Dobbies in Carlisle

Very nice afternoon tea and excellent service. Couldn't fault it. Enjoyable experience

Always a pleasure walking around and looking at various items

Popped in for a coffee and panini which was very nice staff were friendly helpful and polite. The girl at the coffee counter took my drinks over as I have stick .Garden centre looked fine but getting ready for Xmas so always boxes around . Nice all the same

Good range of products is available for all areas of your garden. Staff are friendly and helpful. Seasonal stocks are available as well, with some end of current season items on sale. Also available is a branch Maidenhead Aquatics, again, staff are friendly and helpful. Well worth a visit, even if it's just for a wander around or pop into the cafe. There is currently a 2 for 1 offer on Scones in the cafe, but only after 1400hrs.

Great range of plants, gifts, fish and garden furniture and tools, good food in the cafe as well

Arrived at 2.45 to find no food available in the cafe except for a panini or cream scones. So disappointing. Our local Dobbies serves great food all day so was expecting the same. Interiors felt drab and the food in the 'waitrose' part was overpriced. Overall felt let down

Dobbies need more staff on drinks counter,they also need more staff at restaurant tills as food is cold by the time you get served.

decided to get a drink while in dobbies and chose what seemed like a good choice but noticed when staff made second drink the use of fingers grabbing topping of biscoff out of container for my drink no utensil used so declined drink and just decided upon a plain hot chocolate instead, no apology from staff for what had just happened and a utensil went in the container to be used for future consumption personal opinion it should have been disposed of due to staff fingers touching product without gloves will not be back for a while

Considering the time of year It was very sparse and the plants outside wer very dry ... Needed a good drink .

Fabulous garden centre. Food great as well. Dog friendly cafe. Highly recommend a visit.

Not too busy and just a typical Dobbies the staff are really good

Poor service, no serviettes or spoons, no,traus to be found or staff members 2 rude members of staff when I took my grand children to feed the fish no food they couldn't be bothered to put some fish food in bag for 2 children ,totally ignored the children this was around 15;20 managers meed to be aware of this ,costs nothing to acknowledge people. I won't be recommending this place ,tables were dirty,informed when we got there that soft play was closed due to cleaning

Took money out my account without permission

Good shopping area and beautiful plants. A cafeteria with sandwiches and delicious cakes. Service seemed slow and obviously short of staff.

Went for afternoon tea and it was excellent and good value

Very disappointed. Booked afternoon tea and was not given the option of choice - luxury or traditional. We got given the traditional. The tea was therefore very basic! Refill of tea was not forth coming and therefore had to go and ask for our refill. Won’t be in a hurry to come back!

We were in last week to buy a plant and pot. Jo was reslly helpful, and has been on a number of occassions we have visited the store previously.

Nice garden centre, decent size without being too large. Good restaurant/cafe. Nice selection of gifts, homeware and large aquatic centre. Plenty of onsite parking. We purchased a range of plants and shrubs, all healthy plants and within advice from pleasant, helpful staff.

A bright, clean store with lots of items on display. Clean customer toilets beside a nice cafe.

Nice garden centre, decent size without being too large. Good restaurant/cafe. Nice selection of gifts, homeware and large aquatic centre. Plenty of onsite parking. We purchased a range of plants and shrubs, all healthy plants and advice from pleasant, helpful staff.

Everything you can think of really. Good cafe inside aswell

Good plants and the staff are always happy to help

Dobbies Card+ is definitely worth getting....at a cost of £15.00. This card entitles you to two free drinks every month, 10% off plants/bulbs/seeds and a special birthday treat. There are other benefits too. The birthday treat I recently enjoyed was an Iced Salted Caramel Latte and a fruit scone with butter and jam. Do the maths....that equates to approximately £80.00 worth of tea or coffee for the meagre cost of £15.00. That is surely a no brainer.

Diverse range of goods for sale that are well presented by and large. Easily accessed and convenient. Can be pricey.

Unfortunately on the day we went, there were no chillers or freezers, due to a technical problem, so food and drnks were limited. (Not unusual here !). However, that is no excuse for lack of facilities outside, and untidy state of outside area ! It was one of the few hot days we have had, at the start of the School holidays, so we thought sitting outside near to the childrens play area would be ideal. Hardly any tables or chairs out, what were there were filthy, with dust and debris ! The paved area equally so ! A lot of plants, garden furniture etc were dramatically reduced, no wonder as the state of this place is of no encouragement for customers to return.

Lovely staff in the Cafe. Nice food. Went for a birdbath but too expensive 😕

Good choice of goods and plants

Was a nice centre in unison with melvale in Edinburgh, unfortunately has deteriorated drastically so bad it looks like Dobbies are selling Carlisle store. Unfortunately it is drastically let down by their Cafe, and outside seating area is filthy . Tables and seats covered with bird poo. Has never been cleaned for months. It needs a visit from both the council health inspectors, but even more so by the CEO of Dobies .

I dont know how a cup of tea can be so bad that is undrinkable. It must be down to really cheap tea bags. Think I might have to smuggle my own tea bag in next time.

Dobbies has a great choice of everything but the prices are very high across the range

Two of us war babies Driven from Penrith to Silloth intending to get breakfasts at Dobbies. Passed Cranstons in Penrith and Houghton Hall in Carlisle. Should have got breakfasts there. We arrived at 11.10 Told stopped serving. Very disappointing. Go elsewhere.

Somewhat pricey garden centre. Service at the cafe is atrocious slow, the food mediocre and overpriced.

Lovely garden centre. Waitrose inside too which was handy. Had a coffee in the cafe and spent a good couple of hours wandering around. Plenty of wonderful things to buy for your home and garden. Lots of parking here and very close to Carlisle.

Really disappointed. We went for coffee and what used to be delicious hot coffee made by a staff member is bow a machine, That serves warm tepid coffee at best. Won't be back.

Friendly and helpful staff. Tasty breakfast and good coffee. More staff needed and an extra coffee machine as the restaurant is so popular. There are great facilities for dogs and for children, with both indoor and outdoor play areas. We'll placed tables catering for couples and larger family groups with a pleasant atmosphere.

A visit with my husband for gardening supplies. We decided to have a coffee and something to eat while there. Good range of cakes and scones. I opted for a panini as well as a slice of carrot cake to share. Then queued for coffee. We must have stood in the queue for 15mins for coffee, the person in front had hot food which I'm sure was cold by the time.they sat down to eat. Once you have your coffee you then queue to pay. My panini was lukewarm once I sat down. Such a shame as it was tasty and the carrot cake delicious.

very poor, dishes very dirty looks like they haven’t been washed, not like it used to be

Great place for a visit and a cup of tea with friends and family

£2.10 for a can of Coke and a glass of ice. I needed the ice because none of the ‘cold drinks’ are actually chilled. Sold at room temperature which leads me to conclude that the ice cost £1.10! A ripoff.

Thought we would have lunch here this afternoon 14:00ish. Food was great restaurant was a disgrace. Fifty percent of the tables littered with used dirty plates. Carpet is filthy and food lay all over it. Totally spoiled the experience. Would have spoken to the manager but it was a family day and didn’t want to spoil it.

Used Dobbies Restaurant for a group afternoon tea (40plus) Excellent service throughout, friendly staff, lovely food. Can highly recommend and will be using again ourselves in the future.

Good choice of plants. nice restaurant cafe. use of wheelchairs available

I would like to say my food was ok but the way i witnessed a senior member of staff talk to one of his junior members of the team was absolutely disgusting. He was right up in his face and was using disgusting language this is not acceptable in front of visitors annd other staff members this from my point of view looked very threatening.

Hardly any staff to help I'm particularly sighted and difficult to find plants. Not very good labeling what plants are what

We often go to Dobbies for lunch and a little shopping. The staff are always friendly and helpful, and the meals rather delicious. However yesterday 'side salad' was awful, though the jacket potato was nice with lots of filling. I do wish that we could post a photo, as it looked and tasted stale. No lettuce or tomatoes which are basic salad ingredients, and literally a teaspoon of coleslaw. Very disappointing!

Plants Bit expensive and on some other items, but breakfast was very good .

Excellent service and food. Highly recommend!

Good variety of plants and garden furniture and excessries

Good quality products but expensive

Only giving one star, because I cnt give zero! Absolutely disgusting treatment by store manager the other day. Still waiting for blue badge to arrive, so parked in one of 15 vacant parent and child spaces. She came across to us, and publically humiliated us. Horrible rude woman. Not all disabilities are visable. EDIT went for lunch here yesterday..... my partner had the fish, chips and mushy peas. The fish was edible, but the chips were stale and the mushy peas had a crispy 'skin' on them as they'd been left on the hot plate FAR too long! And £2.15 for can of coke zero! Staff are ignorant. EDIT 20/04/24 Went for lunch today ( no, we haven't learnt!) Partner had fish and chips.... the batter was hot, fish inside was cold!!!! Shop wasn't stocked very well with outside plants. Much better garden centres around now

Went to Maidenhead aquatics, plenty of choice of fish etc , but a little more expensive than elsewhere, but good quality tropical fish

Place to go for vegatable plants excellent

Hate this over rated place will not be returning

The Store has all your garden needs and also a super cafe/ restaurant plus good food hall

Popped in for a spot of lunch and to look at some garden furniture

Friendly staff Find what i need

Staff extremely helpful and friendly service

Great selection of plants and flowers, everything for the garden

Excellent, always friendly staff, really helpful.

We as a family love Dobbies, especially when our grandson comes, as he loves the soft play 😀

The store is beautifully laid out. Staff are pleasant and helpful and good parking available

It's a typical Dobbies, selling a whole range of garden goods, gifts and gardening equipment. It has a nice restaurant and the staff are always friendly and helpful.

Staff were very friendly and helpful. Store was light, airy and clean. Went around the garden centre and found exactly what I wanted. There was so much choice.

Plenty of plants to choose from. Lots of household items and gifts. The food in the restaurant was very nice and the staff helpful and friendly.

Quite big, such a selection of cupboard food, some fridge and freezer food items too. A selection of alcohol, and lots of other things, on top of all the plants!

Lovely garden centre. Well stocked with all things garden. Very popular place. Vehicles in and out all day. The cafe wasn't the best food was basic and dried out.unfortunate as the centre itself is superb. In my opinion.

Haven't been in a while and not I remember why. Most of the staff are unpleasant and possess no customer service skills. My friend and I came for breakfast and despite being serving in the queue, by the time we were served the food was cold. Over priced too.

Garden supplies and food Isle, ample parking . Wife rates it *****

My dad came for breakfast and was so disappointed it was a 5 item breakfast and was inedible as it was barely warm and the toast was so hard you could of used it as a hammer to knock nails in … would not recommend at all what a waste of money

I asked for toast in restaurant and got two slices vaguely browned on oneside only. No pleasure in eating it so I didn't. No point in complaining as staff were under pressure

Popped in to use my Dobbies coffee voucher and had a yummy scone. Very nice as always.

Friendly staff good selection of plants good food and excellent soft play

Not impressed....... meal cold ....no staff to serve in restaraunt ....and to top it all off overcharged for items on way out .....had to wait to get refund .......more staff needed and better training

Always a good range of excellent quality plants, helpful & knowledgeable staff, a large range of products other than plants, a pleasant cafe to get your strength back after all your shopping & plant deliberations - & the dog-friendly area within it is much appreciated! Enjoy the loyalty scheme too.

The garden centre is great, selling lots of beautiful indoor plants and homeware. The cafe however needs massive improvement. Very disappointing sandwiches, everything looked and tasted cheap. The hot food counter was laughable to look at, lasagne looked like it had been out that long it had dried up, macaroni cheese was literally boiled pasta with a tiny bit of sauce. It seems there charging the big prices here but serving low quality food. We won’t be back to eat however the cakes are lovely. Coffee ok but weak.

Just having a late breakfast. Scrambled eggs left a pool of water over my lukewarm food. Asked for a weak latte, explaining that I like it really weak. Couldn't drink it as it was too strong. Took it back and the young lady making the drinks was clearly not happy with me and was edging on rude. I am picky about my coffee, and apologise when requesting my coffee, always making fun of how pathetic I like my coffee to be. I don't need the attitude and would suggest the young lady shouldn't be customer facing until she can handle customers better. Thanks for the response, I do usually enjoy my coffee at Dobbies and frequently stopped there either on my way to or from meetings as it was always made just right. I left my coffee today, sorry.

It’s okay but can be pricey and plant quality can be poor

Good selection of gardening materials.

Great selection of gardening products and more.

Love Dobbies great selection of plants. Fantastic store and restaurant is great food and not to expensive.

Just a very welcoming place to shop. Plenty of variety and choice. Good range of products and plants well maintained.

Maidenhead aquatics - absolutely first rate for quality, service and value.

Regular users, good value. Friendly staff. Pity it was rather cool on recent visits.

Staff are very helpful and friendly. Plants are healthy and well looked after

Great day visiting Santa in his grotto.Our to grand kids loved it,especially the fountain by the 2 Yr old and the animals.

The garden centre is fantastic and well worth a visit, however the cafe is a different story. It's expensive, understaffed, and poorly managed. It took over 10 minutes to get served breakfast and coffee at the counter, and by the time I sat down to eat my breakfast was cold. I'm sure that the cafe is very nice and the hygiene standards are great, but cold food is simply unacceptable, especially when I can get a better breakfast cheaper in my local cafe that is freshly cooked and hot. Sadly I won't be eating there again.

Very helpful and patient staff as I have breathing difficulties and don't function as quickly as I would like!

Very slow service, food luke warm & tables & floor slow to be cleaned. Food tasted ok but expensive for one course

We were abbit disappointed with there scones as obviously bought in frozen and crumbled to bits when added butter. From a catering manager this ain't acceptable in theses establishments for the price you pay for them. But the coffee was nice.

Good garden centre how ever food very expensive

Me and my youngest daughter love this store, love the plants mostly, you can spend ages going round here so much to look at and there is a cafe,it can be quite expensive there but the food is brilliant and the cakes are just heavenly.

Unfortunately the heating was off and as a result it was very cold inside. People in the restaurant kept their coats on because of this. I hope they resolve this issue quickly as this is not good.

I was very disappointed. I looked at the website and the only nonfood item on the homepage was a terrarium. Just what I was after! I lept in the car and excitedly headed to Ponteland. . Have you guessed what happened.? They don't sell them! I asked why it is so proudly displayed on the home page but couldn't get a satisfactory answer. I explained that my round journey was over 80 miles and took nearly 2 hours. Again no apology. Was told rudely to phone head office!. I think HR needs to invest quickly in some customer service training. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would, as a minimum, offered a voucher to compensate for the wasted time and petrol.

Great presentation, you can find lots of new ideas, but on the pricey side

Impressive branch of Dobbies, large selection of goods available, everything you would expect for a garden centre. Plus branches of Maidenhead Aquatics, Waitrose and a restaurant are on site. Plenty of free parking available. The food in the restaurant is excellent, very good value and we enjoyed the jacket potatoes we had on our visit.

Delicious scones with a lovely hot cuppa. Staff were really friendly & efficient, even though they were short and run of their feet.

very helpfull staff helped me with the invormation i wanted

Good variety available, bn searching for wheeled ecopots & they were in stock, food in restaurant good but service a little slow due to few staff after lunchtime rush. Worth a visit, staff helpful & friendly

Went for afternoon tea . Very good.

Not my favourite. I like garden centres to specialise in plants and seeds. Too much expensive Xmas tax for me but cherry to look at. Restaurant simple food is very expensive.