The Waffle House in St Albans

During a day trip to St Albans, we did a quick google search and this place came highly rated. The location is enticing, setup in an old watermill beside a small creek. Given a sunny day, there was waiting and we got our table 20 mins later. All was good till the food arrived. I ordered Avacado Waffle, and they served bland avacado mash on a dry waffle. That's it, no sauce, no dressing, nothing. Partner ordered a turkish one and it wasn't so bad and their sweet waffle we took to share was good. Overall, an underwhelming experience.

After a walk at the cathedral and park, we went there for lunch. Very nicely cottage feel waffle and cafe here. Relaxed with yummy waffle choices👍！Coffee for adults and smoothies for kids are perfect! Will salute my come again and again!

The food was very good, but the service was terrible. It felt like they wanted us to leave the restaurant as quickly as possible

Great food. Good vegetarian options. Amazing vibe. The sweet waffles are to die for!

The best breakfast in St Albans. Family and dog friendly, great veggie options and proper sausages/ bacon. Crispy waffles and thick milkshakes. A nice setting by the river, perfect for brunch with the family after a long walk around the park.

Great as always I’ve been coming here for years. It never fails to be an absolutely lovely place with kind and attentive staff. You can eat inside or outside both areas are delightful.

Excellent place to eat. The waffles are wonderful 😋.

Lovely food selection, and great service in every visit.

Not overly generous, but delicious nonetheless.

I've been coming here since I was a kid. It's now insanely expensive – like £15 for ham and mushroom. Came tepid, thrust in front of me. It's nice but feel management are getting greedy.

I've been a couple of times and the food is always perfect and absolutely lovely service! Today was no different, amazing food and the staff were so caring and kind when other customers decided to be rude and indignant. 10/10

We arrived on a mobbed Mother’s Day with the queue go back into the car park. We anticipated this would take over an hour so considered trying somewhere else. One of the staff members came through the line and enquired as to how many people were in each group. When we told them we were a group of two we were fast-tracked to the front of queue. We were in disbelief and could not believe our luck. He offered a prime seat in the sunshine and we counted our blessings that we had saved an hour of our day. We ordered one pulled pork and one banana flack jack. The pulled pork was exceptional, and whilst pricey, we were still left very satisfied customers. We then moved onto the banana flapjack which was the perfect combination of sweet and fresh. We also ordered a vanilla milkshake and a coffee milkshake. These were a nice addition to the meal but came as very different consistencies. We would happily have waited the hour but the fact we managed to skip the queue made things that much sweeter!

Lovely waffles and sunday brunch. Lucky for us there was no queue too. We came here a year back and noticed how much the portions had reduced... was quote shocking from the picture we had taken from the exact same mushroom and cheese waffle we ate last year to 2025. Service was great as always, great to see the staff happy and accommodating.

I went in and all I had was one waffle, so I was there for less than 5 minutes and the waiter charged me service charge without telling me! Not happy about paying 10 per cent without being notified!

Good food always, should consider somewhere outdoor for smoking guests.

I have a frequent customer of the waffle house. Over the years they have become more popular and due to this there can often be a queue and at times the servers are swept off their feet so it’s hard to catch them. The servers have always been friendly and polite to me, so I believe it is just that they need to hire a few more. I’ve always liked the waffle house for their range of savoury and sweet waffles. I’m sad to see the fresh tuna and mayo waffle leave the menu as that was one of my favourites. I am a big fan of the humous and avocado, you can really taste the quality of the humous. When I went recently I got a chocolate waffle with whipped cream and a malted milkshake to go. The milkshake is amazing! They are located just by the part and have the river flowing next to them. They have their own free parking. They currently have fairy lights up for the darker hours. They also a few years back added on a covered outdoors section which is heated.

One of nice place to for spending your time and enjoying Free parking Great design Food its amazing

Amazing place to visit if you're looking for something abit different. Staff are amazing, seating area is under a gazebo with heaters. Plenty of parking. Only gave it 4 stars because my father's main meal was cold. The sweet waffles were out of this world.

This was my first time ever going to The Waffle House in St.Albans, and it was a lovely experience! I had the buttermilk fried chicken, and it's was sooooo tasty!! I couldn't fault it at all. The table service was efficient, and staff were kind and respectful. It's more on the expensive side, but it's defo worth the money! I sat outside as it was a sunny day, and that in itself was great as it has a beautiful view of the river that runs by. It's dog friendly, so you can have a quick bite after a dog walk, etc.. I will no doubt be bringing my dogs next time! There is free parking for a couple of hours outfront The Waffle House, so it's easy to walk to.

Nice but a bit pricey for a waffle.

Very nice place to have a weekend lunch.

Decided last minute to pop in to treat our little for. Took the chicken and fish waffle ... Loved both and our little one had a blast! Was surprised at the fish and chips - it's very rare to get one with practically no oil dripping (nearly dry)! Will definitely go again!

Great place for an Organic waffle breakfast, lunch or supper. Tasty topping selection, friendly helpful staff.

Had a lovely lunch here where i had a really nice Indian daal waffle but then had a dinner which I wasn’t so impressed with, nothing in particular wrong but just felt that the food was less fresh made and seemed overpriced considering what products actually went in especially the dessert waffles they could be a lot better ie make real homemade chocolate brownie and chocolate sauce and make a proper cheesecake not a substance which doesn’t taste like a cheesecake thats lazy

As good as it’s always been. I have been visiting the waffle house for a good 20 years and I am happy to stay it has still (somehow) managed to retain its authentic feel during this time. Yes it has become super busy, but the service, the food and the queue management have allowed it to retain a 5* rating from me. We arrived on a Sunday at midday (peak) and waited around 45 mins for a table of 2. The staff were very organised and so I didn’t mind the wait. We were seated in one of the side rooms which, although not the main mill, still had a nice cosy and rustic feel. The menu was nice and varied but still included those true waffle house classics (eg chilli con carne). Food arrived quickly and service was good. It’s a family friendly place so there were a lot of big families and noisy young children but that is to be expected. Thanks again.

We visited in half term. Bad Idea! Something we will never do again. Unruly children being left to run riot really spoilt it for us. Service was snappy but forgetful. No kids menu seemed odd? We had to ask 3 X for milk, asked for water but gave up and left without. Also our server recommended a half/half portion of cream & icecream, but we were charged 2 X for a single portion of each! I didn’t check the bill before paying and just assumed our server had not made a mistake. Also my bug bare unglazed ceramic cups. Didn’t enjoy my hot chocolate. Very expensive (£54) for a 30 minute visit we could not get out of there quick enough. Shame. Parents really need to think of others when eating out and try to control their children and instill some manners.

I visited for the first time yesterday, and luckily, the queue wasn't too long—just two tables ahead of us. The waffles were absolutely delicious! For toppings, we tried the mushroom béchamel, which was decent, but not the standout for me. The blueberry deconstructed cheesecake, on the other hand, was amazing—I absolutely loved it! We also had the hot dutch apple, which was very tasty as well. While I'm usually more into savory dishes, I have to admit that the sweet options really won me over. I’ll definitely be back to try more!

Great waffles, goat cheese and beetroot, or chocolate sauce. Hard to choose!

If you like waffles 🧇 it's the place to be fantastic food

Lovely waffles, great service. Long queues and we were sat in the tent so the atmosphere wasn't amazing.

As always a very good place to have lunch. Food is always good with friendly staff.

Bad experience!!! I ordered blueberry waffle with cheese and added an ice-creme, but I don't get an ice-creme. Then a staff charge it in a bill. So, I told him, but he looked confidence and said I got it with a separate bowl. So, he checked something about that but took a long time...like I was a thief. In conclusion, he deleted that price of ice-creme and not to say sorry as well. I think this is unpolite to treat with customer. You're service very bad.

It was okay, 4 of us had the ham and cheese. Ham was dry and cheese didn’t have much flavour, and the mushrooms were a bit much. My friend had the avocado and hummus which was not nice, the hummus tasted really strange and was the size of Jupiter. There much be an avocado shortage as it came with about 3 pieces.

Another yummy experience at this Norwich institution! But chef, a bit mean on the toffee sauce this evening. 😛

I've been coming here since the 80's and it has never disappointed. The savoury and sweet waffles are excellent. Be prepared to wait as it is busy at times, especially in the school holidays.

This place is always a delight, the queues can be long but it's worth the wait.

Perfect as usual, lovely service and environment from Molly :) Would always recommend to a friend, we will be back. Thank you!

Despite being busy (Sunday rush)- we received excellent customer service and the food was wonderful too! Thoroughly enjoyed our down time as a family at The Waffle House :)

The Waffle House in Harpenden was the perfect way to start our holiday Harpenden. A beautiful venue with great service, coffee and food to match. A “must try” optional extra would be the “hash waffle”.

the best waffles ever! Their deconstructed blueberry cheesecake waffle 🫐is a must-try, and the Reuben waffle sandwich in the seasonal menu the homemade pastrami is impressive. Highly recommended 😋😋

Great service and always fantastic food.

First of all, I loved the atmosphere of this place. We visited The Waffle House in June and were lucky to get a seat outside, where we enjoyed the fresh air and a lovely view of the river. Everything was so fresh and tasty. It’s definitely worth a try. The staff were also very friendly.

Queueing outside to get in, which can be a while. We were placed in an inside dining area with an open fire one end, but sat by a door and had a draft. It wasn't warm in there today. Wales were good although I did expect the grated cheese on my sausage bean and cheese waffle to be melted on rather than just sprinkled. Service speed was good, 'efficient', with a service charge of 10% added to the bill.

We were seated out I side in the gazebo which has gaps all around the sides and it was absolutely freezing! We genuinely couldn’t feel our feet by the end. The food was nice, big portions and variety of savoury and sweet options. Our main waitress wasn’t friendly, didn’t crack a smile once and seemed pretty put out anytime we wanted to order something more. The other staff in fairness were far friendlier and engaging. Overall seating area and service let this one down

Really enjoyed the savory hummus waffle, very different.

We have been going to the waffle House for years. It has nice setting and great food, albeit a simple menu. The biggest issue is in the winter, when we had to queue for 30 minutes in the freezing cold. I would expect the owners to set some heaters over the people who are queuing in the cold. Even when we were seated inside the gazebo, next to the door, it was cold.

Been here a few times and always had lovely food. This time we went on a weekday and loved that there were NO queues! We were quickly seated in the gazebo part which was lovely and warm and our food and drinks came quickly. We had pulled pork, seasoned fries and the deconstructed blueberry cheesecake which was to die for! Will definitely return again on a weekday 🥰

Great quality food and excellent service. Huge disparity in the difference between the vegetarian and meat options - quality, quantity of choice and portion sizes. Could do with a vegetarian chicken option maybe? Very accommodating though, reasonably priced. OK all round.

Pretty good! Food was nice, service was good, wasn't too expensive and nice surroundings. You do have to queue up so be aware of this but there is a car park.

Can't fault it for service, atmosphere or food! A really awesome experience that hasn't changed in the years I've been going here. Would really recommend trying out all new stuff and the breakfasts are damn awesome as well!

Great food, prices on the high side

Came here on a Thursay at 2.30 and was immediately sat outside in their outdoor tent seating area, they have large heating lamps but if you were not sat immediately under them, you were cold. Was told we could go in side but there was only 1 server there so service may be slower, we stayed outside. Food was good, came out fresh, hot and yummy. Our party of 4 had lunch waffles and then pudding waffles after and all of us enjoyed them thoroughly. Bill came to just over £100, we had consumed 7 waffles in total and a scoop of ice cream for those that didn't have room! Would recommend!

My first time visiting The Waffle House and it certainly won’t be my last! Lovely food and our server Jo was so lovely. We’ll see you again soon!

Good food in a nice setting. Orders slightly lower quality than previous visits, plus surprisingly haphazard service, given how quiet it was. Strange music policy.

I feel the place has gone down hill. I asked for the bacon crispy and it wasn’t, more fat that bacon. One of the girls, must be a manager or something, seemed like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed towards another staff member. I paid £25 for a 2 waffles and the smallest portion of scrambled egg with a milkshake which was in a tiny cup. RIP OFF. If the food was nice then it’s worth it.

squishy waffles suck and they were out of choclate ice cream and please check about the whipped cream

Just perfect , happy we found this place. This is our first point for a brunch now. Thank you guys

Lovely food and ambience. Staff lovely. The malted chocolate milkshake is delicious.

Love this place! The food and ambience is amazing

Lovely food, but the service is not great, also be prepared to wait a long time.

Excellent waffles, sweet and savoury and coffee was delish

Lovely resturant, sat inside by the log fire. Food was great.

Wow, the food is incredible! What attentive and friendly staff too - so quick to bring menus and the food and drinks. Also a lovely atmosphere. I definitely want to return soon - I highly recommend for all!

Great Waffles in a great atmosphere restaurant out of town

The waffles are to die for here! There’s a choice of different waffles and many choices of sweet or savoury toppings! The restaurant is very busy and buzzy, but we were seated straight away. Service was good. All staff were friendly, orders taken and food arrived in good time. The only issue I had was that we were given the bill without actually asking for it and then had to point out we actually wanted some more drinks. The feeling of being rushed off a table is not a nice one and although the restaurant is obviously very busy, it’s a shame they felt the need to do that. All in all though…..a must visit restaurant if you are a waffle lover!

Waffle was cold 🥶 and very overpriced.

Always great food, never disapoints

Lovely place with amazing food and delicious desserts. Definitely one of my favourite places❤️

Waffles were delicious, and staff were very helpful and welcoming. Can become a little pricey when adding drinks and extras.

Always love it here. One of my favourite local spots and I love to show this spot to my friends and family when I get the opportunities. Very child friendly too which may be a selling point to some people!

I met with a friend as a halfway point, she came from High Wycombe and myself from Highgate in north London. We both enjoyed our food (chicken and meatball waffles) and drinks (elderflower cooler and homemade lemonade, then a flat white and a fresh juice). The alarming thing for us (and we don’t truly know the full outcome yet as we only visited on Saturday evening) was that when the bill came it came with a “reminder” that parking fines are automatically issued by a third party for staying more than 2.5hrs. Seeing as we had each driven just under an hour to have a catch up together, we didn’t even think that a proper restaurant we’d made a reservation at would have such a system in place for their patrons. I am aware of similar restrictions in leisure parks where you may be restricted - but those sorts of places tend to be fast food venues, not somewhere that’s a “destination” in itself. I would hazard a guess that a large proportion of visitors arrive by car. What would be useful, is upon arrival for your reservation this is highlighted, rather than sitting for 3hrs+ over food and drinks to discovered this when it’s too late. Fine is £100. We raised it with the person who served us and they did take our registration plates so, hopefully we will not receive a fine but it’s definitely a system that needs to be made super clear. We arrived in darkness too, so yes there are signs in the car park but, as often with these private firms, they don’t made it super easy and I genuinely wouldn’t even be looking for this information when I’ve made a reservation specifically to visit a venue.

Amazing burger can’t fault the place. Beautiful location. Staff friendly and que was longh but went down quickly. Boom boom

Amazing restaurant, been here twice, waiting time can be a bit long on the weekends but trust me it’s worth it. The food is AMAZING, all the waffles are great, worth it for the price, must try in St Albans fs.

My daughter took my wife & I to the new Waffle House in Harpenden for lunch. Lovely ambiance and the food and service were excellent. Phil is a great Manager and both Elise and Julia were very attentive and caring. Shall definitely be going back there again soon. Hopefully one day soon they will put the Chilli Con Carne & Ratatouille waffles back on the menu. It would also be wonderful if they could introduce a tandoori chicken or chicken tikka waffle. Stan the Man PS This review is for Harpenden

Delicious food and great service. I recommend the churros 😋 lovely meal out with family I 100 percent recommend to anyone!!!

Superb faultless food. High-quality produce that is prepared and cooked to an excellent standard. Moderate adaptation requests (really crispy bacon) were accepted AND carried out to perfection, with no fuss, despite them being VERY BUSY. Fast, efficient, and friendly service. My only criticism is that you are too far away from where I live. Although the food is so delicious, I'd probably just make my way through the entire menu, so possibly the best outcome for my waistline.

The Waffle House Harpenden hit all the right spots. All the staff were friendly and accommodating, we were served by KoKo who was great. The new venue is lovely and the waffles were excellent.

Delicious waffles, totally worth it. Milkshake was really nice. More chance of getting a seat if you visit before 11am otherwise you may end up in a queue.

Just awesome delicious and fresh food!! Efficient service also and our hostess was lovely. Thank you for a brilliant start to our weekend. We will be back :)

First visit and we were delighted. The coffee was excellent: highly recommend the filter, beautiful fruity blend, doesn’t need milk. The tableware and cups are very elegant. Friendly welcome, including from the chef. Real fire burning which added to the atmosphere. The breakfasts were very good and we ate them before I could even get a picture!! Bacon and scrambled eggs spot on and the sausage good quality and tasty. Lovely to have the water mill up in the middle floor dining area.

Best breakfast in Hertfordshire

Lovely environment with a wide variety of tasty waffles. Efficient and friendly service which made it a very pleasant quick brunch.

Gorgeous listed building. Pub feeling but a lovely place to grab yummy food. Service is a bit slow, but otherwise thoroughly recommend it

Sweet and savoury waffels, open again with new menu and specials. Great for lunch or evenings out. Customer parking is available.

Hidden just outside the city, this place feels like a breath of fresh air. The food is bursting with flavor, each dish more delicious than the last, leaving you wanting more. The staff are warm and friendly. Yes, it’s a bit long journey from the city, but the beautiful setting and the whole experience make it totally worth it. You’ll leave with a happy stomach and a smile.

Highly recommended, especially their shredded salmon poached eggs and the classic breakfast waffle. There’s always a queue during the weekend but it’s worth a wait!

The place is okay. They wouldn't mix stuff from the lunch and breakfast menu late morning - ridiculous. And the wasps buzzing around the honey!

Delicious savoury waffles with meatballs which I definitely recommend. I've seen some sweet waffle options too which looked amazing! Really nice setup to sit outside if the weather is dry.

Very loud but otherwise perfect! Amazing date location or lunch after a long walk around the park. Many dogs always makes a place better. The only thing I'd say is because it's waffles there are obviously a lot of children. We didn't mind but there was a table next to us speaking quite loudly about it.

Service was lacklustered, but that was mainly due to management chatting instead of watching team / tables. The food was good but that's the only positive from our visit. My wife had the Brie & Bacon special, so I'd thought i'll ask for a side of bacon to go with my buttermilk chicken. Waitress came back and said I can't have the side of bacon as the chef has said they need to save it for breakfast. I was lost for words that a business doesn't want to make extra sales, especially when the item was on the menu. I feel that the truth was that the chef couldn't be bothered to cook an extra portion of bacon. Drinks arrived, my neck oil had a weird foam like head on the pint it tasted ok but looked odd. The wife's cocktail had a hair on the strawberry and 2 chips in the glass rim. Beggers belief how the bar man missed this. Our food came, and I asked for some extra sriracha mayo. Waitress came back to say she would have to charge £2.75 for a portion of mayo with a few drops of sriracha sauce in. This was the final straw, I told the waitress not to worry! We asked for the bill, then asked to speak to the manager to discuss the service charge and who gets the tips. We had a supervisor come over, the two managers on duty couldn't be bothered, it seemed. We had the service charge taken off and gave our waitress £5 cash, as she would keep it and not have her serviced charge taken/shared with lazy chefs and managers.

Lovely experience for a birthday breakfast. Sat outside but the sub came out. Good food and service. Throughly recommend.

It was our second time there. Portions got smaller and the price got higher. We ended up not being full. It was ok, I like that we can eat outside but be careful, our glasses were absolutely disgusting and there were things missing within our order. Not sure we would go a third time.

Great tasting food, however the waffles aren't hot or freshly made. We got the Siracha chicken waffles but nothing was hot. It was Luke warm, which is a big shame. As I don't mind waiting for freshly made food. We also got the deconstructed blueberry cheesecake waffles but no taste of cheesecake just blueberry and granola. Service was quick, we were surprised how and why the food came so quickly.

Very enjoyable. Lovely sunny Sunday morning so a great place to sit outside for breakfast and lucky enough to be by the mill stream. Service was friendly and efficient and all the plates sampled by our group were enjoyed. Toilet facilities need an upgrade but overall we'd happily come back

The waffles here are really good. The menu is great. Book your table in advanced this place gets really busy.

Very poorly managed queue 11 am the tables were not ready. Plenty of staff mucking about having chats. Plenty of empty tables and people just waiting while staff chat! Needs proper management. Food and service by servers were marvellous. Just focus on managing the queue and managing the managers.

Amazing place. Large and nice otopark. Friendly staff and great service.

Veggie options so limited! The mushroom and cheese was so basic and boring honestly. The desert version was great. You have 2.5 hrs on parking so that makes it easier but people don’t know how to park so cars are all over the place!

New updated review (2024) This spot continues to be popular. Upon a recent visit i noticed the menu has improved with more vatriety and the portion sizes are alot more adequate and filling compared to the past in my experience. Out door seating is great although limited availability for parties of 6 +. Staff were slick and helpful and profrssional. Will be back for sure. Old review 3 yeara ago (2021): Great spot with beautiful setting indoors and outdoors. Always worth the half hour drive for me. Free parking available on site. Can get busy at peak times and have to wait in the queue. Historically a popular spot for many. The quality of the Coffee is good. Decent menu for sweet and savory dishes but on the down side, the choices for savory veg / vegan are limited so i find myself ordering the same everytime. All in all, a good outing and will be back.

Wonderful place! Had this recommended for ages and it was definitely worth the trip! All the food was really good and fresh, drinks were great and the overall scenery and atmosphere was lovely. Would definitely recommend further!