Grand Cafe in Southampton

Great venue for a charity event we attended.

My Sister and I attended the Grease afternoon/evening. EeruthINg was of the highest standard. What fun we had. We are both in our 70s snd dudnr feel "out of place"...fully inclusive. Well done, all the staff x

Hired the venue for a private birthday party, the place is stunning and the staff were just great. Nothing was too much trouble and our event was just perfect, highly recommend!

Had a great night out here very friendly crowd will go again to a similar event

We had our wedding at The Grand in August 2024, I can truly say it was the most amazing day! We had the whole wedding (ceremony, wedding breakfast and reception) there, and it was faultless. The organisation, effort and attention to detail was incredible. The food was delicious, the staff were friendly and helpful. We partied until 2am in Ruby’s, the whole venue is just fantastic. Thank you to the whole team, it was the most special day! If you are thinking of getting married at The Grand, or holding any event there -do it! I can’t recommend it enough ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best Bottomless Brunch in town!! Group of school mums attended the Mamma Mia Brunch and we couldn’t fault it!! Our glasses were never empty and the food was delicious! All the staff were so friendly and joined in the party! The entertainment topped it off, superb!!! Can’t wait to go again!

My friends and I attended the Mama Mia afternoon brunch yesterday and it was OUTSTANDING! The staff, the atmosphere, the food, the service, the band … wow, absolutely incredible - could not fault it! We will all 100% be returning, they certainly know how to put on an event!

I recently had my wedding reception at the grand and I couldn’t have wished for a better venue. The venue itself is impressive and is a prefect place to hold a wedding reception. The staff were amazing, extremely attentive and welcoming. The service they each provided was exceptional. We had a 3 course meal for 65 guests, the food was absolutely delicious - hats off to the chef! Jonny, was extremely helpful and attentive throughout the whole process, always replying promptly with queries and going the extra mile. I would definitely recommend the grand as a wedding/wedding reception venue or for any other event for that matter.

Sportsman's Dinner delivered an unforgettable evening of sporting inspiration, impeccable service, and engaging entertainment. From attentive waitstaff to captivating speakers, every aspect was flawlessly orchestrated. The question and answer session allowed guests to engage directly with sporting heroes, fostering camaraderie and admiration. It was a testament to the power of sport to unite people and inspire greatness, leaving a lasting impression on all who attended.

My family and I went to the “Typically Tina” Supper Club at the Grand. The entertainment was superb! The food was hot and delicious. The staff were all amazingly helpful and friendly. Everyone there working or enjoying were smiling. A fantastic night, we loved every minute and can’t wait to go back again.

Took my Mum for the Mothers' Day Sunday lunch menu. Could not fault the food or service, we both enjoyed our lovely roast dinners.

A lovely afternoon spent with female family in honour of my Mum (a mixed Christmas and Mother's Day present). We had a very enjoyable afternoon tea, lovely service and ambience. Such a beautiful setting. I would highly recommend for a treat. Thank you to everyone who made it special for my Mum (who worked there in the 60's and this was the first time she'd returned).

I hired Rubys at the Grand for my dads 50th surprise birthday. The venue was stunning, a great place for a party. The staff running up to the event were great, catering to all of our requests and adding special touches. Nothing was a problem or too big of an ask. They were quick to respond and help with the surprise, the doorman even played along! The staff on the night were also great, quick at serving cocktails and keeping up with the busy pace. Would definitely recommend and would hire again for a party.

An amazing Burns Supper with 5 wonderful courses including, of course, delicious Haggis with a dram of malt to pour over the top:) Mike Osman on top form and the very talented Maxine Mazumder to close a quite lovely evening. Well done to Andrejus and his brigade and to Jonny Gettings and his excellent bar and waiting floor staff. A great night in a fabulous venue x

The venue is wonderful and the staff fantastic the service was brilliant. We came for afternoon tea I had ordered a dairy free option with no seeds in my food. I know this is difficult but had given advanced warning so they had the option to say they couldn’t do it. Out of 4 sandwiches I could eat only two as the others had tomato seeds in. I was given jam for the scones that had seeds in and I think the scones had butter in as they looked identical to the non dairy version. The cream was like shaving foam tasteless no sugar had been put in! On top of that I had a raspberry cheesecake with seeds in. It was really disappointing as I could eat hardly anything. I didn’t complain at the time as it was a celebration for an elderly friends birthday and didn’t want to spoil things. I just feel you could have done better given that I asked in advance.

Hubby bought me a afternoon tea for 2 for a Christmas present and went there today, the food, service everything was fabtastic, I will definitely be recommended it, hopefully I will be back there soon 🥰

Have been to the Grand on many occasions over several years and never once been let down. This was our fourth New Year's Eve here, in that time i've become more reliant on use of my wheelchair. As anyone who uses a wheelchair will know venues are never really perfect and there are always slight obstacles, that said this venue Could not be more helpful in trying to accommodate. Like all venues, they have their limitations, mostly as it is an old building and no doubt with protection orders slapped on it here and there. The main entrance is up some steep steps, but there is a side entrance which, if you just let the staff know beforehand or on arrival, they will immediately open, which is perfectly accessible for all wheelchairs. Food, entertainment and surroundings are always exceptional as is for service from helpful, happy staff. However, there are a couple of downsides, but through no fault of the business more so the age of the building. There are no disabled toilet facilities. The main toilets are down stairs with no access other than the service lift. Staff on new year's eve have always helped me use this to be able to get to Rubys. There are toilets upstairs which are not usually open for the general public. However, for those with limited mobility staff are more than happy to let you use them, however, just be warned, they are not wheelchair friendly. If you are an ambulant wheelchair user, then they are fine as you can park up just by door. But if you need a larger cubicle to be able to transfer from chair to loo then this is a no go. The main dining area has 2 steps up to it which does have a handrail However due to the angle of the rail make it very hard to use to steady oneself, as it is often obstructed by Speakers and such like for the entertainment. But again, the staff have always been super helpful offering a hand to steady oneself and of course, there is the opportunity to dine in the lower area too. My advice would be to phone ahead and let them know your needs. Maybe should there be a refit at some point they make Think about a temporary ramp to use on the steps up to the dining area, A disabled loo or at least one with grab rails with a slightly larger cubicle. We noticed that there have been a change of chairs in the venue. And although they are lovely for me, they won't quite as comfortable, but bviously that's a personal thing. However, venues so often think that 1 style of seating suits all and it quite simply doesn't. So the provision of a few chairs with a higher back and arms for those who are more unstudy would be much appreciated.

New year's eve. Entertainment amazing food amazing staff amazing cannot wait to go again. Highly recommend

The Grand Cafe is a perfect place for a Christmas party and I would highly recommend it. We have held our work Christmas party here for three years now as it is so good. Karen is such a great help in organising it and all the staff on the night are great. On arrival we have drinks, then sit down for a three course meal. The food is brilliant, a great choice and considering how many people they are serving, is hot and delicious. There is a singer whilst eating the meal, followed by a disco after which gets everyone up dancing. The atmosphere is great, location perfect and I will no doubt be booking here again for next years work party as I don't think I could find anywhere better.

First time to the Grand Cafe / Ruby's and we were very impressed. We were their for a special birthday celebration and the whole evening was very well organised, great, tasty food, and great service. Definitely recommend if you are looking at either attending/holding a function, or just want dinner or just drinks...

We came here for a wedding and what can I say .. the ambience was perfect the food was amazing … I need to know what exact goats cheese I had for my starter as I need it in my life again!!! Perfect portion sizes and a dessert to die for!!! My only downside is the staff looked miserable, a couple of the younger staff really looked like they just had no enthusiasm and didn’t want to be there. However the lady that served our table was great overall a really good experience

My Sister and I attended the beaujolais lunch in November. Wow, fabulous afternoon. Well worth the money and such a beautiful venue.

Had our Works Christmas party and as always food was fabulous, service excellent and a lovely venue. Lovely to be able to nip down to Ruby’s after so we could all stay together and carry on the party. Thank you for another great night.

The Grand has excellent entertainment outstanding food. A great atmosphere friendly staff we went for the entertainment on this occasion. I have been to a wedding at the Grand without a doubt the one of the best weddings i have been to. Definitely one of the best venues for all occasions in Southampton

Fantastic venue for an afternoon tea as part of a birthday celebration. The sandwiches and cakes were delicious service was spot-on and the atmosphere was fun and light.

I had my hen do/afternoon tea here with my friends from work. The team did such a wonderful job. Everlasting tea pots, delicious sandwiches and beautiful cakes. Doggy bags definitely needed as there was so much! Such a fun afternoon in a beautiful location . Thank you

Great place for a Sunday lunch. It's always difficult to find somewhere that does a good Sunday roast with all the trimmings and lashings of gravy but the Grand hits to spot 100%. Attentive service and good ambiance with the tables not packed together.

St George's Day event with 150 people at The Grand (formerly Grand Cafe). Great service and an outstanding 3 course luncheon with perfectly cooked roast beef of old England! Add Jim Davidson and Gertcha (Chas 'n Dave) into the mix and we had a recipe for a great afternoon raising much needed funds for the wonderful Heartbeat x

Fantastic evening, the entertainment was first class, service was impeccable, food was excellent. Great value for money all round a really enjoyable evening. Look forward to our next visit soon

Staff so friendly & welcoming, very attentive to our needs. Food was incredible, the roasts were so good. Atmosphere was perfect. Would 100% recommend & will go back again.

Perfect 4 of us celebrated Mother's Day together. Staff were so attentive and pleasant. Particularly interesting to hear Callum telling us of the Titanic and WW2 history of this iconic hotel. Food was fresh, high quality and delicious. Buzzing atmosphere in opulent surroundings. Will definitely...

4 of us went today, not been for many years but heard some good things so decided to go back. I had the cold prawn starter and it was superb, really tasty. The others had Cauliflower soup and the beetroot Arenchini, it was all really...

A lovely location lacking in atmosphere

Following good reports of a new team in place, a long overdue revisit to The Grand for a family lunch out was in order. Housed in the impressive South Western House, a recent makeover certainly gives this venue the “wow factor”. The large and airy...

A great Burns Night at The Grand! 180 guests, great piper, Mike Osman in top form, brilliant performance from Paul Metcalfe as the best Rod Stewart you'll ever see and a superb 5 course meal with outstanding service. On top of that £20,000 raised for...

A simply outstanding Christmas Day at The Grand! The lovely atmosphere was contagious, the food absolutely perfect and the service as good as it gets. Congratulations ro Andy Taylor-Rose and his brigade, to GM Tom Pike, his assistant manager Callum and all the floor staff....

We have just had the most wonderful lunch Delicious, superb choice, hot and great service Our grandson was part of the Stroud Choir Singers this afternoon Faultless Service Highly recommend

Our first visit to the Grand Cafe. We had heard good reviews so decided to give it a try and booked afternoon tea. What a lovely venue in a building steeped in the history of the Titanic. The staff were excellent, genuinely friendly and attentive....

We had our works annual Christmas dinner and dance at the newly refurbished Grand Cafe yesterday! There were about 50 of us and I think every last one of us had a fantastic evening. The welcome we received from the new manager and his excellent...

Our office chose The Grand Café for our Christmas party this year and we are so pleased we did! Our party of 20 on Saturday evening was well looked after and enjoyed a fantastic evening. Fun and festive setting, great atmosphere, delicious food and plenty...

My husband & I had a delicious Sunday roast at the Grand Cafe. It was our first time back since their refurbishment & it looked great & the service was fab as well as lovely food. We will definitely be returning soon.

Food, service and entertainment were all excellent. Have been to a few Beaujolais events before, but this was the best.

Been a while since we have been to the Grand for a Sunday lunch, we have never been disappoint in the past. We went there this week at short notice and the roasts are still excellent, I had the lamb( not many places do lamb...

Had Sunday roast here and it was lovely. Choice of beef, chicken or pork. I had the beef. Came with roasties, Yorkshire pud and gravy on the plate and veg on the side. Good amount of “pink” tasty roast beef! My sister had chicken which...

Went for Sunday roast had two courses which were lovely ( but very filling !) so would just ahve the roast in future Would recommend for yummy roast with lashings of gravy they also do other dishes ( fish) which my daughter has and said...

By far the best roast dinner in Southampton, beautifully presented and real quality ingredients all served in a stunning environment. If you go, the must have is the Biscoff brownie, up there with the best desserts I have ever eaten. Recommended for The perfect Sunday...

In absolute love with this place, very delicious cocktails and magnificent atmosphere!

Been coming here for years for the atmosphere of "special occasion but relaxed". On Easter Sunday, they hosted our extended family of 17 for lunch, for a 50th wedding anniversary for myself and my wife. Obviously it was important that it went well, and it...

Went to grand cafe for a hen do afternoon tea. There were 19 of us and the team were so accommodating. Easily emailed back and really helpful on the day. Food was lovely and great selection of cakes and sandwiches. Music wasn’t working but they...

We went for a hen party, we had afternoon tea which was amazing, and more than enough food - we took leftovers away in boxes! They also catered for various dietary needs in the group and feedback on this was great too. We then had...

We were a family of 7 adults, one 7 year old and a 10month old baby celebrating my husbands 70th birthday. The atmosphere was great, the food was excellent and the service was also excellent. Very friendly staff and very attentive making sure everything was...

Today I experienced the best service, food and overall custom at Grand Cafe. I arranged a surprise anniversary for my parents for 50 guests. The pre arrangements were handled with extreme professionalism and great customer service. The day lived up to all expectations. The tables...

Probably the best afternoon tea in Southampton. We've been coming here for years and it's always delicious with exceptional, friendly service. We thoroughly enjoyed our time once again!

Came here with my Mum and sister for a birthday treat for my mum. Booked online and was sent an email asking if there were any dietary requirements/allergies. I responded to this and advised that I was vegetarian and none of our party ate fish....

Booked Sunday lunch here whilst on a weekend away and was not disappointed. Excellent choices available on the menu. We had the mushrooms on toast and the goats cheese and pear starters. The mushrooms were so creamy and tasty and the salad was an excellent...

Alex our waitress was very attentive.Lovely ambiance .We went for Sunday roast before going downstairs to listen to a jazz trio

Was here last Sunday, had a lovely Sunday roast. The portions were enormous, and reflected the price. Beautiful presentation, cooked to perfection.

Great cocktails in a great setting

We have eaten here for many years, but now confine ourselves to their takeaway Sunday Lunch. Another excellent meal today - as usual, so much we coulldn't eat it all, and have kept some of their lovely beef for a sandwich.

We were a party of eight women, mothers and daughters and thought afternoon tea with the Globe Girls would be fun. It was fantastic fun. The Globe Girls chatted with the tables and made us feel very included. The songs soon had us up clapping...

We had a baby shower, an afternoon tea at the Grand Café on the 23rd of October 2021. The surroundings are opulent, warm and grand. All the staff were amazing and so helpful - special thanks to Michael the manager and Josh for your time...

Grand Café is undoubtedly the loveliest setting in our city to experience a superb afternoon tea. The quality of the freshly made sandwiches, freshly baked scones and stunning cakes in the simply perfect setting is second to none.

A huge selection of drinks in elegant surroundings

Great afternoon tea with great entertainment. Staff were courteous and friendly. Fantastic ambiance with sandwiches and cakes to die for.

So when the Grand Cafe announced an 'Ibiza themed' bottomless brunch with live music, I was immediately hooked and had high expectations.Our experience started extremely poorly, but thankfully was salvaged and ended well. On this basis, I will continue to support future events at Grand Cafe and would encourage others to.What went well.....?- given a glass of chilled prosecco upon arrival - very nice touch- very warm greeting from staff and given clear instructions on seating arrangements- wonderful orange margaritas!- very talented musicians who kept us well entertained - overall, very tasty and well presented food- staff highly attentive and apologetic in the final 60 mins- were asked if we wished to place a final bar order before the brunch finally endedIt could have been even better if....- we hadn't waited over 30 minutes for our first 'bottomless' cocktail to arrive- I hadn't needed to complain twice about the non existent drinks service before our disappointment was acknowledged and responded to - Grand Cafe had clearly laid out when the 90 mins 'bottomless' drinks start and end time to avoid any confusion- if we'd have been given finger bowls or wet wipes for our fingers after eating the sticky, messy (and delicious) chicken wings- if our napkins and cutlery hadn't been removed half way through service, resulting in us having to use fingers for remaining Tapas and 'stealing' napkins from a nearby tableIn summary, I don't think it's at all unreasonable when having 'bottomless brunch' to expect for glasses to be re-filled as soon as they empty (we've had amazing experiences at many other venues around the UK, so expect nothing less). In fairness to Management, they continued the 'bottomless' element for an extra 30 minutes to compensate for the extremely slow start. It was great that cocktails were being made to order by the bartenders, but could equally high quality cocktails have been made in jugs shortly before guests arrived to give 'a head start'?I feel confident that the Grand Cafe will reflect on this event and make improvements for future events.By the time we left shortly after 5pm, we felt that we'd had a good overall experience. Look forward by being 'wowed' by the next one!

Saturday night on a Bank Holiday weekend....the restaurant needed far more diners than the few who were in the room with us for there to be some " ambience ". The staff visible behind the bar at the other end of the room outnumbered the diners, at least before 9 p.m ; perhaps more people dine later. The best thing I can say about the service is that not all the wait staff seemed to have been trained to a high level or were equally experienced in their roles. The first thing which seemed rather amateurish was to ask us to order drinks without bringing us a wine list. After that, it took quite a while for another member of staff to apologise for sangria being unavailable. We asked for a jug of water, which took a very long time to arrive.Before our meals arrived there was only one other couple in the room, so the staff were not extra-busy. At the end of the meal, one of them had even included the unavailable sangria on our bill, along with the cost of the drink we ordered to replace it. On he plus side, the wait staff were all smartly dressed and polite....just slow and strangely inefficient. The food was delicious and couldn't be faulted; the Australian shiraz was excellent and the coffee good and strong.

My friend and I went to the Grand Cafe for afternoon tea, the restaurant is beautifully decorated and I adore the lights in the dining area. The food was amazing and a lot of choices, if anything we had too much food. We needed to ask for a takeaway box for our leftovers. The price was reasonable considering the setting and the quality of the food. The staff were lovely and catered to our every need.

My husbands birthday today and, as we are isolating, we wanted a roast lunch delivery. We weren't disappointed!! First time we have ever had food from you and it was lovely. We how to come on person soon!! Thank you x

We booked this as we had heard a bit about the act on social media. They looked fun.There was 6 of us celebrating a birthday, and you know, its always hard trying to find something different but fun to do.Some of the group lived local, some London, but the journey was absolutely worth it.The venue is easy to find, and park near to and is really lovely. Great welcome as we walked in with a glass of bubbles ( included ) .Sat down and was explained by the staff what happens and as we had ordered, we had one vegan with us, and one fussy eater, but all that had been taken care of. The drag queens ( globe girls ) arrived and went around every table chatting and having a laugh. They look so glamourous and tall! Then the tea was served on those lovely cake stands ! So much food - we were never going to finish it all.Then the show started which was equally shared with the girls and an AMAZING live female singer ( Chloe Hart ) who is a big West End name apparantly. She sang some amazing songs and the girls performed routines throughout.We couldn't belive it, time flew and we all were on our feet doing a conga at the end, singing our heads off to a disco tune ! It was simply the best afternoon we have had in ages and looking for an other celebration to go back.It was £45 a head for the bubbles, the food and the show, which I think was great value ( we did have an extra round of cocktails too )Whatever the reason you have to celebrate, go down there. you'll be glad you did

Absolutely fabulous afternoon tea watching the globe girls. They were very entertaining and great fun! Loved how they interacted with each table before the show & were very friendly. Food was delicious & the staff were so helpful and friendly. Thank you for making my birthday treat a lovely afternoon. We will be back in October to see the Globe girls again!

You cannot fault the food or the service. The food was truly perfect. The only thing that caught me off guard this time was the 10% service charge that was automatically added to the bill..there were only two of us eating..

Such a lovely afternoon, the children were given little treats, the show was brilliant, food was tasty and well presented. My granddaughters loved it. Definitely worth going.

My wife and I went to dinner at Grand Cafe for the first time in 18 months on Saturday. It was always one of our favourite restaurants in Southampton and we were a little worried what effect the extended lockdown would have had, but it has, if anything, been improved! The menu is a little smaller but with the reduced opening hours that is to be expected and they have concentrated on quaility rather than quantity. The menu has been really well thought out and there is something there for everyone. The quality of food was outstanding and extremely good value. It's great to have the venue back open and we look forward to going back soon.

Wonderful food, beautiful presentation and excellent service, as always. This restaurant always delivers and I can highly recommend it. 5/5

Great Sunday roast excellent service will definitely come back! Particularly the starter of mussels and cream sauce was excellent

Best cocktail bar I've been to outside of London. Cocktails superb, staff attentive and venue luxurious. Too expensive to stay all eve but great for some pre or post dinner drinks!

Afternoon Tea for 3 friends - what a venue, excellent ambience and service. the Afternoon Tea was fantastic - beautifully presented and extra tea was provided. A must to try with a nice easy online booking system and a text reminder - fab service!

Deliveroo delivered our Sunday Roast Beef Lunch on 13/6/21. My Son ordered our lunch as he was down to his Gran at 95 who is seriously ill at home. Best ever delivered meal as a special treat for us both as I care for my Mum with Urgent Response at home. I have had very little appetite for the last couple of weeks, but your meal I ate in two stages. I would highly recommend your Roast Beef lunch to anyone & everyone. We have previously been to Ennios for 80th 90th Birthdays for Mum and look forward to actually eating in your Grand Cafe in Soton to fully enjoy the experience of your fantastic menu choices. Delivered promptly with just a little heavy spill but plenty of gravy available and such good vegetable choices included. Later I enjoyed the remainder of my meal with a glass of red wine. This was delivered in good time for the England Euro match at 2pm wjhich also was a winner!!! Our thanks.

Visited the Grand Cafe for a Sunday lunch. We are long standing loyal customers of the venue but haven’t tried the Sunday roast before.Excellent social distancing and service. Fantastic food especially the crispy roast potatoes and,as always a special ambience in keeping with such an historical building. The sticky toffee pudding is clearly the best in Southampton by a mile!We’ll be going back for more or maybe trying the roast takeaway and can’t wait for the Christmas celebrations.

Ordered Sunday lamb roast which took an hour to appear. Luckily in no rush but bit slow. Food superb and staff very nice. Beautiful building, fascinating photos of famous people who've stayed, maybe a shame it wasn't in the original Wedgwood blue and white of the ballroom that it used to be.. That would nice but still very attractive. In fact I've just bought a flat on first floor directly above, yet to move in but hope to be a regular visitor.

An afternoon tea at the Grand Cafe in the old South Western Hotel in Southampton.The food and service was excellent in an evocative setting. The place reeks of Southampton history, you can almost feel the presence of those doomed to die on the Titanic and the glamour of the Hollywood greats that passed through it's doors.

Arrived at 1.30pm in the bar and have to say that for all of the years visiting Grand Cafe this was the most disappointing. Lunch was booked for 2.00pm so we decided to have drink in the bar. Waited a long time for any service but didn’t complain as we were happy to see each other after so long… lots of chatter. Eventually caught a servers eye to order some wine. No one came to show us to our table so we asked the manager if our table was ready and told him that we were drinking in the bar. He said that we were booked but there wasn’t a table ready at that moment as they were busy but we could go to the restaurant soon. Seemed strange as we had a table booked for 2.00pm but were happy to wait for a while. Spoke to a waiter at 3.30pm and asked about our table and he said he would check…, he never came back to us! 4.00pm chased the manager who said it was not a problem and would sort it. Again strange as we were booked. We sat, got a menu and waited to order… starter took ages, we had to call a server to chase it. When it arrived it was tasty but cold. Lunch then took ages to arrive and when it did it was cold! No servers around to speak with so just left food on the plate. Eventually I had to go and find the servers to convey my disappointment. The manager did come and apologise and didn’t charge us for our lunch but have to say that in these difficult times other restaurants seem to go above and beyond to make dining a worthwhile experience…, this was not. We are always happy to pay so our aim wasn’t to get a free lunch but to convey our huge disappointment. Not sure we will be rushing back which is a big shame as we have always had a good experience at Grand cafe. Time to step up!

We were booked to dine in for an afternoon tea but due to lockdown we were offered the takeaway offer instead. I was a little sceptical about it to be honest but we were not disappointed. It was presented really well and all very fresh. They even included loads of teas.Thank you Grand cafe for a lovely afternoon tea.

Lockdown Sunday Roast Delivered! Wow! Thank you GC - another amazing meal from you. This time delivered during lockdown 2.0. Everything was cooked to perfection, and still piping hot when it was delivered. Hopefully dine-in again with you soon.

We had heard great things about The Grand Cafe and were not disappointed. The staff were friendly, attentive and professional. The restaurant had a lovely atmosphere and is beautifully decorated. Covid measures were in place so this was a very nice relaxed dining experience. We had 3 courses inc. Sunday roast. The food was fabulous and there was plenty of it. Would definitely dine here again. Great place to come for any occasion

On 9th October I turned 60 and decided that as I had had to cancel my party, cancel my holiday and any other family gatherings because of the current issues, I would go for a meal with my son and his girlfriend instead to my favourite restaurant in Southampton. We have been going to the Grand Cafe for years and along the way have had some tremendous fun, fabulous food and become loyal patrons alongside spending thousands of pounds. I have been very careful about socialising and following the guidelines in place carefully due to my family history, so my husband booked two tables alongside one another explaining that as we don't live in the same household as our guests we would need to socially distance (this hasn't been a problem elsewhere and we were told wouldn't be a problem there either).We arrived very excited but totally unprepared for the battle we encountered on arrival. We were told that it was totally unnecessary to distance from our guests despite my protests and to make matters worse, total impatience with me when my phone had difficulties scanning the NHS Covid bar code. I was all for going home for a takeaway at this point but was convinced that we had come this far, dressed for the occasion so ....We were eventually told that we could sit wherever we wanted and as the restaurant was very sparsely populated I have no idea what on earth the fuss was all about anyway! The table we sat at accommodated us well but was without any tablecloth and had some left over 40 birthday scatterings on it!There was no acknowledgement of my birthday at any stage even though the restaurant had clearly been told on booking and I had the most enormous 60 badge on my lapel that other diners had already commented on (the highlight of the evening - thank you)!As usual the food was extortionately priced (steak £29.99) and we checked that the main courses came with vegetables as there was a separate vegetable menu. An HOUR later, having sat through music containing expletives, the food arrived - attractive enough but my lamb only had one sprig of broccoli and a smear of potato with it. Other dishes had the same poor quantity of vegetables. When we came to pay a 10% service charge had been added so we asked for this to be removed due to the poor quantity of food and the time taken for it to be served, alongside the atrocious welcome we had received into the venue. The manager who had 'welcomed' us and to whom the waitress had spoken to about the service charge deletion did not even feel we were worthy of a 'goodnight'. No staff bothered to say 'goodbye' and we left with our wallet £150 lighter.I didn't want to slag the Grand Cafe off and hence put in a complaint directly to the venue to which I finally received a reply over 2 weeks later having had to chase up. They thanked me for my comments and I was told they will use them to improve things in the restaurant in the future! I suggested that maybe a glass of wine as an apology should have been forthcoming but no response to that! It's really sad that after all these years we won't be returning to see if the ideas I have given them have improved the dining experience and I'm afraid they do not deserve to survive this pandemic with this attitude. It seems that the change in management has been totally detrimental.

Afternoon tea with a friend , was nice , good atmosphere, very comfortable with covid measures, have been back for drinks too

My wife and I had our long awaited afternoon tea at the Grand Cafe on Sat 17th. The wait was due to Covid 19 lockdown and illness but can honestly say it was well worth the wait. We enjoyed a great tea with excellent service and in such a historic surroundings. We finished off with cocktails in the comfortable lounge which rounded off the afternoon nicely. There were 3 or 4 birthdays celebrations going on so it must be a popular venue for these and can fully understand why. We both said we must do this again and look forward to returning in the near future. Thank you Grand Cafe.Mike Hailey.

If you fancy an excellent afternoon tea in Southampton...look no further. Excellent in every respect, food superb, attitude superb....well done!!

Nos encanta el Grand Cafe y hemos cenado aquí muchas veces. Es un lugar encantador con excelente comida, pero el té de la tarde para dos de hoy fue decepcionante. El té / café no se puede sustituir por ninguna otra bebida (la mayoría de los lugares que ofrecen té por la tarde sí lo permiten), por lo que tuvimos que pagar más por el jugo de naranja y el chocolate caliente de mi hija, ya que no bebe té ni café. Los bollos estaban sabrosos, pero no creo que el té (bollos, bocadillos, 2 magdalenas y cuatro daintees muy pequeños) valiera 23 para cada uno de nosotros, se veía bonito pero no valía 53, que incluía un 10 % ¡cargo por servicio!Nuestro camarero, Josh, fue muy agradable.

Spent a lovely afternoon here enjoying afternoon tea and drinks with friends. Lovely food, great wine and entertaining service from our waiter David. We also really enjoyed the entertainment from the guitarist/vocalist. Thanks for a great afternoon and evening.

Had a truly fantastic sunday lunch, the beef was so tender it just melted in your mouth, great atmosphere and wonderful staff, can't fault a thing.

We had a lovely family celebration. Starter,main course and desserts taste amazing. Thank you Anna All of us enjoyed it . Very friendly and happy staff. Would highly recommend.

My friend and I came for happy hour on Friday and only planned to stay for 2 hours. We arrived at 5pm and didn’t leave until midnight! We had an amazing time with the live music and even a little dancing by our table. Our bartender was called David and was amazing! So chatty and friendly, made us feel very comfortable. We ended up spending £166 on drinks and not one regret :)

Food is akwYs good here especially the Sunday roast best place in Southampton and Service is always with a smile 😃

The place inside is very cool, but we were 2 and were put in a very small table... I felt that doing an afternoon tea we didn't have enough space on the table and were afraid that something was going to drop, also that small space didn't make me feel very comfortable with people very close

Beautiful venue and fabulous afternoon tea. We had afternoon tea here for a hen-party and it was absolutely brilliant.

Absolutely fantastic service from front of house to the chefs in the kitchens. Sunday roasts were very good, would highly recommend.

Had a lovely day, food was good. That’s as much as I can say. Staff were rude and obviously trying to get us to drink more. They kept trying to fill our glasses and blatantly asking us to order more wine. That wasn’t the worst part. I had a tab, I opened it when I arrived. Drinks ordered and paid for before I even arrived were added to my tab. Also, drinks we never ordered were added to my tab. They were expecting me to be too drunk to care... my 320 quid bill should have been 161 quid. Total jokes! Be very careful, this is a way of working and a staff directive. It happened last year when I went to the same event.

Absolutely beautiful food!! So yummy and generous portions. Would thoroughly recommend this place. Lovely staff Tara and Marta were very polite and friendly along with all the team. Beautiful place