Harvester Stanway in Colchester

Gentleman greeting us went above and beyond, especially regarding allergen advice which never happens eating out. nothing was too much, thank you for making us feel so welcomed with two little children

Good place for dinner with a family or just as a couple, food is reliable and tasty. The salad bar is lacking compared to what it used to be but the updated menu is a good and well needed change. The staff are lovely and welcoming. Cant go wrong for the price.

Came in for a meal with a friend as we hadn’t been there for a long time. The salad bar didn’t have much in the choice to have. All the bacon toppers, croutons etc were all gone and was quite messy in there. 2 bread rolls left in there and the rolls were hard so only had one. I ordered a new plate with the three different sausages on. I was severely disappointed. My first bite from each one had fatty gristley bits in. I had to send it back, the waitress was more than happy to help and done so with a huge smile on her face. She replaced my food and apologised again. Quite frankly the restaurant would be silly to ever lose her, she was a great waitress and just about saved the experience in there. Thank you Stacey for being so happy and cheerful!

Was celebrating my 7th Year wedding anniversary. With my wife. Meal was delicious and very tasty. Waitress's was very

Lovely staff and a good breakfast!

Everything was perfect as already stated in Harvester review

Great location, took my family for lunch on Saturday. The waitress was lovely but the food was very poor quality. Salad bar wasn’t good it look like it was sitting out for sometime so I didn’t attempt to eat it. Won’t be returning.

As always a great place for food and service Laura is amazing!

Very busy and very loud when we went, good service and good quality food at reasonable prices.

Food used to be better. Mine wasn't even hot when served. Tipping...totally devious! The payment device gives you the option of % 5, 10, 15 or other but does not make it obvious how you bypass this and just pay what you owe. I feel no discomfort asking the staff how to select no tip but I am 100% certain that many tip because they feel uncomfortable about asking not to. Deliberate & devious!

Food was good and we had Laura as our server. She was very polite and served us whilst we waited for our table and then once we sat down. We have been numerous times and Laura has been our server and she is constantly good and helpful. Always making the effort with her tables and working hard :). Thank you Laura.

Food was lovely and service was even more lovely! We had Laura serve us who couldn't have been more helpful given my partner had allergies. 5 ⭐️ service! Definitely recommend 👌🏻

Nice start but you will need to formally tip. Food is fairly good. Shame the free salad bar is not maintained so we couldn't use it apart from a sauce. Nothing left. Meals were decent. All in all ok. We only use as we can get a small discount.

Laura was amazing!!!! Attentive and responsive. Food delicious… restaurant clean and welcoming. Lovely new years day out

Really enjoy the meal . Staff very friendly.

Another good visitFood and service really good. You could do with more vegetarian options

Very nice experience and great service.

Very Disappointed with the Christmas lunch not cattering for vegetarians Only Meat or vegan My partner Matthew is vegetarian and didn't have a good meal today Aĺl the vegetables were hard and no vegetarian gravy?? Dessert of Christmas pudding no brandy sauce as advertised got custard?? Not A Good Experience at all. A lot of complaints today Paying £140

Laura was our waitress, had amazing service, great food, had an amazing Christmas lunch. Lovely restaraunt. X thank you.

Such a great place for brunch, we feel very lucky to live so close. The vegan breakfast is delicious and everything is really reasonably priced and great value for money. The service is always fantastic and very quick.

The salad bar had been refreshed and looked clean. We all enjoyed our meal. Excellent service.

Fantastic food,good atmosphere and lovely staff .

The harvester was very busy. When we arrived we were greeted by a gentleman who advised us that our table would be ready soon. It was ready within a few minutes, he then showed us to our table. It was awhile before we were served but we had been given our salad bowls so we proceeded to get our salad. (We were surprised that the salad bowls were hot for a cold salad). The salad cart was very well stocked. Soon after we got our salad the server arrived, she was very friendly and helpful. She took our drinks order. It wasn’t too long before she arrived with our drinks and took our meal order. The meal took awhile to arrive, but we expected this because the place was so busy. (Everyone was working really hard). When the meals arrived they had all been cooked nicely. The plates were very hot, which wasn’t a problem with the adults. We had to stop the server giving my autistic granddaughter a piping hot plate. (She would have been burnt badly). The server changed the plate for a cold one immediately. The server came over a number of times to check that everything was okay. We had a really good experience and a lovely meal.

Came for my birthday meal had the rotisserie chicken and turkey Christmas burger the food was lovely and the waitress we had was very welcoming will be coming back again

Very nice visit. Food was better than the average Harvester, and the service spot on.

Superb festive meal could not beat value or meal 5 stars at least, again fantastic staff. Leaving Colchester soon but this place is a gem.

Nice staff, all OK and what you would expect. Staff gave a great tip on registering for app to keep a saving Thank you.

Friendly service but my steak was over cooked and chicken very very dry

Great service and food was good too

Couldn't complain. Great food and company. Service was good

The service was great. The food definitely an A. We were assisted to our seats immediately. Excellent service.

Had a good lunch here. We had tasty rotisserie chicken and tacos for mains, as well as deserts. Would give the normal sundae a miss next time as it's literally just vanilla ice cream and squirty sauce. Not cheap like it used to be, but the excellent inclusive salad bar and fizzy drink refills just about makes up for the increase in prices. Although they're now more comparable price-wise with perhaps more upmarket venues. Though having said that, the chicken here is better than the Princess Charlotte 'Chicken and Grill' pub down the road! Staff were also very friendly and efficient, despite it being pretty busy on a Monday lunchtime.

I visited the Harvester to be harvested. I enjoyed being harvested. I visited with friends so we could be harvested together. They also enjoyed being harvested. Overall I'd give an 11/10, would harvest again.

Haven't been here for years, and it certainly looks nice, clean, and modern. Car park is a bit tight on spaces (still think cars are the width of minis). The food was good, apart from some very sweet and odd things added to half chicken, which definitely didn't go with it! Service was ok, and a bit slow on bringing the bill, but it was busy, so fair enough, I guess.

We spoke to the shift supervisor kirsty who was very helpful, as the service from Gill was very very poor to put in polite words, she was very slow, didn't ask if anyone had an allergy on the table, I'm allergic to nuts, it wasn't mentioned when we was told where to sit, at this point the rest of the table was sitting I was parking. There was no check in on how the food was, asked for some more drinks but never got them bit got told that she, Gill, didn't know what was going on with the bar and didn't bother to check or chase them, we then requested for them to be removed from the bill as we didn't get them. Gill wasn't happy about that. When food was brought over items where missing, so she brought over some of the missing items and didn't want to check to make sure we had everything or apologise for the issue. We the waited a very long time after eating for the plates to be taken away and to receive the desert menu, so much that we went looking for them. While waiting for her to come back to take the order there was another gent, waiter, taking an order while sitting on the table in a different section and didn't bother to clean it after, very hygienic.... not, when we got the desert we had ice cream in a very hot glass, so most of it was melting before even getting it. It seemed like the staff, minus kirsty, was more interested in chatting to each other by the kitchen and talking to friends that come in and stand in the middle of the restaurant, where 1 female waiter hugged someone while holding napkins and then placed them back on the pile of the others, how does the customer know that they are clean. Over all this was a very poor experience where kirsty then brought it up form being overall crap.

Joel was a brilliant waiter. Unfortunately the manager was wearing normal clothing not a uniform like the other smart waiters which I found very scruffy and unprofessional. Food was OK I suppose but it was very busy but then again it's always busy there

Had a private section for a baby shower staff vary helpful

Great experience, always is at this Harvester. Staff are always really friendly and nothing is too much trouble. Food is always nice and fresh too!

Not the best for food, I aways find when I leave, the best bit was the salad!

Another enjoyable visit with no complaints.

I had my 40th birthday meal there on Friday. The staff were out of this world! Made me feel so special! Nothing was too much trouble. All the staff wished me “happy birthday” when I arrived & when my birthday cake came out all the staff stopped & sang “happy birthday! Made it extra special. Claire was our waitress, she was outstanding!

We spent a lot of our time here. We enjoy the unlimited salad bar very much All the food is always cooked to order and always very fresh. Staff are amazing Service with a smile ad always

Our waitress, Clare, was brilliant. She was very attentive and was always there just as we needed her. We never had to wait for her attention. She was friendly, helpful and polite and made our visit extremely enjoyable.

Lovely lunch today at The Harvester Stanway. Served by Laura who couldn’t have been more attentive & even took the time to refill our drinks in between serving other customers. Food was cooked perfectly & salad was nice & fresh. We then realised we had a voucher for money off so was even more pleased. Perfect spot for lunch.

Great place and amazing service from the lovely Laura. She’s amazing with my little boy.

Our meal was made even more special by the lovely Laura. She is so incredible with our little one. The food was also very hot and served quickly.

Had a lovely breakfast at the harvester, served by the lovely Laura! Excellent service, very friendly and helpful. Thank you for a great experience Laura.

Good location with parking, though when o went it was a really full night so had to wait a bit for parking. It had the bar section and the restaurant bit. Went to the bar side which was cool. Had the tiki and lemonade which was fruity and nice. Though would say was more fruity. Ordered the charchicken skewers, didn’t enjoy it, was super dry, the chips was nice though. My friend had the ribs which was good, maybe I try that next time.

Amazing breakfast of pancakes, made even better being served by Laura. She always makes us feel welcome and nothing is to much trouble.

Laura our host was very friendly, attentive and engaging. We were here on holiday and the food was lovely and service was fast and great

Food is always good in Harvesters, but the service here was exceptional

Food has increased in price dramatically since my last visit while the quality has dipped. Burger, chicken and ribs that we ordered were all overcooked and dry, yet were cold on arrival. Sauce was used very sparingly and the salad bar was at least 50% empty for the whole time we were in the restaurant Worth noting as well this was on a weeknight so hardly during rush hour. Used to visit quite regularly but won't be returning anytime soon

Great food, and our server Laura was a gem!

Good quality food excellent service.

Laura is an amazing server and treated us really well. We had a lovely meal and time. Definitely come again soon. Laura is a 10/10!!

Visited without reservation on a Friday evening and they squeezed us in... Very busy and bustling restaurant but very friendly staff. The food was ok... It was only my second time ever at a harvester so wasnt sure what to expect... was quite expensive for what you got. The corn bread and honey was slightly strange.

My jacket potato was a bit hard. Not very good. Everything else was good.

Great breakfast. We were served by Laura who was lovely and helpful.

Back again as service and food is top notch, served be Ela who was great and made our breakfast really enjoyable😀

The service was lovely and was very pleased with my food like I always am. Love this place some much .

Chef did a marvellous job with our meal. Server was fantastic. A lovely experience as always. Thankyou

Great service and food. Improved from last visit.

I have been to the harvester in Ipswich, and it was lovely. Sadly, this one was disappointing

Always been a fan for years, but things have taken a bit of a nose dive. The new menu isn't great and the whopping increase in prices is far from fair. I normally pay £10.50 for scampi and chips in london. Here it was £15. The quality and quantity of the meal didn't give justification to the price increase either. The only positive I could say is that with the scampi tasting processed and the cardboard chips I was rather thankful that the portions had also decreased. My dad had the chicken which used to come with a vegetable choice or sweetcorn. But not now. His chicken wasn't even cooked properly. The dessert wasn't great either. My mums treacle pudding was cold. Custard lumpy and my chocolate brownie was more like a good chocolate sponge which was also cold. Sorry Harvester but until you bring the prices down and food better we'll be eating elsewhere.

As always, does what it's meant to.

Love the new food menu, so many more choices and options inc for vegans. Our waitress Ayu was lovely and very informative on the menu as I've a nut allergy. Food was excellent and full of flavour. Thank you we will be back. Highly recommend.

Fantastic evening with family, good food and outstanding service from Laura. Thank you!

Myself and family had a fabulous meal , really impressed with their food !! We was served by laura who really bubble and lovely , service was quick , we had food at our table in less then 30 mins which we was amazed at , considering the restaurant was quite busy !! We also had a newborn with us which they catered for and was able to keep our baby close and tucked away . Now you have to try the desserts as they are really good and tasty. 100% I'd be back again .

had a lovely meal . Laura as our waitress was par excellence! her welcoming personality and attention to detail and knowledge of menu along with her upbeat energy made the meal very enjoyable and as coeliacs safer to eat out. will come again!

We had dinner there last night and was served by a lovely lady called Laura. She went above and beyond for us and definitely made our evening! Such a lovely lady, thank you! Hope to go again soon!

Laura made the evening a memorable one. Many thanks

Very good service! Tasty salad bar!

Lovely place to go have something to eat

Very friendly and efficient and food was great

Laura was very sweet and went above and beyond to make sure we were happy and content with our dining experience

If you have older children I would order from the adult menu as the kids menu port Charlotte seemed quite small even after dessert. We went home and he had a sandwich

Great food served quickly even though the place was packed

Lovely evening, great food 😋 Waitress Laura very friendly and helpful.

They do what they do and for me that means good value with decent fresh food (which upgrades to really great value with the lunch menu). Can’t knock it IMO - but my shout out goes to Laura who served us today. She was absolutely cracking 😊

AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE Haven’t been here for a while but received an email with a 40% off voucher so took the family yday and had a great time. Laura really made it for us, she was brilliant, extremely attentive and had us laughing with her great banter. Will definitely be returning due to this. Laura you are a real credit to your employer.

Excited to eat here but food a little bland , salad bar didn't look appealing as some of the trays empty but service from laura was fabulous

All ways enjoy my visit to the harvester

Good food & good value. Laura, our waitress was Fabulous, nothing was too much trouble.

Was quite busy when we wait, had to wait at the front for a little while before we were seated. Once seated we were sorted with our order quickly by Laura, she has served us a few times now and is always polite, helpful and funny. Lovely lady. Food was lovely, only letdown was the drinks machine ran out of pepsi max syrup, and no pasta at the salad bar the whole time we were there, other then that everything was fine,

Good service and salad bar excellent.

We visited this harvester for the first time we was quickly seated lovely lady very shortly took our drinks order and then our food order my wife hadn’t even finished her salad and our food arrived exceptional service and will be coming back first class experience

We had dinner there great portions and staff our waitress Laura was quick and kind and a great contribution to the staff at this harvester.

Laura provided fantastic service, she is always happy and conscientious.

Decided me and my girlfriend wanted to go out for a meal told us it will be a 20 minute wait took are name down to call us when there was a free table and waited well over 20 minutes and completely forgot our names and on the previous order completely messed up the order and will not return back don’t go 👍

Visited with friends and had a lovely evening. Food was good value for money and the service we received from Laura was brilliant. Nothing was too much trouble and her friendly approach made the evening. A credit to the Harvester.

We came here on a Sunday afternoon with the kids and we seated in Ralph's section. He was extremely kind and friendly, made us feel right at home. A lovely waiter makes all the difference and we will definitely remember Ralph! Great food, excellent salad bar, all 6 of us very happy.

Was not sure what to expect as we hadn’t been in a Harvester for a number of years, but was pleasantly surprised. The food was definitely value for money and very tasty. The salad bar was well stocked and we saw it being replenished regularly through the evening. However, our evening was made by the wonderful service we received from our waitress Laura. Friendly, helpful and exceptionally good at her job it was a pleasure to be served by her. We will be back.

This Harvester restaurant is a particular favourite of ours and especially so if we’re seated at one of the tables Simone is waitressing. She’s polite, professional and great fun. No complaints on the food front; the salad bar (for the rolls) is visited frequently. Ribs are a personal favourite of ours and are featured in their 2/3 courses deal if visiting Mon to Fri. Not expensive, usually always a table free and the food tastes great! Get the Rocky Horror sundae!

We were passing by and decided to get something to eat, never been here before. Excellent service and lucky to get a seat considering no booking. Wonderful food and a great deal .

Great for family's. Service from Laura was fantastic as always!

What lovely service and have to thank Gemma for such great way of looking after us tonight. Certainly be coming back here, made us all feel right at home. Thank you again

Living local to this restaurant makes it a very easy choice. I’ve been there a few times the food is what it is. Nothing special the staff are very helpful.

Disappointing. Overcooked fish dry and hard. Melting ice cream sundae, having been served in a glass still hot from dishwasher.

1st time in one. Would definitely recommend it.

We were staying locally. 2 adults 2 kids, we utilised the kids main for £1 deal. Food was really nice, we were served quickly, we didn't wait long for the food to come out which is perfect when you have hungry kids. Really nice atmosphere. Very friendly staff. We would definitely return.