Dobbies Garden Centre in Milton Keynes

Booked an Afternoon Tea treat for my mother. Service was so slow and I’d been given a sausage roll when I’d asked for no red meat, I got extra quiche!!. Appalling especially after so many allergy concerns in news recently!!! Waited so long for our hot drinks we’d pretty much finished our food. They had no profiteroles so got a lemon mousse, which I think was supposed to be on menu anyway! Not much effort went into this. Disappointed!

Had a glance at some of the reviews on here, so I don't know if things have changed or if we have been lucky. Anyway, we had an excellent visit. Nicely laid out shop area, where we bought a couple of things and we had an excellent lunch. All of the staff we met were friendly and helpful.

Visit Dobbies Restaurant every 2 or 3 weeks was really disappointing one breakfast was cold and sent back 3 other breakfasts were only warm the fried eggs were over cooked askeď for white toast 2 of the breakfast 1 got white toast and no butter the other got brown toast which was barely toasted and the other brown toast was not toasted very dissapointing

We stood for some time behind a notice which told us to wait to be shown to a seat. Other people seemed to be going straight to a table and were served before us, but we were concerned that staff wouldn't realise we were there (it's quite a big space!). Finally one of the staff spotted us waiting and showed us to a table. Instead of taking our order straight away she drifted off and didn't return until about ten minutes later. Finally we received our breakfast, which was good but spoilt by an unnecessary long wait. Then we had to wait for the bill, which led us to wonder if anyone slips out without paying. The organisation could be much improved!

2.45pm on a Saturday. Restaurant closed. No sandwiches available. 2 for 1 scones sold old. Gets worse everytime here. Children running around from a party.

Our server Helen was very good - seated us immediately as my friend is very frail and the walk from the car park to the restaurant had worn her out! She also pointed out what was unavailable as the first server had not. The times of lunch service are on the front of the menu card - would be seen better if put next to "Lunch" on the inside of the card ie we could not order lunch until 12 noon so had to wait. Helen kindly advised my friend of the Mon-Fri lunch + cake offer for the over 60s (she very politely had not asked my age, wonderful! I shall know for next year....). I was surprised to see non-guide dogs in the restaurant. The jacket potato was very good & although my friend could not manage all of her food, she did enjoy it. As all the disabled bays were full, I had to pull up outside the front doors, walk my friend to the entrance - fortunately there were garden seats in the entrance and exit for her to use whilst I parked the car - it would be good if there were more "rest a while" seats dotted around for those who struggle to walk or even wheelchairs for the visiting public to use.

Popped in for plants and a few other bits, stopped for lunch, wish we hadnt. The wait was horrendous, the food was cold, and the price is a joke. A slither ( as my mother would say ) of cake £4 it wasnt that great lol. We should have read the reviews as we had much the same underwhelming expensive waste of money. Ended up not buying what I needed as ran out of time. If you are prepared to wait too long, pay too much, and eat very little then this is for you. Staff look overworked and dont really care.

We regularly visit Dobbies and have held off writing a review for over a year as under the old manager the restaurant was a disaster with endless waits and we always felt sorry for the staff who worked so hard and were so friendly but could never cope with the work load placed on them and the badly organised system. However we visited today and the restaurant is under new management and you can instantly tell. Fast and efficient service, wait times reduced from hours (literally) to minutes, tables free to sit at and not covered in used dishes, drinks arriving really fast and the poor over worked staff now able to relax and chat with you and provide a wonderful level of service. The food is well priced, tasty and generous in size and there is a good selection in the new menu. Thank you to the new manager but also the wonderful staff who made the visit so pleasant and looked after myself and my Mum (the nice lady with the quad walker). We hope you all enjoy Easter.

Very disappointed to fine so many dogs on the sofas And no one telling people to remove them .it seems a place for dogs Which it is not as there is a lovely area outside with a roof ,They have now let dogs go wherever they want , Dog owners are now trying to take over the place and it’s not right where food Is served or we have sit where dog hairs have been left,it’s not that the dogs are badly behaved but shouldn’t sit on chairs or sofas

The serving staff are lovely but what has happened to Dobbies? The air conditioning was on during the coldest day of the year, it was absolutely freezing. Our food arrived cold. Even the soup was just tepid. The staff are lovely but there doesn't seem to be any care in th management of the place.

Poorly organised and long wait to be served coffee, serving ladies lovely, but completely snowed under, only one coffee machine working which didn't help. Cakes extremely overpriced, £3.99 for a tiny slice?? The whole garden centre was very cold, didn't seem to be any heating on at all and I felt uncomfortably cold throughout my visit. I was glad to leave and warm up in the car, felt too cold to bother to buy anything.

Not a good experience, queued for some time but served by friendly staff (only two on duty). The restaurant was very cold, we sat by a radiator which was turned off so had to sit in our coats, there were a huge amount of cobwebs on the ceiling fixtures and all the tables were full of crockery and none were cleared while we were there which was around an hour and a half. The coffee and cake were fine and the two staff we saw were as efficient as they could be but this restaurant needs to be managed more effectively and general housekeeping needs to be sorted - definitely won’t be rushing back!

Had to wait in beverage queue for 25 mins to get served today (1.40pm Saturday 20/1/24) and in all the caffuffle at the till I mislaid my Dobbies card. Husband returned 30 mins later but staff were still so busy they showed little interest. I went in to see family, and got home 5.45pm. I decided to call Dobbies to see if my card had been handed in. The recorded message said, I'm sorry we are now closed. We are open Monday -Sat 9am to 6pm. It was 5.50pm! I guess noone wants to risk picking up the phone late in the day in case they are kept a minute over time!? Great customer service! 😔👎

We had steak and ale pie with mash and veg. The food had clearly been microwaved to warm it up. The pie was poor, hardly any meat with a pale partially cooked pastry. Overall my impression was they are charging too much. It felt like a school dinner. Not great.

The afternoon tea itself was lovely. Service was not the best… only one girl serving and she was run off her feet bless her. No teapots left so teas and coffees were poured from a flask and only two takeaway boxes left between four of us.

We went for a coffee on a Saturday afternoon while we were shopping and if was DREADFUL!!! The tables were all stacked high with dirty crockery and the staff didn't seem to know what they were doing 🙄 complete waste of £7 for 2 coffees!! We certainly will not be going again.

We are a family of 6. We queued for 15 minutes to be seated despite there being plenty of seats available. When we got to the front of the queue the waitress said they didn’t have a table for 6 available. There were however 2 tables of 4 next to each other so we asked to pull them together. The waitress said that isn’t allowed as they can’t pull the tables together despite them being easily movable, so we ended up sitting at two separate tables about 2 metres apart. I had to wave at husband and kids from a distance. When I asked why she couldn’t pull the tables together and how bizarre was the situation she answered that is a head office decision. I am imagining someone at the head office introducing: “the rule of unmovable tables”. Very unpleasant experience. On top of that the food was of poor quality for the high price charged, with the decor poor compared to other garden centres. Not recommended.

Nicest Dobbies we've ever been in, enhanced by a friendly and helpful staff. Immaculately clean restaurant.

We visit this restaurant at least twice a week. They do suffer staff problems on a regular basis, but the food is good, well presented, and reasonably priced.

Service is rather slow, and the quality of food could surely be better. Toast could be served on a separate plate, and it could be two full slices,(4 quarters) The quality of the sausages could improve too.

The most common waiters in this place are the customers! WAIT to be seated - 5mins WAIT for ordering to start - 12 mins WAIT for order to appear - 32 mins WAIT to attract attention to pay bill 13 mins In all, dropping in to get a lunchtime snack of soup and sandwich took almost 1.5 hours with eating the food taking up less than 30 minutes. It wasn't that it was busy. Simply inefficiency on the part of the staff who had no capability when it came to observing what was happening around them. Customers who had made numerous attempts at catching their eye to pay a bill, get missing cutlery, wanted additional items added to their order etc were simply being ignored. On 3 occasions I saw someone having to leave their table and catch one of the staff before they got attention. Staff were pleasant enough but something was lacking in the operation which was causing such severe delays. Terrible service which for the first time in many years, saw me leave without adding a gratuity and vowing not to return for a long time. One has to say, though, the food was tasty and price reflected the portion size (Sandwich & soup combo at under £9). Just wished I had looked on Tripadvisor before we decided to eat as we were left with no time to get the garden kit we originally went in for. Ah, well - Frosts for the new BBQ next week!

Really awful service. Unbelievably slow. Don’t understand why a garden centre would want to go for waitress service. That’s not what you go to a garden centre cafe for. Food fine when it finally came, but not keen to go back unless they employ more waiters/waitresses to improve the very slow service.

Ok, I've not been here since the refurbishment. I'm not sure I like the table service, as it is very slow. So went for breakfast and arrived at 11.10.. breakfast finish at 11.30, wait over 20 minutes to be seated despite being told we will...

We have been to this garden centre several times previously but this trip was specifically for breakfast. Unexpected road closures in the local area delayed our arrival and we were not able to join the restaurant queue until 11.20. By the time we reached the top of the queue to be seated we were told that we could not order breakfasts, as the last orders had to be by 11.25 although there was nothing on the website or menu to indicate this. After being told that we were too late for breakfasts and could not have any food, which we were not pleased to hear. After discussion, as we had made a special journey, we were told that not all breakfast items pictured on the website may be available. We did not mind this and we were seated. We had a enjoyable meal but there was a wait of over 30 minutes for this. We have only given 3 stars due to our initial greeting and the length of time it took from being seated to the arrival of our meals (30+ minutes). We would give the serving staff, who were informative and friendly, and the clean facilities, 5 stars. We suggest that when planning your visit, you seek out local road diversions, as these coupled with the ongoing impact of the EWR railway project in Buckinghamshire, may significantly extend your journey, for time specific meals.

We have been to soft play 4 times in the last few weeks and customer service has been terrible every time. The staff are unaccommodating, unwelcoming, slow, and miserable. The food is fine but the atmosphere is miserable and means we shant return again.

Slow to be seated. Staff all looked miserable (ok they have to deal with some tools). Ordered drinks then nothing and had to chase to order food. Food was school dinner at best and napkins thrown onto table. Seemed poorly managed and this reflects on...

My husband and I visit Dobbies restaurant two or three times a week for breakfast, and unlike some restaurants, the breakfasts are consistently good, which is why we have never had reason to complain. The staff are always friendly and helpful, and once we have...

Really friendly staff and latte was very tasty and hot. Server brought it to the table for us , as I was with my elderly mum and I use a walking stick. Premises very clean. Although we didn’t eat there was a variety of cakes,...

I went here today with my 2 children, my two friends and their 3 children, 2 of these children are babies (under 1). We went to softplay & since you can only book an hour there we had decided to eat afterwards. After we came...

If I could have given zero out of 5, I would have. We waited probably in excess of 20 minutes to buy 2 cream scones and 2 hot drinks. There was a very long queue and only 2 staff serving ( one of whom disappeared...

Wish I had read reviews before our visit. Although staff were friendly, it was a very slow, unorganised service. Our waiter even asked me where the item of food I wanted was on his tablet! Food wasn’t great, missing items and not as described but...

Nice breakfast in a really lovely setting, but best of all was the fantastic friendly service. Nothing too much trouble and just so pleasant. Shout our to Stuart who seated us and Helen our waitress, just such lively people. Breakfast was great value too.

One Word APPALLING. Complained at the time no apology offered. Food cold wrong order brought to the table. One of us ended up eating after everyone else had finished.

The man that served us had great customer service skills unfortunately the food we had was terrible. Watery horrible tasting mash, peas like bullets, old soggy potatoes, tasteless carrots Salad not as described. The only thing that was nice was a dessert. Shame I hadn't...

Every time we have been to Dobbies we get sold luke warm coffee. When asked if it could be hotter we were told its the settings on the machine. Can you please change the settings or us like a lot of others we know will...

The most disgusting breakfast I have ever had ! The vege sausages had been reheated multiple times and couldn’t even be cut ! The toast was burnt ! The scrambled egg was discoloured and looked mouldy ! Everything else was cold !

The café in the garden centre was large but quite cold and not cosy at all, we had to keep our coats on to sit and have our drinks, the queue was slow as it is in a lot of Dobbie's and there was a...

Our group went for a ladies lunch. There's only a tiny section of the restaurant open and luckily we were there early. You have to wait to be seated. The staff are doing their best, not many of them. It was a nice lunch.

We hadn’t been here for a while as it was so awful the last tome we were there in November. It’s not what it was sadly, there’s 2 queues now .1 for coffee/ cake the other for restaurant, hot food. Why? It’s very confusing. Signage...

Still no hot food and ridiculously slow service for coffee. Don't bother going. They could at least let you know at the front of store that there's no hot food. Quite a few people came in for breakfast and left when they realised.

What have they done to this place!!!!! Used to be so nice for coffee,afternoon tea meals etc. Today it was full of kids playing football around the restaurant. No hot food. Overpriced stale cakes. The scones used to be full of jam and cream and...

What a dreadful place this has turned into. It used to my friend and I goto place for a decent cooked breakfast. We went today, Sunday 22nd January, and it was truly awful. No heating, no hot meals and overpriced cakes etc. There is also...

What has happened to this garden centre which was once an enjoyable visit? The new restaurant is appalling. Cakes are mainly gateaux at £3.45 a slice. No cooked food. No heating in restaurant which is very cold. On today’s visit I felt very sorry for...

Cafe is simply awful, always running out of food or not serving hot food due to some issues. The staff are rude throughout the garden centre

We’ve used this cafe/restaurant many times on our drive to Scotland. Have appreciated the dog friendly area. Recently we have not been able to get hot food at the new layout. Dog friendly area is far from the restaurant ordering area and there is no...

My friends and I had booked an early Christmas afternoon tea. It was immediately apparent that they are seriously understaffed - there was nobody in sight to greet us and show us to our table. Once we got over this hurdle ( poor first impression)...

We used to enjoy meeting at Dobbies but last week a total nightmare. The restaurant has been remodelled and you have to queue to order and then then food and drink are delivered to your table. If however you want hot food there is another...

I would recommend Dobbies as it offers good price on plants etc and nice coffees and normally a selection of cakes. But since the refurbishment of the restaurant it has gone downhill. There is no management or supervision to support the staff working. Today at...

My daughter and I visited Milton Keynes Dobbies today and were very disappointed. We didn't know there had been a refurbishment and had to join the coffee queue for lunch. There were no hot meals but there were toasties to be had though whilst we...

Only two staff serving in one of the biggest restaurants in any local garden centre on Sunday afternoon peak time, wait was horrendous, no tables were cleared, ran out of tea pots and cutlery, meanwhile three four staff seen chatting / wandering around aimlessly. Toilers...

Visited Milton Keynes yesterday. Very busy.in restaurant. Lots more tables - yes - staff - very very few. The restaurant staff were stretched to their limit yesterday. Looks like Dobbies being very greedy with extra tables and staff cut back to bare minimum. Very poor...

My other half thought is would be a nice lunchtime treat to take me to Dobbies (of MK) restaurant for my birthday - It’s been awhile since we visited the restaurant so we were surprised and excited to see the new layout - no more...

Visited the newly refurbished cafe on Sunday 30 Oct. It was a slow-moving queue but as there were only about 3 staff serving on a busy Sunday pm that was not surprising. I ordered tea and a cheese scone and was eventually informed that there...

Although I'm a great fan of Dobbies as a garden centre the organisation and running of their new restaurant is diabolical. I feel very sorry for the staff who are doing their best to serve people but anyone with common sense can see that it...

My friend & I have been going to Dobbies for many years. The new restaurant/cafe is not what we expected. The cafe part is too small and squashed, it definitely needs to be larger. Yesterday we went to get tea & cake about 15.20. The...

Wow, what a total shambles.! We went today to try the new refurbished restaurant. We were expecting a few teething issues. But not as bad as we experienced. We were greeted by what looked like the restaurant manager. Nothing explained to us about the new...

Used to love going here when it first opened, but having been away for a few years I was amazed to notice the decline on my return. We went there for lunch. Sadly the restaurant is closed for refurbishment and a temporary set up is...

Having been a Dobbies customer for many years and enjoyed many visits to the garden centre and restaurant at Milton Keynes it is very disappointing to witness the decline of the restaurant and lack of drive in the garden centre. In the restaurant the staff...

Cream tea for 2! Clotted cream was solid and unspreadable, on checking lid, out of date 5 days ago! When replacement requested we were told all the clotted cream had that date on as they have been kept in freezer! Really!!! You cannot freeze clotted...

We visited today for my Grandmothers birthday and ordered normal and vegan (due to dietary preference and allergies). Upon arrival 4 normal one were brought out and when questioned the staffs answer was the paperwork from being booked online hadn’t all come through despite the...

Regular visitor to Dobbies Milton Keynes until recently. Cake selection is appalling. Slice of sponge £3.45 And scones which taste stale. You really need to improve Dobbies to keep your regular customers. We will not be returning for sometime.

What has happened to Dobbies in Milton Keynes? it used to be one of the nicest places to visit for coffee and cake, the scones were always lovely and fresh, but now they serve only stale ones and the cake selection, is just cheap sponge...

We met our daughter and decided to have lunch here! Never again! I asked for a chicken and bacon blt. You can have that at the full price without the chicken was the reply? I asked for cheese and pickle. It turned out to be...

Very disappointed in our lunch yesterday , staff not very friendly . Wont be rushing back I am afraid

I can not rate the staff here high enough for their helpfulness and how pleasant they were. From the staff as you entered, restaurant staff and the very helpful lady in Cotton Traders that is inside Dobbies. We first came across Dobbies when visiting in...

Had been looking forward to this afternoon tea as it was my birthday out with my dad and daughter. Ordered one savoury, one normal and one vegan afternoon tea. The vegetarian sandwiches were disgusting, I didn't eat them, they were like a variety of vegetables...

Poor afternoon tea, really disappointed with the Dobbies afternoon offering. Our table had a piece of lined note book paper with our name on it to indicate the reservation, once we had sat down the afternoon tea soon arrived, then the staff disappeared never to...

Have had 2 visits recently for afternoon tea and its certainly worth going for. Lovely sandwiches, plenty of scones (and cream/jam) and gorgeous little cakes. Even with 3 of us, couldnt eat it all, so they provided us with a little box to take things...

Came for afternoon tea and the service and food was good. Good size portions and took home some leftover cake and scones. Can’t complain as decently priced too!

11 friends and family met for a birthday celebratory afternoon tea. Paul and his team were very attentive and couldn’t be more helpful. The afternoon tea sandwiches, scones and cakes were delicious and portions were very generous so we brought some home too! Such an...

AWFUL!!! It was awkward, cold. The santa was rubbish and unrealistic. Poorly decorated, not magical at all. The elves were friendly and tried to make the best of it. All 3 kids got the same board game. Paid £35 but I'm not sure what for...

Thought the pre-booked Santa's Grotto visit was well organised and well decorated. I thought the visit with a present was pretty good value compared to the price being charged nearer to home. Santa's helpers were enthusiastic and tried their hardest to get a good photograph...

Just been with grandson to visit Santa. Not only great value for money for the visit, photo and quality of present but the staff were so enthusiastic and made it more more special and such a quality Santa.

A typical garden centre restaurant, The order for the food was quick, not much choice though, but then a long wait to order & get served with drinks & cakes/desserts. The 2 Mrs.B's enjoyed their Fish & Chips, but my Chicken Curry left a bit...

Came for lunch. Staff not very friendly. Lunch took ages to come!!!!!! Not worth the money . Very sad as this used to be a lovely place to come but is most certainly lacking something.

August 29th 2021 @ 2pm My mums 82nd birthday treat. Me, my sister and mum. We arrived to a very dirty 'reserve' labelled table! Person serving barely spoke. Food was minimal, 4 tiny finger sandwiches each, 2 firm scones each and 4 mini desserts each....

We went for breakfast this morning and we were very disappointed! It was extremely expensive for what it was. The sausages were burnt and dry, the egg had obviously been in the pot for a while and it was also extremely dry. By the time...

Very disappointed in our visit here today so short staffed felt sorry for the servers but was horrified sitting in the conservatory area waiting for our lunch when I noticed an area absolutely filthy. I felt to disgusted to eat my lunch. I will be...

Cafe staff need to learn to smile, I felt I had to attention when we got to pay eventually as the till was not manned, the lady that served us did not smile once and the woman that took our money barked her orders to...

The most awful, unorganised, dirtiest cafe around. Do not be yearned in by their false advertisement of posh cakes and fancy garden centre appeal. This place is absolutely disgusting. Staff are rude, unhelpful and unpleasant. No one knows what's going on. A manager is truley...

I had a previously unsatisfactory experience but decided to book an afternoon tea for two after a long absence. Thanks to Sheila it went perfectly. She was great and made all the difference. Nice fare but her friendly, attentive manner turned average into very good.

My wife and I used to visit Dobbies on a regular basis over the last decade but I have to say the standards have really dropped especially in the 'so called' restaurant. Last year we had a particular bad experience where tables weren't cleared and...

I have been in quite a few times to buy plants, and what fantastic ones they are and i'm very pleased, but yesterday sunday, i was chatting with a friend at the entrance to the restaurant when i heard raised voices, it turned out to...

I used to bring an elderley friend here a few years back, but always ended up moaning to each other about the lack of welcome and miserable staff, I thought I would try again yesterday, the Restaurent staff just as unwelcoming, a smile does help...

Went to Dobbies Milton Keynes yesterday afternoon for tea and cake . Well - 45 minutes later in the queue - we eventually got served . I heard others say that was the last time they would go there ... There were about 4 people...

One member of staff serving the food is so miserable and not at all helpful the restaurant was busy but even so she should cheer up a bit

My wife and I and our daughter visited the restaurant for hot chocolate and a slice of fruit cake and a Rocky Road. The service was quick and the restaurant was clean which we were happy to see in these C19 times

Terrible service, massive queues, rude miserable staff, dirty tables. customers arguing!! to list a few issues. How this is allowed to stay open is a mystery.

Very long queues which we bypassed as we'd pre ordered afternoon tea. Sadly, we still waited 40 minutes to get it! It looked like there were different servers for different parts of the restaurant. The side we sat on have a "snail" working. Most of...

I took my family (2 adults and 2 young children) on a Monday lunchtime to use the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme. When we arrived we were told there was a 20 minute wait even for sandwiches. When we went to order our...

On entering the restaurant the majority of tables had dirty cup, plates etc, I had to go and speak to somebody to clear the tables. The tables were not particularly clean and there appeared to be very little social distancing in place. We had a...

We booked in advance for a vegetarian cream tea. On arrival our server was not particularly friendly but brought the food quickly. We noticed the sandwiches contained meat and fish and pointed this out. I showed the order on my phone and without saying anything...

We arrived here on a cold windy day but as soon as we arrived the colourful plants and friendly staff helped to brighten and warm us all. We made our way for a tasty lunch in a very well appointed resturant. Lots of good food...

Sunday lunch comprised of a couple of slices of dry looking beef joint that was served swimming In a very thin and watery gravy or a roast chicken joint. There were accompaniments available but ours was served with Cauliflower cheese Carrots and Roast potatoes. £9.95!...

Had breakfast here at the weekend, great food and well presented, but sadly not as hot as we would have liked. Staff polite and helpful. We will definately visit here again in the future.

Visited Dobbies to use our vouchers, end 31 January, we had been sent due to being a Dobbies Member. Two main meals for £12.00, usually £8/10 each meal. Free coffee as well. Cappuccino large is normally £3.10 so a nice saving there. Food was hot...

The staff were good, food okay but a little miffed that (after spending a fair sum of money on afternoon tea for 4) you have to pay for a refill of coffee - never used to be the case here or anywhere else that I...

Just had an amazing after noon tea celebrating a birthday, big thank you to Mark and his team, very pleasant and extremely helpful.

Booked an afternoon tea for my neighbours birthday when booking it asked about dietary well they obviously don’t look at it, asked for no cream for me when I got there the lovely member of staff asked if it was the clotted cream and said all cream maybe could eat a little. (Does make me ill that’s why I put no cream) However bless her when she came with it she said it had all been made already she did put a millionaire shortbread on for me. Couldn’t eat any of the cakes in the end all with cream. I am in the food industry and if we have a booking that says not to put something on it then we don’t we look at our bookings! Would say the scones were lovely soft and fresh. But for me a disappointing experience. Staff were lovely though.

This cafe/restaurant is just a huge mess. It is so unorganised, there is never any food left, massive queues and over priced items. When you get your hot food and then queue up for half an hour for a hot drink is ridiculous. My hot food is cold by 30 mins. I just think the restaurant needs a massive reorganisation.