Waitrose Cafe - Swindon in Swindon

I met my friend for coffee and a pastry/scone/cake. None of these items were gluten free. The only available gluten free item was a small pre packed fruit bar I was extremely disappointed that a company like Waitrose did not provide for people with allergies in the cafe when there is a good range to purchase within the store

Very good breakfast. Friendly staff. Looks over the canal. Remember it’s a cafe in a supermarket not a restaurant.. Food and drinks nice and hot, will be back soon

We spent the day at the Festival of Science being held at a nearby school, and decided to pop out for lunch. Rather than have a meal deal, we thought we’d try a cafe lunch. There isn’t a Waitrose near me, and I thought I’d see how the upper middle classes live. Badly, it turns out. We ordered a couple of burgers, a macaroni cheese and a fish ginger sandwich. I think they had snappier names, but that’s what they were. I had wanted a breakfast or avocado on toast, but breakfast and brunch stop at 11.30. So do lunches, apparently. After half an hour, we asked where the food was. Fifteen minutes later, the fish finger sandwich came out, together with a promise of the rest of the food. Another fifteen minutes later, I chased up the burgers and mac & cheese, and was given a refund instead. We went and got the meal deal we should have had to start with. I have no idea how it’s possible to mess a simple order up so badly. There were at least five staff covering a half-full restaurant.

Some of the most miserable staff ever ! Served by two older females and then observed them with other customers to see if was just me !! Food chucked on table and totally dismissive and non engaging with customers. The most appalling front of house ever.

Worst waitrose in the UK this Swindon branch has limited staff since April 2022, so they only limit what can be served bit ridiculous if you have lack of staff for a year emot more staff the manager of this branch is useless and should resign this shows poor management and serious poor communication. 0/10

Fantastic experience - really swift and staff warmers so helpful, patient and friendly - made our meeting run really smoothly.

Ok for a coffee and snack. Can be cold and drafty with the side door constantly being used.. could do with being bigger

The environment was clean, but the coffee was very weak. Green tea was fine. A jug of tap water in the cafe would be useful.

3 minutes agoVisited Swindon store to shop and thought we would eat in the café before hand. Only one person in the queue before us and had to wait 30 mins for a fish finger wrap and the ultimate cheese toastie. I would like to say the food was worth the wait, but the toastie was very poor for just under £5 and the wrap came 10 mins later. The staff who were there were very apologetic and we were given a refund to the value of the food., But quite frankly this is not wait I would expect from a store like Waitrose. Costa would have been much cheaper and better service.

Popped in for a breakfast, won’t be doing this again. Not quite sure how they have made such a hash of a traditional breakfast. It all arrived barely warm. The poached eggs were basically hard boiled eggs but cooked without the shell. The sausages as a stripe of brown, the rest was just colourless skin. The hash browns, well I’m not sure how they have made a hash brown taste so disgusting, dry and cold. The bacon was flabby. The tomatoes, while cooked on top were raw on the bottom. The toast was sourdough, and barely browned but you could still use it as a stone to skim across the canal outside. I think we’d have been better crossing the bridge and having breakfast in the pub opposite, or getting in the car and going to the Beefeater for an all you can eat cooked breakfast.Such a disappointment. Waitrose usually is nothing but quality.

Paid £5 for a sourdough toastie. It came, was not sourdough, one side was grilled, the other side was wet and not seen a toaster. When I went to complain the woman knew what the problem was before I even said anything so they must know there's an issue with the machine. It came with no salad, not even a garnish. My friend however ordered a side order of garlic flatbread for £2.25 and this was huge and topped with chicken, bacon, brie, tomatoes and rocket. I felt completely ripped off with mine.We had a baby eating with us who had made a mess on the floor. My friend out of courtesy asked for a dustpan and brush to tidy up (most places appreciate the offer but say don't worry). The staff happily handed her the dustpan and brush and watched her on her hands an knees sweeping up!Not a patch on John lewis cafe, thought the level of service would be the same but nowhere near. Will not be returning

Just had the worse meal in a very long time. Opted for the ‘special’ cottage pie for our evening meal. We had to clear and clean a table with a wet wipe one poor girl serving, making drinks and clearing. Impossible. The meal was disgusting. Poor taste. Cold peas. Awful experience. Waitrose, you have declined abysmally. (They also charge for hot water with a slither of lemon - only place that does)

My wife went to eat lunch there with friends and family. No gluten free fresh options, no gf labelling, no gf packet sandwiches. Although if you want a brownie for lunch then lucky you!

Popped in for coffee and danish. Okay really. Better view than most but not much atmosphere. Okay but no better.

It gets incredibly busy here, and things can sometimes go awry (like getting a latte that was all froth and no coffee), but all easily sorted. It's lovely to have the outside space to sit, enjoy your coffee and watch the ducks and swans on the waterway. Food as ever with Waitrose, delicious. Lots of parking.

Children's lunch bag has great choice. The prices of food is very expensive but the real issue is the slow service, always very slow but lots of staff??

"I'll have the avocado on toast please."

Coffee and cakes are good but dont bother with a bacon roll/bap as it is of very poor quality with one dried up frazzled small rasher of bacon.

We grabbed a coffee here hoping for quick service but it was too slow and the service was a little confused. There are two places to get snacks here which doesn’t help things either.

I am sure it's not all down to the staff but 50% equipment but you can wait up to a good ten minutes or more queuing before placing an order

Pleasant staff but cafe somewhat noisy, however coffee good and snacks OK. Far better to sit and have a coffee etc, and for the good lady to shop by herself!!!!

Shopping in waitrose with my recently issued waitrose card, I stopped off at the café for a 'free' coffee expecting something cheap, but was surprised at the free options available.

Lovely walk along canal path for Sunday breakfast st Waitrose. No signs to tell you the direct access to the cafe is shut until you go all the way down the ramps and find the doors shut so you have to go back and walk around to main entrance. The wait to place an order was over 20 minutes although there were only a few in the queue. The surly person taking the order was obviously having a bad day probably due to disgruntled customers complaining about the wait. They take so long to make the hot drinks while you stand and wait that on two occasions a waiter was wondering around with hot food and the customers were still waiting for their coffees at the till! They need to improve the system so more people are on the hot drinks AND the till. Not first time have had to wait like this unfortunately.

Shopping in Waitrose, we took a breather with a coffee at the in-house café over looking the canal at the back of the store.

Visitamos aquí para desayunar un domingo por la mañana. El desayuno estaba bien, pero. . . No podíamos añadir los huevos a la orden ya que no había en el botón hasta! ! Setas eran horribles, parecía que eran simplemente superficial - no hay aceite de cocina. Salchichas y bacon era encantador, pero sin duda no vale la pena el precio! El personal era bueno, pero desorganizado! No voy a dar prisa en volver. . . .

this cafe has a view of the Swindon and berks canels. It has free parking. also if you want a long walk it just under 3km from the Swindon Town centre just follow the old canel path from the centre. a word of warning as you walk on to the canel path waterway as you past under the first bridge it can be a bit muddy also you might find is easy to come off the canel as the second bridge and follow the road to Waitrose. Do not worry about missing Waitrose you will see Waitrose from the second bridge.

Tuvimos que esperar un rato para que te sirvan, ya que sólo había un miembro del personal que sirve y uno detrás del mostrador poniendo distancia vajilla. Pedimos un bocadillo de salchichas de calidad buena. Servicio con una sonrisa que falta.

Personal de mala calidad en cafe intenta ser servicial, pero que la gente es 20 minutos o así que espera incluso para un pastel de pan tostado. No hay personal suficiente. Así que normalmente tienen que esperar 15 minutos o así para ser servido de otros 20 minutos para llegar a la comida. Ido a otras tiendas y su servicio Waitrose mucho mejor. Ya es hora de Waitrose resolvió lo que está mal en esta tienda - mucha gente han dado de esperar cuando hemos estado allí y muchos dicen no a la comida cuando encuentran es una larga espera.

Personal desorganizado, servicio lento, personal no especialmente acogedor. Que salir del sándwich especial de navidad durante la semana de Navidad resume la mala gestión de este café. Parece que hay mucho personal, pero a menudo dos serán contratados en servir al cliente mismo.

Yo he dejado de ir. El servicio siempre es demasiado lento y, a veces, hay muchos padres que parecen adorar el ruido de sus niños hacen.

I went with my wife to Waitrose Cafe (Swindon) today and I can only say that their Cappucino and mince pies were poor. The cappuccino was very bitter and the mince pie was 4 fifths pastry - very disappointing. Following this we went to Costa by ASDA West Swindon and their's was much better.

Yes most of us are using the card and paying very little, but the cafe service is so, so slow. Quality is at best average. The layout is attractive and its a good location, parking is easy. But the checkouts are often very slow with long waits, frustrating when many tills are closed and there are staff in the store. Poor management control of the tills. Most staff are helpful.

Ok so its out of a machine and its free with a Waitrose card, but the coffee here is rather good. Not up to your Costa or Patisserie Valerie standard but certainly gives them a run for their money.

Just not enough staff, there are often 4 or 5 staff behind counter but service is slow, in fact I would even say very slow, staff do not work as team, pretty miserable at times. Tables not cleared regularly I have given up going here free coffee or not. It does mirror the stores itself, not enough staff or stock, put me right off using Waitrose

Waitrose food: sandwiches, snacks, cakes and a range of hot and cold drinks served in the in-store cafe.

on way to cardiff stopped for lunch. Slow queue staff not sure what they were meant to be doing no cutlery, orders taking about 10 minutes to get out and were luke warm. Breakfast is better

Stopped for coffee here today. Typical Waitrose standards. All excellent. Sitting outside over looking the truncated canal was very pleasant.

Normally just have a coffee and some times a cake. The service is brilliant always a smile and warm greeting, nothing seems to much to ask.

Let's be honest, most people who use this cafe have a MyWaitrose card and are getting their drinks for nothing or next to nothing. So we cannot really complain.However if I were the complaining type I'd say the butter is always rock hard and unspreadable, the service can be very slow and the drinks machines keep breaking down leading to sub-standard decaf products.In one way it's nice that the staff wait for one customer to leave before they start serving the next one (rather than starting on the next customers drink whilst the first customer is waiting too) but this does not work at very busy times.The cafe itself is a little charmless but on a nice day it's lovely to sit out by the canal.

Food OK, but it takes so long to get served we almost gave up and left. We have been going to this store since it opened and this is a regular occurrence. Also the cutlery containers are not topped up regularly. A minor gripe I know but I should'nt have to stir my drink with a desert spoon or fork in Waitrose of all places !

We have been regular visitors to the cafe within Waitrose at Swindon However we now feel that it is going downhill fast We have always waited patiently to be served but this now seems to be taking longer and longer You constantly have to ask for the cutlery containers to be replenished as they are constantly empty Today on our visit the floor was filthy the staff were miserable and I have never seen such big cobwebs as there were hanging from the ceiling down at the bottom of the cafe Come on Waitrose get your act together

Busy restaurant, that's a good sign, today's special? Cannelloni with spinach. Have patience , there is a queue for the microwave, it finally arrives with a small salad, no dressing,very little taste (something was missing). No sorry Waitrose. OK for light snacks but after that I'm not so sure.

fancied a trip out to do some shopping and breakfast service was quick and well cooked bit of a search to find it but worth the trek

Its lunch time in the Waitrose Cafe on Sunday 28th February. The room is full of hungry customers served by only one waitress who was doing her best to field queries about delays to orders, clear tables and replenish cutlery etc. We had a 20 minute wait in the queue to order beverages and tea cakes for two probably - because of the low staffing numbers behind the counter. There was a further 20 minute delay between the arrival of the first tea cake and the second. The poor staff were courteous and polite and the food was fine when we got it but staffing levels fell far short of what was needed on a busy Sunday. Staff and customers deserve better from Waitrose!

Normally have a toasted tea cake , however it is getting in the too hard file ! Normally the tea cake is stale, staff are indifferent and the butter has just come out of the fridge and is impossible to spread.

The restaurant is situated right by the canal and is in a superb location. However, on my last few visits there, coffee was served out of paper cups each time. On the first occasion I was told that the dishwasher had broken down, so fair enough, but on the next few occasions (all within 14 days, a similar story!). We do now pay for the coffee by way of purchasing another item from the cafe and I don't really think it is a lot to ask for it to be served in china as it really does taste so much nicer. When I asked if I could have it served in china,I was met with hostility by the mature gentleman serving who told me that if he did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone. I feel that the Customer Service from Waitrose really is lacking in this restaurant although the food I have had has been fine. I now choose to go to the John Lewis store in Swindon for coffee where the service is more amiable.

Regular place to get a coffee, tea and a nice cake, as these are good and the seating area is very nice, bright and airy. Today we ordered the Fish Pie this was with fish supposedly?? As it was non existent, topped with mash potatoes and salad tipped out of a bag & 2 cherry tomatoes. The fish pie was cooked by Chef Mike, Microwave" mainly all mash potatoes with no imagination,and a small portion for the price of £5.25 was expecting better quality for a so say up market cafe. Needs to try Harder.

Big store, lots of parking. The food is consistently good. The coffee is questionable however it is free - I think it's a matter of training staff better - the coffee is often burnt and far too hot. It's nice to be able to sit and have your coffee. I struggle with the concept of people focused on shopping, juggling a trolley and too hot coffee. It's a nice gesture to provide free coffee. Nice cakes and helpful friendly staff. Worth a visit.

A lovely place to visit with to-die-for food it really has made my moth water and I would recommend this place to people who like some class. They really put the wait in Waitrose.(when i said that i meant the Waitorse were wonderful.

Yet again the cafe closed early, before the advertised time of 7pm! And please train your staff, the poor girl taking orders at breakfast didn't have a clue!

For a so called high end supermarket like Waitrose, this was very poor indeed. Visited on a Tuesday lunchtime, not the busiest time of the week I would have thought. Long queue to order food. My wife and I had the Chicken sandwich with chips and a hot chocolate. The chicken sandwich, costing in excess of £6, was ever so disappointing. For this kind of money, I would have expected a nice filling of proper sliced chicken, perhaps with a bit of good quality salad as an accompaniment. What was served up however, was three pieces of fast food style fried chicken nuggets, between two pieces of bread, with a solitary slice of tomato. Chips were OK, but not a good sized portion. Hot chocolate was weak and insipid. £18 completely wasted. Waitrose have comparitively recently opened in this location, and as the area expands, they will obviously be looking to get busier. However, if this cafe is to benefit, then it seriously needs to up its game .

I usually do my shopping here and it would have been nice if the cafe was more reasonable than it is. Nice location... By the canal... But very pricey.

Very nice clean airy and comfortable little café, helpful staff, well cooked and presented food, handy after a shopping trip, as trolley can be parked.

Staff excellent, food very good, I am a weekly user and service and quality are consistently good. Now they have asked customers to buy food with their free coffee the atmosphere is noticeably more relaxed, quieter, smaller queues, and much easier for a wheelchair user to find a suitable table. A good move from Waitrose looking after their main customer base who always do their grocery shop there.They did have a few problems when first opened but these were soon resolved.

Came to waitrose last week for a bacon and egg butty The bread just fell apart so I emailed the company and complained and sent a photo And was not empresssed with the reply so will not be coming to waitrose for any food from now on as if that's your costumer service well you can keep it Paul

Although the coffee was free if you own a Waitrose card, but the truth is you are still treating as a pay customer, and that was a SURPRISE!... made me instantly feel better for myself and didn't mind to buy a cake or patisserie to enjoy the free nice cup of coffee. What a nice gesture to your customers, Waitrose!

Came here for lunch on a Friday afternoon and it was really nice, I enjoyed the coffee and hot chicken wrap, well recommended. Although there were people around, it did not feel busy and on a nice day, you can even sit outside and the view is pleasant and calm. Definitely recommended, you feel like you have had a nice lunch and relaxed too.

OK - It's a supermarket. But as supermarkets go it's a nice one! We went with the kids to check it out today and claim our free coffee in the cafe. It was a lovely sunny day and the kids loved the outside seating area. They had chips and some gingerbread lollies. Both were really good. The staff were super friendly and after a slight mistake in our order gave us a refund and an extra free coffee. Can't say fairer! The reason I've only given it 3 spots is price. If our family budget would stretch to being a Waitrose family - I'm sure I'd give it 5 spots... sadly not the case :-( #Waitrose #KiddiCENTRIC

I visited here with my mother and two daughters. The location is lovely, overlooking the canal. The customer service was excellent; the staff were extremely helpful, polite, friendly and obviously take great pride in their work. The tea and cake were delicious. Would thoroughly recommend.

I went to the cafe a few weeks after opening and the whole experience was very disappointing. I ordered a Cinnamon latte (Shown on the menu board) and was given a confused response from a employee their who couldn't really understand why I was ordering it. I was eventually told it was seasonal and they didnt have the syrup.On getting another drink the same lady spilt it as she walked towards me. When I eventually got to drink it, It didn't really taste much of coffee or vanilla and may as well of been hot water! I've been to a John Lewis Espresso bar once and was really impressed.On paying another member of staff couldn't find either of the products on his screen to add to my bill, it took about 7-10 minutes from queuing to actually paying.The goats cheese flat bread I had was actually really good though. Maybe they just have the wrong staff....