The Place to Eat in Welwyn Hatfield

Very few staff, but they managed well, remained pleasant and apologised for delay in service. Would appreciate cash and card being accepted on all tills.

Came in for tea and cake really nice lemon drizzle cake really good service it was busy but the staff were coping really well and keeping on top of cleaning tables very enjoyable

Whilst shopping decided to have a drink and cake in the cafe. There were no plates available to put your cake on if you decided to have the help yourself scones or buns. Two elderly customers in front of us put their cakes on the tray. A customer put two Chelsea buns on the tray and then Picked them up and put them back. We asked for the cream tea offer and we’re told to go back and get the scones ourselves. The clotted cream was warm and had a film on top. An elderly customer was struggling at the counter to get his purchases on his tray and the staff just stood there and did not help. The staff were not polite and seemed as if they did not want to be there. Whatever has happened to John Lewis. It used to be a pleasure to go in the cafe.

Been coming for few years-cannot fault this restaurant-the ladies work so very hard-I’ve over heard some very rude customers and they are always very gracious-it is busy and the lay out can be confusing-once in it’s a pleasure to be there

Arrived 4.30 on 3rd January. Café open until 6.30. Visit spoiled by cashier who was rude and abrupt. What has happened to John Lewis's excellent staff selection and training process that this person slipped through the net? In addition, the cake selection was practically non-existent for somewhere with two hours still to run. Should have gone to Bebo. Will next time.

Facile da raggiungere, diverse aree di parcheggio nelle vicinanze, ottimo centro per acquisti di ogni genere. Grande sala di ristorazione con vista parco; nel complesso discreto.

I visited The Place to Eat on 18th Jan. It was disappointing as the croissant I ordered was chewy the coffee was Luke warm and the restaurant itself was very cold even though I had a coat on. Unfortunately the temperature drove me out!

The butternut squash soup was very good, served with a fresh sourdough baguette. The fruit scone was excellent as was the latte coffee. Staff could not have been more helpful & pleasant. Such an improvement on the my previous visit.

Visited today for lunch. We’ve always enjoyed the cafe in Welwyn JL but no longer. Firstly every member of party has to zap the COVID code, only one won’t do, and then you have to show the green tick or you’re not allowed in. Then you’re no longer allowed to take your basket of impending purchases with you “in case you spill coffee in it” (?!) By the time we’d actually got in there was no food left at 12.15 pm except sandwiches and a few ciabatta. What food there was was poorly displayed and it wasn’t possible to see if there was any hot food, even soup. Don’t bother! Come on JL you need to up your game to keep your custom.

I often pop in for a morning coffee and fruit scone. They are the best around. Again, I have not been since Covid. Aim to go back soon.

It’s a nice place and I go quite often and at least one of the soups used to be vegan, tomato etc. However, today they had blue cheese or chicken. There were no vegan sandwiches and the only cake was rich and chocolate. It was a bit disappointing and I left hungry. You would think that being partnered with Waitrose, there would be more options for vegans.

The John Lewis restaurant is all right but doesn't reach great heights. The layout of the serveries always confuses me (where does one go?); coffee and cakes are reliable but the sandwiches and lunches are simply overpriced.

Since John Lewis made all their chefs redundant, their standards have gone down and down. The menus are very in different. Over priced and cheap quality. Soup and rolls are expensive and indifferent quality. Waitrose do some very good fresh soups such as Thai green chicken curry or hearty Italian inspired bean soup but these are never on the menu. The chicken vegetable soup they serve up is disgusting. Cakes are expensive and and not very good. Had a Sunday roast beef lunch at £12.95. Over priced small portions and very poor quality heated up processed food. The MD of John Lewis may be saving partners money but standards are going down and not making it a pleasant place to eat and drink.

Had a lovely visit today. Cafe was clearly busy but every single staff member was cheerful and efficient. In particular a lady called Val, who was wonderful and personable. She couldn’t have been more helpful and it was heartwarming to see her continuing this to the customers behind us too, offering a small mug so that a father could share his soup. Certainly filled us full of Christmas spirit! John Lewis know how to train their staff, we’ve never had a bad visit to be honest! Butternut soup was delicious and the vegan options have tripled since last year. I was torn!

This place looks like a throw back from the 1980's restaurants with bad customer service to go with it. Tea stains on tables,mud on the floor,staff chatting while customers waiting,bad customer care,it smells. Come on John Lewis this place needs updating and the staff either needs to go on customer care course or need new ones! Just Awlful.

So I went, last week for a coffee and a cake with my mother and I was very surprised by how unpleasant a sales assistant named Ester was. It started from the moment I came in, her audacious manor that was conceived as intimidating and abrupt to many fellow customers. She asked what drink I would want and that I need to hurry up with my decision as her break started soon? I was confused and so surprised that I would have been met with such rudeness from someone that is getting paid to serve the public! So I chose my drink and moved on, however she did the same to my mother whom was behind me in the queue. After hearing the fact that she is running late in a negative manor, to my mother, I wanted a manager to report this. However I couldn’t find anyone on site! So I asked a partner called Micheal to tell a manger, whom was a polite young boy. I trust Micheal has, but I just wanted to reiterate how rude this lady truly was and I really really really do not want any customers experiencing this level of disgusting customer service. John Lewis should be ashamed of employing someone with such manor and I really hope she gets sacked or some type of discipline for this. John Lewis has been totally let down and I NEVER want to have to deal with this lady again. Kind regards Jane Doole

The staff are lovely but service can be exceptionally slow. The food is ok but overpriced really for what you get. The salads used to be a lovely selection of fresh leaves but now it is basically mostly stalk. Even the occasional voucher for free hot drink and cake is not always taken up now as the quality is not what it was.

高檔百貨約翰路易斯二樓的自助式咖啡廳。到訪平日下午茶時段，很多桌上剩下的杯碟沒有收拾，好不容易才找到一張乾淨桌子。自助形式選擇了英式司康餅和熱咖啡：司康餅已變硬、熱咖啡偏淡，加上傲慢的收銀員和偏高的價格，不會再到訪的咖啡廳。

The food is basic sandwiches, soup or salad and is self service but the outside space is very pleasant.

The coffee here is very good. Cakes and sandwiches can be variable - and everything is relatively expensive (well, it IS John Lewis, after all!). The surrounding are a bit staff-canteen-like and the staff seldom smile, so don't plan to come here for a slap-up meal. Okay for a quick bite while you're shopping.

Usual JL crowd, but can be very busy at weekends. The staff can be a bit hit & miss at busy times , unlike the staff on the shop floor who are always attentive.

Just visited here with my husband for breakfast. I’m vegetarian but there are no choices for veggies so I’ve ended up with a cake. Not great

Dropped by John Lewis' café in their Welwyn Garden City branch today and was utterly disappointed. A rating of terrible is far too generous. Today I bought the worst BLT sandwich Iv'e ever eaten. A dry tasteless excuse for a sandwich, the filling was sparse and the bread was dry chewy and tasted old. My wife ordered tomato and basil soup which she described as watery and tasteless, they even have the cheek to charge extra for a small piece of bread to accompany the soup. The only good thing about our visit was my cappuccino. A complete wast of fifteen quid. I expected much better quality from a brand like John Lewis.

When all you want is a tasty snack, a bowl of hot soup would be lovely, but not if you’re a diabetic, because the Moroccan soup contains caster sugar and the pumpkin soup contains sweet potato. When planning your menu options, it would be nice if some consideration was given to those of us who cannot stuff our faces with sugar laden cakes, pies, pastries et al....

Some staff lovely but some very grumpy and seemed to be tensions between them. Nice cake and good to recover from shopping

I go here quite often, mostly with my granddaughter for lunch, and always find pleasant helpful staff who always offer to carry my tray. The food is ok - not wonderful, but most of it is organic or at least wholesome. Drinks are always good and I like the offering of cold drinks that are not full of fizz or sugar. The fruit scones are the best ones I've found in hertfordshire and the soup with roll is really good value.

Lunched here with my friend and had a great catch up. We had the Moroccan chicken soup. It was so delicious that I'm going to look up a recipe and attempt to cook it myself. It was accompanied by a large chunk of bread and butter. This was followed by a lovely hot coffee and lemon tart. The lemony flavour was a perfect balance between sweet and sharp.

Grumpy staff, asked for fruit scones, gruffly told “none left” so had to settle for a really dry plain scone. Upon leaving loads of fruit scones were for sale. Tables and floors were dirty and needed cleaning. Massive disappointment.

Depending on the time of day that you go in here it can be very busy with a long queue that moves very slowly.

This place could be so nice but it reminds me of a school canteen. The cakes use to be gorgeous but now taste over sweet.

Long queue, staff slow to move through customers. Till staff lacked any customer service skills and did not offer glasses for drinks. Once seated we had to go back for them. (One glass was chipped on the rim).

Like my school report - could do better Queuing system poor and slow too. Appears solely geared up to issue it's free coffee and cakes so may not be really bothered about service,

I used to come here often with my wife, particularly in the days when the myJohnLewis scheme gave you a free hot drink and a cake a month. I hadn't been for a long time when we ended up in WGC for a treat across the square at Tulip Clinic. We came here for coffee and cake. Unfortunately on this occasion one of the coffee machines was out of order and chaos appeared to be the result. Also they didn't have any fruit cake, our favourite. We got by with blueberry muffins and found a window seat. We could then relax while we enjoyed the ambience. It was a little cold for us to sit outside, although it was busy out there.

Very clean and well presented self service restaurant. Counters are well stocked. Service is ok. Seating are is clean but feels very sterile with little character or atmosphere. Good for a mid shop break.

Largest eating area in town as far as I can tell. With the John Lewis free WiFi, you will find this an excellent place for business travellers, work interviews, meetings, and maybe even the odd "geek"! Equally, you'll find families with young children, meeting up...

Mal pensado sistema de colas, lento y escaso. El comedor es muy cutre, con una decoración y sillas que sean demasiado polvo - necesitan una renovación y reformulación.

Había tres de nosotros, que es mi esposa, Madre y ella me de 99 años. Almorzamos en el restaurante, que es como una cantina. . No se puede oír. tú mismo hablar por el minúsculo echo, la comida estaba bien, pero es caro para lo que era.

Llamamos para almorzar. La sopa de pollo Souvenir marroquí fue muy buena. Muy sabroso y abundante. Mi pareja disfrutó el salmón bagel y llena de generosidad. crema de queso La única decepción fue el bollo de frutas. Era grande pero que conté 5 piezas de fruta, grosella, creo. Sea cual sea la fruta estaba, sólo había 5 piezas. Creo que un bollo de frutas deben tener un poco más de fruta en que 5 grosella. Espero que lean los comentarios y quizás ofrecer un mejor colocar al hacer bollos en el futuro. El personal es bueno, siempre educado y amable, aunque hoy la liquidación de las mesas era muy lento y por una vez, el lugar no estaba lleno de clientes. En general un lugar razonable que con la reputación de John Lewis, debería ser lograr calificaciones por encima de la media.

We stopped for coffee and cake mid afternoon and as usual the choice of sweets to go with tea or coffee is excellent. The service could be a little faster, but I suppose that is what you expect from decent coffee / tea.

I usually only go to the JL cafe when I have vouchers that give me a free drink and cake! The cake portions are usually so large that I often save half for later. Would much prefer portions to be smaller - no-one needs the calories these days! Nice to have a pot of tea rather than just one cup/mug. I don't eat meals here as it is only 10 minutes from my house so would be an expensive luxury! But plenty of people do eat here so it must be popular. The restaurant is fairly echoey making it rather noisy. The rooftop patio is nice but often windy and in the shade. Service isn't quick for tea/coffee compared to other coffee shops in town.

Every time I go here the food looks really nice but tastes just so bland Yesterday I had the glazed chicken and my daughter the quiche and it was so tasteless Not for me

Went to John Lewis for a things on a sunny afternoon. Decided to take a break to have a cup of tea and a slice of cake.The service was friendly. The victoria sponge was very very nice but I felt the portion was a bit small. maybe that is the point to make you wanting for more so that you go back next time.We sat outside and it was very nice.Overall, it made the shopping experience that much better.

Restaurant inside John Lewis, always buzzing either with mums and toddlers, families, couples having a coffee etc. Nice outside area, weather permitting.

Tired, bland with ingrained stains on the table tops. Pale, unappetising scones and no "flat white" Time to refurb people.

Expensive for a cafeteria.Slightly disappointing when you consider how much you are paying. The food is very expensive. £3.50 for a slice of cake or a fruit tart is well over the top.The atmosphere is noisy. Hard surfaces of walls and floors make the noise of the coffee machines and the clatter of cutlery and crockery very unrestful. OK if you are using your free John Lewis drink and cake vouchers but I would prefer to eat in the much calmer cafe over in Waitrose which is a bit basic but much more relaxing and more realistically priced.

Visited Sunday morning at 11.00am and the place was already bustling. The staff were very helpful but seemed under pressure with the volume of customers coming through.The seating area is very clean and comfortable.

Always busy, always busting yet always a pleasant place to grab some downtime and a coffee & sarny. Never the cheapest option but assured quality and lack of riff-raff make up for the wallet lightening. If you grab a table by the window there is even a view, of sorts, with sunshine streaming through as an optional extra. Size of room means that there is always a table available even if sometimes the cleaning up operation lags.

To start off. This place is expensive for lunch. The food is of good quality though to be fair. Had a xmas dinner and it was pretty simple stuff, good quality but you could cook just as good at home. One course each and a drink came to over £25....ouch.Nice atmosphere and plenty of seating. If you are on a budget then go to Subway.

The Place to Eat in my opinion is not the place to eat anymore. The service is very slow, especially on the hot drinks and cake counter. I had a scone today, forgetting that the last time I had one it was rock hard, suffice to say it was hard and dry today. There is no offer of hot or cold milk to go with coffee, as there is in coffee shops, just horrible little plastic pots of milk. The tables are not cleared regularly and you have to do it yourself. Obviously they have a shortage of staff. This all reflects very badly on John Lewis. Thankfully I had a free coffee and cake voucher or I would have asked for a refund.

My first visit to Welwyn Garden City but not to the John Lewis Cafes, this one very similar to others busy, bit haphazard, pricey, but on the whole works & is quite relaxing. We enjoyed coffee & hot chocolate but found the cakes bit dry & not much choice. Probably cheaper choices close by but handy when browsing round favourite store.

Chose a sandwich and a bottle of water not a cheap place to eat but as the weather was good thought it would be nice to eat outside, sadly the outside area was closed off a barrier was across but no sign explaining the reason for this.

Wonderful fresh selection of sandwiches and salads! Can get busy at times but a nice atmosphere to have lunch while out shopping!!

The Place to Eat use to provide delicious scones in addition you could also choose a wholemeal variety. The one I had yesterday was like a biscuit, flat and hard. Also the fat/sugar free fruit cake no longer seems available. On a positive note staff are friendly & helpful. JL need to up their game!

I visited using my free tea & cake vouchers, had I paid the bill of £11:45 I would of been more disappointed than I already am. The luxury hot chocolate was awful. Although the restaurant was not busy the service was very slow. The restaurant was full of dirty tables. It's very loud in the the seating area and windows are dirty. Better places to go in the town than here I'm afraid.

Whenever in WGC the one place to enjoy morning/afternoon refreshments or lunch is in 'JL'. On a weekly basis, whether shopping or meeting up with friends, the place to eat is 'The Place to Eat'. Sandwiches, salads, soups, fry-ups, variety hot meals, scones, cakes, all too delicious. Still go back for more!!The ambiance is one of lively chatter from patrons, whether young or not so young. Quality, upper class, elegant.My favourite time of the year is Christmas when all the decorations are displayed, the menu changes to include a festive flavour.During Easter there activities for children - Mad Hatters Tea Party.School holidays there are also various activities for children. Not widely advertised, so look out on the notice boards when you enter, also the Internet.Although these activities take place, they do not interfere with the diners. Open seven days a week. A must to visit. Very pleasant break from exhausting shopping ...

Very limited menu especially if you happen to be vegetarian . Very little Gluton free choice and no soya milk for coffee .JL you need to raise your game .

the food is varied, maybe a little expensive but good range at all times of the day - great for a coffee and chat after a hard mornings shopping !!

I visited at lunchtime, having asked my friend to change our routine of having a Subway at The Galleria. I knew from past experience that the food that I chose would be freshly made,tasty and appetisingI chose the Butternut Squash soup with Chilli. My friend had the Smoked Salmon Bagel.. I think the ambience of the restaurant with the far windows overlooking Campus West is delightful. The restaurant is well lit and there are interesting murals about the history of John Lewis as a store on the far wall. My friend drew my atention to the murals and I asked permission of the Manager to photograph them for this article. I hope to upload my accompanying photos in the next few daysBeing pernickety, I would have expected the soup bowl to be wiped where the outside was splashed. My friend had to go back to get a glass.None of these were major issues. If the restaurant is busy then expect tables to have crockery on them. i think for living up to my expectations, I would definitely come here again. the food may not be the cheapest, but John Lewis deliver quality .

The place to eat is good for breakfast and lunch. Better selection of cakes will go down a treat. Long queues for drinks

No longer a great place for lunch as they seem to buy things in ready made. Cakes and hot drinks are OK.

I am a regular visitor to John Lewis Welwyn and used to be a regular to the cafe, but loyalty can be stretched too far. The food is good, but way too pricey and the queueing system slow and frankly ridiculous in this day and age. It's takes too long to get food, hot or cold and the whole thing is further held up by the speed of the tiles to pay...in this digital day and age it really ought to be a lot faster to pay. At busy times the queue is too the stairs and out of the door. And then there is finding a table....often they are not cleared fast enough as way the situation last time I was there in December. Come on John Lewis. You can do better. Please look at the pricing and service as it is not up to the standard of the rest of the shop. My advice to customers..avoid at busy times and think hard about the value...JLP is definitely undersold elsewhere in Welwyn for value and service when it come to catering.

Very nice cream tea, good quality food and great service. Great people who are friendly. The place is kept clean and apart from some longer times the people do there best.

For coffee, or a snack lunch its a great place to relax in the middle of shopping. The food is outstandingly fresh though not particularly cheap.

The food doesn't represent good value for money, and the queueing system is not logical - the cakes and patisserie used to be self service but you need to queue twice if you want items from different counters... The serving staff were rolling their eyes at customers which says a lot about their internal culture...To top it all off the seating area is unpleasantly loud at busy times - I'd recommend going to M&S in the Howard Centre instead.

We always eat here when we visit Welwyn Garden City, but may not any more. The hot food is now served from the hot plate counter, whereas you used to be able to order it and get it freshly cooked. The choice of fish and chips, quiche or lasagne seems more like 'pub grub' but at greatly inflated prices. Once it is served, you then have to queue and wait whilst the till operator has to prepare drinks as well as take money, leading to a very long wait and cooled down food. I had a salad Nicoise, which had way too much raw onion in it, one small potato but lots of tuna. I picked up a sachet of mayonnaise, and because of a food intolerance, tried to read the list of ingredients. The fourth sachet was in English, the others in 3 different languages. Because of my food intolerance I also looked for information about the dishes of the day, but all I could see was a catch-all comment, which I find really unhelpful, as when you ask about it, the person does not know, and has to go and ask, and so the wait goes on. Come on John Lewis, you can do much better than this!

I have been there many times and service is sooo slow. The staff vary from being helpful to the grumpiest looking chef I have had the displeasure to meet. The staff often ignore customers & by the time you sit down your food is tepid, ok for coffee.

Visited the John Lewis Cafe with my mum after a recent trip into the department store.I have the John Lewis member card which often means you get a free hot drink and cake.... Which is always nice!! My mum chose a ceasar salad and at about £8 thought it was very expensive for what it was. (Considering it was basically lettuce with a few strips of chicken!!) The service wasn't great and the card machine was in the slow so had to wait about 10 mins for that to go through. (Apparently it goes slow for the first card transaction of the day??!!) By that time the hot drinks had already started going cold!! Overall, it was okay but nothing to write home about!

I visited the John Lewis Welwyn, restaurant yesterday 2nd August 2015, I love John Lewis restaurant usually, but somehow a Chinese middle aged woman served us at the till and she was very abrupt, I was with a friend for coffee she asked something to my friend but as my friend was behind me and not from this country, I spoke for him as to what he wanted to order, she said "I am speaking to him" abruptly with a stern face, no smiles... I don't like her attitude, then my american friend said she does not good pass good customer service at all.Poor service I thought!!

I visited “The Place to Eat” at John Lewis Welwyn Garden City late one Saturday afternoon; the place was almost deserted, but all tables were cleared and clean and there was still a choice of food available. The cake I had was nice and moist; my cappuccino, whilst not bursting, with flavour was well made. There is some outside seating that catches the afternoon sun – it was very pleasant sat outside. Prices are a little bit more than one would expect, but overall very good for a department store café.

I wish I'd read the reviews on here before visiting this cafe at the weekend. I went for a hot chocolate (quite good) and a slice of Victoria Sandwich cake (poor). The high cost was the first surprise but at least the cake looked good. Unfortunately, the taste and texture was nowhere near as pleasant as Victoria cake from a Waitrose or almost any other supermarket. John Lewis really need to find a new cake supplier, especially given the price of £3.50 a slice. I'm surprised there are no racks to allow guests to clear their own tables.

Meeting with friends for a coffee, we had to wait ages to be served, the queues were getting longer by the minute. The staff were very slow to take orders and to take money and give change. We were just thankful we were only having a coffee and not hot food because this would have been cold by the time we reached a table. I have been going to this restaurant for over 40 years when at first it was Welwyn Department Store, this would never of happened then and I am suprised that John Lewis allow it to happen now.

This is a convenient place for a snack or lunch if you're shopping in John Lewis but it isn't cheap. The menu is also quite limited.The cakes are ok but the portions aren't huge. I find their coffee quite bitter and unpleasant, why they don't use the same as in Waitrose I don't know, but the hot chocolate is lovely, not too sweet.It's self-service and there's always a queue at the tills, especially at the side where the cakes are, usually because it takes so long to do the hot drinks. If you go at a busy time don't expect to be able to hold a quiet conversation as it gets extremely noisy in there, they could do with sound-proofing the ceiling or something.Other small gripes are that they are usually slow to clear the old trays from the tables and they don't have the units that you can put your old trays on, also at busy times they are bad at refilling the cutlery boxes.

This is a good large department store cafe. Lacks atmosphere a bit, but does have a nice outside area overlooking the Campus.Good views from the windows on to Parkway.Cappuccino is good as are the cheese scones.

I've always enjoyed my previous visit to this cafe. Usually looking forward to their Victoria sponge. And a latte. But I was to be disappointed. The service was very slow at the counter and they had obviously dropped thier standards on their food. The Victoria sponge was doughy and not at all light. The filling was a horrid over sweetened fake cream. They had obviously changed to buying in a nasty inferior cheap product and had the cheek to charge the same price. I didn't try any other products, so couldn't tell if they had reduced the standards on them as well. I'd previously been and I found that they had changed the clotted cream in the scone to a cheaper product. Sadly it appears there on a downward spiral to save money, but not maintain there previous high standards.

Today we visited John lewis and went there for lunch. The quality of food was superb and value for money. The staff there are very good as we have a grandson who has various allergies but they had a folder with all allergy products. Thanks for a good experience.

Good place to drop in while shopping. Large range of snacks and light meals. Convenient and good quality but slightly expensive for a snack.

John Lewis is a great store, building a business on consistency of product and service which so few businesses have today.Popped into the restaurant for a quick coffee and cake. The service was first class. It was a Saturday so staffed in the main by young people in education. They were great. They were courteous, could communicate, managed the queue very well, and very professional. Very impressed John Lewis.I only had a cake and Cappuccino but both were far superior to the many chains now selling both. The cake was freshly made that morning, probably on site and was delicious.The Cappuccino looked and tasted like a proper Cappuccino and it was hot, which seems to be rare now days.The room itself is little changed in the 40 years I have been coming here and its a little nostalgic.Oh, those Saturday workers; on top of keeping the tables clean, cleared and ready for the next customer. First class and well done.

Went shopping with family and entered restaurant at approximately 13:10 on 21/1/2015. Very little queue ( 1 person)and was served by Freddie, a personable partner in the restaurant,who was friendly and helpful even though Mum and I were hardly big spenders, buying Carrot and Coriander Soup and Roll(£4.75) together with butter/Flora.The restaurant doesn't have music playing so the ambiance is relaxed , save for the occasional noise about which it would be curmudgeonly to complain. Clientele was a mixture of all ages, Mums with children,tots,pensioners, everyone really! I THINK there was a ramp for disabled access,but perhaps a subsequent reviewer could comment on this.?Near Perfection?..Well the only thing that I could say against the decor is that the spring backed chairs remind me of old school ones and I would like to think that JLP might use the next tax year to refurbish the furniture?I really liked this place and was shocked to be the first to submit a review on it- maybe the locals might not thank me for saying go there and enjoy...