Sainsbury's in Darlington

Peaceful cafe, well priced, not too busy, decent Latte.

Cafe was empty, not surprising given the lack of options and service. No sandwiches for the kids lunch boxes at 12.30pm and no offer to make one, just can’t have the lunch offer. Pretty disgraceful to call it a cafe really.

Probably the worst bacon sandwich I've ever had. 2 slices of wafer thin bacon which seemed pre cooked then reheated so like shrapnel. Bread very thick, barely buttered and didn't seem fresh so couldn't taste the bacon. Staff pleasant but slow even though it was very quiet

Husband and I Went in for Sunday lunch. Was a roast beef dinner available which consists of roast potatoes Yorkshire pudding peas beef and cauliflower cheese. We both did not want cauliflower cheese on a roast dinner and asked what other veg was available the cashier said I think we have carrots but not sure. I opted for a breakfast and hubby ordered a roast dinner without the cauliflower cheese. No other option or alternative veg was given. The meal took around 15mins and the roast dinner was appalling. Sliced packet beef.frozen roast potatoes tinned peas and frozen Yorkshire pudding with a tub of brown water for gravy absolutely disgusting and total waste of money.

I love my local Sainsbury's Café in the store. The staff are amazingly friendly and will do anything for their customers, including bringing their food/drinks to the table even when they're extremely busy and short-staffed. I've been going to their café for quite a while with my daughter after college for a coffee, toasted sandwich or a meal and it's always great, no matter how busy the staff are. I like the café particularly because of its open space and the air flow is good, so I feel it's safer during the Covid pandemic. I would highly recommend Sainsbury's as a store in general because all of their staff are friendly and approachable and will help in whatever matter you need.

Getting into this store was a bit of a problem due to a major reconstruction of the car park which has a 2 hour waiting limit. This is controlled by CCTV which gives you a time to exit. Trouble is, it took us almost 15 minutes to find a space and get parked in what is a tight, dark and very unpleasant area. We were only going in for a quick bite after a lengthy journey and whilst we were out within time, I doubt if a shopping trip AND a meal would have seen us meeting the timescale. We both had a toasted sandwich with tea/coffee which was really tasty (cheese & onion). Staff were very pleasant and a good experience but doubt if I would want to venture into that car park again while it is I the state it is.

Disappointing, food was either not in stock or burnt. Kids bacon was barely cooked, chicken nuggets were burnt solid. Ham was fatty and and order was incorrect. Will not be going back.

My wife Just finished working frontline at Darlington Hospital called into Sainsbury’s pharmacy for some paracetamol. The pharmacy staff who were working wouldn’t serve her. as they said they were shut, my wife explained who she was and why she was in the shop at 7.30pm the said we are shut and busy doing other things. Sainsbury’s clearly have no need to celebrate the NHS.

We met up with family and three of us had different lunches: scampi and chips with peas, sausages with mash and peas, lasagne and salad. An ordinary cafe lunch served effectively. It was hot and condiments were freely available, and all for about a fiver a meal. You really cannot beat it.

Visited today for a snack lunch. The cafe only had a handful of people in and one couple at the counter. We waited and were served swiftly. I had selected a toasted sandwich and was told at the counter it would be a 20 - 25 minute wait - to heat up a toastie ?? Ridiculous. They said all hot food would be that waiting time. Changed my mind and had a slice of cake with coffee. Very bitter tasteless coffee. Not impressed .

Always a good place for lunch or a snack either before or after your weekly shopping trip to Darlington. Does get very busy between 12 and 1 so plan your visit accordingly.

Unbelievably problems with the coffee machine, yet again. Despite the store selling all types of coffee, they can't even do a basic instant decaf coffee for a customer. Service is slow and scrambled eggs were luke warm and watery. I used to like it here,but have been let down too many times now.

Just the place for a reasonable lunch after the weekly shopping trip - full range of meals available including sandwich and full range of drinks but can be very busy - so its not the place for fast food some of the time. Like all shops the staff are under pressure and are often discussing their problems in connection with new / review contract terms on the shop floor - not the place to do this in my opinion

Despite the actual food being good, the service is a disgrace, do Managers ever read the many bad reviews received. Should customer really have to queue for up to 20 minutes to place any order even just a drink, I think not, Neither do I think over 20 minute wait for a small food order is acceptable. The basis problem at the till is that ONE member of staff takes the food order & money and then makes the drinks, two members of staff are needed at the counter. It seems that there is also a staff shortage in the actual kitchen. Another local Supermarket has a separate drinks station and no queues, customers are served promptly. Managers please do something to improve the current service being provided

bacon sandwich was cold, cut my finger on the sugar bowl. a 17 minute wait to be served. oh dear sainsbury,s what has happend to you. a very poor start to a busy day ahead for me and my team. oh dear oh dear.

Came into Sainsbury’s cafe today only wanting something small, not much hassle, when greeted by the staff member at the till she was rude and blunt, I wasn’t a fussy customer, when my food was brought over to me it was just thrown down on my table where i was sat i said thank you and before i even finished the girl serving me had already left. Really disappointed.

Went into Sainsbury’s cafe and simply asked for a ham and cheese toastie, I had not been disruptive or rude in anyway, however I was greeted with a very rude, blunt and abrupt attitude from the member of staff serving me. She had a tone in her voice and had quite a lot of attitude even though she barely said anything. The reason she barely said anything is because she was very short and blunt with me, giving me one word answers or not an answer at all. When I went to pay she shoved the card machine across the counter and threw the table number card down onto the counter with attitude. She did not say a single word after this she simply walked away and did not advise me to pick any table I wanted or too take a seat. The service was then very slow as it took 10 minutes simply to toast a pre-made ham and cheese toastie. Then when I did receive the food she proceeded to strut over to my table and throw the plate down onto the opposite side of the table from me, meaning I had to get up and reach over to get my food, even though this takes very little effort it is still bad customer service (especially at £3.85 for a simple ham and cheese toastie that was served luke warm). She also did not inform me as to where any condiments were for my meal. Once she had abruptly ‘placed’ my food on the table she strutted off before I even had the opportunity to say thank you, despite this I still said thank you but her back was turned and she was walking away, and as you can probably guess I got no response. It was a very bad experience and aswell as the poor customer service the toastie wasn’t even that nice.

We always have lunch after our weekly shopping trip - full range of meals available including sandwich and full range of drinks - service has improved recently - keep it up please

Excellent food and friendly atmosphere with excellent staff.

We enjoyed another sandwich and hot drinks after our shopping trip today - service seems to be getting a bit better - keep it up please.

Big, has a bit of everything including Argos.

waited ages in the queue..felt sorry for the staff. nearly all our crockery was chipped..not a good look. apart from that food was ok

As a regular customer of Sainsbury’s for many years I am very disappointed in the decline in customer service in the upstairs cafe in this supermarket. Up until about 6 months ago, we could rely on excellent service and a good range of menu items to choose from, in particular their fish n chips are excellent. Unfortunately the service here is now very poor, as I sit at a table which needs cleaning I find the lethargy among some of the staff shocking. No service with a smile here, in fact it’s more like they think we’re doing them a favour for turning up and in some cases we are an inconvenience. There has been no soft drinks from the self service for months, instead a small bottle of Diet Coke costs £2.00. This needs invigorating with some customer service training, staff need to show respect for the customers who come here, smile a little and make us feel welcome. This by no means applies to all staff, unfortunately though to too many, a young lad named Michael is excellent, he always asks how people are doing however he is in the minority. Come on Sainsbury’s, sort this out and get the soft drinks dispenser fixed or replaced.

We usually have a drink and a snack after our weekly shop in Sainsbury's Darlington. Food reasonable, service very slow most of the time - they need a manager supervising all of the time to ensure all customers receive a better service all of the time.

This is quite a good place to go for a meal but the only disappointment was the only toilets in the building were all the way downstairs in the store.

Feel on top of the world as you peer down to the shopping madness below. Or lounge in the comfort of the leather armchairs.

My visit to Sainsbury’s cafe must be one of the worst if not the worst of any cafe/restaurant I have ever experienced,I am eighty years old and I have had many varied experiences here and abroad.I must have stood in the Queue for at least 30 minutes,all I was wanting was a coffee and scone.When I eventually got to the service counter there wasn’t any trays or plates,I ordered the coffee and scone and I was asked if I wanted some butter,there wasn’t any there,he had to get some from the fridge.The staff were pathetically slow,the whole process was getting to be traumatic.When I eventually got to sit down the latte was only just warm,oh yes,and my wife’s pot of tea was also quite cool.People who in the queue were muttering among themselves how disgusting it was.I am not one for complaining but On this occasion I felt that I had to.Oh,I almost forgot about the finale to this tale of woe,when I got home I happened to look at the till receipt and unbelievably the receipt which had been handed to me was not for my order,I had paid the correct amount for mine but this receipt was for some other customer.

Sainsburys has always been my favourite super market so thought we’d pop in for a coffee and bacon roll today. Always great tasty food but if I can offer some advice to the management- please put on some more staff. 20 minutes waiting in the queue , order, wait for coffee and another 10 minutes to get a bacon roll and a toasted tea cake.

We went for lunch after shopping. The fish and chips were very good and the salmon salad was excellent. Prices are reasonable. Relaxing atmosphere. Friendly staff. Well worth a visit.

Really nice food love the fish and chips from where and my dad likes the ham egg and chips.The drinks are nice to cups of tea are nice and love the hot chocolate.☕🍵

This is a large Sainsbury's and when we have finished visiting the clothes,home section and food we always either have a bite to eat or coffee if the cafe is open. The first time I ate here I had the most amazing Thai curry soup. It always had good deals on and the price of the food is always low considering how yummy the food is. We definitely recommend a visit here.

We often eat here after doing our shopping. The staff are always friendly and courteous. I normally have the cod and chips. The cod is always freshly cooked with fresh batter. The chips are the pre-packed variety which is a little disappointing. My wife has an omelette and salad. There are always daily papers available so you can have your food and then read the newspapers. It's very convenient because you don't have to start making a meal when you arrive home and after you have un-packed your shopping.

We ordered coffee, porridge, full breakfast and a breakfast roll. The porridge was immense, a big bowl with lots of porridge. I had honey and banana with it. My partner had full breakfast but wished he had ordered a second egg. I followed up my porridge with the breakfast roll it was ok, cheap sausage but bacon was good.

Consistently good. Great friendly staff. Beautiful hot chocolate. Really good prices and range of menu.

Called here for breakfast during the week with my husband. It was about 9.30 and there wasn't many people in. I had the big breakfast and my husband had the big breakfast sandwich. There was plenty of sausage and bacon in the sandwich and my breakfast was more than enough for me. Served by very personable staff.

Sainsbury does a good breakfast but if too late a lovely Megabrunch is available. It's good value for money and if you are lucky a lovely lad Micheal will give you good service - he is very helpful and very nice.

My little 6 year old daughter LOVES Sainsburys cafe, so we tend to go quite often. However, the last couple of times have been really disappointing. I ordered a jacket potato and it was actually cold in the middle. We have been really put off going back.

This is a large Sainsbury's and has a great selection of items. Parking is good with the new multi-story car park, and plenty of disabled and parent parking.

Usually go for my lunch at least once a week, always enjoy a prawn sandwich. Always a busy place and the staff are very friendly.

Lovely to visit after shopping.

Half Term - what can I say, full of kids running about yelling their heads off while the so called parents, sat there eating/drinking.. On the plus side the breakfast and coffee were OK.