LEON Watford Gap in Daventry

I've just visited this branch (South bound M1) at 8:40pm and was dismayed when I was abruptly told, "We're closing in 1 minute. Go to McDonald's or another food outlet called Garden Square Deli". I replied, "I don't want to. I've come here to order food from your menu". She (the abrupt assistant) said, "We only have what's on the digital menu.". Her attitude was terrible. No welcome, no smile and a very rude way of speaking. Her name's Bianca. She went to fetch the other assistant who was only slightly better, but again she repeated that it closes in 1 minute. I understand they evidently don't like their job and wanted to go home, but their problems should not be projected onto potential customers. This reflects very badly on Leon outlets, which in my experience always have exceptional customer service. I've used several branches both in London and on both sides of the M1 at Watford Gap. There's never been a problem at this particular Leon branch South bound at Watford Gap on the three previous occasions I've eaten here.

Very hard chicken balls, almost inedible., didn’t enjoy at all. Not what I expect from Leon’s and would not re-visit this outlet under any circumstances. Also has the air con running, it was far too cold.

Great service from the young boy this morning!

Great staff, lovely customer service. Good food too

Poor woman on the counter was over loaded with orders. Very pleasant despite the stress she was under. Food came out looking not at all appealing but tasted fantastic. Coffee was really good. Love that there’s so many gluten free and dairy free options. Please bring one to Leicester. Much rather take the boys here than McD.

Ordered extra chicken on a takeaway meal, not given but charged for it . Always check takeaway orders are correct because 10 miles down the road when you find out its not worth going back to complain

Food is not fresh Lettuce in hallumi wraps was off and turned brown Disgusting

Closes earlier than advertised. I was here at 20:30, they were already closed. Short staffing was the given reason.

Located in the Watford gap on the M1 and next to the McDonald's, they have plenty of options from rice boxes two burgers and wraps. There are also sides available, but I must say the food is pretty average. It needs more taste. I went for a chicken burger and a salad was not that fresh. It was just a green leaf bit and tasty and plain. Plenty of options with drinks as they also serve hot drinks like teas and coffees. my favourite tea was ginger and lemon and it was so good for the autumnal rainy day of today

Says it closes at 9pm. Get there at 8pm on and it’s closed. Very helpful when my allergies make every other service useless for food. More than infuriated.

i have came to the restaurant and the worker told us they opening in 5-10 min and it was already 10past, really unprofessional specially in busy place like this.

Other places had a long queue so thought I would try Leon’s. Asked for chicken burger with no sauce and it came with sauce. Chicken burger had hard piece in. Not what we expected for cost. On plus side hot chocolate was nice.

Not cheap but nice wraps and ok coffee.

Not fresh food on first visit. I have decided to stop for food today and give it another chance. Unfortunately I had horrible experience. I have ordered halloumi wrap and after few bites I found fly inside. I’m finding it disgusting, to just replace wrap is not enough. I hope I won’t feel sick after today’s experience. I will never stop there for food again.

Good food, fairly fast but way to expensive paid 14 quid for 2 burgers all in all 7.3/10

Truffle & Mushroom Arancini (3pcs) cooked as Hard rock 🪨. I can't bite them. Smoky Paprika Chicken Mezze is very salty and very little portion as well but costly£3.99,,,NOT EVEN RECEIVED SIZE OF 2 CHICKEN NUGGETS. . In mc Donald's for £4.50 I got 20 chicken nuggets.

Waited 20 minutes and paid through the nose for a very, very sad chicken burger (the tiny bit of chicken there was awful). Someone needs to explain to the manager that bad traffic on the M1 on a Sunday evening means they could well be busy (roadworks a junction before, so totally predictable). This is my third bad experience with Leon in a row, so I think I'm done.

My experience here was amazing , from the service to the quality of the food , Highly recommend

Food was good, hot and fresh and Bianca who served us was friendly and polite. Thanks

Warm and friendly service, good range of options, we loved the daal and ginger beer

Awful service, extremely rude woman who was banging the counters. Her name badge had Bianca, she needs a lot of training on customer service. Food was cold and served late. Avoid

Urmmm absolute worst service I’ve ever experienced, I wanted to order at the till because not all options are available on the screen and the girl serving was sooo rude, rolling her eyes , couldn’t smile, on her phone. It was like she was angry that she was serving me, everytime I asked her for something I felt like I was doing something wrong? So uncomfortable honestly I’m not one to complain but this was the worst customer service I have ever experienced.

Leon: Our food was barely warm, even after asking for new hotter servings. The wraps were broken, with minimal chicken. The tea was one of the worst cups I have ever had, cold on top, too much milk, once stirred a little hotter. It all had the feeling of having been thrown together with no consideration for the consumor or respect for the ingredients - clearly, the staff need additional training. I honestly feel completely ripped off!

Great fast food and free parking

Despite a slight mix-up with our order, David offered great customer service to rectify it. He was on hand to support with the menu, but ultimately it was great to have someone go the extra mile, who made the whole experience enjoyable (it’s rare for service station fast food . . . !). Thank you again, David and hope you see this message.

First things first, if you in a rush, don’t bother! Despite the fact that there were only three orders together with mine, I had to eat too much for 2 baps and some hash browns even though they were not all fresh. Very disappointed in the food, I only had a very simple order of a bacon and egg bap and halloumi with avocado bap. Bacon, bap was horrible. I don’t see the reason why you would put spices sauce in a bacon bap, I had to throw that away. The halloumi was not freshly grilled. And I had some hashbrowns which I really think it was cooked a day before and reheated, at least that’s how it tasted. And I also think they overuse the frying oil. Nope… I would never try them again.

Nice food, salad and rice box, a little expensive but that’s motorway service stations for you. Bad customer service, rude and uninterested front of house.

If the option for less than one star was available I’d select it. Asked for a grilled chicken burger and chips. A 15-20 minute wait when I was the only customer. The chicken came still cold in the middle and the chips were just frozen oven chips. Really dry and believe it or not. COLD ALSO. Very over priced. Very undercooked. Waste of money and time. Never again.

Great staff, Ed was kind, knowledgeable and so very professional, we felt like we had walked into a restaurant not a fast food place. Ed should be rewarded he is an asset to your company.

Nutrition , quality and healthy food . Fresh meal. Quick service .

Healthy dishes. Really loved the vegan muffin. Pretty quick at serving.

Food came very quickly. Rice was dry, chicken was dry, pomegranate seeds were dry. I was told ‘here is your peppermint tea’ but it turned out to be green tea. Don’t like green tea. Only realised 3 miles down the M1. First ever visit. Won’t be going again

Liked the idea of natural fast food for three of us, however got turned away at 9.01pm. Very disappointing.

£33for 2 adults 2 kids, pretty much threw the hole lot in the bin. Chicken like cardboard, a wrap that tasted like it was cooked yesterday and a portion of chips with bites already taken out of them. Disgusting quality for the price

Nastiness in all aspects of the experience

John, thank you for your friendliness on our long journry from Yorkshire. Gluten free Chicken nuggets were amazing. See you on the way back up North. ***** Friendly atmosphere and good food.

The staff was super friendly and patient. The food was also good but we went there at 8:30pm, half an hour before closing time and sadly, barely anything was available. They were all out of salads, rice/protein boxes, burgers and most sandwiches. The only things available were the sides. It makes sense that some items would be out of stock considering it was the end of the day but to this extent, it feels like they should just close earlier if they are not going to be able to deliver on their proposed menu. Again, the staff however was very lovely and helpful, and the food itself (the one that was actually available) was very good.

Struggling to understand the negative reviews. Seems most are about timing rather than quality or taste of food. Maybe I got lucky. Ordered on screen. Quickly cooked and served. Went into Watford Gap services in way down M1 to get a McDonald's breakfast muffin. Saw Leon's. Looked at the menu. Very different from anything else I've seen. Decided to give it a try. Very glad I did. Great choice. Unusual options. Went for sourdough muffin with halloumi and avo with extra bacon. And hash browns. It was delicious. So much better than McDonald's. Muffin was fresh. Halloumi was just right. Bacon was a perfect addition. Next time I'll go for a poached egg pot. Definitely recommend

Wouldn’t recommend. The wrap I ordered was a pale imitation of that shown on the menu I also found a hair in my side dish. 👎🏻

Driving on the M1 motorway and feeling hungry, then pull over to Watford Gap Services and grab a Leon meal. Lots of vegetarian options. The wraps are very tasty and the food is fresh and well prepared. Salim Patel

Great to have a Leon at a motorway services. Good healthy food, easy to order. Shame staff decided that the smoothies are not vegan (they are).

Claims it is open until 9pm when it really closes at 7pm. Staff are rude too

Absolutely terrible experience! Waited for so long in the queue to begin with. Snail slow service. The vegan burger was parishingly cold and so hard to chew. Chips were stale, unappetising, and had to be chucked out. Didn't even come with the sauces. What a waste of money

A very disappointing experience. No discernible system in place. No sense of urgency to serve people who've clearly been waiting longer than necessary (20 minutes for a muffin and a breakfast box? Come on). And when finally the food was handed over, it was lukewarm and unappetising. £18 spent. Total rip-off. As friendly as the girl who served us tried to be, it's hard to fathom why companies can't find staff with the fundamental skills required for the job they're paid to do. Oh, wait — maybe it's because the pay is so poor...

Absolutely shocking! Ordered chicken satay! Stay away worst place I’ve ever eaten! My stomach from eating it after was turning just don’t go there full stop!

Terrible service and inedible food. Ordered a bacon and egg muffin and the muffin was stale and hard. The manager was sympathetic and refunded the cost but I cannot think what possessed the firm to sell me this in the 1st place . I feel this company has problems

The longest I’ve ever waited for a Leon, for absolutely no reason as it wasn’t busy and there were staff in the kitchen just standing around. Also only around half the menu was available, including drinks, with no explanation, warning or apology. Coffee had gone cold by the time the food arrived. Miles below Leon’s usual standards.

Ordered veggie burger .. Not enough welcoming staff.also freaking cold & so hard looks like years old veg. Patty they are surving…. Straightway put in the bin will never try again anything from them

The veggie food portion size is ridiculous. The quantities you see on the menu images are NOTHING compared to what you get in reality. I complained only to be told that they never give the amount shown in the photos... so how are they allowed to get away with this false advertising?!?!. I was given an extra scoop of black beans with my rice but still found it to be a pitiful amount of food for the price paid. If the quality was half decent I might have considered eating there again, but the black bean with rice was so dry (like it had been cooked a while ago and left in the open for too long) and the side coleslaw was bland and tasted like cardboard... So overall rubbish value for money. I should have got a veggie burger from McDonald's, at least the burgers look like what is advertised on their menu!! Shame on you Watford Gap for tainting the quality of the Leon brand.

Twice arrived at 8:30pm to be told that they 'had' to close 30min early.... think the staff often fancy an early finish!

Ordered a gluten free chicken burger, this was confirmed with a staff member that was nice enough to ask that it was an allergy and not a preference. The burger bun didn't match the image on the display, which further reinforced it was a gluten free bun we had been given. My wife said it tasted too good to be true. It wasn't long after that we got home and she threw up for atleast an hour making it clear that it wasn't - first time my wife has been glutened since 2014. We are overly cautious at times, but even doing so this time we suffered eating out here. Not suitable Coeliac and Gluten Allergy. Whilst we understand "we can't guarentee cross contamination", we do atleast expect the correct bun to be given.

Food was good and we were served quickly. There were a couple of issues but the guy who served us, think his name was Ed, solved all our issues and was absolutely exceptional. Amazing service.

The chap who served us was exceptional. Food, drink etc was all to the standard expected.

Friendly and helpful service, amazingly good vegan food for a motorway service station. 5 stars if you add more black beans with the rice.

The food was stone cold. Returned it, came back cold. It was 8.30am on a Saturday morning, we were the only customers. When I asked why the food was cold and yet they were not busy, the person behind the counter told me that the food is all prepared when the services opened and is kept under heated lamps!!! I always considered Leon to be a discernible brand, how wrong was I? The McDonald's next door in the services were serving perfectly hot food and at a fraction of the price. To make matters worse, I completed the "How did we do today?" customer feedback form and received an email from customer care at Leon apologising and asking for my bank details so that they could arrange a refund. I replied with my details only to find that the email box does not accept incoming emails!!! I met John Vincent a few years ago and worked in media with his partner Katie. This was not the vision he had for Leon.

LEON is just insanely good. Friendly, quick service. Great healthy fast food at a decent price- it's far from bland, wraps are full of sauce and flavours. Mac and cheese bites are incredible.

Food was amazing as always but the lady who served us at about 1pm was so friendly and helpful that the experience was even better! Thank you!

Staff were excellent, really friendly and working hard to accommodate dietary requirements.

Watford Gap south. 26th Nov 2021 17.45. Just had a, great gluten free chicken burger served by a very pleasant member of staff. Well done.