Dobbies Garden Centre Ayr in South Ayrshire

Drove to Dobbie's for lunch at 1pm today. The roll and sandwich counter was busy as usual, but the hot food counter was empty, I liked the look of the cauliflour cheese, a waited to be served, and waited, and waited. To my left people were being served, to my right ( coffee point) people we being served, i made a point of looking like I would like to be served, i noticed a staff member or possibly the cafe boss made a great job of ignoring me as she wandered backward and forth several times. Eventually I gave up, I shan't be going to Debbie's Ayr any more.

All of the Christmas items are now available. They have created a very festive atmosphere. Some of the items may seem a bit overpriced for their worth, but the quality of the items is excellent. My wife and I visited the store to see what they had to offer. They have a wide variety of beautiful trees, ornaments, and other Christmas items. I encourage you to visit the store to see what they have available for you.

Great plants and good food, staff were great (except for the inability of some to look happy), but this place needs an aquatic section fast, hence only 4 stars!

Great shop, well stocked with a great variety.

Cafe food at restaurant prices. Slow moving queue with the hot drinks counter the main backlog. Not the fault of the staff.

Always a lovely place even when it's not sunny. The roof allows so much light in the restaurant. The coffee is great!

Love to wander round Dobbies they are dog friendly and have a seating area in the restaurant where my dogs meet other friendly dogs and dog friendly people. You will love the cream scones 2 for price 1. Very tasty. Lots gift ideas and the Christmas season is being catered for if you're looking for decorating ideas or nice outfits to wear during the day.

Went to the cafe for coffee and cakes. the service was excellent and the cake was delicious. Would definitely recommend this cafe for a relaxing meal or coffee.

Went to the cafe for coffee and cakes. the service was excellent and the cake was delicious. Would definitely recommend this cafe for a relaxing meal or coffee.

Absolutely awful state the seating area of restaurant is in stuff running down walls, filthy floor, tables and ripped seats. It's no cheap and yet your expected to sit in this environment.

Stopped couple for a few months as disgusting to eat your food in this area . Came today and wow it's even worse it's absolutely disgusting, filthy come on dobbies sort it out! Won't be back till it cleaned up!

Stopped couple for a few months as disgusting to eat your food in this area . Came today and wow it's even worse it's absolutely disgusting, filthy come on dobbies sort it out! Won't be back till it cleaned up!

They don’t answer phone calls or emails. Absolutely dismal.

The girl serving us noticed we both had walking aids and took our tray of food to our seats. She was pleasant and helpfull.

Yet again the self service area short- this time no teapots.

Filled with lots of new plants and all at a reasonable price. Staff so helpful both in the gardening side and the young lady ("Angela) at the till. Cheered up a wet miserable day. This review was 2 years ago. Would like to update on Monday 18th March this year went to have a look round for more plants. Went for a coffee. No hot chocolate,no decaff coffee. So settled for a coffee. Decided to have a scone. Big mistake ; cherry for my granddaughter fruit for me. Theses scones were so dry they just crumbled what a mess. When using a scone mix the water needs to be measured not guessed and freezing does nothing for them. Went to pay . When the young lady stopped talking I got served. No knives. No teaspoon no napkins. I had to ask her to get me some . She told me there was some round the other side. At the cost that you charge I am looking for first class service. Also the toilets are not what they used to be. Toilet paper scattering the toilet floors. Thank goodness your garden staff are better trained and more helpful. If you were having a hot meal it would be cold by the time you sat down. I suggest you send a customer spy.

Great selection of indoor and outdoor plants.very good restaurant for meals or just coffee.

Amazing garden centre with the largest range of plants I’ve ever seen! Does excellent food too🌞

Just popped in for lunch lovely food friendly staff

Dobbies, please train staff on making coffee. Had a cappuccino, an inch down and the foam has collapsed . Its really just a milky americano. Very poor. Not the staff fault they need trained.

Friendly staff. Easy parking. Good breakfast....pity it wasa bit cold.

Lovely store, very clean and presentable. Lady at till convinced me to sign up for a card which held up the line without ensuring a other till opened. Extremely slow in the coffee queue as one poor lady was on her own.

Good garden centre lots of choice,lovely cafe that is dog friendly,so you can take your dog into the cafe .

Visited dobbies this morning for a gas bbq . . The girl that helped me couldn't have been more helpful . Went through to check if they was still any bbq's that I wanted still in stock . Even offered me the display one . If it would've fitted in the car I'd have took it . . Plus the young guy they helped me to the car was happy and helpful . .

Visited here a few times over the years. Slightly disappointed. I was looking for leylandii, and unfortunately, none. Not only that part of the section outside was empty......possible reconstruction. Food Hall was jumping. By the time you get to the tills, you grind to a halt. Food was OK. Biggest let down was the lack of variety in the wee individual places you could get gifts.

Big place with a wide variety of products.

The ladies in here are an absolute pleasure. Been going all week while on holiday and they are so friendly and polite.

Dobbies is good for some things. It’s very dog friendly and the staff are just lovely. There is usually a good selection of plants, and there are sometimes good bargains. The hot chocolate is exceptional. The coffee good. The scones heavy. Cakes very variable. We tend to stick to hot drinks and plant buys.

Went for first time in a while.had lunch but food not usual standard .macaroni dried out and lasagne not much better .the over all look of the place looks tired and run down .

Do Dobbies sell the most expensive bacon roll in Scotland or even the whole of the UK? Saw it was £5.99 for a roll with 3 items ie egg, sausage, bacon etc, but just wanted bacon thought it would be a more reasonable price. Hell no, at the till found out it was indeed £5.99 for just bacon on the roll, I complained that it was only one item on the roll, only to be told you've 3 pieces of bacon, told them it would be the last I ever have a roll in here! What was it like for a 6 quid roll? Awful, the bacon was dry and chewy, she had asked if I wanted butter, but had the meanest scraping of marg on one side so VERY dry, the roll tasted stale definitely wasn't fresh, absolutely shocking. It was the worst tasting, most expensive bacon roll I've ever had. Is the manager never embarassed by these reviews and what they offer their customers? Because they SHOULD be.

Very poor, no butter portions available only very cheap spread. No cups or mugs available at self service drinks area, no serviettes. Obviously not enough staff all looked unhappy the whole area was poorly managed.

This must be one of the worst places to eat , stopped on my way home from holiday. No visible menus, assistant helpful but surprised when we didn’t know what was in the sandwiches etc.Assistant asked if we would like salad but didn’t inform us if it was included in the price of the sandwich.£8.25 for a single toastie!!! .By the time we ordered our drinks and went to pay our toasties were cold. £27 for a toastie, Panini ,cup of coffee and tea - really. Difficulty finding a table that didn’t have empty trays etc on them. Please don’t stop and eat at this place, wouldn’t even give them one star.

Absolutely awful, took my other half an age to be served so much so I was worried about him, I picked up my hot chocolate and it was stone cold, staff had a couldn't care less attitude but did replace it with something hot that almost resembled hot chocolate and the price was a shock, two drinks and two empire biscuits was £13!!!!! WON'T BE BACK

What a disappointment. The cakes are so over priced . The cafe is definitely in need of refurbishment. Not a pleasant experience.

The cafe is in a very sorry state, not just this visit but in general. There seems to be no one in charge as the cleanliness is non existent. Tables very rarely get cleaned or cleared. The self service coffee and tea was a disgrace, it was not working and there was milk, tea and water all over the counter plus half filled cups. Obviously the machine was not working but had just been left. Considering COVID 19 is still in existence, seems it is time for a Health Inspection.

Stopped here for a Bus Tour Break for Food etc - Was a good shop

Very poor service was terrible at the food salad consistant of tomato and cucumber cut in chunks no lettuce.

Nice open space, well laid out, it's got a waitrose, it sells clothes, garden furniture, pet food & equipment, novelty gifts, plants and vegetables at the nursery stage - ready to be transplanted - the cafe has vegan options with a large naturally lit eating area. It's a really nice space. I like it.

Second visit this month to enjoy afternoon tea, our server was Aileen, she was a wee gem. We have now managed to sample the child’s afternoon tea (boy aged 10yr), a gluten free AT, and the ordinary AT, plus today, we had the Savoury plate (it was Easter after all 🙂)! Everything was first class, the food selection, Aileen (of course), and the drinks, hot and plentiful! If there was to be a small criticism, my daughter (gf), adores scones, but nobody ever provides gf ones 🥺. We all had a lovely afternoon. Thank you 😊

Went here on 27th March 2024 to meet friends for lunch. While the food was ok although very expensive the sevice was awful. Was given a disc and told there would be a 10 min wait. 30 mins later I went back to the counter to find they hadn't even started to prepare the 2 dishes that had been ordered and paid for. After complaining the 2 dishes were literally thrown together in 2 min. It will certainly be a long time before I return to this establishment.

Staff were really nice and helpful

I went to buy some scottish produce biscuits sweets etc only 2 lots of shortbread nothing else so really disappointing 😞

Had a lovely cooked meal and cake for £9.50, over 60's, Dogs are allowed in the cafe, and they also always get a biscuit at the till on the way out. Also, of course, some smashing plants and trees and lots of garden furniture.

A lovely cafe to stop for coffee and look around the garden centre. Lots to see and buy!

Nice pleasant shopping experience. Cafe is good.

Just cannot get through to the service desk!!

Very upmarket very expensive. Don't think it for me anymore and have been going there for over 20 years Getting dearer and dearer

Queued for 15 minutes for coffee. Chose a cherry scone the only scones available Huge so we hot one between us. 2 or 3 glace cherries in an under baked flat scone which was raw on the inside.

How they can sell those things they describe as scones is beyond belief. The treacle ones are always quite flat but today they weren't even half an inch deep - more like big flat cookies. The cherry ones are always burnt nowadays. We were there with an aunt for coffee and scone and the best of a bad lot seemed to be the fruit ones. However, that was short lived as when I cut into mine it exploded into a pile of crumbs and when my aunt started to try and spread butter on hers, it fell to pieces. They were returned as there's no way we were paying for that. I feel sorry for the staff having to actually sell this crap - they arent the ones who bake them after all. The cafe has really gone downhill since really as far back as they stopped having the proper farm shop and turned it into a supermarket - that was around the time they stopped selling a lot of the nice cheesecake/cakes and biscuits in the cafe.

Plants, bulbs etc all great, if rather pricey. The cafe was not great at all! We shared a massive fruit scone- it was dry and rather stale, the cream was over-whipped, and a strawberry within the cake still had its leaves on! The sitting area was scuffed on the walls, seats burst and very sad! You must do better than this, Dobbies, or people simply will not return.

Garden Centre worth a visit. Try not to be distracted by the piped 'music'...you can't escape it. Tea, coffee and fruit scone to follow. Be warned. Scone should carry a health warning for its dry crumbliness. Failed the challenge to get the butter to stick to the scone and spread without the whole thing disintegrating. Not been made with love in my opinion. If there is scone expert around to test will you back me up?

By far the worst Dobbies cafe I have ever been to. No money has been spent on this for what looks like a decade. All the tables and chairs are in disrepair. All the soft seating is cracked and in such poor condition. Waiting for tea and coffee, they must got to China and hand pick the tea leafs for how long it takes. And then you have to que for 10-15 mins before you can sit down on oftern dirty tables, with food all over the floor. The Dobbies in Edinburgh was amazing used it so much more when we lived there. The store manager should vist their to see how they can make improvements.

Sadly the cafe is badly in need of a good clean up , some walls require a fresh coat of paint and I was very surprised not to find “ free from “ confectionery. Excellent flat whites

All the furnishings poor and badly in need of a refurb. Cakes are expensive at £3.99. Won't hurry back.

Two surly girls serving. No pleasantries. Flat white had a frothy top that looked as if it had been dumped on top. We had our granddaughter with us and nether girl even smiled when she said thank you which is more than can be said about their manners. Coffee was ok and scone was dry……… also extortionate and overpriced bill. I gave this place a poor review some years ago and it most certainly has not changed. Why does the management do something about this? Won’t be back.

Bit pricy but nice. Food was nice but overpriced for what it was.

Avoid the Cafe overpriced everything frozen food and my food wasn’t even warm told staff about it and they said I’ll change it got it changed and it was still cold. Avoid avoid avoid

Was in Dobbies for a browse and thought I would go to the cafe for a cappuccino and a cake, big mistake! Have not been in the cafe for a long time but it has totally gone downhill. Just had a cappuccino due to the excessive price of the cakes. The girl serving managed to spill it all over the saucer and the chocolate as well. Went to find a table but it was hard to find one that didn't have uncleared dirty dishes on it. Eventually sat at one that wasnt cleared and I moved all the debris to make a space. Other people were doing the same. I counted ten uncleared tables around me. Looked like they were short of staff. All in all a bad experience and I won't be back!

Love Dobbies, go all year round but love it at Christmas

Booked as a birthday treat and our first Christmas meal and very pleased we did. Selection and food was excellent and we had a lovely server who was extremely helpful . In short a lovely experience

We visited here for my daughter to meet Santa which was lovely. Santa and elfs were very friendly and it was smooth and timely service. We then went for lunch in cafe. Slow service, no obvious menus or signage to state what was on offer, extremely over priced, seating area very run down and not what I remember it being and during eating our lunch my daughter was getting rained on was water was just dripping from the roof extremely poor experience of cafe which in turn has caused me not to be keen to return unless upgraded.

Christmas at Dobbies is so magical but …. the food was terrible , slow to be served and poor quality. They desperately need more staff on the check outs - big queues at the two tills in operation . Food department not as good as it use to be. Overall not a great experience .

Took my puppy to see Santa at grotto and was lovely Christmassy and santa and elves were great with roxy highly recommended 👌 👍

This cafe/restaurant is way past its sell by date. Staff looked as if they didn’t want to be there, and the service was very slow. If you do visit do not order the scones. They were dry and very crumbly and just too difficult to spread butter on them It used to be a pleasure to visit but I will definitely give it a miss from now on.

Was taken to the cafe by a friend for her birthday. What slow service! Our hot food was no longer even warm by the time we'd queued for coffee and paid. Panini and toastie could have done with being browned more. Cafe was freezing, don't even think the heating was on. Love the fact that dogs are allowed.

This is a beautiful spot with a great big restaurant/ cafe. The cakes and sandwiches are always fabulous but am afraid once again your scones are such a let down..Very dry, very crumbly. Hard to butter and not anything great to taste. Need to speak to Hayes bakery. We are also not the only ones talking about this let down. So yes recommend for for anything but scones.

Christmas display really wonderful

Dobbies Garden centre has a great selection of plants as well as house decorations. If you want to have a beautiful garden you can find all your luxurious needs here. The clothing shop inside also has good quality items. The restaurant looks very cosy inside with a lot of plants around it. The waitress was outstanding, and the food was exactly what I was looking for. We had our breakfast here. We were so pleased with the service. We were very impressed with the quality of the food and desserts we received. The restaurant also has a great cake selection. If you are passing by this beautiful town in Scotland, called Ayr make sure that you have a drink and food here. I can highly recommend The Dobbies Garden centre.

They were busy changing things around for Christmas popped in to cafe service was good however cafe itself looked a bit run down maybe needs a bit of a make over not changed much over the years

Excellent range of products and great service from staff. Prices are above average.

Good food and pleasant service. We had a great time. Free coffee as well.

Poor today. No Caramel Latte . But even worse at cutlery counter, not 1 knife available. Apparently every knife in the place was in dishwasher, even though abundance of all other cutlery. Over 30 minutes before any appeared. Unacceptable!!!

Love Dobbies Ayr , very friendly and knowledgeable staff always willing to help with top quality products throughout the store and it's very close by which is convenient.😁

Came for lunch while waiting by crematorium. Selection was poor and customer service was shocking. Asked for a tuna panini, the server grabbed a cold baguette and cut in half. Was looking forward to a toasted panini and side salad but nothing. It tasted ok but this sad baguette cost almost £9 (no salad, crisps or drink, just the cold baguette)

Think their cafeteria survives due to the custom it enjoys having Ayr Crematorium within spitting distance [ bumped into some of the cast of Two Doors Down a couple of weeks ago who met there before attending the script writer's funeral in the late morning] Dobbies needs to get its act together. For a good few years the time taken to be served has become increasingly annoying. Hot food is cold/luke warm by the time you get to the hot drinks counter and/or the checkout. Today we only wanted two flat white coffees plus one Empire Biscuit to share. The British Empire has shrunk decidedly as have Dobbie's biscuits. At the checkout, manned on-and-off by a young man, I asked him to take the two coffees off our Dobbies Club Plus card. [ two being free every calendar month] When I was paying £3.25 for the less than 4 inch diameter biscuit I commented that this was a ridiculous price to which he replied "You're getting your coffees for nothing". Resisted telling him that we are close friends of the Dobbies Regional Manager. Our supposedly Flat White coffee was weak, verging on anaemic and my wife didn't finish it.

Excellent service and comfort seating. Will be back.

Went into Debbie's Ayr today, toilets disgusting, lights flashing, queued for food and coffee, no cups, milk, insufficient staff. Walked out as I got fed up with waiting. Went to Gemmels, great service, great food and they welcomed me on arrival, Dobbies, you need to learn from your competitors!

Dobbies always good for a rummage. Got dome good discounted plants for the garden and a cracking windmill! Some of the shelves/areas empty and a bit sad looking 😔 Also, a drip coming from the ceiling being "fixed" with a big plastic plant pot catching the water 💧 The cafe was mobbed, and this on a Monday late morning. Very dog friendly.

As a Dobbies club plus member I was in with my friend to enjoy my FREE birthday cake and coffee for two which we thoroughly enjoyed . That alone would pay for my year's membership.Thank you Dobbies

Wanted soup and a sandwich but they had no soup... sandwiches were fine but were better value when added to the soup and sandwich deal

Sad to see the decline in the once great garden centre. Food expensive for what it is. Tea pot half the size, portions of good poor. The seating areas are so worn I didn't sit on them The stock of everything is sadly lacking I think this store has really gone downhill. Been a Dobbies card holder for many a long year. So we have just decided to cancel it as there are better garden centres nearby that produce quality food and beverages in their centres, along side lots of gardening products. We have just left the store to go elsewhere. Loss of sales from us. Another centres gain.

Lovely, nice tea, reasonably priced, clean loos, nice kids play area.

Not a great cafe, plenty of choice with huge cakes etc, the hot meals are a complete let down. Breakfasts are okay, bit expensive and can be a bit cool in temperature

Restaurant is Severely over priced 2 soups, 2 baguettes and a can £28 pound. Bit of a rip off

Love this garden centre, stock a wide range of plants, garden pots, in fact everything for the garden. Pet food as well restaurant has a variety of foods, cakes and scones are excellent

Waited 15mts in queue. Only to find out no soup. Service was horrible and the serving staff didn't seem to care. Service needs seriously looked at. I'll never be back.

Under staffed Long queues, had to wait in line for cakes as staff were making up sandwiches and salads etc, husband stood in separate queue for coffees and got served after a while I had to leave the queue without cakes to have with our drinks or the coffees would have been cold otherwise. Seriously need to get more staff or a better work system in place . Everyone was complaining.

Expensive place. BUT the food is good. IT WOULD ALSO PAY DOBBIES TO REMEMBER MOST PEOPLE ARE STRUGGLING, BECAUSE OF THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS. REDUCE YOUR PRICES , ITS NICE TO BE NICE, AND THIS WILL MAKE YOUR SHOP EVEN MORE PROFITABLE 📈 😀

Not the garden centre it used to be more of a furniture and home decoration store

Love Dobbies, never come out of there without buying something☺️

Does not have vegan meals and refuses to make a simple sandwich cos it has gone 3pm even though the stuff to do it had not been put away

Visited on 25th June. Companions say the scones were very nice and enjoyed their drinks. I had an oat milk flat white but there was nothing at all vegan on offer for me to eat. Surely in 2023 you can make some scone or bake that's suitable for vegans and for everyone! This was my fourth visit and fourth time mentioning it to staff but no improvement.

Nice garden centre, just had a quick stop for tea and refreshments, toilet facilities are good here.

Took my family to Dobbies in Ayr today for lunch. It was absolutely awful. No baguettes and limited fillings. We had to ask for salad with our sandwiches and the coleslaw tasted off. All drinks were warm and the ice bucket was empty. No water in the jugs. Tables were free of dishes but not wiped properly and sticky. No sandwiches in the children’s section so my grandson only had quavers and an apple for lunch. Total cost of lunch £23. Don’t think we’ll be back. Over priced and poor quality.

Awful experience, never again! As follows: - Massive queue with very little staff. Only one person serving on hot food. Food was cold by the time we sat down. It was a weekend and on Father's Day so could not understand the understaffing situation. -...

I visit Dobbies regularly, usually for coffee or lunch. Hot meals are available for breakfast, lunch together with toasties and panninis. A car or bus is required to get there as it is outside of town.

What on earth has happened to this place, it's used to be fun and vibrant, with descent food and toilets that didn't stick, Yuck. All the staff looked as miserable as sin, apart from the two giggling girls on checkout who were more interest in...

Really enjoy going into dobbies like walking around and the restaurant has a good choice food

This has gone way down hill! Lemon meringue pie with pouring cream £4.95…and they had run out of pouring cream at 2pm! When I challenged the till person why I was charged the same price she stated that it was the same price and we...

I visited this garden centre with a friend and enjoyed a nice lunch in the cafe. The kind young man who prepared our jacket potatoes carried our food to the table for us despite him being so busy, which we really appreciated. The food was delicious, and the Neopolitan cake was to die for! There was ample seating in the conservatory, and it is also dog-friendly. The garden centre is huge with every type of flower and plant imaginable and we spent a couple of hours looking around. All the staff were friendly and helpful when we asked questions. Everything was displayed beautifully and I particularly liked the pet section.