Sainsbury's Café in Exeter

I’ve had mixed experiences here. While some staff are friendly, others come across as quite miserable, which can make the overall atmosphere unwelcoming. What’s particularly concerning is how certain minority customers are treated—it’s hard not to feel that there’s an underlying bias in how some people are handled. I hesitate to use the word "racist," but the behaviour I’ve observed is edging dangerously close to that. The food is decent, as you’d expect from reheated meals, but the cleanliness of the dining area leaves much to be desired—tables often aren’t cleaned properly between diners. If you’re lucky, you might catch one of the more pleasant staff members on a good day, and they might actually treat you well. Otherwise, it’s a gamble.

I had an unfortunate experience with the inconsistent and unwelcoming approach of the staff. On a previous visit, I politely asked one staff member if it was acceptable to purchase food from the store and eat in the café area. She assured me it was fine. However, on a subsequent visit, a different staff member told me that this was not allowed because the café food is "more expensive." They insisted that I would need to purchase a coffee (priced between £2-£3) to use the seating area. This was frustrating, as I had followed the rule based on the guidance provided earlier. I had spent £7.50 on two meal deals, plus additional snacks, and was happy to comply with the café’s policies. The inconsistency in communication, however, left a negative impression. While they did allow me to finish my meal, the experience felt unnecessarily awkward and unwelcoming. Clear, consistent, and more relaxed guidelines would greatly improve the experience for customers. I spend so much money in Sainsbury's, now I have to find another place to sit quietly, eat my food, and do some work on my laptop without getting harassed.

A real surprise with great service and excellent coffee, a shame that the management don’t do more with the seating area - badly laid out with insufficient seating

Jacket potatoes were served barely warm. Not nice.

Never got any staff. Food choices get less and less

No staff no food No atmosphere!!!

Food is good quality, staff is friendly and happy to help.

It's a nice cafe with a good variety of food,swift service and good quality products.

I like my Sainsbury's breakfast, it's a pity that some stores have lost their Café

Great food and very reasonably priced. The staff were friendly and helpful, the tables were clean and the food tasted great. It is a cafe, so it's not atmospheric but if you want a cheap, hot meal you can't go wrong.

Really friendly and lovely staff, always very pleasant to dine here.

Toasted sandwiches and pannini was good quality, but service was awful. Food dished up and waited 10 minutes for coffees so food got cold while waiting at the counter. The least they could have done is said they will bring it over when done. When it was served the coffee was half full of froth and luke warm, but as I had to eat my food before it was totally cold I did not bother complaining. Totally disappointing. Never again

Went to sainsbury's cafe today with my daughter and grandchildren they had jacket potatoes which was barely warm and my young grandchild had a kids nuggets meal which was far from appetizing and there should be a choice if children want chips or jacket with their nuggets when asked about it got told that's the normal heat for the food I have had food outlets over the years and if I had given a customer food like this my customers would not had come back back

A great to meet up with friends and have a coffee or lunch

Not very clean. Staff are quite rude but some are lovely

Fairly busy our order took a while to arrive ordered together but food came separately ar different times... we were given a buzzer that was supposed to go off when our order was ready so we ignored the man wandering around looking for the owner of a pannini so it was cold when it arrived the other part came about 10 minutes later...not excellent service..

The food was good, hot & tasty & came to the table quite quickly, but a big shame the tables and floor were very dirty !!

Sorry to say that standards have slipped. Food is hit and miss, with a breakfast that tasted as if it was cooked(?) yesterday and hot beverages just luke warm. I now prefer Tescos' eatery with a super fish n chips served and a great capuccino.

Really really bad food the kids nuggets was rock hard in the middle and the staff stoped serving us so a diffent staff member to pay for her food. This is so bad for some one like Sainsbury as all thay say is that the people come first. Well this was not shown by the staff you have in the cafe. O and when some one bys a flat white and gets a latte. That makes me never won't to come back

Very clean and tidy ..and not overly priced

Miserable girl on the till who explained nothing about how its works when you order food, muttered maybe half a dozen words & not a single smile! Food was ok, nothing to write home about

We like to chill out with my daughter and have lunch, coffee.

Standard tea and food, no issues

Lovely meal, which we didn't have to wait long for once we'd ordered. Service & staff were spot on!

Use a nectar card for all food,drink purchases,good selection of coffee and teas