M & S Tasting Cafe in Tamworth

Came for some breakfast at about 9.30 but only two of the terrible touchscreen “tills” were working. It took forever to find the items we desired and then I wanted to add butter - apparently there is no such option but “if the iced bun doesn’t come with butter, then ask the girl who brings your food to get some for you”! We sat down and within minutes my husband’s hot food was delivered but no drinks or my food. A couple next to us were eating their hot food but waiting for their hot drinks. Eventually the woman went up to ask where their drinks were on,y to be fobbed off with some ridiculous nonsense about different waiting times. Our hot drinks and my food arrived then arrived ; the coffees were pleasant but lukewarm and my husband’s hot food had cooled down because he was waiting for my food to arrive. I found the whole experience stressful and I’m sure the cafe lost lots of paying customers as the queue was getting longer. I overheard the poor assistant explain to disgruntled customers that there was a 15 minute wait and that would have been further delayed because of inputting orders and payment into those “fast food” machines .M&S needs to rethink their approach to ordering and note who their customer base is - we are not teenagers who want a pay ‘ n go experience, we would like to have a relaxing snack or meal and actually know what is on offer without having to search through page after page of products whilst people in the queue get cross because we are doing so. As a loyal customer I do not want to be unfair but whoever decided to put this system in needs to have serious questions asked of their ability to understand customer satisfaction.

Visited cafe for the first time since its refurb, it was like walking into McDonald’s with the way you order your food and drinks, seems to have lost its spark, was cold in there and our food came out before our hot drinks, ordered poached eggs on toast, received 2 half slices and 2 cold poached eggs which cost £5, way over priced and unfortunately won’t be visiting again so disappointed was much nicer the way it was.

The new ordering service very slow. Not able to use cash. Took ages for the drink to arrive. Next time will go over to Costa. Personal service. Spoilt my shopping experience.

Popped in today for coffee because I just love the Magic coffee. Had toast with it, the bread was awesome. Very busy in the restaurant as always. Managed to finally work the touchscreen without the help of the lovely staff. Fabulous lady delivered to our table, warm smile and so pleasant. Love M&S. wish we had M&S food again in Lichfield.🐞

Appalling refurb to the cafe at Tamworth. To start with the screen ordering system is fine if you’re young. I’m computer literate and in my 70s but it took me ages to order and the alert system that tells the staff which table you’re on is hopeless - ours didn’t work. This type of system will definitely rule out the older population, they’ll find somewhere else to go. The place looked a mess, the tables were full of previous customers rubbish, dirty cups, etc, nobody was clearing the tables. I assume not enough staff. The place was a mess, they have made it bigger but loads worse. We ordered food and 2 pots of tea. The food was delivered promptly, took 20 minutes for the tea to arrive, initially the waitress went to the wrong table. I was about to complain when our drinks arrived. The waitress did apologise, saying lack of staff. What a ridiculous situation. We won’t be using this cafe again.

Busy Saturday yes -order by screen entry system . Nice tasty bacon ciabatta which arrived promptly but the cafe latte we ordered , arrived 5 mins after we d finished eating ! And we had to ask where it had got to and when it did arrive was lukewarm and tasteless . They apologised for “ keeping us waiting “ - apparently different sections working at different pace . They need to sort out their hot drinks service .

Oh Marks what a disaster . We waited for the refurb but whoever designed this should be made to work there for a week . Staff running around like headless chickens . We ordered tea and toast with marmalade and poached egg on toast .Tea arrived 10 mins later a slice of warm bread with no butter or marmalade 5 mins later cold eggs on cold toast asked again for marmalade by now tea was drank and we left such a shame as it was always a lovely place with lovely chatty staff until the dreaded refurb .Marks you have really messed up this time won't be back

Staff very friendly but refurb is terrible. You can only order via touch screen machines - this would scare my in-laws and parents to the extent they would not feel able to use the cafe. It’s not McDonalds with teens using Apple Pay. It’s a cafe used by a wide range of ages INCLUDING older people. To introduce a system that excludes them is disgusting. M&S should be ashamed of themselves as should the swanky designers. Every one gets old eventually, I wonder how you’ll feel when it’s you left behind by society?!?

BIG THUMBS DOWN to M & S Tamworth. After refurb. the cafe is order on machine, card only, huge queues with staff trying to help people use machines. Staff tell me there's been lots of complaints. Won't be visiting again unless things change. (We used to go every couple of weeks, buying clothes, food and using the restaurant.)

Just opened after a complete redesign and expansion. No more going to the friendly staff at the tills to order and exchange a few words. No - it’s McDonalds type ordering screens and orders are brought to the table. You can order toast, no options for white or brown. Brown toast now not available and the white toast is just warm bread - they wouldn’t put it through the toaster again. A disappointing experience yet our weekly visit was always enjoyable. Sad!!

Decided to have the big breakfast here whilst doing some shopping. £9.50 for 2 hash browns, 2 sausages, bacon, beans, mushroom, one piece of toast and 2 poached eggs. We'd barely sat down at our table when the food arrived. Clearly presented on cold plates, the food was cold on arrival. Poached eggs whilst cold was the best bit as they were runny. You can tell the breakfast is mass produced and kept warm and dished out quickly on cold plates. 2 pots of tea but no saucer for the cup or teaspoons. Won't bother again and will go elsewhere for breakfast.

Stopped off for pots of tea, sandwiches and scones. Busy with customers queuing to be served. Sandwiched were fresh. Cheese scone tasty. Plain scone dry. Tables could do with a sanding down and re varnish as they are looking tatty. Disappointing not to have saucers with the tea cups. No excuse for the chipped crockery….

We decided to pop in for breakfast and ordered 2 x Big Breakfasts at £8.95 each and a single pot of tea at £2.60. On the menu, it stated 'prepared to order'. I wrongly assumed this meant cooked to order. The sausage and bacon was frazzled (the bacon was solid) and the rosti just tepid. The eggs (poached - no other options available) were good but the mushroom was slimey and tasted off. Not an enjoyable experience so we won't be returning.

Nipped in for some shopping, and decided to pop in for a light bite and a coffee. No trays to put anything on, so had to stack all we took off the shelves. Ordered the coffees, to which we were constantly asked what we had ordered. No clean tables. My partner took a toasted sandwich and hot crossed bun, which took over 15 minutes to be “warmed up”. The place was a mess. No clean tables, trays stacked with previous people’s items on. The amount of food on the floor was discussing. I then nipped back a little later for a bottle of drink, and found a massive que forming due to 2 of the staff messing around with a coffee machine and no one else serving.

In here now, the place is absolutely filthy, food on the tables, seats & floor, litter everywhere, wanted a full english with scrambled egg only to be told sorry no can't change the egg option from poached, although omelettes are on the menu ! Will never visit this dirty hole again, shocking!

Lovely coffee, amazing people, fantastic venue!!! Who could ask for more. Social distancing is so so good.

We went here for a coffee while shopping. The service was good but the coffee was awful. We had two very weak Americano’s, they were like water! We won’t go there again!

M & S cafe, its typical quality with friendly staff who are attentive to your needs, the food is varied and good tasty bites are available, with good drinks choices both hot and cold on offer, its a good stop off whilst doing your shopping exploits.

Gets busy at peak times but good quality produce and drinks! It's M & S! Can be a queue for hot drinks at times but not too long. A second smaller coffee snack shop is now right by the food hall which is handy!

Good place for a snack - tea is very nice. Can get very busy and at times a wait on the hot food. Having said that it is busy because it is very good!

The food I ordered was satisfactory, although not the most generous of portions. However the cutlery I was given was not clean. The knife had a lump of greasy food on it. There needs to be greater attention paid to basic hygiene at this cafe.

Went there with my mother and only one person working, she was rushed off her feet, behind the counter covered in dirty dishes, tables all used and not cleared, she just didn’t have time to turn around. Also do not have the hot chocolate as a drink, it tastes like hot water with a bit of flavour, very disappointing especially as the cost is quite expensive. Shall not be visiting there In a hurry

Visit every weekend for lunch when shopping at Ventura Retail Park. Considering that it’s not a chain the coffee is good; the cappuccinos are usually nice & frothy. You used to get an oat biscuit with each cup but you have to ask for a biscuit now as they wanted to reduce wastage. I always have hot food, a toasted sandwich which arrives promptly & they have improved the system by giving you a tracker so they know where to bring it. They do a few regular cakes, coffee, carrot & Victoria Sandwich plus feature cakes which change periodically. They’ve had a lovely rainbow cake this year but they have options with less calories too e.g. packs of biscuits, bakewell tart slices & cookies. They also have fresh scones both cheese & plain with accompanying butter/jam/cream. We go quite early as it can get crowded in terms of queuing & finding a table. There is now a smaller new cafe near the food hall for any overflow with slightly less selection of food. The staff are very good on the whole & will help you find a table if they see you wandering around, they help people with pushchairs/wheelchairs etc. We have tested them a few times asking for extra cold milk & no tomato or cucumber in my side salad but nothing is too much trouble. A few weeks ago Mum took her coffee back because it was not the right colour or consistency & they remade it with no problems. It’s nice to be greeted by people who know we are regulars there as well, we will keep returning. Special thanks to Janet, Stacey, Ben & Amanda.

Busy cafe in this Tamworth store. Sometimes it does seem take a while to get drinks done but that's the nature of today with the coffees being fresh! Good selection hot snacks and selection cakes always available. A second smaller cafe has now opened up by the food hall.

Called in here after a long shopping experience had two lattes which were served by a lovely young waitress who was very pleasant just what you need when your shopping.

I met my sister for lunch here for one of our birthdays.I had a toasted sandwich which was fine,while she ordered a jacket potato.twice it came undercooked and hard in the middle.In the end she changed it for a sandwich.But what was most annoying was the attitude of the staff.There was no apology and they behaved as if it was our fault for daring to complain and this included the restaurant manager.This also wasted valuable time out of our day when we only have the opportunity to meet quite rarely.Next time we certainly won't eat in M&S.

We ordered three coffees. One small cappuccino, one large americano and one americano with hazelnut syrup. It took three complete rounds to get it almost right! Even then, the hot milk requested came cold, but by then we were past caring. Whilst we drank the coffee, three members of staff loudly discussed their wages, and their dissatisfaction with the age levels within it.