Dobbies Garden Centre Restaurant in Shropshire

Dobbies Garden Centre, just outside Aylesbury is part of a large chain of high quality garden and shopping establishments. It is a very large place with plenty to look at and a good café. We spent a couple of hours having coffee and a snack and looking around the store on a wet afternoon.

Appalling service not sure if chef was ill but a child’s portion of vegan nuggets were burt to a crisp non edible! I had quiche £10.99 no garnish looked awful. I asked a waitress for a jug of water she returned with a jug of water I asked for glasses she returned with beakers & slammed them in the table! Will not be returning very disappointed

We stopped here for lunch on our way home from South Wales. The food was reasonable, I had a gluten free ham sandwich with some chips which at over £8 I thought was expensive

Stopped off here for lunch. Toasted sandwiches were freshly prepared, well presented and tasty. The toilets left somewhat to be desired - they were dirty and untidy and most definitely needed cleaning.

We like Dobbies, most of the Staff are friendly and helpful in the garden centre part, we have a Dobbies card which is decent value with free drinks every month & money off and other offers. The Coffe is a lot better than it used to be, and some of the cakes are quite nice, but a bit all the same and too many calories really, they could do with some more smaller / plain things to go with Tea / Coffee, they also seem to have a lot of problems with their hot water / tea /Coffee machines, We do not eat the more main meals here as just not our thing, and it all looks a bit bland / heated up really, the other thing which gets on your nerves is one you go to pay for your drinks there is often nobody at the till as they are doing other things !

After having to queue with our food to get drinks & then queue to pay by the time we sat down the roast was not hot at all surely you should supply covers to keep food warm. The meat & roast potatoes were ok but the yorkshire pudding was solid & as for the crackling it was just a piece of belly fat.Will certainly not be returning or recommending this place for food.

The garden centre itself is amazing. We love going there so I apologise for the 1 star confusion review. The 1 star is for the softplay only as unfortunately there is no other way to leave a review for this. The lady who charges for the entry is rude and the softplay is actually extremely small. I went there with my 22 months old and had to leave as all the other kids kept running into him and hurting him and he was crying constantly while all the other mums couldn’t care less and sitting at their tables. It is too small and it’s actually not safe at all for more than like 5 children to be in there. Will never go back.

Lovely approach and wonder through the garden centre, then to the restaurant - it was slightly confusing re ordering no menus in the tables so we 4 of us went up the the service area and it was just too crowded as they only had small menus on the service area, we all decided and the food in the main was ok - the coronation chicken was very moist and at a guess probably home made, but unfortunately the bread was slightly dry. The lady taking payments was busy doing something so we had a wait for her then she wasn’t too friendly - we felt we had inconvenienced her! The toilets were very unclean - we reported this and again staff didn’t appear interested.

Visited today, 02/05/24 at lunchtime we went for a plant and decided to have lunch, it was really busy managed to find a table. Ordered a cheese and onion toastie and cauliflower and onion bahji roll,when they arrived the Baha’i was over cooked and dry, the toastie wasn’t toasted enough it was like bread and not hot! Coffee and cakes were very nice but food was very poor!

Got here a bit before 12 so the lunch menu wasn't an option and rather than wait 20 minutes we had a baked potato and coffee. It was immediately apparent that there were very few cakes on show, with lots of empty spaces or just a few pieces on a plate here and there, so either they had not restocked the cake cabinets or they didn't have many? Hard to understand just before lunchtime when people would be coming to eat for the rest of the afternoon. Gluten free options were few, I didn't see any cakes marked gf and there were a few bought in things like plastic packaged mini lemon tart or flapjack etc to buy near the till, but I usually avoid those as not keen on them. The restaurant felt quite cold as if no heating was on, the plates were cold, the coffee was served in wide-brimmed cups and by the time we had queued all the way to the payment till, paid and then collected our cutlery etc, then found a table, our potatoes were barely lukewarm and the coffees not much better. We were tempted to ask for our potatoes to be remicrowaved hot again but that would have spoilt the salad (which was nicely fresh and crisp)! On visiting the Ladies toilets they were scruffy - bits of tissue paper scattered around on the floor generally, my toilet didn't flush, no soap in the sink dispensers, just one bottle of handwash on a surface as well as a container/box of something random seemingly left there. Altogether not a good customer experience, poor impression all round, they really need to improve generally and definitely sort out the queuing/paying situation to avoid hot food being almost cold by the time you can actually sit down to eat it. A table service would be a better option. We won't be returning.

This is a lovely garden centre to visit with friendly staff. The restaurant has been my saviour throughout this last year! When they were able to open last month they provided a lovely outdoor seating area with great food and service. The staff are friendly and helpful and the food delicious. They work so hard and have been fantastic over the last few weeks keeping to the Covid rules and providing fantastic table service. The menu is varied and the breakfast highly recommended. The gentleman who serves in the restaurant (manager?) is very helpful and goes over and above to ensure you enjoy your visit. He is friendly, efficient and excellent at his job. Thank you everyone!

Enjoy meals At Dobbies Shrewsbury usually every month But certainly not on 1st October.i had the burger n chips wife had fish n chips. Not the usual chunky nice chips but fries if you can call them that, they were just awful n greasy not edible at all.And no peas given hard carrots just could not eat them . Still feeling hungry decided to have something sweet wife had lemon meringue pie it was ok n I had a dry plain scone even though I asked for a cherry one . A very disappointing meal hopefully better when next return.

I see my last review from 2017 praises this restaurant ...well things can change. My husband and I went for breakfast thinking it was 2 for 1 but not on a Thursday. However we thought we would have a breakfast as we were there. I can’t believe we didn’t complain ...it was dreadful. .served by a miserable lady I hadn’t seen before. Smoked bacon (it doesn’t say it’s smoked ....?) curled up ,hard fried eggs ,dry sausage etc ...and we took it! We should have said something.We did ask to speak to the manager afterwards but he was not in. We spoke to deputy ? ,who wasn’t very helpful...they start cooking at 9 am and we were there to receive cold.dry food at 9-50.I know things have changed but the regular staff are brill.When Mr Brown is there I think things are different,,,,,,there should be no slacking in his absence and the lady in charge was no advert for good customer relations. We will think twice about breakfast again . Scones off the menu for us to ..when you use a “mix” strong taste of additive(hand made are worth the effort ) £1 .10 for 2 thin slices of toast is ridiculous. You can buy a loaf for that. Your prices are “out of sink”with other local outlets.

My wife and I decided to have a meal at the restaurant, I ordered the ham chips and vegetables, my wife had the lasagne mashed potatoes and carrots. When the food arrived my wife’s food was lukewarm so she asked for it to be warmed up, mine was not even warm and the chips were white, I took it back and asked them to microwave it, I left most of the chips as they were terrible, undercooked, I should have photographed the food. The tea was very weak too, unfortunately the serving staff didn’t seem as though they wanted to help, no apologies for the state of the food and overall they didn’t seem to care, not a smile or any help at all .This is the worst meal that I have ever had at Dobbies, we have eaten here regularly over the years but will not be calling again .

Sunday afternoon 3pm. O.k. not exactly lunchtime but still a good 1.5 hrs before the Garden Centre closed and most likely 1 hour before they closed the restaurant. I'd just driven down from Anglesey, and lunch was beckoning albeit running late. When we got there, everything was cleared away, with the exception of two dried up plated salads in the chiller and a few assorted cakes on display. I didn't want a cake and asked if I could have a chicken salad baguette (£6.25) which I was told I could, but rather than wait I could go and pay for drinks and inform the cashier of my extra purchase and she'd bring it to my table when ready. When it arrived a few minutes later, I received a very poor excuse for a Chicken Salad Baguette (see pic) One of those par baked baguette, no butter, some chicken pieces like the ones you buy frozen ready cooked with a few slices of cucumber of various thickness wedged in the middle. Luckily at the till, I asked for a sachet of mayonnaise when I was asked if I wanted any sauces to go with my sandwich other wise it would have been extremely dry. I couldn't be bothered to take it back for a refund and wished I'd have stopped elsewhere on my journey, especially as I'd purposely rejected the idea of other places en route which I know I'd have got much better value and quality elsewhere. The local garden centre near me has changed to a Dobbies. I don't think I'll be frequenting there then either for food. Shame as they used to be really good.

Decided to stop off at restaurant for a breakfast sandwich and hot drink.Ordered food which was 2 bacon sandwiches,the bread was very thin and staff don't butter the bread either.these are at the tills once you have paid but would mean taking bacon off to butter bread!then we had another que for the hot drinks which took at least over 5mins and by this time food getting cold.Once hot drinks are done then it's over to the till to pay so by now as you can imagine bacon sandwich is cold.then once paid you then choose table and then get cutlery sugars etc sit down.very overpriced for what you get.you need thicker home made bread not the thin slice bread which is the basic from supermarkets.very disappointing and will not be visiting again for breskfast

Visited at lunchtime, restaurant didn't look overly busy. However half the menu was unavailable limiting the choice considerably. One of our meals was ham, egg and chips, the chips were edible, the ham processed cheap and tasteless, the eggs over cooked and rubbery. The burger on our table was so well cooked it was just dry and tasteless and the bun stale. Sadly even the scone just crumbled away as you tried to butter it. The whole meal was disastrous. If you can't meet demand and quality for hot food dont bother. Would be better offering a selection of sandwiches and afternoon tea. Trying to be more than it is sadly. Staff were friendly and helpful but wont bother calling again.

Booked afternoon tea for 3 on line to celebrate my Mum's 81st birthday. Arrived at Dobbies at 1.25pm and asked who we needed to see about the booking. Staff looked very disintersested and unhappy in their work. We were shown to our table and told someone would be along to look after us. A lady appeared and got us 3 pots of tea. She didnt smile or make eye contact.. she brought over our plates of food and left after saying she would pop back to check on us. Needless to say, we never saw her again. The cafe was not busy. Lots of staff around, but no one looked happy.2 years ago we had afternoon tea at the same venue. We were tentively looked after by a pleasant young man called Jordan.Todays experience was quite a let down. Food average, pleasant pot of tea.

Only dog friendly if you are with someone. There’s an indoor and outdoor seating area and the staff are friendly. If you’re on your own the only way you can get a drink or food is to find some one to hold your dog. Mine’s a big dog, well behaved but big, not everyone happy to take responsibility.

Always call here for breakfast when passing through.Lovely store and staff always pleasant and helpful.However,the same Cant be said for the cafe.Food is passable but the staff always look miserable,although there was a guy on the checkout who was very pleasant.Blonde who served us was extremely rude,noticed I was watching and spent the rest of the time I was queuing giving me dirty looks!!Shocking behaviour.

We went to Dobbies Shrewsbury coffee shop for a birthday treat. The coffee and teas we ordered were very, very weak and served cold! We also ordered scones which were 'rock' hard and inedible and you could hardly see the tiny amount of jam served! We came away so upset, discusting, dont waste you money or time going to this dreadful place with poor service!

We had pre-booked lunch for 12 noon and arrived to find our table already prepared and nicely laid out. Our Waiter (Stuart) was exceptionally friendly and efficient and soon delivered the vegetable soup which was delicious. The hot main courses were accompanied by an impressive selection of well cooked vegetables,cranberry sauce and jugs of gravy. However, the plates were unfortunately cold. Nevertheless,everyone enjoyed the meals, which were followed by the most wonderful Christmas puddings and mince pies, tea and coffee.All in all, this was a really enjoyable experience and we will be happy to repeat the exercise next year.

Went to Dobbies Shrewsbury on Sunday with my husband,son,daughter in law and baby granddaughter. We went to the garden centre to visit the grotto. Santa and his elves were very friendly and there was no rush to see him. The present was picked by my daughter in law when she booked. The garden centre itself was ok with the usual goods but was expensive. We went in the cafe which was busy and had a coffee and mince pie. I cannot comment on prices as my son paid. Our main visit was for the grotto which was a good experience for our grand daughter overall.

Absolutely brilliant!! Elves really attentive so much to keep the children entertained. Food was brilliant. Father Christmas was lovely, and the present was really good. All round a really special afternoon Thankyou Dobbies Ashford

A quick lunch stop and a look around. Poor weather so the indoor dog friendly area of the restaurant was a welcome place. The food was pretty ordinary but ok and reasonably priced.

Went for breakfast, I had a breakfast roll, with bacon, sausage and egg, all of which were cold, my husband had the vegetarian breakfast which was bland and also cold, the bacon in my roll was like leather and the egg like rubber. Will not eat there again, very overpriced too,

Just wanted to leave a little comment about my trip to dobbies on Friday 8th November morning!

Friday 1 November 2019, my husband and I made a rest stop here on our journey to North Wales.

Called in on way back from hospital for tea and cakes. Restaurant was very busy with people having Sunday lunch. Queue for the till had nowhere to rest put your tray. Tea was ok. Cakes less so. Scones tasted of chemicals, too much baking powder to make them bigger. Tasted horrible. The other cake was a Bakewell slice that was incredibly sweet, far too much sugar. Table hadn’t been cleaned properly and loads of food waste on the floor. Had the feeling this has got too big. Toilets tired and smelly.

Visited here with my son Fri 1 Nov at 1050hrs. We opted for the big breakfast and the traditional. The lady serving us was not pleasant and was full of cold, coughing and spluttering. The choice of egg was hard, greasy, fried or scrambled! I chose the hard egg in fear of upsetting the woman further. Luckily a cover was placed over the food as we waited in the long queue for hot drinks. No it was not busy, but just a wait as one poor woman served. (She was very pleasant). Then onto the queue at the till, with just one woman serving - not friendly or pleasant either. Eventually another lady assisted on the other till. So even though there was no lunch time rush, there was a need for more staff. (Imagine what service it would be if rush hour)? The breakfast was luke, warm, soggy, with hard toast.

Good job it tasted better than it looked. My made-to-order egg mayo sandwich was literally "slapped" together and "slapped" on the plate by the lady on the sandwich counter, so much so it disintegrated. I think she threw the salad on the plate too by the look of it... My crisps were under there somewhere! In her defence, there was a bit of a queue but a few more seconds on presentation would have made all the difference. Took the enjoyment out of my lunch.

Stooped here on a trip to Birmingham the restaurant was very busy as coaches stop here as well ordered soup of the day which was potato and leek with a roll and butter it was delicious also had pot of tea the cost being very competitive plenty of tables and facilities for children very clean service very good then went to look around the very extensive garden centre a very good stop indeed.

Visited the garden centre restaurant to have lunch with my mum. We were served by a very polite and helpful young man...his name was Ollie. He listened carefully to my mum's requests for food and helped her make an informed decision. After our meal, he walked past our table and enquired if we enjoyed our food. A very professional and polite member of the restaurant team. Thank you Ollie!

I ordered a tuna sandwich in the coffee shop... The bread was literally mauled by the server as she proceeded to make a "fresh" sandwich...the salad garnish was then picked up in her bare hands and plonked on the plate...Needless to say I will not be dining there again!! are these people not trained? and why are they not wearing gloves?

travelling thro the area ....called in for an early Lunch No sooner was we seated our food came out What was to Hot was Hot and tasty.....but OH that side Salad .....BROWN OFF PUTTING LETTUCE

Called in for lunch on our way home yesterday. There was a long queue waiting to be served, not much organisation or communication between the staff serving. When I was eventually served I was told that there were no jacket potatoes, so I opted for two bowls of soup and was given the choice of carrot and coriander or tomato and basil, so i chose one of which and then was told, sorry no tomato and basil so had the carrot and coriander.

The cafe has not got very nice food and can sometimes be unclean. Though there is a large choice of cakes.

Called at Dobbies today on journey home from Wirral

We stopped here on our travels home from North Wales and it was fine, we didn’t visit the garden centre. The choices were good included gluten free soup and Brie and cranberry on ciabatta which were very tasty all washed down with tea.

Complained about the car park on 26 May, by letter, after tripping and experiencing a sprained ankle. No response. The website seems to be off-line tonight and no-one answered the phone today when I rang. What can I say? So poor that words fail me.

Called in this morning,for a snack, and come across member of staff who must of been absent ,when the customer care course was implemented. Asked if they had gluten free bread, and was told yes, but it is frozen. She said the bread would be slightly warm ,when served. I said ok and picked tuna mayonnaise for the filling. It came out ,on the smallest slices of bread I have ever seen. Bread was black and the tuna mayonnaise filling was red hot.Not a nice combination. I will find somewhere else to call in future.

Just popped in for a quick bite and ordered cheese & onion toastie. It was very dry, the sandwich had hardly any cheese in the sandwich. Will not be visiting again. The good part the coffee was nice but not very hot.

Have enjoyed breakfast here many times. always tasty and well cooked and i like that its already cooked and so you arent waiting for it to arrive ...staff are friendly although my husbands humour was lost with the lady on the till. Lovely shop a lovely selection if you are looking for a present !

Had breakfast today with a friend. It’s changed from choosing so many items. We opted for the standard breakfast. The server was very slow checking the list over and over. Toast was hardly done and then it took ages to get a drink, due to a que and 1 person serving one drink at a time while talking to 2 other staff members. Her lack of attention caused too much chocolate powder on the cappuccino which also ended up all over the milk jug for the tea and in the tea cup which she was oblivious to. Then to the till to pay (another que) collect cutlery and finally sit down to a cold breakfast.

On our way to Pwellheli we called into Dobbies Garden centre for coffee and a break we had 2 lovely lattes and a hot chocolate very good ideal place to take a break on our journey.

Mediocre! Had to ask the waitress if they had a gluten free selection (not shown), they did and my wife chose from that selection. However, the waitress wasn't sure what gluten free was and tried to use the same cutlery used for other cakes to serve, as my wife is a coeliac (which I informed the server) would have made her very ill. Completely lax, very complacent and could make people very ill!

We called in here on our way home from Hereford. There is plenty of parking and the centre has a diverse range of goods. We were there for an early snack lunch. We chose the cream scone and the self serve coffee - so it was a quick experience. It was a good sized scone filled with plenty of jam and cream and was fresh and tasty. The staff were friendly and the tables were cleared and wiped down regularly. The ladies facilities are plentiful and immaculately clean although the handryer could be better. A good experience.

My wife and I called in for Lunch as we often do, all we wanted was a sandwich and a wrap, the young chap who served us had to write down “ham salad sandwich on white + chicken salad wrap”, it took an age to arrive and what we were presented with was an appalling mess, the sandwich was dry, the salad was dried up and brown at the edges and the wrap was unfurled with the contents similar to the sandwich. We tried to make it edible by adding lashings of mayonnaise but unfortunately nothing was going to resurrect this abomination, we just left it!

little bit pricey£ if there restaurant was slitly cheaper i think they wood sell a lot more and also encourage a lot more business

It's not very often that I have written a poor review about anywhere but my experience today was pretty poor. Firstly though I have to say that there are some very nice and capable people there but unfortunately the one that served me (and the customer in front) today is in the wrong job. How anyone can make a "dogs dinner" of a cheese baguette is beyond me. I should have took it back. The service was really slow and that was with only a few customers in, God help you on a busy day.

Some of the nicest tasting scones we tried in a long time slow service sometimes but it is never to long staff very helpful

Took my Grandmother for a light lunch and was shocked by the food and customer service we recieved. My Grandmother ordered Mac'n'cheese, which was full of water and my panini was hard, with stringy cheese inside. We were charged £8 pounds for my grandmothers dish and mine was £7 pounds which was a rip off in my eyes! Customer service was poor throughtout the experience, no napkins given to you with your food, neither knives and Forks, Very Poor! Food was cold when it arrived and Staff when i paid were unfrendly throughout making it an unpleasent experience. When carrying the tray over to the table, one of the staff had plonked my food ontop of my tray, making me nearly drop it and this was totally unprofessional, in the end had to make her bring it to the table for me, which shouldn't even be requested by the customer, it should just come natural. I do not recommend stopping off to this garden centre as they staff are unfriendly, the food is overpriced and the atmosphere is dead!!! Managers should review their staff to see where their weaknesses are! Will not be returing, unless something drastic changes the cafe.

Met a friend at Dobbies for coffee, cake and a catch up. Have been here several times before and it is much like many other garden centre cafes/restaurants, nice enough but unremarkable. However this time the friendliness and excellent customer service provided by café staff member Charmaine made this visit memorable for all of the right reasons. Thank you Charmaine.

Only had a coffee this time But good deal on dobbies card free coffee every month ..Which is always nice .But slow service .Always a big queue to pay and tables not cleared up in time for new customers .shop has changed since new owners .Overpriced and too expensive in the shop .

Visited here on Sunday. Looks very nice and well set out. We did not have to wait long to be served and we ordered 2 haddock, chips and peas, 1 latte and 1 tea. We didnt mind paying the price which was around £23.85 give or take. The latte was lovely as was the cup of tea but we were not impressed with the food. We had a piece of haddock which to me appeared as though it had been cooked a while as the edges were a bit tough and the fish inside was ok but not brilliant as a little dry. we had a handful of chips which were lovely but not enough and a spoonful of peas. The plates were cold so it did not take long for the food to go cold too. We thought it was too little for the price we paid. I am sorry Dobbies, I like your garden centre but not your food prices. We will not visit this restaurant again. We should have gone further along to Shawbury Garden Centre where the food is beautiful and less expensive than yours.

We come here fairy often, at least once a month. Very rarely do we have more than a coffee in the cafe, this is purely down to the prices they charge. For example- a ham (one thin slice cut into 4) cheese (four shreds/shards) panini £6.70! If it was £2.50 it would be fair enough. It would still be disappointing but £2.50. £6.70! Joke. A bottle of water, not a normal size bottle, not a take away size bottle but a child’s size, £1.25!!! Are these guys are real. Prices are criminal. More expensive than London and France. Please review yourselves.

Called in for a quick drink and cake late afternoon.

My partner and I have been going to the Shrewsbury Dobbies for over 12mths now and feel the staff over the past few months clearly don’t want to be there. Wanting our usual we felt the first lady we approached (a couple of weeks ago) was rude and abrupt. Clearly everything was an effort, we brushed it off as people do have off days. We then when to the till for a different lady to go on about what we have is not part of the deal. Clearly stating we did not want the deal and to have what we have chosen, to which she replied “It’s not part of the deal” WE DID NOT WANT THE DEAL!!! The following day I wanted to try out the afternoon tea for a friends birthday (just the 2 of us) and again the same lady I seen the day before was again VERY rude and in an abrupt tone “Have you booked online?” this was in front of other customers and I replied “No I did realise I had to” turning to her college and said “She has to book doesn’t she!” She told me to check out the poster behind the scones so I did. It clearly states “We recommend you book” in small print at the bottom may I add. By this point I no longer wanted to spend my money in the cafe and went elsewhere. Today my partner and his mum when to the cafe to be standing there for nearly 10 minutes waiting to be served with no other customers waiting. Unhappy with the service as they were not asked of what they wanted, they took this matter up with the manager of Dobbies, to which he apologised but clearly not being sincere which made my partner and his mum annoyed. If you want good customer service Shrewsbury Dobbies is not the place as they don’t seem to be friendly or in a helpful and positive way.

We have driven passed Dobbies Garden Centre many times on the way to Wales but, today we decided to visit and it was worth it, it is full of interesting products and worth a walk around, we brought a couple of items and although there was an issue with the tills the staff were great and got us sorted.

Atmosphere: none. Service: non existent. Food: overpriced (very). Products on sale in the so called Garden Centre: the same overpriced tat as anywhere else.

Had my daughter's 4th birthday party at the soft play this past weekend. The staff were easy to communicate with throughout the booking process. The actual party was a huge success. everything ran smoothly, the staff were beyond helpful and friendly. The kids had fun, and as a working mum trying to throw a kids party- Dobbies really made it asy for me to sit back and relax and enjoy my own child's birthday celebration! would highly reccommend!

Breakfast and soft play area with grandson. Excellent choice of breakfast options and great flat white coffee Good service Great for straightforward breakfast

Popped in with my wife on our trip from South Wales to Chester on 23/12. Good service. Friendly staff. Good menu range. Good value for money. Would definitely use when making this trip in future.

Visited early afternoon to break a very long journey home after Christmas. Had visited before (though just for coffee) and found it OK. Different experience this time. Not all that busy - one lady serving on the "sandwich" section who was being questioned by a couple of ladies about the afternoon tea options. She was being very short and unhelpful with them. After a few minutes another lady appeared and asked my husband what we wanted (What do you want?) - no smile or other greeting ( we were obviously next in the queue). He started to tell her and she turned and walked away!! She had actually gone to get a new order pad but she didn't say excuse me or anything. When she came back she looked at the one of the "afternoon tea" ladies and said Who's next?? Hmmm!! What were we Scotch Mist!! Anyway she begrudging took our order no please or thank you. Handed us a stick with a number on and the order stuck behind it. Still no thank-you. No explanation about what we should do next. I can honestly say we have never been treated (I would say spoken to but she didn't say much) so rudely in a café.

Visit was a bit of a let down, over priced food, miserable staff and oh so slow, food was cold by the time we got through the que and managed to pay. Cakes looked amazing but the one I had looked pretty but was poor. Sandwiches had seen better days and nothing looked clean. Lots of tables not cleared. Generally looked a bit tired and run down. Staff were not great, apart from the young girl on drinks, but system is so slow all our food was cold by the time we got to the table. Needs a revamp a good clean and some staff training or maybe extra staff to keep ques down.

This is the second garden centre we have done tea with santa at so we were comparing with wyevale. Nice garden centre but expected a nice Christmas display with lights on. The food for the kids was nice. Adults was lovely cream tea. Couldn't finish it. Loved how much time Santa spent with kids. And that they all sat round him whilst they called them up for pressies. Plus a visit from Dobbie the reindeer. Elves were lovely and helpful. The down side. We wasnt sure what we did about our meal because we were given vouchers. But they brought our afternoon tea out but had to go up for drinks. So bit of confusion there. No cutlery for cream tea so had to fetch our own. Bit dissapointed in quality of presents as were the children. But we would go again as Santa was excellent with real beard

We go here on a regular basis to use the soft play with our boys. It is what it is. If you don’t mind paying high prices for bang average food and being surrounded by other people’s detritus and food waste it’s the place for you! To be fair the kids love it.

Very disappointed in our visit today. Extremely expensive at the restaurant and the staff could not be bothered and were miserable. Had to wait ages at the checkout too as only 1 till open and everyone complaining but nothing was done. After reading other reviews I think Dobbies needs to review their staff training programme!!

Took my elderly Mother for lunch here. Never again! Firstly, when you queue up for food it would be helpful if anyone actually acknowledged you were there. I almost walked out after what seemed like 10 minutes and I wish I had done. Fish and chips were on the menu but the solitary piece of fish on display looked disgusting. We both opted for the Christmas lunch, the person serving was actually counting the amount of vegetables they put on the plate and actually took one off when they realised they'd given us one too many. Then they put a plastic cover on the food and managed to knock vegetables off! To my disbelief they just wiped them off the counter onto the floor. At this point I really should have walked off.

Pre paid trip to see Santa. The cost was ridiculous for what we got. Time slot was every 15 minutes but stood around, waiting. The venue gets smaller each year and this year even Santa cabin was smaller.. kids enjoyed it but it was like a conveyor belt and freezing ...

Christmas is here and so is Turkey and stuffing. I have several dinners already under my belt (now already one notch on) but none have been better that the meal and service given by Olly and the staff at Dobbies Garden Centre Restaurant on 13th December.

The soft play area is really good for toddlers and children up to about age 10. Clean and well maintained, there are adjacent tables for food and drink, reasonable entry fee £3.

Had coffee and cherry scone it was very good and friendly staff A lot of tables needed clearing so assume been extra busy all very Christmasy

Called for a breakfast rather than use the overpriced chains nearby, great breakfast in nice clean surroundings

Ive been a few times now as we use the softplay. The softplay is great and I can’t fault it but the floor where the tables and chairs are is always filthy! Bits of food, yoghurt lids and bits of sandwich I picked off the floor yesterday. The cafe floor also covered with food and dirty tables. My teaspoon had bits of food on it. Someone needs to get a broom out throughout the day and get food off the floor. I agree with an earlier comment the staff do seem very unhappy!! All seems a little understaffed. No eye contact or smiles. They are just going through the motions. The last couple of times I’ve been there has only been one person on the till!! As I stood in the que yesterday many people were complaining that their food was going cold while waiting and I completely agree. It’s a shame because it’s a lovely garden centre and soft play, just needs some TLC, some improvement on cleanliness and staff care

We visited the restaurant in Dobbies for a drink and snack on the way to Wales as we were due a break.

We went here after visiting Attingham Park. The cafe was lovely and clean although busy. The scones were very good as was the coffee. As with most garden centres it was quite expensive but we enjoyed it. Then we had a wonder around the garden centre which had plenty of things to look at.

Went here 7th november,had steak pie with cabbage ect,was dried up,awful couldn't eat it,my wife had fish and chips,absolutely stunk and tasted off,never ate any of it,disgusting

The food was poorly labelled and quite poorly presented. Staff looked as though they really didnt like working there. They ranged from disinterested to rude with little idea of what they were selling. 2 stars for the scones.

Came here en route to Wales and found the catering much better for us than the Starbucks or Burger King opposite. We had a proper English breakfast for a reasonable price in a spacious cafe. You can decide whether you have time for the excellent retail therapy as well.

I stopped here on my way to and from North Wales from London. Good place to stretch legs, use the facilities and look at the range of outlets. They already had Christmas gifts in stock, so I ended up buying some early gifts. The coffee was fine and service was quick. They had a range of food on offer, but due to the time that I was there I just had coffee.

We do tend to use Dobbies as a meeting point when catching up with family who live further South or North as its easy to find and parking is plentiful - plenty to keep everyone entertained from flowers to clothing - lots to tempt you in the cafe too with a wide selection of snacks as well as more substantial meals. So we will keep coming back

We went as a large group for a Saturday lunch. There were lots of empty tables so we fitting in easily. We had a mixture of meals; some main meals, wraps and scones. The bread was found to be hard so this was left. Wraps good and cherry scone very nice. Maccaroni cheese was a bit dry.

We normally start our holidays in North Wales with breakfast at Dobbies however on this occasion we left home a lot later so we started our holiday with coffee and cake. I have to say that the bakewell slice that I chose was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten. As the place was very busy we were advised to use the self service coffee machines to speed up the queuing process. The drinks were perfectly acceptable. We also enjoyed browsing the Works and other outlets.

At one time it was a real treat to go for tea and a cream scone.

We booked for afternoon tea as a birthday treat. Was looking forward to it as we have had a couple of good teas with them : usually good value for money and lovely cakes. They have changed the format of the luxury teas swopping the cream cakes for savoury vol-au-vents - definitely not worth the extra money. Ours were filled with egg mayonnaise and another very unpleasant looking concoction - we didn't eat them. Scones were very hard and dry : sad as usually my favourite bit of the tea. We were all looking forward to the salmon and cream cheese sandwiches - but again were disappointed as we got egg mayo, cheese and tomato, and ham. Nice enough but not very special. No battenberg cake as advertised - the birthday girl's favourite so bit sad it was missing. All in all - just felt that we got what was left over rather than been made specially for the occasion. As it wasn't a last minute booking I feel there's no excuse for not having the right stuff in stock.

We waited at the service counter for almost 10 minutes without any member if staff acknowledging us. Expensive, tasteless, cold soup! Dirty uncleared tables, also food on floor.

I viewed but didn't eat here ... I chose the petrol station just 50 yards away on the same complex! I just wanted a sandwich and coffee. The egg mayo sandwich, 2 slices of bread and some egg mayonnaise, no extra frills, just a sandwich cut into triangles in a plastic pack was £4.50!! Food all looked good but silly prices.

Ok, let me start by saying that I do like to occasionally shop at Dobbies, who doesn't, they do nice stuff and the staff are polite and friendly. However, after visiting there newly opened Softplay area for children, I have to raise some negatives which I hope will the staff will review.

Good choice of food, seved by friendly staff, some what busy but still kept clean unlike many places you go like this where the staff leave dirty tables for ages! Prices are reasonable. The rest of the garden shop itself has largely improved since I last visited with something for everyone. Clothing, toys, books, soaps and fragrances, cards/giftwrap Etc etc. I love the fact they have The Works incorporating with the store. Super fun things to pick up from there for the kids to do at really cheap prices.

We visited Dobbies restaurant today for lunch. We both decided to have roast gammon dinner. Worst meal we have had in a long time, the meat was all fat and the vegetables so hard that we couldn't eat it. We should of made a complaint but we just decided that we would not eat in the restaurant again.

Went to Shrewsbury for the day and called in for food.. Cottage pie was rock hard and tasted vile, veg was just slop and asked for gravy but there wasn’t any. Staff scruffy and restaurant was filthy with food all over the floor.. Toilets weren’t clean.. Will never return

Called for a sandwich and coffee. Very good selection of hot and cold food and drinks.

One of the best afternoon teas I’ve been to, staff were attentive and nothing was too much trouble. Would definitely visit again

We ended up coming here on Saturday with my sister and her 2 toddlers, planned the park but it rained we were aiming for the soft play, but in the way round we got distracted by an amazing section dedicated to "the works" shop, then a bit further along a train table which the children spent ages playing on. We met another mum there who told us the soft play was manic today (party+usual Saturday) my sister went to investigate and said it looked amazing but we'd go there another day. The children were happy playing with the train table, then we finally prized them away to look round the rest of the stock. Brilliant range of products for decent prices. End of season sale in summer items meant we got some brilliant kids outdoor toys cheap! Will be back again!

Used to visit here in the early days, but put off by the dangers of the exit on the roundabout. Anyway, wanted to visit one of the concessions, The Works, so decided a coffee and cake and a look around was in order and hopefully traffic on the roundabout wouldn't be too bad.

Called in for lunch with my Mum and Sister one weekday. The cafe looks a bit tired and could do with a bit of a refresh. We ordered food at the counter, staff were not very friendly or helpful. We ordered a fish and chips and 2 quiche with potatoes. The food was brought to the table with no veg or any salad, when I remarked on it the waitress said that was because we hadn't asked for any! We weren't offered any but assumed the meals would come with veg for the price! She went back and got some "roasted veg" which was dried up and shrivelled. The fish was ok but the chips were not great and seemed as though they had been kept warm for ages. We were disappointed with the meals and the food is definitely not good value.

Stopped here for a quick pit stop. What a rip off! £1.75 for a can of coke?! The scone was rock hard after being out on the stand all morning. I wanted to complain but my mum didn’t want to make a fuss! All the food was overpriced. Cafe didn’t look particularly clean and tidy either.

There is lots to offer in the shop with consesions from EWM and The Works. The restaurant was busy with lots of dirty tables. There is a nice area to sit in the sunshine; this was fine once I had cleaned the table.

I’ve been here a few times but things seem to have gone down hill. Arrived at 2.30 on a Sunday afternoon, no main meals or