Fat Hippo Durham in County Durham

Turning up with my family, my wife, who uses a walking stick, nearly slips on the wet tiled floor. We were then told there is no access to disabled toilets, you have to walk up two flights of stairs to get there. If you have a walking disability, don't even bother with this place. We are then seated and the service is OK, a bit slow which I'm putting down to being a Saturday night, but waiting 15 minutes for just a glass of water seams excessive. We come to order desserts to be informed that the waitress would have to check in case our table was booked out, which if it had been we wouldn't have been able to have desserts. This seems ironic as it was the service speed which would have stopped us. Luckily it's wasn't, but the game next to us were told they had to leave as their table was booked for another party. Staff were pleasent enough and prices were OK, food was lovely.

The specials are always outstanding, but think french kiss is going to hard to beat. Fantastic food, service and atmosphere as always. Always guaranteed to have a great experience.

We were a group of 5 who each had to pay separately with our own itemised receipts & with specific dietary requirements. The food was INCREDIBLE & Ocean, Abby & Ruth were so lovely & accommodating. They went out of their way to ensure we all had a great evening. Thank you so much!

Awful Experience at Fat Hippo Durham Our visit to Fat Hippo Durham was nothing short of a disaster. It started with an order change, which somehow led to the wrong food being brought out. When we pointed this out, the head of staff rudely accused us of lying. Service was painfully slow, with our food arriving in 45-minute intervals. No plates were cleared, no condiments were offered, and the overall attentiveness was non-existent. Shockingly, one of our wing orders even had bites taken out of it before reaching our table. We sent it back, yet a replacement never arrived. Despite the restaurant being nearly empty, we had to chase the staff just to get the bill and even to have our plates cleared. The service was staggered, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. Overall, it was a shocking experience with disgraceful customer service. Would never return.

Just got served by Ocean, Abby, and Ruth. They were just as lovely as the food! Came to Fat Hippo on a friend's recommendation, and will return based on today's experience. :)

All-round great experience for Friday dinner. Booked online and advised of a food allergy (not one of the 14 recognised, which can sometimes prove to be an issue for some establishments.) Ruth and her team were so attentive and accommodating, and made for a totally relaxed dinner. Food was delicious, great flavour combos. Make sure you leave room for a ‘boozy milkshake’ to finish off!

Great burgers. Menu is small but nicely formed. Shakes are fabulous. Prices are on the high side.

Food was beautiful, we were served quickly, and our waitress Ruthy was lovely!

Pensé que era muy agradable buena onda y buena comida de servicio era increíble y también lo eran las bebidas, especialmente los batidos!

burger was amazing! I turned up 5 minutes after my food was due and the man from behind the bar asked what I wanted very rudly I will add, my food wasn't ready I wasn't given a tine of how long it was going to be so when I asked if I could get a drink while I wated after spending £20 on 1 burger he just looked at me strangely said no and walked away! kinda gutted about it because the food was stunning but that staff member was just plain rude for serving customers who are spending money

Sarah was bloody amazing! Give her a raise

Sarah was very helpful and brought us water without us having to ask for it. Thanks. We’ll be back.

Food was good and enjoyable overall good

Superb service and menu suited both vegan and meat eaters alike - great atmosphere

Food is great, that is undeniable. But orders take an insane amount of time to come, ordered through deliveroo. Said it would come in 80 minutes and ended up taking two hours. Called them up to chase up the order but not even an apology in sight but instead was called rude for being upset that my order was late!

Food was incredible, great value, beautiful building, and Ruth‘s Service was fantastic. Got the Little White Buffalo!

Amazing food, great value for lunch (8.99 for burger and side!), and fantastic service from Ruth. Definitely will come again!!

Lovely, fast friendly service by Ruth (Durham) Absolutely loved the great white buffalo burger. Will be back again Highly recommend

Charlotte was so amazing and helped us so much. So caring, thoughtful and patient! Had a great night out

Charlotte was fab! Would definitely come again!

Change my Review. Had a Delivery. , my Burger was as Dry as Sand. Onions missing. Shame. Will NOT be spending my money again for terrible food

Nice restaurant for burgers, good variety and great taste. We took beef and chicken burgers, both were great.

Visited this place for lunch deal in December. Lovely ambiance and staff are helpful . Chicken burger was very hard and dry could have been better . Wife is vegan and tried vegan burger was alright . Used to love FatHipoo since their first restaurant in Jesmond . Not a favourite anymore sorry .

Food was very nice and the atmosphere was nice, and the prices were very reasonable. Our waitress, Courtney, was very friendly, attentive and working very hard especially considering how understaffed it seemed on a Saturday night.

Visited on a Saturday in early January - Excellent burgers, one of the best in Durham imo. Hand cut chips were unfortunately not the best (tasted quite plain - the ketchup and mayo aren't good either) and the fries were better from my experience. The food took some time to arrive but I think it was worth the wait. Have to admit the staff looked a bit grumpy the day we went but I understand it could be because it's busy and the environment isn't the best (quite dark, can be cramped) so it's understandable.

Great to have Fat Hippo on Just Eat 😀👏

Family of 4 eating between Christmas and new year and we had a very good meal. Fast food done well. We all enjoyed it. It might have a slight issue with shrinkflation as the fries portion was very small but the burgers were delicious

Unfortunately unable to review the food due to issues with Uber Eats - taking 80 minutes to deliver my food to an address just a 10 minute drive away. This meant my milkshake was melted and my burger and fries cold and inedible. From past experiences the food is generally really good but I've sadly not gotten to try a milkshake yet.

Please don’t delete this as you have asked any negative reviews to be sent to yourselves privately! Attended last night for New Year’s Eve dinner. Our table was booked for 7.30 and due back at 9pm. We ordered our food and it took 50 minutes to arrive. In this time there was no updates given to us. Not a single member of staff asked if we would like any further drinks. Staff were openly ignoring customers, other customers included. When our food eventually arrived, it was lukewarm. It had quite clearly been sat under the pass for a long period of time. Just before our food came out, they informed us that some of the food we wanted was not available, 45 minutes after we had originally ordered. This service is not up to standard. Another table attempted to complain and speak to the manager however were told the ‘manager is too busy to see you’. This is not what I expect from a well respected establishment. I will not be returning.

Nice food, we were seated by the door so had a constant flow of delivery drivers popping in which was a bit of a distraction tbh

Love Fat Hippo Durham. Ruth served us she was super helpful, friendly and polite. Perfect service.

Food was just warm on delivery, perhaps the trip to Bearpark is too far for delivery although past deliveries have always been hot

Me and my Girlfriend came here and it was amazing best burgers we’ve had we both enjoyed the food and the staff here is so nice highly recommend!

Great food and very friendly staff.

Lovely food and great service from Ruth - thank you! Festive fries were excellent!

Great service by Ruth :-) excellent customer service skills. Thank you for all your help today it was very appreciated.

Didn’t remove onion ring as requested

Quick food, fab veggie options, friendly service ✌️

Really good christmas themed burger and fries! Amazing service from Ruth, she really made the experience! We will be back!

Cracking burgers, absolutely stuffed! Booked via the website, recommended as its only small venue. Camden Hells is the only draught but was a nice pint

Burger was delicious however food was cold when it arrived and we had a missing item. Such a shame

Excellent service - burger was fab.

Really good service, slight wobble on the orders but it was quickly rectified and at a busy time too! Taylor looked after us and was spot on!

Great burgers with loads of interesting choices. Felt like it was a little slow to arrive post ordering especially early evening when restaurant not full. Great service from waitress however

First time at fat hippo tonight with my family and we really enjoyed the food and service was super as I am G.F as I am celiac and the lady came over to our table and went though what was available for me which made it easy for me to enjoy my food and we will be going back to the durham fat hippo thank you

Had an amazing experience at fat hippo staff were fantastic - Emma the host/manager in the evening was absolutely fantastic. Nothing was an issue and she was great at helping with everyone’s allergies / enquiries

I recently visited Fat Hippo in Durham, and while the food was undeniably delicious—definitely worth the hype—the experience left me with mixed feelings. The wait for the food was longer than expected, which was a bit frustrating, but the staff really made up for it. Our waitress was absolutely lovely, friendly, and helpful, making the delay more bearable. That said, the biggest issue was the temperature inside the restaurant. It was freezing, and by the time I finished my meal, I was literally shivering. After chatting with the waitress, I learned that because the building is listed, they can’t install proper heating. While that’s understandable, it makes the place incredibly uncomfortable during the colder months. In summary, the food and service were great, but I wouldn’t recommend visiting in the winter unless you’re prepared to keep your coat on the entire time. I’ll definitely come back—but only when it’s warmer!

Food was really nice but it was super slow, took almost an hour to arrive. The service wasn't great- i don't usually complain as i know what it's like to work in hospitality, but my sister and I felt quite ignored and like an inconvenience as staff came across as quite rude (apart from the one girl who eventually brought us our food- thank you!:) We understand that it my have been busy and staff were tired, but we didn't feel welcome and we would've appreciated being told about how long the wait would have been when booking as it really was very long and we would've looked elsewhere.

Unreal vegan food. This is a seasonal dish but it was fantastic. They have 3 other options on their main menu. The service was quick and polite. The atmosphere was good. It was busy but not too noisy. The venue has plenty of space and tables. It's a shame I live 300 miles away.

Food was super tasty as always! Jas was brilliant, looked after us really well, especially the kids! My little girl was over the moon with her extra pickles :-)

Ordered online said 5.30 then changed it until 8 o'clock 21/2 hours really guys you need to do better.

order was due to arrive at 4:45 ended up getting here at 6:20. food was cold

Had a great meal with my office for our Christmas night out. Ruth was particularly helpful!

Ruth was a great host. Highly recommend!

Great Xmas night out! Had a big table and service was exceptional, Ruth especially!

Ruth was amazing excellent service

Tasty food, lovely atmosphere and really friendly staff.

Very cold on arrival. Last time we ordered it was fine, but this time freezing and the chips were rock hard

Food was spot on, semi parmed life was great. Jas was a brilliant server, very attentive and smiley

Jas looked after us really well all with a great smile

Food on point, atmosphere the usual chill and Jas rocking the service.

Lovely dinner here. The food was good, especially the baby spice - and I loved the atmosphere. Our server Jas was great too, very nice and always on hand when we needed anything - a credit to the restaurant!

Jas was great and the food was too

Had such a lovely meal tonight. Jas was great!!

The burgers were really good but the frickles were mid. The service was great though (Jas served us!).

Fun place not good if you have vertigo ha.......amazing menu with vegan options, star service and a good price. Quaint experience to satisfy the palate if you're in Durham. Jas on front of house is so smiley and very good at her job with excellent banter 👌🏻

Yummers food and my server Jas was a delight

Poppy was a great host, lovely food will definitely be back

Jas was very lovely and polite!

Great food as always. Our waitress was Poppy, she was very friendly and was always around when we needed anything.

Jas was very friendly and did a great job of serving us! A lovely meal.

We have had a great meal tonight. The food was fantastic and we have had great service from Jas such a bubbly professional young lady Thanks Jas your are amazing

Food here was delicious and Jas was very helpful & friendly. We both got a hard shake and they were gorgeous, thank you!

Over 2 hours late and food was freezing cold

Sarah was a lovely waitress !!!! :)

Jas was amazing and friendly, and food was great highly recommend

Lovely dinner! Was served by Jas and she was class

Sarah gave a brilliant service.

Sarah was so quick and speedy with everything! Very friendly face

Excellent place with great food and service! Sarah was a great waiter for us :)

Great food great staff. Steph was great

It was a really good atmosphere and if i was to pick out one server it would pick steph she was top tier she was nice and kind and i would defintely recommend coming here

Steph was perfect hostess. Not intrusive but so helpful and smiley. Great food too.

Had a lovely experience. And Steph was incredibly nice and welcoming!

Steph was such a delight, amazing service. Will definitely be coming back!

Food was amazing and Steph was such a lovely server!

Really enjoyed the food. Great service. Steph was great.

Steph was really friendly and helpful

Abby was a lovely host, very attentive and friendly. Food was amazing and quick, would definitely go again.

best food in durham so far. had the swiss tony and while the meat might have been a tad dry the other components of the burger compensated especially the truffle mayo sauce 🤌🏼🤤 tried all 3 sides (2 different chips, coleslaw), all complemented burger nicely. warning that the burgers are high blood pressure inducing so had to chug water after consuming. will definitely be back to try the other burgers.

always enjoy a visit to fat hippo, food lovely as always and staff were very attentive. abby went the extra mile

Good food, great service. Thanks

The burger bun was not good - accidentally gluten free maybe?

food was amazing would ddefinitely recommend

Really professional delivery driver. The most polite man I’ve met and definitely deserves 5 star reviews and a raise. There should be an option to tip after delivery as I would be definitely leaving this man a tip. Thankyou so much. Alex.

Steph was excellent and friendly, thank you!

Tried to call fat hippos to talk about my delivery but no answer so here goes. they sent wrong items and chicken burger was tough as old boots waste of money as went in bin last time I order from here

Fab food as always. Well catered for gluten free. Steph was bubbly and attentive.

Food was absolutely delicious definitely will be going back, wanted to thank Steph for brilliant customer service made us feel welcomed

Food was good, but I paid £5 for bacon and an extra piece of chicken on the Swiss burger and it came with neither. I would not recommend using additives.