Beechenhurst Cafe in Forest of Dean

Contactless payment at the icecream hut would be useful. Only had enough cash for ice cream for the children so the adults had to miss out.😭

It's really nice to be in an open, airy, well staffed cafe with good drinks and food. The service is swift and friendly. We were here on a beautiful sunny day and the forest was packed and they still kept up with demand and running smoothly. An excellent cafe all round.

Superb salads - I arrived starving at 3.30 and thought I'd be lucky to still get a pre-packed sandwich. I was delighted to find that the cafe was still serving lunches. Howie's Mediterranean Tuna Salad was fabulous and was accompanied well by a glass of the Summer Fruits Lemonade complete with floating berries (which reminded me of a non-alcoholic Pimms). A welcome treat, five stars!

Macey went beyond expectations to help me (I’m disabled). Her kind attitude has assured me and given me confidence that I’m welcome, even though I need a bit of help.

Excellent place good friendly staff. Good tasty food. Reasonably priced.

Always a very good frindly Welcome from Staff, good food, great surroundings and Forestry things to do and see, will return, Len and Doreen Jones

Lovely BLT and fresh lemonade , prompt service . Delightful staff , helpful .

Lovely food, would recommend and very friendly staff will be back again😀

A high-quality full English and a great-looking sandwich menu. The café is clean, spacious and modern. The only downside is having to pay for parking if you're not a Forestry England member.

Visited today as we are on holiday in the area. We will not be returning. The food was so good. I had the forest platter (the ladie and gentlemen who bought our food out were so polite and friendly, even offering me a free drink as i asked for a few things not to be on the platter) and my partner had the burger which was tasty and juicy. Service though was shocking. No clear signs on which side to queue to order. Or how the ordering process works. Whilst waiting to order a young girl behind the counter was asked to make an orea milkshake and she said she had not made one before. She picked up an already used blender (with the remains of a vanilla milkshake in) and the young lad told her to use that one as it had had vanilla ice cream in it. No idea how long it had sat there in the heat but surely it should be washed out first?! I decided againt a milkshake Finally got to order (and it wasnt even that busy) asked for the forest platter without gherkins, slaw and and veggie crudiets. The young lad serving didnt understand what i meant. He then asked for me to show him the menu (so i did) he couldnt find the forest platter so i had to show him. After 3 attempts we finally got there. I also asked for a cheese and ham melt and summer berry lemonade. I was told i need to get them out the fridge and bring it to them to make (again no signs to explain this) so i had to hold the qeue up whilst i went to look for these. Couldnt find them so queried to the young lad where to find them. He said if i cant see them they aint got any so i hastily grabbed an orange juice and ordered a burger instead. I asked what items you do for dogs which he was actually good with and advised pup cups and sliced sausage so i ordered one each of those of those and two muffins. The lad said he would sort the muffins and pup cup for me now so i stood waiting. Him and an older lady working with him (glasses and reddish/purplish dark hair) stood looking at me then told me i needed to take my items. Turns out they shoved them on a tray and put them out for me to collect the otherside of the pillar next to me and assumed i could read their minds and know thats where i needed to take them from. The young lad i believe maybe new/training but he dosent have a good idea on the products you sell which isnt good and the older lady next to him was just letting him sink and not helping him. He severealy lacks customer service skills which is quite possibly down to lack of training. Whilst we sat waiting for our food another customer sat down at a table next to us and exclaimed how horrible the ordering experiance was and lack of customer service. The lady (older lady with blonde hair and glasses) and gentleman who brought our food were so lovely and polite though! Food was good but we would not go back.

Poor, over-priced coffee. Ordered some flat whites but a huge cup mainly filled with milk was served.

Expensive and completely overwhelmed with the number of customers, they have clearly got an issue with the kitchen and service, losing peoples orders and not knowing what was happening. A confusing system where you have to choose a side of the building to sit at whilst ordering (but not knowing which tables would come free), with overwhelmed staff randomly walking round or shouting either names or order numbers - some looking particularly bored and moving at snails pace. We ordered a cheese toastie (literally just toasting what we got from the self service counter), a BLT and kids baked beans at 1:45pm and it took nearly an hour. They gave a refund and were a bit apologetic but gave the impression it was not unusual. The BLT was actually very nice, but ‘ultimate’ cheese toastie was just two bits of white bread and some cheese for £7. As someone else has said, I also ordered a pricey flat white and it came in a huge cappuccino cup and was more latte, anywhere that gives an option of large or small flat white obviously isn’t doing it right. Bring a picnic next time!

Beautiful spot. Bee is a lovely waitress!

Came for a walk round the Sculpture Trail. It wasn't the warmest day so it was good to be able to warm up with a bacon bun and a coffee before setting off. Good food and friendly service.

25 minute wait for coffee, what an absolute shambles. 10 staff aimlessly wandering around behind the counter watching too young girls drown on the barista machines. To make things worse they weren’t opening the outside cafe until 11:30 on a Sunday. We’ve been customers here for years but won’t be bothering any more. The new management need to get their acts together

Lush place, lovely food. we had Bea as our server, she was super friendly and really helpful!

Very friendly and welcoming staff. Clean, decent food and facilities.

We parked at the forestry England car park and visited this beautiful independent cafe, staff were very helpful. We had 2 x full English breakfasts and two coffees. The breakfast was fresh and the coffees were excellent. All clearly fresh food and locally obtained. Would highly recommend

Site needs to sort the queuing situation out. There is no system in place for queuing so people are just stood in a group waiting so randomly get served. Staff are very busy and clearly stressed, majority of them are pretty young so doesn't feel like a very supportive or healthy place to work. The way it's set up with the two eating areas either side of the building causes another issue with people trying to move through the crowd of people trying to get served. It is compleat carnage. Couldn't tell you about the food. I never managed to get service and had to explain to to upset children why they couldn't get an ice cream.

Me and my wife stopped here after doing the sculpture trail through the woods next door. Food was lovely, fresh and good value for money. My only complaint is possibly portion size. For example I had the BLT, it could’ve done with a side salad or small pot of chips to accompany it. Overall would recommend 👍

Lovely place. Great service. Gorgeous food. Professional staff. Exceptional location - lots of nature to see and enjoy whilst having a coffee and some food👏

Lovely food and Cafe, homemade sausage rolls were very nice! Needs a bit more parking but lovely place for a sunny day!

Very nice little cafe in the Forest of Dean. Had a lovely lunch stop here, and thoroughly enjoyed the food, which was tasty and very reasonably priced. The decor has just been redone and it really suited the forest atmosphere, I especially liked the book shelves for the community books, a nice little touch.

Lovely cafe with nice, comfortable seating inside. I had food, drink and a cake which I was very happy with. Service was quick and friendly. Probably the most appealing is the dog friendliness. Greater GF range would be great to see.

We finished off our lovely morning walk at the cafe. We arrived at 9am when the cafe opens even though we weren’t let in until 9.10. We watched staff for 10 minutes just walk around inside not acknowledging we were there, whilst our daughter was visibly upset outside having timed our walk so she could have her breakfast at 9. When we were eventually let in, no one said sorry just a remark that we were up early (which anyone with a young child knows 9am is not early especially when the opening time clearly says 9am!). We could hear staff talking rudely about us behind our backs as I assume they were hoping not to open for a while. Sadly it really ruined our experience. The food was however yummy and the dog friendly side with baby toys is a lovely touch!

A great place to stop and plenty of space to get in out of the rain.

Lovely trip today to Forest of Dean, even better now the Cafe is dog friendly. Food was good and service was great

A great cafe all round. Really friendly staff, good food and reasonably priced (higher side of normal but to be expected somewhere like this. Certainly not punitive). Atmosphere lovely, particularly the real fire.

Very nice food and very friendly staff, definitely recommend and would come again.

Friendly staff, huge coffees and large food portions - shame about the weather....

A good cafe to stop for a satisfying breakfast with a wet dog. Very dog friendly!

Lovely dog friendly cafe. Perfect for a warm drink and light lunch after a long walk with your pets in the forestry.

Lovely decorated cafe with comfortable chairs, and spacious layout. Staff all friendly but service at the till a little slow. Menu looks really good, I could have chosen 10 things on there to eat, all reasonably priced too. Food came out in good time and was tasty. Dog friendly cafe which is ideal for the location. We enjoyed hot drinks before the walk & a burger with a slice of cake after.

Dog friendly cafe and great food highly recommend ;-)

Rocky road brownie? Don't bother unless you like Turkish delight. Great coffee, not cheap.

Great fast friendly service. Lots of smiles and willingness to look after us. Very dog friendly at one end dog free at the other. Great for everyone so very relaxed for us dog owners as we were not worried about those who don't want dogs round them. Win win all round. The tuna and the mozzarella toasties were excellent. As were the chips.

Lovely location and staff but cake was terrible, stale and tasteless and at over £4 a slice we left feeling ripped off unfortunately.

Great place to visit. Food and drink were really tasty znd value for money . The service was exceptional. We'll visit again soon.

Very friendly service and good range of lunch options including vegetarian/ vegan choices. Dog friendly.

Amazing service from all the staff Holly Dottie Maria and Julie also all the rest of the staff are always so happy and helpful. Nothing is ever to much trouble always a lovely welcome, great also now we can take the dogs into the cafe is a huge bonus

Always a pleasure to visit, good food and good service

Lovely chilled atmosphere, good food

A reasonable cup of tea but even if that is all you want at the place you have to pay for parking. Foolishly thinking the carpark charges did not include cafe us, I skipped it. Cup of tea now costs £29.50!!! Greedy or what?

Lovely cafe! Tasty freshly cooked food and a lovely atmosphere after a nice walk! And dog friendly too:)

Great food, great coffee. We were given the wrong food by mistake, the staff were fantastic and our food was out in no time despite it being busy - thank you!

Amazing service, friendly staff highly recommend

We enjoyed our coffees and lunch here, after doing the sculpture trail. Amazing coffee! Really good house fries

The staff were great, particularly our server Emma. Very friendly. Kept apologising for the wait on food... we only waited 10 minutes! Absolutely brilliant!

I visited today after a walk, Our server was very helpful and friendly i believe her name was Emma. Price of food was a little high but it was lovely! Will definitely be back 😊

Very friendly helpful staff. Thanks Julie

Just stopped for a coffee after taking the dog for a walk, bonus we could bring her inside! Staff were really lovely too, nicely decorated, it’s had an upgrade since I was here last! Didn’t have food but the people at the next table said it was lovely ☺️

Oooh a shame to mark it low following the refit but the queue system to get served is chaotic. Visitors don't know if they are in the queue or not. Also hanging about for drinks is a bit random. Tried the sponge cakes a few times and sad to say each time they've been a little dry. A few things to put right.

Great spot in the woods for a coffee, easy parking and a lovely coffee

Wonderful experience in the cafe today ordering lunch which included a meal for my son with allergies. The lady serving (sorry I don't know your name) went above and beyond at every stage of the process and even asked the manger to check and confirm with me, he was also wonderful! From start to finish the allergy awareness was awesome (sadly hard to find generally)! We will definitely be back. Great food too.

This cafe seems to have changed hands or been revamped. Not an improvement! Hope it’s just teething trouble but utterly chaotic today

We came up to beachenhurst on the 19th October 24 we do this regularly, but on thi occasions the cafe was closed and the staff were serving from the hut .. I just want to give them a big well done , it was very busy and there were the 3 of them in a small hut working very hard keeping everyone fed and watered .. you did a marvellous 👏 job

It's rare that I rate somewhere so low but honestly this was disappointing on every level. Parking was super expensive cafe closed for refurbishment with no sign saying so till after you pay to park! Temporary food was very poor and coffee very weak! Even the staff serving seemed unhappy. Best not go at the moment!

The park is beautiful but please make sure you take your own picnic as they will rip you off big time on the cost of a 1 inch square cake and a small Blackwell tart £6.10 you should be ashamed of yourselves fair and reasonable are words you should learn

Be warned! We went there on 30 September to find cafe shut for redecoration, hopefully opening for October half term.....but nothing on their website about it , in fact Google said it was " open but closing at 4pm". There was a temp coffee shop selling poor quality coffee, but it was hot and slightly better than nothing.

Good location for the Sculpture Trail and other walks. There's a children's playground. There is a ranger on site, though they were not there when we went, despite being advertised as being so. The cafe looked okay but is definitely not great for vegans and vegetarians or celiacs. Not one sandwich without meat in and none gluen free when we went. The staff did say some of the hot food was vegetarian but the choice was limited and (at least from the cabinet selection) sold out. So, a good base for a day trip, but I'd not rely on the cafe if you don't eat meat or have to have gluten free.

Nice setting but the food choice is very limited and some of the stuff is grossly over priced. A ham and cheese toasted ciabata roll for £7.50 is insane. The "side salad" it comes with is basically garnish and when comparing this with a chicken, bacon and mayonnaise baguette for £5.50, I felt robbed.. pricing is definitely off there. Hardly any selection other than that. Baby change toilet had seen better days. Baby changing table was disgusting and needed a serious clean. No where to hang baby changing bag either. We ended up changing our baby on a bench which was probably more hygienic. Good for a walk around the sculpture trail but you're better off taking your own food and snacks.

We stopped here before setting off on the sculpture trail for a snack. We had a couple of bacons baps, chips and a few drinks. It was all lovely but was quite expensive.

We have been walking the trails around Beechenhurst for nearly a year now. We even joined to be a member of the Forest of Dean Forestry area, so that our parking is now free, so we can take as long as we like on our walks without watching the clock. We really look forward to the wonderful soup in the café after our long walk each week through rain and sunshine. Our favourite is the Thai butternut soup with the green souper a close second. We love a good chat with the friendly staff in particular Holly and Dotty who always make us feel really welcome. Although more recently we seemed to have encountered the Manager who is not as naturally friendly as the others, otherwise we would have given the service a 5 not a 4.

Always make a point of visiting the cafe when I'm up that way, really enjoy the food

Had their avacado and poached egg breakfast, it comes on ciabatta bread (that isn't mentioned on the menu) and a fried tomato. It was all good. We'll definitely come again.

Become a member of foresty england, so can have 10% off food and drink here. The food is priced fairly, the cakes are excellent. The majority of staff members are friendly. My only suggestion is make your cups for hot drinks bigger. The price is similar to other well known coffee shops but their cups are bigger. My only negative, and no idea if are run together but the toilets are not pleasant. As a regular visitor I've never seen a cleaner in them during the day.

Overpriced coffee that was not even that nice. £3.60 for a small flat white. Did not even tried to look at the food as I knew it'll be mega expensive.

Lovely little cafe to stop at before you do the sculpture trail, would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quick bite to eat or a rest stop after a long walk!

Parking was a bit expensive. But the food, service and atmosphere was great. Well maintained site

Lovely cafe, play area & woods to walk in. Pay for carpark on app, plenty of parking.

the best service I have ever had. all the ladies are very nice, smiling and incredibly quick in fulfilling orders. I highly recommend this place for a coffee or a quick dinner.

Beechenhurst is a good place to take the family if you want the entertainment provided but not if you just want to enjoy nature or just visit the cafe. We only went to visit the cafe and it was 6 pounds to park 2 cars for 2 hours, very confusing as no ticket machine in the parking area and the information unclear. If you have a smart phone you can pay by app apparently. Cafe had a good selection but it was very disorganized and food displayed on different counters so everyone pushing past not making an orderly queue. Some items served in carboard trays thus we ended up losing some food on the floor and had to ask twice for a replacement. Food was very overpriced for what we had and not very good. Disappointing overall after cafe visits at Dean Heritage and Mallard's Pike which were over priced but much higher quality.

Disgusting bacon sandwich thick with foul spread. I tried to scrap it off but the taste remained. Couldn't eat it. Staff saw I left it but clearly ignored me. Please ask spread or no spread. The yellow stuff on the plate is the spread I managed to scrap off.

Homemade carrot, parsnip and ginger soup fabulous!

Great place, some of the items felt a tiny bit expensive, but the quality is always good.

Not good, over priced, and not good on quality. Much better cafe down the road. Bottle of water £2, magnums £3.40, everything very expensive.

The prices in this cafe are shocking. The quality of the food is average. £6.50 for a basic kids lunch and what surprised me the most was the cost of an ice lolly. £3.40 for a magnum and £3 for a standard twister lolly. We promised our child one before knowing the price. Disgusting prices. Real shame. Outside park is ok, could do with some updating with some new things to play on.

Lovely place, a few options on the menu and great tasting food. We were initially served the wrong items but this was quickly rectified. The food is overpriced though. Spending upwards of £35 for two burger meals and 2 bottles of pepsi. If ive caught in the area i wouldnt say no to this place, however, there are others within a mile or so from this area that charge less for similar quality food

Beautiful "Oasis" in FoD... BUT .. Disappointed tohave to pay THREE pounds minimum to park (£2 = ok)...😱 I think DISABLED should be FREE...😱😱 Then OVER £3 for a Cornetto!! Rip-off!!😱😱😱 We'll go to Tewkesbury, next time!

What a jewel, beautiful inside and out. Just stunning. Only had coffee but very reasonably priced and delicious. I will definitely be going back.

Good lay out and selection of food, bit pricey but food was nice

Nice cafe but £3.60 for a latte that was out of machine is ridiculous.

The food is a bit expensive for a cafe. How much for toast? Really. No need.

Nice place to stop a break. Gluten free options available.

Sausage bap and the tea was great, staff lovely view great but the worse black Americans I have ever had. Complained and gave me an extra shot free but still awful. Prefer instant Lidl coffee. So a very mixed review.

Had a vegan sausage roll, a cake, and an iced latte. Was reasonably priced and tasted very nice. The staff were polite. Enjoyable experience

Fast, efficient, good selection

Really nice cafe situated in a beautiful area, shame the food and drink costs so much! I believe it shouldn’t cost £2 for a bottle of water or £4.00 for a sausage roll. As a forester, I find this extremely disappointing.

Really great forest café. We ate well.

Take your own lunch. The staff are polite and efficient but everything is over priced and not particularly good. If we live in a capitalist society, let's stick a couple of other options nearby to drive standards and give consumers a choice.

I visited on a rainy day with my 20 month old grandson. It was very quiet, but nice and warm. The service was friendly. The coffee good and Lemon drizzle cake good.

Ok food but very basic and over priced

Lovely, friendly atmosphere inside. Staff are very polite and accommodating. There are plenty of nearby areas to do a range of activities. Setting is beautiful, especially with the recent snowfall.

Great little cafe in a lovely, family-friendly spot. Plenty of vegan cake options. 😉👍🌱☕

Efficient service excellent food

Lovely place to stop while on walk, run out bike ride. Convenient for for a cuppa and a snack with plenty of parking and quick and easy access straight onto the forestry trails and signed cycle routes.

Beechenhurst is lovely, and the cafe was pleasant with a variety of food. Although I did find it extremely expensive. Unfortunately, I witnessed the shop assistant who was making my drinks, drop my empty paper cup on the dirty floor, then pick it up and pour my drink into it and give it to me. I pointed out that I had witnessed what she had done and she totally denied it. I am disgusted that this happened, and won’t be returning to that cafe again. Very disappointed and appalled! I have worked in the food industry and if something is dropped on the floor, I was instructed to discard it and replace it, because that is being hygienic.

Overpriced cold drinks, charge £3.25 for a YAzoo milkshake you can buy anywhere for a £1. Bring a picnic

Very overpriced. Coffee was too bitter and ridiculously hot.

Absolutely beautiful. Spotless inside and very pleasant staff