Esquires Coffee Maidstone in Maidstone

Lovely coffee shop but the staff were rude and it was awful customer service. Shame because it is a beautiful shop with a lovely atmosphere other than the staff.

Cutest cafe, lovely food, atmosphere and service. Would deffo recommend and go again. Loved the plants too.

Gross. Avoid. Visited on Sunday and it was ridden with flies. They were everywhere. Even heard the staff talking about how the flies were laying their eggs everywhere. I challenged the staff on it and they said it had been an issue for 2-3 days. Should not have been open.

Sadly, this was a bad experience. A new member of staff. We went in at 4.20pm. No one there to serve, I had to find someone. I asked if they were closing as it was empty. She said no. I ordered a coffee and a tea. She said, "Would I accept paper cups?" I asked why. She said, "Because I don't want to wash them up!" I said if I wanted a takeaway cup of coffee, I'd go to McDonald's and pay half the amount! She didn't even bring the drinks to us! The place was empty! I suggest that you train this member of staff! We visited on Monday, 21st October. Normally, the service is friendly and welcoming!

Nice food, good coffee, great place to spend an afternoon

Lovely class cafe in central Maidstone with good breakfast menu

Coffee still nice, but a large roll of toilet paper instead of napkins... stay classy eh!

Coffee still nice, but a large roll of toilet paper instead of napkins... stay classy eh!

Ordered two flat whites Saturday morning, the women who made them didn’t care about what she was doing. They looked rubbish and tasted rubbish. They wasn’t even hot. Left them on the side and walked out.

Ordered two flat whites Saturday morning, the women who made them didn’t care about what she was doing. They looked rubbish and tasted rubbish. They wasn’t even hot. Left them on the side and walked out.

We asked for coffee and a pastry, we paid and was told to go and sit down and they would bring it over. Moments later the sorry excuse for a flat, luke warm pastry was brought over but no coffee. We started to eat our pastry and was shouted at to come and get out coffee in a rude manner. It was very embarrassing as everybody looked round at us. The coffees we ordered were not what we had asked for, the girl behind the counter appeared very irritated when we told her so in the end we just took it to keep the peace. Certainly won't be returning to an establishment where the staff are rude and have no manners!

We went yesterday and I asked for a crispy bacon sandwich .It arrived with white fat on it ,so I went and said I asked for the bacon crispy .The sullen lady said so you want to cook the bacon more I replied yes please she then again brought it over without saying anything again and just put it down .We do go and visit esquires regularly and have never had such an experience.

I normally really like this place, my girl friends and I go here all the time. However was disappointed today when I asked about food allergens and the response was "we don't know...." I don't mind if servers don't know it off the top of their head but they didn't both to get any allergen books out or try and find out for me. I ended up just getting a coffee as didn't want to risk it. It's not really acceptable to have no clue about the ingredients in your products when there are customers with serious/life threatening allergies. I didn't push it further and just accepted it as the servers were very young and I don't like confrontation but it just shows a lack of training in that area. Otherwise I do still like this place and the vibe is really chill but definitely needs to be improved on.

ordered for 2 of us and on both dishes the eggs were hard. took them back to the girl and wasn't happy about doing them again and then left my plate of food on the side to get cold. When I asked her to keep it warm for me, she seemed to have a problem with it so asked for a refund. gave me my money back with no conversation or an apology.......very rude and immature. also was making food and drink while serving people without washing her hands in-between.

Asked for small latte and seems they got my order mixed up and made a regular takeaway latte and instead of re-making my drink they just poured the takeaway drink into a cup and gave it to me. Couldn’t drink it as just tasted like milk. Disappointing standards for a coffee shop.

I love this place. Such a cozy Saturday afternoon. Had a lovely cup of mocha and Lemon blueberry cake and it was delicious ! Will definitely come again 💜💜

Why isn't this place busier???? Wonderful coffee shop, great food, service with a smile and a really pleasant atmosphere. Save the big names for a drive thru on the go, want a proper coffee, at a table?? Come here!!!!

A nice place to go for some food and a coffee. We went on a late Sunday morning for brunch and it was my first time going. I was not sure what the setup was with going to order your food/drink yourself. Could have had a little sign or one of the staff just letting me know but I figured it out in the end. The food and drink I don't have any complaints with as it was great. The apple juice tasted like I just put a straw in an apple. And the full English was lovely and fresh also with some amazing bacon. I would have liked to have a fried egg but they could only offer scrambled on the day. Overall a great place to eat and get a coffee. Would recommend.

Good coffee and good food, and they let the dog in so ideal after a dog walk

Very nice atmosphere and service. Kind staff. But cappuccino being 3.10 I was expecting better taste 🥲 otherwise all good

Service was slow, as it was a busy time. Could have done with more than 2 people on the till at 10.30am on a Saturday morning. Good selection of cakes. Length of time to get drinks put us off getting a 2nd round.

Maddie served me and she was amazing, really helpful and super lovely!! xx

First impressions are great, cosy and welcoming. I was served by a girl called Maddie and she was very friendly and professional. The food and drink is amazing I highly recommend

Brilliant food and service! Especially the waitress maddie very polite and helped me decide what to get. Defo will come back

Nice venue, good food and service. Maybe a bit more expensive than some places

Used to be go favourite but now I’m going to avoid. A lot of people working there but no one seems to want to be there, it took a while to be served and then it was wrong and I got the impression it was my fault, the coffee wasn’t good either and I had to throw it in the bin. Just a bad experience for something as simple as going in to get a coffee. Management need to make some changes or figure out why the staff hate working there.

I used to love this place. I went today and was served an inedible ham and cheese sandwich, totally overcooked and edges of ham burnt. I was brought a replacement which was also inedible. Bread clearly stale and just not pleasant. Coffee was good! Staff member who served me needs customer service lessons, she clearly didn't want to be there.

Firstly the staff seemed as if they didn't want to be there. The cheese and ham toasty I ordered could have been made yesterday as the bread was clearly stale and rock hard round the edges, there was a couple of slices of very thin ham and no cheese. The apple pie, however, was delicious, probably because it was bought in, not homemade.

First time when we eat here , the food wasn’t properly ready cooked breakfast never back here

I absolutely "loved" this place as have been here for the last 4 years for a quiet coffee. This morning I had a mocha and a sausage sandwich. Cannot fault the coffee, but the food is terrible, £6 for a chewy and overcooked sandwich which was microwaved and bread was stale. I had to ask for it to be buttered, and then it was heavily buttered on one side. 🤷 I wish I had gone to Gregg's instead.

I just wanted to "Thank You" for letting my elderly disabled mum use your toilet today whilst we were in town. Will definitely come back as the coffee / food selection looked great!

I have been going to this coffee shop for a few years, and it’s always a lovely experience. The coffee/ drinks are good, as is the food! The staff are always chatty and especially to my dog (he always loves it there). I went today with a friend and my dog, I was greeted nicely and the barista then made my drink. She called out once it was made, and I then found a seat. It was a slightly busy day, but it was still a peaceful and welcoming environment- especially for a catch-up with a friend.

This cafe used to be a hipster hot spot with great service, enthusiastic staff and GREAT coffee. I visit regularly and staff has seemed to rotate massively over the past year or so, unfortunately the place and its newly employed staff has lost its sparkle. I rarely see the staff smiling or looking like they’re enjoying their jobs at all, the time between ordering and actual service is incredibly slow compared to how it was before, and I rarely receive my drink made properly as the new staff seems to just not be trained as well as the last set. Very disappointing, used to love it here.

Charming coffee shop. Lovely coffee, moreish cakes all in a perfect environment. The kind of place you could stay for a few hours with a book

Started ok… ordered breakfast and 2 coffees. We sat down and one of the waitresses put our drinks on the side and yelled ‘latte and americano’ with a very fed up face that just looked like she couldn’t be bothered to be there. Our table was just next to the coffee bar so she really didn’t need to yell it. She could have politely just said our drinks were ready or even better, just brought them to us. It wasn’t exactly busy. There was just us and one other person in the cafe. Shortly after, another staff member appeared in the cafe with a McDonald’s bag. He gave one of the waitresses a hash brown and McMuffin which she started to eat behind the counter. I made a comment but tried to make it lighthearted and joked as I said “That’s not a great advert for your cafe if you’d rather have a McDonald’s than your own food!” She looked at me like I was dirt on her shoe, rolled her eyes and didn’t respond. She then continued to eat her McDonald’s behind the counter. I saw her lick her fingers then make someone’s coffee. Not only was this a terrible image for the cafe but completely unhygienic. I then heard another member of staff say (about me) “she keeps looking at you” and she replied to him saying “I don’t care. I’m allowed to eat.”She kept putting her food down between customers, without washing her hands in between eating and serving. Disgusting attitude, disgusting hygiene and I will definitely not be returning.

A possible gem of a cafe was ruined. Full breakfast. Nearly £11. 1 x microwave cooked sausage, chewy !! Bacon x1 couldn't cut it ! Oily 1 hash brown. Soggy toast. Etc etc

We had such a delicious breakfast here on a Sunday morning. The poor guy working the counter was all on his own but calmly served the queue of people waiting and dished up a delicious eggs benedict and avocado on toast, both were perfect. What a legend! Thank you!!

Took 15 minutes to get a tea and a coffee. Also ordered a muffin which was stale and a coronation chicken which was... You guessed it, stale. Had been recommended, I'm going to question my circle now. My girlfriend just said "the coffees not terrible though"

The service in here is friendly and the coffee is actually okay, however unfortunately it took almost 20 minutes to get 2 coffees and both the sandwich and muffin we ordered were sadly stale. The muffin was politely taken back and was no trouble. The atmosphere was unfortunately dampened by a lot of frustrated customers at the wait times.

Used this cafe for first time this week. Staff at counter were friendly and quick. However, I had to wait a considerable time for a milk shake and then ask again for the fruit juice I ordered. The wait to collect drinks seemed to be due to the conversation the lady washing up and possibly a new recruit were deeply engrossed in. I wasn’t acknowledged or apologised to for the wait. Won’t be rushing back, shame because the cake was good.

Great place to have a bite to eat lots of lovely fresh ingredients

Had to wait while the counter person finished on his phone before taking my order. . Another quite lengthy wait for my coffee whilst the coffee maker finished taking photos of a customers dog. Only one table (owner of dog) taken in lower part of cafe, but every table was piled high with dirty crockery, the higher level again every table was piled high with dirty crockery, only one other table was taken. I returned to the counter and asked for my table could be cleared and cleaned. After a fairly lengthy wait (no other customers) my bacon roll arrived, I had to ask again for the table to be cleared and cleaned which was done. The coffee was fine but the bacon roll was the worse I have ever had, a warm medium sized but chewy low quality roll with one rasher of bacon, it looked pathetic. I regret not taking a photo. I paid £8.85 for this. Never again. When I left it was still just the same 2 tables taken, and the coffee maker was still taking photos of the dog, and all the tables still piled high with dirty crockery. .

I used to come in to this coffee shop all the time and loved it the staff were lovely and chatty and the coffee and food was amazing. However when I went in there last week we were greeted (if I can even say greeted)with a man in an unbuttoned white top who was really unfriendly - he told me they had no ingredients for the smoothie I wanted - even though when I left I could clearly see them all in the fridge. He told me I could only have orange juice which I had to wait 15 minutes for! I had to go up and ask at one point if it was ready in which he stared me dead in the face and ignored me and started chatting with one of his colleagues. I then had to ask him if he had an answer - in which he clearly did hear me as he finally answered me to tell me it would be a further 15 minutes on top of the 15/20 minutes I had already been waiting! Whilst waiting I watched another customer go up to him and tell him he got his order wrong - he gave him an americano instead of a black tea. It's not very hard to apologise let alone even speak to your customer - seems like you're hiring people that like to smoke before they come in or something not a clue why he had to be so horrible. Very much doubting if I will even return now.

Such a broad amazing choice of food and drink; the vegan sausage roll was awesome ( I’m not vegan but I’d have it again from here) ; coffee was expertly served and the best around here . An oasis of cool food and drink in a dessert of melancholy

Well my faith in humanity’s tastebuds has been let down. This cafe is far from what people are saying in the reviews. I had eggs royal with added shell, the eggs were not cooked properly, the plate was watery and thrown together. For £2 worth of ingredients I expected to see it put together a lot nicely. Needless to say I won’t be coming back here.

From taking our order to its delivery at the table , the barest effort was made .No sense of customer interaction. The tea was acceptable but the toasted cheese sandwiches are an absolute rip off for the price .I make better at home.... Will not come here again

Employees were very nice and welcoming. I ordered an almond milk latte and toast which was good (it’s kinda hard to f up toast). The latte tastes a lot like the one from Costa, not very strong

£6.60 for a very small coffee and apple turnover. Coffee was nice but turnover nothing special. Barista too busy talking to her friend behind the counter to make me a coffee and left me standing there for 2-3 minutes waiting. Continued to gossip whilst making it and just shoved it in my direction.

Lovely place with plenty of really nice sweet and savoury treats to choose from, the coffee is always good quality and the service is great. The building itself has lots of character and a nice laid back atmosphere inside.

Lovely decor and atmosphere, good selection of food, cakes etc including for veggie and vegan, great coffee and love the turmeric latte. Dog friendly and plenty of tables. Really nice place for breakfast/brunch or lunch.

Thought we would try this coffee shop for the first time, never again. Found a seat tables were not cleared realised we had to go and order what we required. Useless staff could be bothered very unhelpful. No explanation that we had to collect our own coffees, had to stand in a queue to collect. Not enough milk given so had to queue up again. Very Very poor service at this shop,staff need more training and improved appearance.

Friendly staff, cosy atmosphere, great drink options. A little pricier than other places, but worth it. Lovely atmosphere here, feels like you're not in the middle of a busy town. They have a decent number of vegan options. I recommend their smoothies.

My absolute favourite coffee in town!

Was given a spoon with a number. Told to sit down & they'll bring it over. What she meant was, I'll bring over your food but you can go & get your drink yourself! So only on querying where my drink was did I find it! Also the lady took my order & just turned round chatting like she had all the time in the world! Service is a bit slow..

My coffee shop of choice in Maidstone. Good coffee, nice large cups. Friendly service. Good seating

Never knew this place existed. Very hidden in Maidstone Town Centre. But glad I found it, lovely cheese toasties and coffee. Recommend a visit if nearby.

After a few good visits my most recent had a really long wait for my drink, then the mocha was a below average hot chocolate with no hint of coffee. Won't be back

Esquires was a lovely café to find in busy Maidstone. It’s totally dog friendly inside and out, the staff even offered my woofer a bowl of water. There was a good selection of cakes, drinks and sandwiches/pastries. This time I had a cheese and tomato croissant which was warmed without being soggy. The atmosphere inside felt very relaxed considering it was a busy lunchtime. I will definitely visit this café again.

Super friendly and cosy place to grab a hot drink and something to eat whilst out shopping in Maidstone. The fact the coffee is organic and fairtrade only adds to the appeal.

Ordered cake literally just now. Watched the girl make an absolute mess of cutting the cake and leave half of the board. To give me two thirds of it. To be honest she saw me looking and she knew. But gave it to me anyway. I just can’t be bothered to argue anymore. I used to enjoy cake here, now I’ll enjoy it somewhere else. Very disappointed with the service some people are happy to give! Some should look for another job if you’re not happy and take pride in where you’re!

Friendly, warm, hospitable, trendy

My favorite coffee shop in Maidstone. It’s very cosy and the drinks and cakes are quite good.

I really try and support, smaller private business where I can. Not sure if Esquires is a chain or private, but they certainly aren't like a Costa or Starbucks. They have a really nice 'sun trap' premises in Gabriels Hill and on a sunny day it is one of the few places to sit in the sun and enjoy a coffee. I have visited twice previously, and each time I have received very slow amateurish service- despite there being a plethora of surplus staff around. Previously visits, I have only had a coffee, but yesterday I though I would give it one last go and order a coffee and a toasted sandwich. I was served at the till quickly and politely enough, and was then asked to collect my coffee and the other end of the counter. There were already three people in front of me waiting for their drinks. I then heard a member of staff call over another member of staff by name to stop what they were doing to 'do the drinks' so these people in front hadn't even started to be served yet. It took so long for them to get my americano ready that I noticed yet another memeber of staff wandering around aimlessly which looked like my toastie. I gained her attention and she brought it over to me in the drinks queue to confirm it was mine. I said it was and she offered to take it over and place it on a random table I was asked to point out to her (I was on my own- and hadn't actually 'occupied' a table at that point) I chose one in the window and she went over and placed my food there. I was still waiting for my coffee....it's obviously quicker to produce a hot toastie and take it to a table than it is to produce a hot drink. By now my toastie was getting cooler waiting for me to arrive. I did eventually receive my drink, but when asked which cold milk I would like I asked for semi-skimmed and they dodn't do semi-skimmed- either full fat or skimmed. I reluctantly opted for the former. I made my way to the table and sat down. It got me thinking in terms of customer service- if it had been me with the sandwich and knowing my customer was held up in the queue, and knowing that the hot sandwich would be betting colder by the minute, I personally would have suggested I go and sit down with the toastie, start eating and take it on myself to take my customers drink over to them. Maybe that's too obvious, but I have always been bought up to deal with an issue before it becomes a problem. I don't know, but maybe obvious in your face problem solving is not a pre-requisite to running a coffee shop nowadays. Incidentally the cheese and ham toastie was perfecly acceptable, and so was the coffee- even with full fat milk, but it really goes grind my gears paying proper money and receiving really poor service. The staff are all a bit young, and maybe need more experience 'reading' people. If this girl had taken the obvious initiative, I probably wouldn't have written this poor review of them. It doesn't take a lot to think ahead....it's not as if they ever seem to be short staffed, so not excuse for slow, poor service in my book.

Ordered two coffees and despite loads of staff hovering around the flash coffee machine, the drinks took an age. I don’t think I’ll come back - there’s a reason why Costa, Pret and Neros do well as they know how to produce a coffee without much fuss

I come to this coffee shop to meet friends and to catch up on my admin work. A coffee taste brilliant, the food options are great. The staff are always super friendly.

What a great place. Coffee was 10/10. Food was 10/10. Awesome Location and Brilliant Friendly staff that's extremely helpful.

I try to visit this coffee shop as many times is possible. The staff is fantastic, very friendly, flexible and helpful. The coffee is simply perfect, and the cakes are great as well. Highly recommended

Fantastic coffee, friendly knowledgeable staff and delicious sweet treats. A very pleasant experience. Thank you for opening on Sunday too! We’ll be back for sure.

Excellent Great friendly service and lovely coffee !!

Slow, and incompetent. Staff forgot my 40 quid, spent the next 20 minutes coeing over other people's kids staring at me wondering why I am still standing there waiting for my drinks. Not even an apology afterwards

What a great find this place was. Coffee was 10/10. I had a vegan sausage roll and it has to be the best I've ever had.

Nice coffee, nice food, reasonably priced. A local coffee shop that's a great place to meet. Highly recommend.

Visited a few times now, lovely atmosphere, very relaxing and a lovely place to spend time and drink some great coffee

Lovely atmosphere and staff, delicious sandwiches and cakes , highly recommend!

Now, my #1 place for coffee in Maidstone. If you like a caramel latte, you should try it at Esquires Coffee!

Lovely independent coffee shop with a great range of cakes and savoury items.

Nice place. Great coffee and excellent selection of both savourt and sweet treats. My only minor issue was the butter, which appeared to be salt free as it was tasteless. Otherwise excellent.

What can u fault when a coffee shop sells great coffee and cakes but also allows dogs inside. Easiest 5 star rating inhave ever given.

Wonderful service from the start and the poached egg on avocado, on toast was sublime. Genuinely one of the best I’ve had, what a way to start a Friday!!

Lots of lovely cakes and snacks and a choice of plant based milk for a lovely Hot Chocolate. And free WIFI .

Was served by a nice, short, blonde lad today. Great service made, coffee was perfect temperature!

Got served by a young lad called fraser, excellent customer service, made me feel very welcome and was nice to have a quick chat despite the business, definitely will be using this as my go to coffee shop from now on due to the customer service I received. Would recommend the oreo drip cake.

Visited two times during my usual shopping sessions, and I would totally recommend it for breakfast or lunch. Seating is on first come first served basis, so get the table, choose from the menu and then order from the till.

Haven’t been here since before Covid. Very disappointed with the manager. So rude. I ordered a coffee and sausage roll and told the waitress I’d be outside. After a 10 min wait the sausage roll turned up and when I asked about the coffee I was rudely told I should have collected it myself. No mention of this by the waitress, so begrudgingly he fetches the coffee. No sugar! He storms off and bring about 30 sachets just to show his displeasure. Not sure if he’s the right person to be running a cafe!

Omg bucket of coffee. Enjoy the atmosphere.

Went there today, standing in the queue for about 5 min to be told that the coffee machine isn't working. I was ok with it as a human being that it can happen. The shocking bit was when I suggested a sign outside and not wasting peoples time, he said that he is not allowed to do it otherwise it will put customers off and he prefers to waste our time. Yes exactly what he said. Not going there anymore.

Having been here before a couple of years ago I looked forward to coming again. This time, the full English was over cooked, rock hard, almost inedible. The milkshake just tasted like cheap Nesquick. I was really disappointed. The bacon was so overdone you could knock it on the table. The coffee on the other hand I’m told was nice. And their egg benedict tasty too. It’s a shame. This trip tarnish what was in my opinion a pretty decent coffee shop.

Love this place for coffee. So relaxing and the l staff are great. I have food allergies and there is always something for me to eat. Listen to Belindas recommendations, her choice of the fruit crumble was spot on.

Darcey and Belinda provided me incredible service, Belinda danced as she provided me with my latte while the welcome from Darce was warmer than the latte it’s self. Simply incredible.

Best Chai latte in town, friendliest staff.

Great coffee and a good selection of other drinks and food

A beautiful cafe where the staff are always very friendly. Usually quite busy which says a lot about the place. Some very nice seating and a good cup of coffee

Tasty breakfast, mocha was superb! And very friendly staff.

Great staff, great service, great coffee, delicious cake.

We visited the cafe on Christmas Eve 2021 and found the atmosphere, drinks and selection of food to be fabulous. The staff were friendly and the establishment was very clean. There were lots of Christmas decorations and the good music to put us in a...

Really lovely staff who are so welcoming and helpful. Good ambience and food is amazing.

My best days start with this coffee and staff,, nice atmosphere. Lovin it 😊

Lovely place and best coffee I ever had ☕

My partner and I visited today for a bite to eat after Xmas shopping and on arrival first impressions of the decor and setting with the deli and food on show good but don’t be fooled as the food was terrible and service appalling. Ordered...

Friendly, welcoming staff. The best coffee in Maidstone imo. Great selection of hot and cold foods for every dietary requirement. Relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. Great meeting place for any age.