neither tasty nor visually appealing. Honestly, I believe anyone without much culinary experience could make a better egg and avocado on toast. There isn't much to say about the hot drinks either. The tea was served in a standard teapot, just like any other café, nothing special. Overall, it was not a good experience for us, and we definitely will not be visiting the café again unless they decide to relocate it back to its previous upstairs location. I really hope the upstairs section is just being redecorated and hasn't been completely demolished.

After the major refurbishment of Pitsea Tesco, this cafe has really turned around! It’s now located on the entrance towards your left instead of being upstairs. Last time I was here, the coffee was disgusting, the food was just prepackaged rubbish and the atmosphere was awful. On appearance, the cafe has been very modernised, with LED lights and self service kiosks shining to the customers. There is seating by the windows for a view of.. well, something. The food was finally tasty! Had a panini, which had melty cheese and ham. Friend had a breakfast meal which they enjoyed very much. Both of our coffees were delightful and made perfectly. The staff were attentive, showing smiles and being polite. The service was very fast too - and I saw staff helping out people who couldn’t understand how the self service machines worked. I’ll be back next time I’m shopping!

Crap service waited 30 mins for bakery pancakes and a breakfast sausagr and egg muffin. Egg was under cooked muffin was not toasted or warmed up. The food is extremely over priced and not very nice

So obviously Understaffed with one person in the kitchen and at least 50 customers in the cafe, but the food came out lovely ! With the chef even bringing us out the food! Would have been even better if there was more staff

Like going somewhere to die. Went in at 10:15 most Saturdays after taking my daughter swimming. Every single time, the experience is like going somewhere to slowly end our lives. The service is super slow, so much so that I celebrate 2 birthdays whilst queuing and another 2 just waiting for the food. The place is very under staffed, the staff that do work, moan about the conditions and the people who sit in are all talking about the same thing. I'm currently sitting in, waiting for the breakfast and watching the other 21 year old pensioners age rapidly.

Came in for some food before doing a big shop. Ordered and paid, and was not told until after we’d paid that there was a 45 min wait. Mentioned to her that she should’ve really told us beforehand so we had a choice to order or not, and she just laughed and shrugged. Whilst waiting, we noticed a large amount of tables were unclean and hadn’t been swept around, so new customers were having to try and do this themselves with napkins. When the food eventually came, it was very good quality, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Shame the female staff member was rude and the cleanliness was poor.

Very slow service, stood in a queue for 25 minutes, tables were very dirty with crumbs, sauce and hairs. Sat waiting at the table for another 50 minutes for our food whilst continuously seeing food sent back to the kitchen. Had no choice but to eat here as already paid the money. Rude and unwelcoming staff.

Lovely food and staff helpful thank you

Every time I have been into the cafe the wait for food is horrendous. 40 minutes wait for a toastie when hardly anyone in here. Till staff constantly threatening to stop hot food as its too busy. No sense of urgency from any of the till staff as they dither around watching the queue mount up. Glasses given to us dirty and tables left full of rubbish. Have worked in catering and pubs my entire life and cannot fathom how Tesco let this continue. Absolute joke of a cafe.

Terrible service today, tables were not clean, only one glass available for our soft drinks. Ordered paninis cheese and ham. Had a job to spot the cheese and no butter in them very dry. We had to wait 40 mins and was very disappointed. The young man on the till was apologising to nearly every customer for something that wasnt his fault. Shocking service so give this one a miss if i were you.

Nice staff nice food Wait times good too

Terrible service and the workers were rude. When ordering food, I payed for it and was then informed that they had no meals in stock. The queue was 30 minutes long and had no one working on the till. The tea was horrible and had some slimy layer on top. Wouldn’t recommend this cafe.

Very nice full english breakfast and great staff.

Staff are very friendly , very accommodating to families with children, very decent prices

Very nice cafe in Tesco Extra Pitsea.

Waited ages only to be told at till ‘we’ve got no chicken’ (cafe in middle of Tesco superstore out of chicken. Really!) I asked for a menu ‘No haven’t got menu’ it’s up other end of queue on wall. Next 2 items I asked for..., ‘ no haven’t got salad...haven’t got that either’ In the end I order my mum’s meal and paid rather than holding up queue then queued again after looking at only menu they had - at back of queue. Ordered chile - said ‘it’s with the other item I ordered’ ‘Oh’ they said’ you will get them separately cos can’t put this second item in front of orders Seriously poor experience - won’t go again. Seriously slow and poor service at counter which is a shame as ladies who cook food and bring it out are lovely

Ordered a burger, the bun was dry and awful the burger was tiny dry and worse than the bun, there was a piece of cheese on it and nothing else, no salad, relish, onions or anything else. Dreadful and the price was over £6.00

visited earlier this week and had we noticed the state of the tables before ordering would definitely have walked away. One person serving and told 'youll have to wait on on my own'. Pouring the tea we noticed some sort of bits and on looking at the tea pots, they were filthy the stains in the spouts so bad it could not have gone unnoticed. On pointing this out we were accused of being rude, even though other customers said it was the other way round. When the manager appear so did another three members of staff who started clearing the tables. Although we were given a refund I would never go here again. Absolute shambles.

Sloooooow service. Under-staffed. Poor value. Soup with bloomer bread consisted of opening a small tin of soup, heating and a thin slice of bread with butter, all for £3.25!

Plenty of space to sit and relax .nice selection of eats

It's a convenient and comfortable coffee shop. Staff are friendly. I only go for an espresso, nothing special but gives me the required caffeine shot. Food admittedly does not look particularly appetising as things like breakfast items are kept under lights on heaters.

Failure of good food every time! Fish in batter was disgusting in the hot plate too long . Never satisfied. Good only for coffee and ready made sandwiches only

great service with a smile. food ok

I ordered avocado on toast which was appalling. There was a 1cm cube of avocado hiding under some horrid slimey green goo randomly placed on sliced tomato. Its a cost saving exercise unfortunately and absolutely disgusting. The hard poached egg and mega fatty bacon topped it off. I do not recommend this menu item.

Unfortunatley i feel there needs to better organisation amongst the staff.

Staff are friendly. Service with a smile definitely. Food is always very nice.