The Old Windmill in Chelmsford - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Great service & staff, very reasonable drinks prices and lovely atmosphere

Decidedly average on this occasion

Went for Sunday lunch,great pub , lovely garden,nice atmosphere very friendly staff .I like that you can sit in garden with dogs .

Amazing service and Great food,

I haven't been to Hanningfield for years and The Old Windmill has certainly changed for the better. The food was always good but it was notoriously slow. There was a pub garden but it was just that, a rather barren and sad. The garden has been planted and with numerous tables and seating undercover - a rather impressive canvas roof or out in the sun. It looks good. 2 mains. 2 drinks. 1 dessert. 1 coffee for £50. Pretty reasonable. I can recommend the steak burger, very tasty with a ton of chips. The service was friendly, fast and all were very attractive, almost as if it was company policy to employ exclusively attractive young women 🤔 Not that I'm complaining. Definitely impressed and will be returning soon.

Love this place, not eaten here yet. But love just popping in for a drink and chat with friends.

I ordered a pie and the crust was so hard I couldn't cut it.I complained and was offered another meal, but I refused because it would of meant eating on my own as the rest of my party already had their meals. I was given a 50% discount on my meal.

Become a regular venue to meet BFF with her beloved Connie - very dog friendly. We both had the Steak Sandwich - OMG! Divine! Chips perfect too! Highly recommend!

Beautiful food and great service again. Been many times and always get fantastic food. We are looking forward to the next time!

This is now our go to place for a good quality family lunch. The menu is always interesting with varied dishes regularly changing. It's not the cheapest place around but is still good value for money because they use the best quality ingredients. The beef salad is just fabulous! Highly recommended!

A great country pub. Good food and nearby walks.

Good food and good value. The old place is beautiful. Could do with more staff

Food was good shame about hospitality service was shocking order at the bar fetch your own knifes n forks and condiments next question is how much did I spend does it matter

Just price and menu choice let's it down

Booked for our 20th wedding anniversary. Disappointed with my steak dinner. At the price of £31, I expected better. Dinner wasn’t hot and steak was full of fat.

Lovely country pub. Attentive staff. Great good.

Really nice pub in a scenic location. Food is excellent, is dog friendly with free water and biscuits. Good parking and attentive staff

Good pub food, nice beer, prompt and friendly service.

This was my Grandads pub back in the day! Took my wife and 4-year-old son for a family meal and it was a great afternoon. Good for kids and the food and service was decent.

Lovely pub what is very popular. Had a nice meal with family. Staff were attentive without being in your face. I would absolutely book if you want to eat here at the weekend.

Beautiful old building and amazing food with good portions. We happened upon it while looking for somewhere to have a Sunday lunch and I'm glad we did. It's clearly a much-loved family friendly place. They are dog-friendly too which is a bonus. The food was delicious, the staff were friendly even they were incredibly busy and service was great.

Sat in the canopy area with our dog, comfy chairs and nice view into the garden. Food was great and the staff were really friendly and attentive despite it being busy

Great pub! Great Service and great atmosphere!

Had table booked for 3pm for x4 under shade in the garden. Food very nice and fresh. All had starters. X3 had chicken and mushroom pie, pastry top and bottom, with mash and greens and beautiful sauce, x1 had salmon, very filling. After suitable time and 2nd round of drinks we all had dessert. Stuffed to the hilt. Cost £200 for x4 + x2 drinks each. Would recommend, not cheap, but worth it.

Absolutely lovely food and very friendly staff.

Visited here today for a spot of lunch, great menu if you're gluten free, several options available, food good, service good and good location..... Recommend it for gf or coealiacs...nice one

We was on the look for somewhere different and we come across this pub and we thought we give it a try we had a lovely waitress called Macy, who was so helpful with food and drinks suggestions her customer service was excellent we will be definitely coming back soon

Top food loved under cover outside dining

It was our first visit, the food and service was fabulous. We will definitely be going back, especially as dog friendly

**Terrible Experience - Beware!** I have dined at The Old Windmill in South Hanningfield several times with my family and always enjoyed the food and service. However, our recent visit was an absolute disaster. I ordered pie and chips and requested a pot of peppercorn sauce, which I noticed on the menu was available with the steak. Initially, the waitress accepted my request. However, she returned 10 minutes later to inform me that the chef refused to provide the sauce because it had been portioned out for the day. This made no sense to me – how could the chef predict exactly how many people would order steak and peppercorn sauce that day? I was absolutely willing to pay extra for the sauce. At this point, I no longer wanted the pie and chips and felt extremely frustrated. The restaurant claims everything is made fresh, yet they couldn't whip up a basic peppercorn sauce, which requires only a handful of ingredients. The manager then came over, apologised, and said he would speak to the chef and get the sauce. This led me to believe the chef was being difficult and simply didn't want to serve the sauce with anything other than the steak. When my food finally arrived, I was already anxious about the situation. Halfway through my chips, I found a small black hair. I immediately called for the manager, and upon inspection, we found several more black hairs in the bowl of chips. Absolutely disgusting! The manager refunded only that one meal, leaving us with a bill of over £200. We left feeling disgusted and extremely disappointed with the entire experience. If you value good service and cleanliness, I strongly advise you to avoid The Old Windmill in South Hanningfield. Our experience was appalling, and we will not be returning.

Very enjoyable lunchtime meal, excellent service and the food was of a high quality and presented very nicely, we would highly recommend The Old Windmill

Excellent food and drink well served.

We visited for lunch on a Friday afternoon. It was sunny and we chose to sit outside. There are plenty of options outside, with a covered area you can book, or picnic benches that are first come first served. The food was lovely and the bar has a great range.

Have a lovely Sunday lunch Food delicious Friendly staff Great atmosphere Would definitely recommend Thanks to the Old Windmill staff for a great experience

Was a Saturday afternoon. The place was buzzing g but the service was still very good. Food was delicious and not too expensive. We were tempted by the pimms and lemonade. Very well presented. This is a lovely pub with a fab garden, which we ate in. No hesitation I recommending.

Great service,great food, fitted us in even though we didn't book on father's day, really nice to accommodate us..

We ate outside and it was lovely. The food was very good. The service was friendly and quick.

Great place to go for a drink, or for a meal. Some portions are rather large!

A great gluten-free choice on the menu, served with care. The ingredients are evidently high quality and portions generous. Returned because of previous great gluten-free meal, this time bringing another person who is coeliac too. Keep it up!

Service was terrible food was bland with no taste waiting & waiting wanted a dessert but couldn’t be bothered to wait bbvvgghhbvcccccvcccccvbhbvcfvvccvbbhhg

Amazing food, took nearly an hour just for our starters. Apart from that the place was packed and the staff were really friendly.

Over charged, portions of bread with starter poor although they know but no one cares. 5 spice wings in bowl too small again know but choose to ignore. Staff told us they know also no where to put cutlery on. Salmon with noodles was just salmon with a small side of greenery and 5 small strands of noodles. Not main dish. Burger dry and could not cut

Gorgeous food and exceptional service. Menu is a bit overpriced.

Had a fab time here food and drink have always been great and reasonably priced. Also all staff were fab and very welcoming. Great place for food and drinks will definitely be coming back

Great selection of cask ales. Food us always delicious. There is plenty of parking and outside seats too. Idyllic location.

Been going here regularly for some time but sadly the food has gone down hill. Fish and chips doesn't appear to be fresh Cooked anymore it appears to be a cheap old frozen piece and batter soggy not crispy and dark coloured like it used to be, clearly oven heated and not deep fried. My wife received one half slice of carrot with her pie as vegetables, what a joke. Very disappointing 😞

Going for food Sunday on my birthday staff are very welcoming got my favourite cider food looks amazing for what I've seen so very much looking forward

Went in for a few drinks after work but one member of staff was too busy flirting with a group of guys to serve any drinks. There was about 5 people at the bar when she looked over and carried on her conversation. (Clearly she is too good to do her job) Also, I heard her being very rude to another customer which is completely outrageous. Luckily all the other staff working were extremely apologetic and helpful looking after the customers and getting the queue down whilst this first member of staff continued her conversation

We were a table of nine. We were well received. Drinks immediately offered. Order taken after 15 minutes. Food arrived in about half an hour, All together! Everyone happy with their choices. Very little left on our plates. Puddings, many and various were delivered in good time! Facilities were clean and tidy! Hand driers so powerful it was good job they were screwed to the wall! Only downside was being an old building it’s got steps and some of the floors rise and fall which would be a concern to elderly or disabled! All in all a very pleasant evening midweek but weekends and holidays might become very busy!

Great evening- the veggie options on the menu were really good. It was great to have more than one choice, good work! (Both options we had were delicious, filling and tasty and more exciting than average veggie options often seen elsewhere).All other courses across our table of 5 were very good too.Great staff, we had a lovely evening thank you!

Lovely beer garden and the beers aren't overpriced

Lovely eatery that caters for Coeliac's.

Very impressed, great food, great looking pub and a very enjoyable lunch with old friends. Will definitely visit again and we'll done for having a good gluten free menu for the wife.

Perhaps we were too many people for the.. Meal (30 +) almost a 2 hour wait for food. But when it came out it was fast! Drinks were slow to arrive. They must have been overwhelmed with us. Able to pay in groups or single! Magic boss. So apologetic. Think we will come here a other time.

Had a meal today at the Old Windmill, food was great, server was lovely, food cooked to order and well prepared. Brilliant the way they managed our large group. Cannot praise high enough. Best wishes Pete ( the magician)

All was good however never got asked how’s the food - overcooked chips- undercooked leeks - soggy pastry - I paid as you do but will never return - another microwave don’t make anything - overpriced- I can’t be rude just give a swerve they don’t care whether you like it or not - does anyone who goes there actually cook anything or have their taste buds died

Been here a few times and it's always great! The staff are great, the food is delicious and the building feels like a classic pub but clean!

It's such a lovely pub restaurant.

Fantastic food, great service and large capacity to handle busy weekends. Booking recommended. Very dog friendly Authentic old fashioned pub Just watch the low beams in the ceiling if you're tall!! 🫠

Very good food and service. Sat outside under cover will definitely return

Great food and service. Allow dogs which always helps!

Really nice place but: Everytime we here something disappoints. Order chips, omg the smallest size I ever had for that price?! Today, wanted Mojito- nope, they don’t do it. What place doesn’t do mojito?! And service by the bar - what service, you wait and nobody acknowledge you cause bar staff is not there.

We had a great family meal for my husband's birthday. 13 of us. Food was really lovely, perfect table, excellent menu for gf too

I wrote a review of this Pub three years ago. I have to say my wife and I have still been going to the pub and the food is improved in that time dramatically I would recommend a visit and I’m sure that there will be something on the menu to suit everybody’s taste the quality has been excellent in recent months, so it’s worth calling in for a lunch or evening meal

Sweet and quaint, lovely atmosphere.

Just been to the Old Windmill in Hanningfield for lunch, the food was amazing, in fact my mackerel starter was probably the best starter I’ve ever had. Service was spot on, couldn’t recommend highly enough.

Warm atmosphere and good service, food was great (possibly best fish and chips I’ve ever had), will be coming back to try the things we couldn’t decide between

Went for a birthday lunch x food and service fab

One of my favourite places in Essex for a proper Sunday Roast, it's a lovely little country pub and restaurant, I love the big fireplace and cosy feel inside. The food was delicious, generous portion sizes and the service was really good.

Lovely traditional dog friendly pub in a beautiful location / setting. Free parking lot. We stopped off here during our dog walk for drinks. This place has a very chilled atmosphere and has clean, stylish decor inside and out. There is overall ample seating, we sat outside in the undercover area. There is also an open air garden area. There is a fantastic public walk path at the back entrance of the pub. Although we did not eat here this time, the menu looks great, we will have to visit again soon to check it out!

Went for a meal with friends on Bank Holiday Monday and it was packed! They were really helpful when one half of our party was an hour late due to traffic delays. The food did not disappoint either! Had the Wild Boar pie and a lovely lemon and mascarpone cheesecake. Both delicious. Coffee great too and dog friendly. So good went again on Thursday and tried two different main meal salads and fish and chips. All beautifully presented and delicious. Will be back again!

Great dog friendly pub, fantastic food and service. Can't wait to return in nicer weather and take advantage of the pub garden more!

This would have been a 5 star review except that they've stopped doing the chocolate tart with black cherry sorbet 😩

Lovely place to celebrate a family birthday, highly recommend. Great food

Lovely place. Dog friendly too. You just have to book if you take dog.

Visited the windmill on Sunday with my wife very busy, service was good my wife had the roast beef which she said was good I had the wild boar pie which was ok but the mash was very bland it hadn’t seen any butter or milk also the cabbage wasn’t good either wouldn’t go on a Sunday again far too noisy.

Food was great and a lovely pub but service was a bit meh - we weren’t really looked after and struggled to get attention and things we needed such as ketchup and the kids menu (it’s not on the back of the menu and the tone used to deliver that wasn’t appreciated so had to ask someone else we finally got their attention) All food was good and fresh and came quickly

Excellent find for lunch. Friendly staff, tasty food and beer. Lovely old pub with period interior and huge beer garden. Very accessible interior.

Was taken here by my family for my Birthday . 12 of us 8 adults 4 children food was lovely it’s set in a very charming old fashioned pub with character and charm . A wonderful evening served by very compotent staff .

Mothers day ....wasn't overly busy yet service was extremely slow, others around us were getting served alot quicker. Food on this occasion wasn't great beef was chewy , potatoes slightly undercooked. Shoulder of lamb was good but had to pay extra for a Yorkshire pudding all other roasts come with one. Overall pub/ Restaurant is lovely and service & food is normally very good but on this occasion it was nothing special.

Beautiful old pub. Fantastic service. Friendly staff.

Food was good and very efficient service

Beautiful food, amazing service.

Unfortunately we could not eat here as the only table we could book was outside under a canopy . It was far too cold and some of the heaters weren't working. Very disappointed as we hoped to celebrate my daughter's birthday here

Have been to the old windmill a few times previously and had a great time but my latest experience was extremely disappointing. I had the chicken pappardelle. The chicken was dry and crusty, so overcooked and the pasta simply bland. I mentioned it to the waitress who said she'd inform the manager but there was no manager to be seen. The place looked like it was run by teenagers. I messaged them on their Instagram account but received no response. Not likely to go back now

Not been at lunchtime before... Wouldn't go again... Had a family get-together, bit noisy for Us. Difficult to hear what was being said. Today wasn't worth the money we spent. Not sure if new management and staff...

Underwhelming experience. We hod high expectations but they weren’t met. We waited a long time for our starters and they were tepid when they arrived. We had to send back the children’s meal as it was overdone but cold at the same time. The food had probably been waiting under lamps in the kitchen for too long. Adult main courses were fine but the service was cursory and distant. No smiles or interaction, especially not from the man we assumed was the boss’. We felt ‘processed’ rather than welcomed. It’s such a lovely looking pub, in an idyllic setting close to the reservoir, but the welcome is not as warm as the open fire. We were disappointed and we wouldn’t rush back, which is a shame.

Enjoyed a couple of great meals here with family and friends

It's always a treat to come here. Our favourite local for guaranteed great food. Perfect for a Sunday roast, mid-week meal, or just a pint after a local walk. Staff are always polite and attentive. It's dog-friendly and you'll love the food!

Very disappointed. Table booked in advance but there wasn’t a reserved table held for us. Shown to a table away from the main area, down some stairs that weren’t disabled friendly. The wine ordered with our meal turned up when we had about 3 mouthfuls left. No one asked if everything was ok even though there was a steady stream of staff going back and forth to the back of the area we were seated in.

Have only been in for drinks, but always so welcoming and friendly. Great atmosphere 👌

Food was amazing and service was great, first time visitors and will certainly be returning

Amazing roasts! Service first class and atmosphere beautiful.

A good choice of food on the menu. Good service and friendly staff.

Brilliant we was allowed to bring our dog. Brilliant choice on the menu and a kids menu. But two of us had tortellini, it was rubbery, under seasoned and dry. We never got table checked and the waitress never asked if everything was ok when she collected the plates and see I had left over half my meal. My husbands fish pie was lovely.

Had a lovely lunch here recently. Staff really welcoming and friendly. Food fantastic. Great atmosphere here. Looking forward to returning soon.

We love this pub, great atmosphere, always accommodate our pushchair (and baby). Visited before christmas and was gifted a voucher with an unknown discount inside - despite what the previous reviewer has said - it stated in big bold letters DO NOT OPEN - the waiter opened it as he gave us our bill and we had a 25% voucher inside. Returning again on 13th feb to use our second one :)

Our first visit. We were very impressed. The food was excellent. So was the service and atmosphere. Will visit again hopefully.

Very nice service . Nice taste. 😍

One of my favourite local pubs, this place is worth travelling too as the seasonal food, menu updates, and service is always fantastic.