Spean Bridge Mill in Highland

Nice little shop and cafe. Free car park with toilets. Beautiful running stream next door too. A very pleasant place to stop. Staff are great fun too - they were dancing about in the kitchen waving at me outside! Thanks all. Best wishes.

My favourite cafe in the Highlands. Brilliant cycling stop for coffee bacon buttie. Can't wait to come back for another good breakfast.

Absolutely awful, this place would be better closing its doors, stopped here yesterday for lunch with my wife as it’s always been great,, however once we entered the building we realised what a mistake. The so called manager needs to wake up, the place is a shambles. The main buffet section was blocked off with chairs and a little kiosk was attempting to sell some miserable hot food options, most of which was unavailable. We had potato and leek soup and it was dreadful. The sandwiches tasted as if they had been made up for a week. The dining room was filthy with food all over the floor. Given that this is popular tourist stop, what a terrible impression it gives of Scotland’s food and drink industry. We will not be back.

I love popping into the Woollen Mill for a coffee and a wee dig through the shop. The Mill is mostly wheelchair accessible... however some of the areas in the mill shop are a bit narrow. In the café itself, tables are crammed in to accommodate the coach tours. However, it's split into two sections, and there is much more room to manoeuvre a wheelchair in the area further away from the windows. Just a wee tip! The café is great for just coffees and I love the hot chocolate. Good for juice and soft drinks too. Cakes and scones are brilliant, but they often do run out by the time you're having an afternoon cuppa. They do serve Tunnock's products as the obvious alternative though. The Mill Shop next door is great for a mooch, especially if you want to send a friend a Nessie fridge magnet or buy your mother-in-law her annual Allan Wright calendar. If there's an issue with the Woollen Mill, it's to say to try and avoid it when there's a coachload or twelve of touroids in. It's not the extra waiting in the café, or the inability to move a muscle in the crowds... it's the sense of entitlement that they seem to have and think they can jump the queues and literally take a Tunnock's Caramel Wafer off your tray, rather than looking for them on the counter for themselves, because they only have 3 minutes and 27 seconds to get back to their bus... That's not the Mill's fault though. They do that everywhere. Other than that, though, great place for a coffee.

Arrived in midst of coach party ordered mac n cheese to be told they had ran out. Got two portions after waiting 10 mins. Under cooked & disgusting should have complained but didn't we just left never to return. Seems to be a stop off for coach parties which is a shame for them surely the coach company has morals. Never seen any drivers in for food. Probably the worst place we have ever been. Being Scottish myself its disgrace to the Scottish tourist industry having establishments like these.

Terrible food. Soggy Mac cheese and doggy baked potatoes. Dirty cutlery and sticky tables. Would never eat here again .

Nice location - right next to the station and great place to watch the Caledonian sleeper trains going past. Good selection of food too

Excellent cafe, good service, reasonable prices. We stopped for lunch while cycling in the area and it was just what we needed. Not busy when we arrived but it got very busy a few minutes later, possibly a coach party. So you may have to pick your time! There’s a gift shop attached though we didn’t buy anything so can’t comment on that. Would certainly call in again when next we visit the area.

No bacon for breakfast so got this for scrambled egg (s) Worse than going without, so daft to have gone back, never again!

Popped in for a spot if lunch, wish I hadn't bothered, baked potato, cheese and coleslaw, terrible, didn't eat it, potato was lukewarm and dried out, coleslaw was the cheapest on the market, coffee was warm, served with a smile, personally if I was serving crap like that to the public, I would be hiding behind a paper bag. Would not recommend this place at all.......

The Spean Bridge cafe is perfectly OK, nowt special but quite reasonable for a brief coffee or snack break

Lovely cosy cottage with everything you could need for an away from home break. Hosts Pat and George are on hand nearby if required. Excellent walks from the doorstop.

Considering this is a tourist stop Spean bridge mill is an absolute disgrace! Rude staff food awful! When we asked if we could have the bacon more crispy we where told a very blunt no!! If this is the best they can do they should not be working In Hospitality! Being Scottish I am Embarrassed .

An unexpected gem. Very good coffee. Friendly staff. An astonishing array of goods and souvenirs. The business was cratered by Covid but has been revived. It deserves recognition as a destination in its own right. The cafe area was obviously set up (originally?) to cater for bus loads of visitors but we had it pretty much to ourselves. The coffee was excellent. We did not have any food, so cannot comment. The shop element is enormous. It has a huge range of clothing from “normal everyday” to dress up Scottish kilts and the accoutrements. There is a huge collection of woollen wear of various brands from jumpers to scarves to capes and the like. The souvenir section is as diverse as anywhere I have seen in the last month of travel in Scotland and has ranges of them I have not seen previously. An indication of the breadth is that the range of Macintosh souvenirs is better (wider, more representative and more interesting) than those in the museums in Glasgow which have dedicated exhibitions of his work. Well worth a journey. It is only 11 miles from Fort William.

Service took 25 minutes to order 2 coffees and a sausage sandwich. Sandwich contained 2 tiny sausages. And they charge for sauce! See picture!

What a great place. The selection of gifts and clothes are fantastic. The cafe is brilliant, proper homemade food and the soup is excellent. But most of all the staff are amazing. My daughter took unwell and they could not have been more helpful and kind. They looked after her so nicely and discreetly. You get a 5 star out me and my family. Thank you so much and we will be back.

Pleasant stopping off point. Coffee is mediocre scones were nice and big. Menu is very limited. Service was a bit slow due to only one server despite it being lunchtime.

Not sure how someone managed to visit here and get food in Aug 20 as it has been closed since Mar 20 with no sign of it ever reopening now the mess EWM were in.

We tried to visit here to browse the shop however the site is closed, lucky we were passing on the way home from another place as we would have been ticked off if we had made a special journey!

Even with such madness in the world at the moment this little place was excellent. Warm welcome by the young girl on the door. Food was hot and fresh and took no time at all. Thanks

We wanted a quick coffee before we got on our merry way again of our tour of the highlands. We came across Spean Bridge Mill Cafe, it’s nothing fancy, but it certainly did the trick. Nice coffee and a slice of cake all served up by a cheerful member of staff.

Called in for a quick coffee as part of a coach tour. Had a delicious piece of apple pie with cream. The staff were friendly and there was a shop selling gifts etc.

called in on sunday as part of a coach tour. We had limited time so just had coffee and tea. Both were nice and staff nice and friendley.

Visited at 15:00 and place did not close until 16:30 but they had stopped serving hot food. What they do offer is very basic fare. Better to give Spean Bridge a miss if you're looking to eat.

Three of us wanted food from different places. One of us bought food from this cafe and the other 2 of us bought food from the fish and chip shop opposite and thought we would eat it inside the mill with the friend who bought their food from the mill. A particular staff member was extremely rude and tried forcing us out in the cold, even though we had purchased our beverages from the mill. Extremely rude and would not reccomend any tourists purchase feom this cafe

Also great views if you take time to wander around. If you get there early enough you can get a scone still warm from the oven. A great stop for food, sights, gifts, and a quiet walk. And not far from here is the impressive Commando Memorial.

Call in to the Spean Bridge Mill Cafe for breakfast, lunch or tea and you'll be treated to wonderful, homely food served by lovely people who wear bright smiles and carry happiness in their hearts. This is Scottish hospitality at its best. We've been taking holidays in this corner of Scotland for a long while and Spean Bridge Mill Cafe has become our port of call whenever we are walking in the forests and we stop there for lunch or we're simply in need of an early breakfast. We've never been disappointed.

Restaurant / cafe with a variety of cakes and coffees. We stayed here for a meal and a coffee . The food was really good and the staff were so friendly. The soups are delicious . The place was not very clean and was also overcrowded. But for a quick meal it is not bad. Gift shop next to restaurant has a good variety of clothing and other items with very friendly staff.

Spean bridge cafe is nothing special. We just used it on a tour. The bathrooms were horrific . Utterly disgusting and most out of order

Can’t review the food because we didn’t eat there. Why? Because although there are signs everywhere and the doors are wide open, they are “closed.”

三天高原遊的第一個午餐在Spean bridge 唯一的咖啡店進行，這兒有點像飯堂，旅遊車都將遊客送都此處用膳。進去時已坐滿食客，食物counter 前有約十個人在排隊取食物及付費，我們取了二客豆加火腿湯、麵包，再點了一客吞拿Panini（須等10分鐘），共14鎊半。快餐店水準，不能要求太高

Today I visited the restaurant and shop in Spean Bridge.

This place was decent maybe 20 years ago but I don’t think they’ve spent anything in upkeep since then. Toilets are outside, limited in size and quite frankly disgusting. The owners need to reinvest some of what must be solid revenue back into the place as Scotland needs to treat its visitors better than this.

Have paid a visit here twice before — both times on a coach trip through the Highlands.

I can't understand why spean bridge mill is an sightseeing tip. Maybe it is an old mill located on the Spean River, but nobody knows. There are nobinformation about the history. You have only a gift shop and a self service restaurant. The given 3 points are only for the friendly personnel doing a great job and the good and tasty food.

Passing by. Should have kept passing. Disorganised chaos, place not that clean, hot chocolate distinctly average, but above average price, and staff not that friendly.

Decided to stop here for a meal at 2.45pm on a Saturday and while looking at the menu board we were informed no hot food chefs gone? Only sandwiches. When I asked if there was any other place we could get a hot meal nearby the only reply I got was a shrug of the shoulders by a totally disinterested person at the till. And although I didn’t use them the toilets were apparently disgusting. Considering two coach loads of tourists arrived at the same time as us it seems they are more interested in selling them ridiculously over priced stuff from the mill shop.

Since the Woolen Mill shop itself is actually a very good example of its type, its a shame that the café is so lacklustre.

Stopped off for lunch after a long Sunday morning drive down from Skye. There was a limited selection of 'fare' in the form of panini. My ham & cheese was modified to just cheese by the kitchen staff (no explanation given).

Yet another visit here, always stop here for coffee and soup and as always was excellent big car park handy toilets and good service been coming here for years and will continue to thank you

An appalling café which really should be closed down and total refurbished.

If you can best avoided unless it look like they have had a refurb. Cafe sits approx 50 and from the parking looks to cater for coach trips so if a coach is parked up perhaps try somewhere else but there is little choice so no competition. Plan your stopping off points carefully in the this part to the world as limited choice.

Stopped here for lunch while exploring the Scottish Highlands. Had Scotch Broth (barley, carrots, beef/lamb), tuna sandwich and lemon café. Self-service cafeteria. Good food, reasonable prices.

Terrible food, tasteless microwaved scrambled eggs, butter less toast, dry shrivelled bacon, flaccid fried egg. Not cheap just horrid. Toilets are public ones located in car park frequented by every coach trip of which there are many therefore dirty, rundown and thoroughly unpleasant. Won’t be back. Embarrassment to Scottish Tourist Board that this is what we offer our national and international tourists.

Stopped for lunch which was ok. A panani which was quite bland with no sauce. Tiffin was good. Not too busy at 2 pm.

This cafe is in a good place for a cup of tea/coffee or lunch when travelling from west to east or vica versa. The cafe serves standard cafe food and cakes to go with your drink. Their is plenty of parking. Caravans and motor homes would find space as well.

Ist ein Selbstbedienungsrestaurant. Preise sind dafür etwas zu hoch. Aber wenn man was bestellt hat läßt man einen in Ruhe. Problematisch war das Finden eines freien Tisches. Alle Tische waren besetzt oder mit altem Geschirr vollgestellt. Möglicherweise war kurz vorher eine Reisegruppe da. Die Tische wurden nach und nach gereinigt. Wenn es schnell gehen soll, ist es ok.

We were on a bus trip and stopped in for coffee. The coffee was good, and the service was friendly. The gift shop was particularly nice as well. I wish we would have had more time.

We stopped here to have lunch on the way from Glasgow to Inverness via Ft. Williams. The food service is cafeteria style and they have a selection of lunch soups and sandwiches as well as sweets and pastries. We had the vegetable soup -- it was hearty and filling. Prices were reasonable, but service was somewhat slow because there were a lot of people having lunch at the same time.

This place was a lunch stop over during our tour of Loch Ness.

We stopped to have a look around the mill which was nothing special and in fact nearly ran screaming for the door with the horrendous music which frankly made it almost impossible to think straight!

I bought a filter coffee. I asked for some milk for it but apparently despite the fact that there was milk available for my son to drink I was not permitted to have a drop of fresh milk in my drink and had to use the UHT pots. When I questioned this the awful woman (Chris her name badge said) at the till rudely informed me she was now serving the next guest. Yes it was busy and yes it was Boxing day but politeness was clearly lacking. We had planned to come back for lunch later after visiting another restaurant in the chain on our trip a few days ago but will find somewhere more welcoming now.

Inside the mill and a good selection of food and drinks on offer. An ideal place to stop on your journey around the area.

I stopped here on my recent motorcycle tour of Scotland. The road from Spean Bridge to Dalwhinnie is amazing and this is a great place to stop after enjoying one of the best roads in Scotland.

Despite having stopped in the car park on many previous occasions this was my first visit inside. Having missed breakfast due to an early start I was delighted with my choice of The Soup of the day which was pea & ham with a roll and butter. Accompanied by a nice cappuccino I was fortified for the rest of the afternoon.

Took a tea break with scones. Bathrooms lacked water for washing, but had sanitizer. Tables needed a bit more cleaning and you are expected to clear your own table. maybe that is why they are bit dingy? Got the impression they take tourists (especially bus tours) for granted and offer basic food and service knowing you are not repeat customers.

Stopped for lunch on a coach tour,expected better and bigger

Good place to take a break on the route to Inverness or Skye. There is a big gift shop with plenty to browse through. Only had coffee which was average.

This cafe takes advantage of the fact that there are not many places in the highlands to stop for a break. The tables had not been washed and were dirty. The food on offer was very ordinary. What an opportunity missed to provide a far better service.

Unimpressive fodder house geared to a throughput of coach loads of captive audiences. Basic food, basic beveridges, basic service if that. Felt like a cattle feeding station.

There are absolutely no surprises at the Spean Bridge Mill as it is exactly the same as countless other mills in Scotland, and some in England, that are owned and run by the same company.

I've called in here many times on my way north on the A82. Fast-food service in the cafe with a variety of stuff on offer, eg, cake, sandwiches, soup, etc. Gift shop full of "Scottish" items - tweeds, tartans, DVDs, CDs etc. all very expensive. The toilets beside the large car/bus park would shame the dirtiest in the Far East - smelly, dirty place. Dunno who's responsible for maintenance (perhaps the council). In fairness they are small and intensively used by coach parties all day but best plan is look further afield!

If I had visited the toilets before I ate something here I would have left abruptly.

I hate to leave bad reviews but the actions of this establishment made a long, trying day worse by far than it needed to be. For older travellers comfort and dignity becomes a more pressing and important detail than it is when you are younger. We felt like we could be treated as the establishment wished as we were a comparatively small party of under 40, compared to the 3k who had been in over the course of the day. So the manager said. Our driver called ahead and arrived within the time agreed to ensure we could eat, but we were turned away. Surely the aim of any establishment providing a customers service should be to make everyone feel - if not special - content that they had been treated fairly. Your experience will no doubt be fine, but just keep this in mind ...

I have being reading these negative results and can’t believe the remarks and reviews . I use this shop regularly and find all the staff very helpful and friendly and as for cockroaches , they don’t have any in Speanbridge, let alone never seen one in the highlands ! Bizarre comment from last reviewer. As for toilets the amount of footfall that use the toilets passing through the village and not even using the facilities provided ie the mill shop or cafe , u can’t blame them to keep up with the monitor ever five seconds and not to be racist I’ve seen the Chinese tourist pile of the coaches and standing on toilets seats and deficating town the toilet bowls and trashing these toilets and seats in cubicles and hygiene is out the window . So to blame the mill staff for this is not on , as there doing a hard enough job as it is and they should be applauded to put up with these filthy individuals. So please take a moment before you review as it’s not just a local business ure writing about it’s the local people who serve ure needs when u require it and at the end of the day they don’t have to provide these facilities. Thank you

Disgusting, toilets had no water to wash hands. Kids lunch box ha a dead cockroach in the bottom of the box. We won’t be coming back. Had to give one star as it won’t let you review

We stopped to see the weaving. A loom stuck in the corner with no one working it.

Tour bus stop for quick bite to eat and shop. Large selection of Scottish souvenirs to include woolens, whiskey and foods. Others on the bus said the food was good and convenient.

Didin't have coffee but visited the shop. It had almost everything and I made some "finds" there. There is a whisky shop too and lots of wool clothes and accessories. A nice place to make a few minute stop.

We stopped for a short snack on a road trip

Was here with my sister on a tour stop for lunch. We each ordered panini's and they were just okay. Hardly any toppings and the bread was quite dry. There were not enough people working and we waited quite a while for our food. The shop attached was quite nice with a large selection of things and free whisky tastings.

We drove 1.5 hours to get there, unsure of when they closed. We arrived at 17:23, and one of the staff members had a broom, sweeping inside. Assuming that they were closing soon, we shopped very quickly, noting that other shoppers were still browsing.

Whilst the mill itself had a good restaurant and shopping experience, the toilets were disgusting. Out of the 6 cubicles in the ladies, one had an out of order sign on the door and two others couldn’t be used as they were blocked, with toilet paper all over the floor! I realise the staff can’t be there all the time, looking out for visitors who are inconsiderate but most public toilets are checked for cleanliness, toilet paper, etc. at east every couple of hours. We visited in the morning and they looked like they hadn’t been checked for days! The sink taps were the type you had to turn off so I was glad there was a dispenser of hand sanitiser. Sadly it was empty! I was also disappointed that the weaving exhibition that was advertised and which I wanted to see wasn’t on as there was no one there! All in all a disappointing experience. We will not be returning!

Called in here for morning coffee in their coffee shop but found an interesting gift shop attached. Also a very good selection of Scottish single malts with the opportunity for some whisky tasting as well.

This place caters for a very large number of coach parties it’s a self service cafe and as such serves very quick mass produced food. You couldn’t say there was anything particularly bad but it is certainly not fine dining but that is probably not its market .

Around 12noon on Friday 15th June I entered the Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop at Spean Bridge and as I entered a staff member with a staff badge saying MEL spoke to a customer in an abrupt manner and with an unhappy voice about some staff member coming to deal with her .

Totally agree with the lady 2 days ago , the state of the ladies toilets , toilet paper overflowing in all the toilets , toilet paper piled high on top of sanitary boxes that are overflowing , totally disgusting place , said to my husband if that's the toilets forget eating here it just puts you off the mill complex , stops you going to the shops and everything ,wonder what Nicola Sturgeon would think to this for Scottish tourism it's a disgrace to the area

Sopped of here on our way to Oban for refreshments and a comfort break. I can't comment on the cafe because after seeing the state of the toilets we didn't go near it. They were absolutely disgusting. We didn't use them instead we moved on to Fort William. I realise it's a busy place with bus loads of tourists so you would have thought that they would try keep the toilets clean and usable. I will not be stopping there again and will not be recommending it to family or friends.

We stopped in the area for lunch with our CIE Tour. On the property, there were three options for lunch: take a way fish and chips, a hotel restaurant, and this place. We went with this location for lunch and were not impressed. We ordered two paninis - chicken, bacon, and mozzarella and the tuna melt. Husband said tuna melt was okay, my chicken was cold and slimy and the bacon was of very little meat but a lot of fat. Each sandwich was served along side a scoop of premade coleslaw and a dry side salad. We'll never be back in the area,but if we were, we'd select onw of the other options instead.

The Spean Bridge is an old historic bridge, built in 1736, on the Ft. Williams/Inverness Rd. Now in ruins, it was the site of the first encounter of the 1745 rebellion. Eleven MacDonalds held the bridge against 85 Hanovarian government troops. Nearby is the current Spean Bridge Mill Cafe, which provided us with a good rest stop while on our van tour. The small cafe offers drinks, snacks and food items - a wee spot of tea and some cakes was much appreciated! There is also a woolen mill store (The Edinburg Woolen Mill) featuring a large variety of Scottish woolen items and various themed souvenirs. This was a good stop before continuing our trip.

Stopped here for a quick breakfast on route to Corrour. It was nothing special, but was clean, reasonably priced and service was quick. Not much else I can say about it.

No one in apart from bus drivers. Ordered flat white and latte, girl serving said she didn’t know how to make a flat white or latte?..

Spean Bridge Mill has a large selection of Scottish knitwear, clothing, accessories, gifts and souvenirs. But the real gem is the selection of over 150 Scottish Malts.

My husband and I stopped off here for a walk around the Mill (gift shop and café). We found the gift shop expensive. The few items we looked at was cheaper in Pitlochery. We walked over to the café and kept walking on. Looks like...

We really enjoyed the cafe and the store. Tasty treats from the cafe and the store had so much...everything from walker cookies, to beautiful jewlery, kids crafts, nice selection of clothing, and wine and whiskey!

Rude staff, bad food, overpriced. Definitely go here if you want to be treated like garbage and pay for it.

This is a good place to stop off. On this location there is a Gift Shop and Café. There is plenty of parking for cars, vans and coaches. The café offers a good selection of snacks and drinks. We enjoyed the coffee and homemade scones...

Visited as a family in October for lunch. My husband opted for the soup. The only problem is the soup is right at the end of the counter and you have to queue to pay. We were waiting in the queue for a while while other people paid ...... surely it would be better for the soup to be nearer the till so it wouldn't go cold ...... other than this the lunch was good and what we expected. My husband said the soup was really tasty

Stopped for lunch while touring the highlands with a group of friends on motorbikes, lovely and clean with a very tasty soup for lunch

This was one of the recommended stops on our bus tour of the highlands & Loch Ness. If it hadn't been raining, we would have gone to the fish & chip take away next door.

Stopped for a quick coffee en route to home. Actual food was ok but uninspiring. Clearly aiming at bus groups and staff were cleaning up before rather than after closing time, which never helps. Incredible to find that the only toilets for such a large restaurant were the public toilets in the car park ! They were disgusting as to be expected and that has to reflect on the restaurant if they choose to claim those toilets as their own ! We wouldn’t call again.

Visited today, as we have done several times on our way home from Skye. We arrived at lunch time, 1pm. Was infuriated to stand in a queue for 20 minutes waiting to place an order for Paninis only to be informed at the till( with a huge queue and 3 hungry children behind me) that there was no hot food.

This is a very busy cafe especially if coaches have arrived. Food is typical self service style but they do offer a quick serve for a cuppa and even a bowl of soup to save you queuing when very busy. Great idea. Very helpful staff.

Stopped in for a quick lunch while on the road. Good selection of sandwiches, drinks and snacks. Nice gift shop attached to the cafe.

Courts tour buses, soup and roll(pea and ham) tasted oddly sweet, roll stale, and first 5 spoons pulled from cutlery bin all showed dried congealed food described by waitress as water marks from dish washer, then she walked away- I asked for a clean one , she pulled further 5 all dirty, wiped one on her apron and handed it to me. This is not even down to a price - use bridge cafe (50 yds) every time .

Stayed locally for a week's self catering holiday so visited Spean Bridge village a couple of times for general supplies. Called into this shop to see the advertised "exhibition" on a couple of occasions as interested in weaving. Still wondering what the shop's definition of an "exhibition"is! All we ever saw was a solitary loom with no weaver in attendance.The shop itself is full of poor quality items either made in China or elsewhere . Despair that this is what visitors to Scotland are faced with when looking for a gift to take home.

Taking a break from shopping, we had lunch at this cafeteria style cafe. My husbands ham and pea soup, was heavy on the peas and light on the ham. My loaded baked potato was tasty.

Popped in yesterday because they were advertising a 'weaving exhibition' outside.Exhibition was not the right word as it was a single item being demonstrated. The shop was full of pseudo Scottish things made in China. After looking at other areas I contemplated buying small whisky gift for my parents and picked up one of the tasters. Conversationally suggested my ten year old sniff it first, just as I do when I pick plants. The staff member instantly pounced and bit my head off about not giving my son whisky. Startled, I assured him my son was merely smelling the aroma of it. They man continued to stand over us and barked repeatedly that even smelling couldn't be permitted. I asked him to explain why he thought he could control a parent permitting their child to smell something but he continued he barking so we left,feeling astonished....

Our tour stopped here if it didn't we would have gone right by it. Typical tourist stop selling trinkets. Best part--- free whisky tasting!!!

Taking tours means that the route and stops are set by tour companies and, on a busy summer holiday sunny day, all the different company buses seem to take the same course and make the same stops. Hence, we arrived at Spean Bridge with a number of coaches already parked and queues. However, the Mill Cafe had done their homework and there were several separate sections, meaning we were able to be served and sit relaxed and enjoying our food quite quickly. The soup was excellent, the sandwiches good and the staff helpful and efficient. There is also a wide range of full hot meals on offer. It was impressive to see that the table clearing was well organised, not the case everywhere.