John Lewis - South Gloucestershire

Stopped for a quick coffee. Staff were friendly. You order at the counter and are given a number to take to your table and then the coffee is brought to you. Not sure why there’s a sign asking you to wait to be seated, seems unnecessary.

Very disappointed as no hot food only soup and toasties only one colleague clearing tables notices everywhere asking you to place all dirty dishes on trays place in cabinets If you dine at John Lewis you expect better service

A rare visit for us to our nearest large shopping mall, led to a visit to this in-store café. There are many food outlets in the mall, but it was a busy Saturday early-afternoon and the queues for some of the eateries were very long. We found this café in this department store on the top-floor. There are two serveries with independent queues: one for sandwiches and cakes plus anything that is served cold, and then there is the hot-food counter where various cooked items and for food cooked to order are available. We decided on a toasted ham and cheese sandwich each. It should be noted that hot drinks were served on either counter, although it does seem from signage and because the hot drinks making equipment at the hot-food counter is slightly obscured from view that you might be obliged to queue twice, to get a hot snack and a hot drink. My Partner went off with the hot drinks to find a table, and I waited a few minutes at the hot food collection point for the toasties to be freshly made. Therefore, you may assume (correctly) that there is no table service offered here. The toasties were produced without fuss or significant delay and they were like the coffee and tea very good indeed. Total bill was £16.55.

We visited The Place to eat in John Lewis to have coffee and cake during an afternoon of shopping. It was about 3:30pm on a Sunday afternoon and the queue was moderate in length. We briefly looked at the few remaining baguettes but they were a bit past their best so we decided on Fruit Scones with cream and jam. As we were moving along in the queue, behind the counter was shambolic and untidy with empty cake plates, overflowing milk tray and an array of crockery. The staff seemed tired and disillusioned and the service, although polite, was lacklustre. We had to ask for cream and butter, and teaspoons as none were available. I couldn’t eat all of my scone as it was not fully cooked, and had become dry and powdery. My partner ate hers because she was starving! The place to eat has suffered terribly since they stopped making everything in-house. The quality has dropped noticeably and with the obvious staff shortages meaning dirty tables and unhappy faces, this was not a pleasant experience. It used to be so good, but I’m afraid the focus on profit over customer service is apparent here and in the rest of the store which has tired displays and a general feel of lack of care. Sorry John Lewis, you’re losing it.

Whether it is a cost saving exercise half of the usual counters are closed during the week. What is left was particularly drab. The Coronation Chicken filling to the baguette was good. The bread was tough to chew be careful if you have crowns or veneers! We refused the Carrot cake as the interior bore no resemblance. The Red Velvet was dry and sickly with the Passion Fruit cake being acceptable. The large black Americano are supposed to have 3 shots of coffee a particularly tasteless affair. Fir a company that has a name for quality this was a disappointing treat. We should have gone to Marks and Spencer.