M&s Cafe - Cheltenham

Lovely staff. Some tables a tad close to each other. It gets very busy (which is good). Lovely drinks and food. Service can be slow and many people in the queue commented on this. The annoying thing was while myself and others were queuing for drinks/food (and had been queuing a while) other new queue joiners were pushing past us to get a table, and there weren’t many free, which meant those queuing infront couldn’t find a table . I do not think this is right and has happened many times before when I’ve been. Maybe a sign would be helpful on entry and exit as some use the exit to sneak in before others, to state no queue jumping or seating before purchase is made, to make it fair on the people already queuing. I was alone and it was difficult even to find a seat for myself due to this. I even had to ask the lady behind me to back up as she was so close to me in the queue, she stated that if she kept moving she hoped the queen would ! Patience is a virtue! Many of the tables had crockery still on them so am assuming short staff . When it’s busy it’s hard to get through with prams, trays etc . Let a lot a trolley to clear tables. Also the table for those in a wheelchair is very rarely used by them but by those who are able to move without the aid of sticks/wheelchair . Needs a bigger sign !

Went for lunch on Saturday. Ordered two cheese and mushroom toasties and chips. They are normally really nice. But on this occasion they were served on what I can only describe as some sort of garlick bread. It was hard and the garlick was very overpowering. The chips were OK. Very disorganised no cutlery brought to the table could not find a glass and the condiments were whisked away. On the plus side there was a lovely dark haired lady clearing tables who was very friendly and made conversation with us.

Ordered smashed avocado on toasted sourdough bread. What arrived was a slice of cheap white sliced bread which had been toasted on one side only this also happened at Cribbs Causeway cafeteria. Terrible mis advertising and at a cost of £5.00. Coffee was good but no saucers, so just uou just have to put your mucky spoon on the tray. M&S your standards have become v sloppy.

One of the worst scones I have had, rock hard, dry and crumbly. The coffee was OK. The staff were friendly. Don’t think I will go there again for coffee.

I have reviewed this cafe before. The two ladies serving in the coffee shop were working extremely hard BUT the queues were 12/14 deep . I observed 11 people give up and walk away , WHY don’t the managers actually look at what’s going on and get more staff. Maybe use some of those where they have reduced customer interface at check out payment desks with automated systems