Mckees Farm Shop Restaurant in Ards

Lovely well designed farm shop. Fresh meat, bakery, sweetshop and flowers all under one roof. Also have a restaurant beside it which had a very long queue waiting to get in. Produce is local well priced and good quality.

Disappointed Today! I have been going to McKees many years and after today I don’t think il be back. Ordered a Pot of Coffee for 4 cups this was to share between two. COST £10 for POT OF FILTER COFFEE!!!!! Well for the size of the pot myself and my mother got 2 Half Cups Coffee Each! After nearly finishing the pot I called the waitress over said is there any chance of a small refill because WE NEVER GOT 2 FULL CUPS EACH! The woman gave us a look as if I was asking for a lot she said “I have no idea I just serve the food I speak to barista.” The woman who making coffee then came back to the table said “this is the pot for 4 people there’s a pot of hot water.” Not even listening to us saying we hardly got 4 cups out of it. So they brought back the pot of coffee with barely anything left in it and an extra pot of hot water. Absolute Joke! If you’re going to serve a pot of that size give smaller cups because it certainly DID NOT GET 4 FULL CUPS OUT OF IT! The way the staff handled it in my opinion wasn’t professional. The staff are normally lovely but after today has put me off. I know there’s cost living crisis BUT A FILTER COFFEE DOES NOT COST AS MUCH AS A CAPPUCCINO!!

Great location, great produce, reasonable prices 👍🏼

Excellent, catered for a large youth club group 60+. Excellent service and warm welcome

Had the best ever bacon, brie and cranberry panini for lunch today here.

Food is average quality in the shop but seriously over priced for the quantity and most of the food apart from the butchers section is filled with rubbish like additives, e numbers etc

Family trip for breakfast. Service was good and the staff were friendly.

My partner and I had been looking forward to trying McKees restaurant for a long time. Finally on a day off work we were able to go. You have to stand outside and look at the menu on the wall then order inside at the till before getting seated causing people to be standing on top of each other. We ordered pannins and chunky chips and were really underwhelmed, they were dry and just didn't taste nice. I still ate mine but my partner just left his whole meal. Chunky chips were raw inside also. The staff were really friendly and welcoming, the views are stunning and I could have spent hours in the farm shop. It's just really unfortunate that we didn't enjoy the food. I will go back for the shop though.

Good quality 👍 bit expensive but worth it 👌

Fantastic breakfast. Farm shop was choc a bloc with produce all top quality Good selection of bakery goods. Will only shop there from now on. Everyone I encounter, during my time there was very friendly and courteous.

Excellent farm produce very good restaurant overall I would recommend

Great staff and fantastic food and a great service

Great place for local quality produce and wheelchair friendly

First time visit bit disappointed with couple of purchases...mushroom vol au vent very dry and not a lot of filling...garlic bread big thick slices with little garlic buttter. Leek and potato cake was OK but with 3 small pieces of bacon? Nice shop staff friendly butchers looked good

Excellent food in the cafe. Very tasty, decent portions and friendly staff.

I have ordered delivery from McKee's for my family many times. I live in Canada and we have been delighted with the delicious food and great delivery service. I can order from here confidently knowing that it will always be a lovely surprise for the recipients.

Really great selection of food. Staff where super helpful especially to my dad who struggles to speak due to a stroke.

This morning the shop delivered to family in East Belfast. They were prompt,really friendly and good banter with elderly folk. The food was lovely presented, generous portions and variety. The family really appreciated the quality. Great old fashioned standards and reliable food. Keep doing what you're doing.

Just love this place....Great fresh farm produce and excellent restaurant - food is yummy and portion sizes are generous.

Very disappointed long term customer! I bought a pot of beef stew for £4.49 for lunch but on returning home discovered 3 finger nail sizes of beef. Pitiful. Mostly potatoes and celery, a couple of small chunks of carrot, pale and tasteless stew as if stock had been forgotten too. Very strange why this batch was ever served out as portions to buy. Label stated beef should have been 16.9% however definitely not a described. Whilst the lack of quality control for the stew put in the pot may not warrant a review here what does is when I phoned to speak to the manager to give constructive criticism and suggest perhaps removing the batch of unpleasant stew from the shelf to avoid many more disappointed customers that I am still waiting for the call a day and a half later. A message was left with a female staff member who informed me the manager, who would be the owner, he was not available but she would ask him to phone me back. I took time out to make McKees aware so I had hoped the owner would welcome an opportunity to speak to me. As an alternative I have shared my constructive criticism here. Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed a decline in quality control. The lentil soup has been progressively watered down over the last few years too. UPDATE - Quality Control Manager phoned today, apologised and offered to deliver new stew (offer declined) and will speak to kitchen about mixing and quality control. Fair enough. I will check out the stew next time I’m there and hopefully there will be an improvement.

The food was very good (I had a Christmas dinner and Pavlova for dessert). It was VERY busy when I was there with a friend,so the table we got wasn't the best, but otherwise it was good.

Beautiful meal very friendly and helpful staff

I go because it reminds me of my Mum and Dad, three weeks ago I had a large Scampi, basically it was burnt small bits if batter with 13 chips peas and bit of Salad. Not happy but thought I just ordered the wrong thing. Today I ordered a large Turkey dinner, thick Chips instead of mash, I actually had to call the girl back to check if it was a large portion, to which I was told Yes! Two small thin slices of Turkey and a small equally thin slice of Ham with a mush Stuffing between. "I would hate to see small" Lots of Veg and 11 chips most either to hard or not peeled correctly to eat. £14.00 Staff are always nice and friendly! Last time I'm afraid just a rip off now! Very disappointed indeed!!! The shop is good but expensive, with it, although it is quality produce at least.

The food has been a hit or miss. Recently I got ham cheese toasted sandwich I was very disappointed cheese wasn’t even melted and middle of it was cold. Was just quickly put the toaster. Also partner had chunky chips with his meal and they were rock hard and raw in middle he couldn’t eat them. We went after 2 o’clock the place wasn’t packed. The food came quite quick but I’d rather wait a bit longer for a nicely cooked meal. It is also a bit overpriced now so sadly we don’t go as much as we use to!

Overpriced farm shop nothing out of the ordinary. Tasteless. Don't buy into the hype.

Good quality produce, cafe is a bit expensive but the size of the plate of food is very good. Farm shop has a really nice selection of meals.

Lovely shop with a delicious gluten free selection!

Lovely atmosphere, lovely staff & lovely food !!!

I usually have a small fry on a Saturday for breakfast but the servings have progressively getting smaller. The one piece of soda and potato is now so small as to be embarrassing for the the staff to serve.

Surprised at how big the place is. Huge variety of prepared food as well as a butchers and deli. Tasty meals and lots of sweet stuff. Had the large fry in the restaurant and it was very good. Staff were very friendly. Will go back.

Very impressive establishment. I had a very tasty panini in the restaurant, did some shopping in the farm shop where the meat, desserts, produce and baked goods all look great, then finished off by getting a lovely pot of flowers to take to my mums grave.

Great place for morning coffee and then shopping

Fantastic place, so much choice of food and the freshest vegetables. Great friendly staff. Shop local much better

Colin you kept quiet yesterday about your so well deserved award for best breakfast. Always the best food to purchase and eat in restaurant. Congratulations to everyone. Liz and Vincent

Nice selection of goods. Great quality!

Was there for the first time today an found all u could ask for wat a lovely place an staff were fantastic, an the Restaurant was fantastic. Will b back

Good food lovely location and very tempting deserts

Very strange setup I have never been to a restaurant/cafe that works like this! Menus are outside the restaurant on the wall. We had a quick look and then queued. When you get to the top of the queue you are told you need to know what you want to eat and pay for it before you are seated! We had to leave the queue go outside and look at the menu again and decide what we wanted to eat. On a busy day this would be chaotic. Surely there should be a sign telling you to pick your order before you join a queue! There are no menus on the table. Personal touch gone. They say its to do with covid. Surely people are getting back to some normality by now! The meal was ok luke warm! Not impressed won't be eating in the restaurant again.

Went today as was looking plants and my friend also looking plants and pots. Was not aware they did not have nursery of plants which I understand but member of staff rude when asking where there nursery part was ( felt as if I was stupid) lovely farm shop but need to have nicer approach to customers.

Friendly staff, quick service and great food.

When I want good quality and reasonably priced meat I go to mckees! They have a superb selection of sweets, vegetables, ready meals and a deli counter. I find myself focused on the butcher counter. The butchers are extremely help and will advise on various cuts. I have had multiple of their tomahawk steaks which are reasonably priced and great quality. They had a restaurant that is very nice and reasonably priced. Usually very busy at lunch times , especially at the weekend but it has a great view over newtownards if you get luck with your table.

Great food and friendly service

Lovely lunch in the tearoom. Very busy but service well organised by friendly helpful staff. Very well stocked farm shop with amazing fresh meat counter as well as a deli. Lots of shopping opportunities well worth a visit.

Fabulous cafe and shop is amazing. Car park is poor for disabled customer.

Got sandwiches and scones for my daughters baby shower, absolutely delicious..would recommend them to anybody..

Lovely food at a very reasonable price with good customer service.

Very large farm shop with good parking and produce at reasonable prices. Very good resturant which is lways nearly full,

Food adequate but not great for the price. Location great and farm shop equally well priced

Visited yesterday & ordered crepes. Got 2 folded pancakes with a tablespoon of syrup & about 10 berries. No dusting of icing sugar, no cream & not even a half strawberry with a little bit of stalk, (for appearances.) After 15 minutes we had to ask for my friends scone & the drinks, two of which were tap water!

Very pleasant staff with plenty of space at check outs. Pity there is less car parking space.

Food great but quite expensive for a cafe

26th June 2023. I had not visited your restaurant for a while because I did not like the “Covid method” of entering and ordering your food. I was very disappointed today to find that this method is still in place. While I appreciate you probably have very good reasons for maintaining this system, for me, it spoils the experience. I do not want to feel under pressure to pick something off a board on the wall while in a short queue at the door. Neither do I wish to set my own table! When I have visitors staying we usually take a trip to McKee’s for a meal, which has always been enjoyed by all. With this current system, I would be reluctant to bring visitors, because it feels to me, like entering by “the back door’. I much prefer to be seated and to peruse the menu with my guests, in comfort, even if we have to queue. I understand the Menu is available online, but one doesn’t always have time to look at this before visiting. For myself and a friend, calling for a coffee and a scone, the current system is tolerable but otherwise, for the reasons explained, it’s a no from me. I do hope you can reconsider returning to your original way of operating. Your food and staff are excellent.

Very good restaurant and excellent farm shop

My favourite scone is rhubarb and ginger!

Great place food is lovely in the restaurant the staff are really friendly and there is so much to choose from in the shop

The veg, meat & produce are good quality, well presented but very pricey. The cooked pies and pasties are problematic in that the pastry is OK but it looks if the fillings are predominately uncooked meat which makes finished articles either very dry or in the case of beef, unedably tough!

Excellent food. Great shop full of a large assortment of things from food to gifts. A great place to go.

More than a bit expensive, prices have shot up, it's just not worthwhile travelling 15 miles to visit anymore, unfortunately.

Shop is great place to buy food

The order before you sit down process results in big queues and rushed decisions when the place is busy. Ordered scones, tray bake and coffee which were fine. The guy cutting concrete less than 5m from the outside tables was not ideal and resulted in everyone running inside at the same time. Fortunately there were enough tables to spare, not sure what would have happened otherwise. Having said that, concrete cutter raised a laugh when he protected his lungs by pulling his t shirt up over his mouth. Great OHS! Scones and tray bakes came individually wrapped in soft plastic…? Felt very wasteful and cheap. Staff were friendly, prompt and brilliant.

Always a pleasure to visit. Never disappoints.

Absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!! Can highly recommend restaurant and shop !!!!🤩👍

Good fresh products and friendly staff

I ordered food for a 40th birthday party to be delivered to the venue. Everyone was delighted with the quality. Sandwiches, cocktail sausages and goujons, also traybakes. Would certainly recommend their services.

Friendly service, good prices and value for money. Plenty of parking.

What a great farm shop - we are home with lots of treasures - fresh strawberries and raspberries, traybakes for hubby, steaks and beef sausages etc etc plus himself was delighted with the old style sweet shop section and has almost finished his bag of sweeties already. There are the most amazing array of scones and other baked goods and sauces, preserves etc as well . We will definitely be back to stock up for family BBQ's through the summer.

Absolutely best cinnamon and apple scone I've even tasted. Will definitely be back for more☺️

Good quality of everything they sell.Outstanding.Had breakfast here. Very efficiently run and was very busy.The carpark was full.

I was out today with my missus and my 1 year old son. Food was outstanding. It was also very cheap for what we got, highly recommended

First time there. Had a lovely breakfast with friends. Good food and staff. Very good farm shop too. Hope to return soon. Not our side of town.

Breakfast was fantastic, as was the farm shop. My wife and I will be back.

Visited today with two friends. Disappointed in the system now, getting a table, then having to get up, look at the menu outside the restaurant, and order at another point! We ordered three toasted sandwiches which were accompanied with a few broken crisps on each plate. A little salad garnish would not have gone amiss. Not good McKees.

Wow first time at this wee place and really enjoyed my visit.Great choices of food vegetables and plants.

First time here. Welcomed by a lovely friendly lately. Food was tasty. Service was quick. The shop is fab. From cheese, breads, meats, sweets fruit veg and flowers. You pay more than the supermarket but the food quality is superb. Will definitely recommend

Friendly staff nice meat and nice cake 🎂 can't ask for better.

Beautiful meal and great place for buying pies and wheaten bread

Fab place.. Lovely fresh produce from potatoes, veg, different kind of fresh meats, butchers, deli counter, desserts etc.. Lovely friendly staff.. they even do sweets, plants, gifts etc..fab place defo recommend it and food is so fresh.. Plus lovely cafe on site too 🙂

Visited twice. Enjoyed fish & chips, roast lamb. Apple tart. Pavlova & lemon meringue. Farm shop was good as well. Service was good. Bit out of the way, but well worth a visit.

Good quality local produce. Plenty to choose from. well worth a visit.

Love this shop. Amazing flower containers. Super shop with great selection of home bakes, meats and fresh vegetables. Lovely helpful staff. Easy parking.

I had a cup of flat white and a sticky bun. The coffee and cake were fine, no complaints there, and the cafe itself was clean, tidy and very comfortable. The waiting staff, although extremely busy were kind and courteous.

Great restaurant, very tasty down to earth food. The shop has a great variety of produce however it's off the main road, so you really need transport

Lunch on Saturday was fantastic great service and the farm shop is amazing

Lovely food, great staff, very helpful. Food selection is great.

Was in McKee's for breakfast on Saturday with my hubby and my friend. The staff and the food were amazing, brilliant menu and the farm shop was brilliant. Superb selection. We will definitely be back.

Staff very polite and place is lovely and clean. Plenty of variety in the shop. Cafe can be very very busy but the food is amazing.

Good restaurant, good Farm Shop but time given the popularity to fully tarmac the Car Park! Make a point of not to visit unless you need to wash your car and clean your mats inside. Update 11/1/23 the non tarmac Car Park has now got lots of potholes too!!

What a gem. We just discovered McKees by accident. It's definitely more expensive than a supermarket, but the quality goes far beyond the extra bit you pay for local, high-quality produce.

Went for dinner in the cafe, it was delicious and a huge portion. Staff very friendly.

Nice lunch in the restaurant. Speedy service. Shop on way out has some unusual quality items.

Whoever have thought of the new order system needs a good look at it. You would have a better experience going to McDonalds. Look at the menu board in the hall, order and pay for it, then take a number and have a seat. I’m sure that a school canteen would be better organised. After that the food was distinctly average. I will not be back. Shame it used to be so good, but I suspect the accountants have been responsible….

Great farm shop and a lovely place to have a meal , first class

Was disappointed. It's being a while since last visit and they have changed entrance. Food was just OK nothing special and it was quite expensive for what we got. I wouldn't recommend it as a first choice as there are far better garden centres restaurants about. Farm shop however is really good with huge variety of products.

Did not enjoy my lamb it was tough

Very surprised as I had never been before. Thought it would be the usual overpriced garden centre food. No the prices and the quality was very good indeed. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone c

It's been awhile since I've been... But worth it. Full of great food...meats. and treats

Amazing farm shop, everything is freshly prepared and ready to take home, can’t fault anything in this shop. Love the fact they took away from using plastic bags and use Boxes! So much handier!

Quite simply a joy that must be experienced. The restaurant was well priced and the standard of food was better than the price suggested. The service was amazing! From the moment you walked in to the moment you left you were treated politely, punctually, and professionally! Tip: get the poached eggs! They’re amazing at Mckee’s

A lovely little restaurant. Very friendly staff, everyone doing their job with a smile. Breakfast was delicious. The service was helpful and fast. The Deli had wide selection of fresh vegetables, fresh and cured meats, ready meals and fancy treats to choose from. An all round good place to stop if looking for something tasty.

Loved here expensive but fab, shall be back