Waitrose in Lincoln

Two years ago I wrote a review highlighting the terribly slow service so it is really frustrating to see nothing has changed! Yes the cake is still good and the food is reasonable value but the lengthy queue ruins the experience. This time the cafe was seriously understaffed ( one person taking payments and one person making drinks) despite how busy it was. The person making my drinks was thrilled because we wanted tea! The complex coffees take much more time to prepare. People had to wait 15 minutes for something as simple as a toasted sandwich and I overheard the person preparing the hot food say they were then to priotities quick snacks over proper meals so heaven knows how long people had to wait for their lunches. When I got to the cutlery station they had one knife left and one teaspoon. Someone had tossed in a few disposable teaspoons as an interim solution. The solution is simple; double the staff and the wait reduces. The store manager really needs to take some action.

My wife purchased a tuna mayo sandwich today. The tuna was spread more thinly than the butter/margarine and I finished up with earache from her complaints. At the price a supermarket like Waitrose should offer a better standard.

Arrived at 0730 after dropping car off for service. Staff opening doors and advised only putting stock out opening officially at 0800. Took the time to show where the cafe was and how we could view our little dog if decided to eat in - though outside lovely alternative . When opened and ordering breakfast staff were very personable and efficient . A credit to the organisation and great coffee and breakfast .

The cafe is a great place we enjoy, either mid or post shopping! The staff are very friendly, tables are efficiently cleared and cleaned and there is a wide range of food options from toasties and cakes to larger dishes. Lovely, comfy setting too, highly recommended.

Ridiculously slow I ordered a tea cake which sat on the side for ten minutes while I had my coffee. When I questioned why it was still sat there waiting to be toasted they said it would be another 15 minutes! 25 minutes for a tea cake by which time the coffee would be gone or cold. This has the potential to be a good cafe as it is set out lovely but someone needs to work on the logistics. Felt quite sorry for all the OAPs queuing to order then queuing for their drink. Plus if there’s going to be a delay inform at the point of ordering to enable the customer to make a different choice. Not good.

Had a delicious bowl of porridge with blueberries & a coconut latte - currently on promotion with my Waitrose card at £4.00. Not only is this excellent value but it is a lovely place to start the day! The staff are always friendly & cheerful, the tables are always promptly cleaned and nothing is too much trouble. Sometimes the service can be a little slow but this is probably down to the indecisiveness of the customer! There is a trolley park so you can break off from your shopping, clean toilets & outside seating if you prefer. The Waitrose cafe is a hidden gem which is well worth a visit!!

Often go here for coffee/Cake or lunch. Always find it good. Food always nice and staff very friendly and helpful..

I met a friend at the cafe at 11.00 a.m. for a hot drink and cake. It was a very strange set up as mugs were collected from the wall. My original one was dirty so had to be exchanged. Self serve cakes. This was easy and a good selection. Of the payment points only one was open, and eventually there was a queue of a dozen people waiting. I commented on this but it made no difference and the other payment point remained closed. A positive is that they serve tea in pots, which was good for me. On the downside they struggled to serve my friend an oat milk cappuchino and she had to go back for it after dairy being served by mistake. I definitely won't risk ordering a hot meal but might try tea and cake again as choice nearby is limited. My friend said she won't return.

I ordered a bacon roll as a treat to myself having recovered from covid . When it arrived it consisted of a large ciabatta roll with3 half slices of streaky bacon on it . I queried it on the Waitrose complaints section and have been advised that they changed from 2 slices of back bacon to this , it is certainly not good value for money at£ 3.75 . The quality of greggs is much better at half the price including coffee. I don’t mind paying more for good quality but this was appalling . Come on Waitrose you can do better than this ,,,

I popped in for lunch and ordered a bowl of soup. When the buzzer went off I went go collect it from the counter, as asked, and found that it was just that - a bowl of soup - but with no bread or butter. I asked the server where they were, and she told me that I should have ordered them as they were optional and I'd have to pay extra. I remarked that it was the first time I'd ever ordered soup that didn't include bread and she just shrugged and said "I know!" 🙄

I would have thought that Waitrose could do better and offer an experience worth visiting for. I found the service so slow i nearly fell asleep standing up. There are numerous drinks dispensers and one person going at a snails pace serving drinks. When my drink finally arrived I took it to a table only to find no spoon so I went to get one out the tray which was empty. I joined the queue again and waited to ask for a spoon. When my turn came dispite numerous staff I was then ignored and just left standing. Another customer gave me her spoon but by the time I got back to my table my drink was luke warm and tasted very weak. so I just left never to return again.

I would have though Waitrose of all places would cater for different diets. The Lincoln shop has a new larger cafe, Mum & I decided to go after shopping in store. No hot food it said, fare enough we are carb free so looking for a salad. Apparently that is classed as hot food & not available. So I asked what was available with low carbs, "toasted sandwiches " was the answer!!!!! Needless to say we will not be dropping in again.

I went to the restaurant on a Monday at 2.00pm, asked for a non vegetarian sandwich, nothing available, asked for soup, not available, in the end I ended up getting a cheese sandwich out of the store, which I was advised to do. Unfortunately in future I will not be going for lunch, maybe I will go in for coffee and cake when shopping. Its a shame that the new restaurant seems to have got it wrong, certainly for vegetarians. I must admit though the service and the restaurant facilities we’re really good.

Decent quality food and coffee, and good service as well. Probably the best supermarket cafe I’ve been to, certainly since it’s renovation it’s a much nicer space to sit and have a coffee

It would be good if they would answer the phone , I’ve tried lots of time and they never answer. Waitrose website says the whole of Waitrose is closed every day !!!

Can't understand why people say this is poor, very welcoming, excellent staff, very good food and a welcome retreat this side of Lincoln instead of having to go to the poor service rubbish coffee at Starbucks or Costa, at least Waitrose pay their taxes unlike the others! We all should support Waitrose! Lovely.

The new design of the coffee shop is beautiful, I think the food if very expensive for what you get, the buzzer system for food collection is a good idea however, when mine went off I went to the collection point to find that the plates were extremely hot when I mentioned this the Women behind the counter said in an abrupt manner to inform me that there were napkins on the side counter, I said that I would need oven mitts as they were extremely hot, I did manage but I have concerns that elderly people or anyone really could struggle, I feel that it a very risky way of working an accident waiting to happen, also the amount of staff it is worth checking if people are able to manage. Would not be recommending nicer places to go and have the food delivered

Much larger and busier, it seems, following refurbishment. Rightly so. Really like the choice of mugs for your drinks. Still serving some of the old favorites.

This is top cafe for a supermarket and puts others to shame. The decor and layout is modern but classic and the food is very good. My only issue is it’s a little bit on the pricey side for a supermarket.

Mainly use their refreshingly new cafe. Great for catching up with friends. Bonus as car parking is a four hour allowance, so much coffee partaken of!!.Great for good reductions on their food and always plenty on offer when I have been. Good choices for vegetarians and vegans.

The refurbished and relocated coffee shop in the Lincoln store is nicely appointed and spacious with a good trolley park. There is a self serve display of cakes and pastries, with plates and trays before one gets to the service counters. The first and payment counter is to place and pay for orders, the second counter is the collection point for drinks and a third collection point for food orders. This arrangement seems strange and can cause frustrations with the level, and speed of service, and inevitably will attract some negative reviews, with waiting times and foods and drinks arriving at different times. The quality of food and drinks are fine as one would expect with in a store with a reputation for quality and service.

The coffee is the best I have had in a supermarket cafe and the seating area chic, spacious and clean. Granted the selection of pastry did not entice and the food was a bit expensive but still a much better quality than supermarket cafes. Obviously the stock of food items itself was typical high standard Waitrose quality so the overall experience visiting the branch was very pleasant compared to the dull days out at competitors. Keep it up Waitrose

Went here for lunch, looked at the menu thought mm macaroni with panceta and lasagne yes that sounds nice. I'll share a bowl of chips one will be enough. I watched as she struggled to dredge crispy burnt offerings up into what was the size of a teacup. Then with dread I thought please don't tell me that us macaroni or lasagne. My buzzer bleeped yes it was. I took mine back I stood and stood while one girl at the coffee machine ignored me blew her nose then proceeded to touch the coffee cups. Eventually a helpful Lass Nicky did help. She took my plate to the servery the 3 females in the kitchen giggled they thought it was funny. I couldn't see the funny side myself having just paid £20. I was told I could have another but it would take 15 minutes. Well by then my husband would be finished eating his apology of a lasagne and would have to wait. Nicky did give me back the money for the dehydrated and burnt hard macaroni.Im sure it won't stop anyone eating here what I've written but my goodness I hope yours tastes and looks better than mine

At over £10 for a full English and a coffee, it needed to be good, for a supermarket. Fortunately I was but I still think it’s on the high side price wise. There are plenty of places that do a breakfast buffet for a similar amount.Supermarket cafe sausages are usually horrible pink things with little meat in them but not so Waitrose, to their credit. The toast was also made with ‘real’ bread. The revamped cafe has a nice atmosphere and I like the comfy chairs if you’re just going for a drink. We had to sit near the door because it was busy and since it opens straight to outside, there was an icy blast every time somebody entered or left. It could do with a secondary door. If you order hot food you get a buzzer to tell you when it’s ready and then you go to the hatch to collect it, which I suppose is okay fir a supermarket cafe. There’s a two-queue system in place when you order your food- one to select your food and pay and then you queue again for whatever drinks you’ve ordered. Despite this we were seated in a matter of a couple of minutes so some of the problems reported by other reviewers when the cafe first opened would appear to have been sorted out. I imagine I’ll be going fairly regularly in future since it’s our nearest supermarket. If the price of the full English included a hot drink it might have been more regular still.

Ordered hot chocolate and a pot of loose leaf tea. Service is painfully slow. Quality of drinks is below average. Chocolate not very hot. Tea stewed. In no hurry to return.

We were excited to try the new range of food available at the new cafe, but we were disappointed with the quality of the hot food served. It looked like it had been warmed up in the microwave. The chicken pie was served with a small squeeze of mashed potato and nothing else, no veg, and the pie whilst ok seemed like a basic warm in the microwave pie. The southern fried chicken was so hard it was impossible to eat much of it and the onion rings like warm. It was poor value for £20 and we expected better from Waitrose.

Come on Waitrose, you can do way better than this. Lovely environment, great food and drinks but oh! the wait. Today, there were seven - SEVEN members of staff behind the counter taking orders and prepping drinks. There was a short queue of customers and we all had to wait to queue and then queue again whilst waiting for the drinks. It's chaotic. Please put some measures in place quickly to alleviate all this unnecessary handing around for customers. What a way to carry on. I understand from others in the queue that if you order hot food as well there's a further wait. While I was waiting there were complaints about food going cold whilst waiting for drinks. What a shambles. Let's hope some managers are addressing this as currently it's a hotbed of customer frustration. There were no managers in evidence sorting things out on the floor. What a waste of time to force customers through this experience without thinking of a better way to serve us.

Visited for first time- really impressed with the facility of this restaurant.

Morning visit Sunday 08/12/2019.Ok first thing we are confused about where to order food,The place was very busy.One line is for people that have paid & ordered drinks,You have to look up "PAY HERE".Above the cashire are pictures of the food they sell.I opted for a breakfast plate,The picture shows two eggs etc,Wife had Sausage bap.They give you a pager that bleeps when your food order is ready.Bleep I go & pick order up,Just one Egg?.

Had a lovely breakfast this morning. Lots of choice and the poached egg was done perfectly. As usual the staff were very good at their jobs. Well done!

Coffee and French pastries were good and fair value. We also ordered a Southern Fried Chicken burger and were given a device to bleep when our food was ready. We waited a little while for the coffees, longer than is usual elsewhere. We then sat down and waited for a further 20 minutes and our hot food still had not arrived. I went to see what was happening and was told it was just being prepared. A cold brioche bun (no attempt to warm or toast it), three almost cold onion rings and chicken that was barely warm. £15.50 poorer and well over half an hour after ordering our food we left disappointed. Poor. We won't be rushing back

Visited the new rebranded Waite and Rose Cafe today for breakfast @Waitrose Lincoln.

Over the years I have been lucky enough to frequent some really excellent wine merchants with knowledgeable and friendly staff. However by far the best service and advice I have ever received has been from Matt D, the wine expert at Waitrose in Lincoln. His passion, knowledge and candor when it comes to recommending wine really is second to non. If for no other reason I would urge you to visit Waitrose and seek him out.

Didn’t have high expectations, but the food was actually really nice. The chicken and bacon toastie was delicious and went really well with the sweet and salty popcorn.

This is the first time I have visited this cafe. I thought it strange there were hardly any customers but it was 2pm. The first problem was reading the menu on the board at the back. The writing was so small. No other menus around. Then there wasn't a huge amount on the menu to choose from. Anything for lunch was sandwich or jacket potato it seemed.I did asked but no one seemed to know much. Anyway I asked for the welsh rarebit. The 3 staff didn't seem to know what they were doing. After checking the fridge they found the stuff made up. Then someone had to read everything to see how to do it. In the meantime I had ordered a coffee which was brought where I stood at the counter. After some time I said I would sit down with the coffee while they sort the food. Then putting the correct amount in the til took ages with 2 of them talking about it. The food turned out to be very good. Nice staff, untrained and soo slow.

A good variety of well stocked shelves. Always clean and tidy, staff friendly and helpful. You can meet friends in the coffee shop for a coffee and cake or have a quick sausage bap for a snack lunch.

we often used to call for lunch at Waitrose cafe. We hadn't been for a while, then we have been again twice recently. My husband enjoys his bacon roll there, but it is extremely difficult now for me as a vegetarian who can't eat cheese. The staff are lovely and the cafe is clean and pleasant but unless i want to eat cake, or a gluten free egg sandwich, there has been no choice.

Waitrose Lincoln is a relatively pleasant place to shop.

We live across the road and it's perfect if we have forgotten anything from our shopping or if we fancy a great.

If it wasnt for the free coffee with the Waitrose card, i wouldn't frequent this cafe.

The cafe was extremely busy with a 30 minute wait for food and the barista filled the coffee cups to the point of overflowing. We had to queue for a table whilst holding our food and coffee. When a table did become available it had only one chair, was covered in dirty cups and plates and was next to the toilets where there was a large number of people waiting. On a positive note the coffee was good and the apple strudel was delicious.

Large carpark. Clean store. Helpful staff. Nice cafe. Dry cleaners. Nice toilets. Fresh fish and meat counter. Larger cheese counter.

I must admit a free coffee with my My Waitrose card is a definite plus However they do a good bacon sandwich and some good cakes Coffee is good as well

It took a very long time to be served, largely because one of the staff clearly had no idea what she was doing and was more of a liability than an asset.

A couple of months ago and you could order a lovely Cumberland sausage in a bun for £3.50.

....but my partner said the coffee was reasonable! My tea was ok too but the service was sooooo slow and despite being told twice the young girl could not seem to remember a basic order of one tea and one cappuccino! Every single cake, danish and pastry looked lovely but all open to the air and close to the queue. When will cafes learn to cover cakes up, it stops them trying out and stops folks sneezing/coughing on them! Expensive for what it was..

I come here most weekday mornings for the (almost) free coffee with the MyWaitrose card* and it's ideal: Quiet, spacious, friendly staff and very nice coffee.... Apparently it's also a supermarket but the only thing I've bought in there was a pack of sausages. They were nice.

We shop here most weeks but the staff can be a bit eude .this weeks took the biscuit excuse the pun i asked where the soya milk was and a supervisor took me to the asile where it was and just left me couldnt be bothered to take me to the actual product i had great delight in telling the young lady who eventually helped me to locate my item that i was a secret shopper and to inform her superior of this fact:) i was of course fibbing .dreadfull customer service though i kid you not ! ! !

Where do I start ,The queue slow moving ,got to the front in the end ordered bacon roll for myself warning chainsaw to cut the bacon not included not going here again complete waste of £17.95p for 3 adults,Stay away .

Nice cafe. Small selection of sandwiches and cakes. Various hot and cold drinks. Bacon rolls are lovely.

I called in today for a quick lunch after a long morning working in Lincoln, sure of a tasty, quality snack. I chose (for speed and a small appetite) a toast able cheese and onion sandwich wrapped in cellophane to be handed in for heating. Should have known better. Would you like a salad garnish with that? Asked the cashier. The cappuccino was excellent. The few scraps of wilted lettuce were revolting, and the two teeny tomatoes hardly constituted a salad garnish in my opinion. The toastie was flat, meanly filled and very ordinary. For £6.50 I felt pretty badly done to!

As expected for a supermarket cafe. A small range of cold drinks, snacks and sandwiches. Hot drinks and hot food of the day. Often curry. Hot sausage and bacon rolls are delish!

Despite A boards and advertising all across the counter proclaiming festive Xmas drinks not one was available. Really disappointed! !!

The coffee is delicious and especially so if you are a member of 'My Waitrose' when it is free as long as something to eat is purchased. I can specifically recommend the Bacon Rolls, which are delicious! The Partners behind the counter are all friendly and efficient. This is a great place to stop before or after shopping.