March 2024 by Pamela Thompson
Too expensive and cafe chaotic ordering system, try lady green near formby much better
March 2024 by Christine Martin
Good place at a reasonable price and good cup of coffee
March 2024 by Kevin Orrell
Great garden centre. Dog friendly as well
March 2024 by Steven Spencer
Large garden centre with large café with high end cakes and food and several other business inside including aquatic centre and high end food emporium, also sells outdoor clothing, garden machinery and all things garden related.
March 2024 by Lucy Lou
I haven?t visited Dobbies in a number of years, however I visited this week and I am still shocked at how little it has changed. It was quite a brisk day and it seemed as though the heating was not on; so much so, all of the staff were wearing jumpers and coats. Not one customer had taken their coat off in the cafe. The cafe had a poor system and the staff seemed very much overworked and understaffed. Dobbies, to me, has fallen into disrepair and this problem extends much further than the general staff. Managers and owners need to address the condition of the centre by investing more money and effort into it, otherwise I suspect it will close down very soon. I can only sympathise for the staff who most likely face the disgruntled customers about issues that they cannot fix. On a positive note, the millionaire shortbread was quite nice and the girl making the coffees was quite friendly.
January 2024 by Yvonne H
We visited Dobbies Soft play with our one & three year old grandchildren, we were horrified how filthy the play area is, it?s not the first time we?ve encountered this. Only a couple of months ago I had to clean up the remnants of popped balloons in the baby play area. I spoke with the manager of the play area & expressed my concerns but just received a flippant reply ?well it?s supposed to be cleaned after each session? I pointed out what a choking hazard the balloon remnants could be but all she said was ? Oh was it a Monday you came as they were probably left over from a party but the area is supposed to be cleaned after?. There was no apology, she honestly didn?t give a monkeys!! I suggested she may like to go & check it out for herself but all I got was ?I?ll get someone to go clean it up? . Not what you expect from so called Management, I?m pretty sure judging by her attitude that it wasn?t followed up at all!!
December 2023 by JJ H
Called in just after 12 today (15/12/23) for a quick coffee, about six people queuing for hot drinks. The young lady barista was busy working alone and, to be honest, doing an excellent job. The lack of staff was obvious long ques on food and drinks. Very few staff members on the shop floor.
December 2023 by Russell B
Absolutely freezing yet again, the heating has not been on again , we spoke with another couple who had come from Preston who came to Southport store as there was no heating on there Strange way to save money , everyone in cafe had to wear their coats. Come on Dobbies your better than that .!!!
November 2023 by 285dougiem
Usual very big queue, at least 40, and only 1 person on the till and both drinks machines not working In for a long wait.
November 2023 by Lovesveg
This review is about the cafe within Dobbies not the actual garden centre. A friend suggested meeting there for lunch and my heart sank a bit as I have been a few times before and I hadn?t been impressed on previous visits. However, it was a convenient location for us and I agreed to try it again. Maybe it would be better this time? This visit was the first where I have ordered hot food and definitely the worst experience I have had there so far. I am not going back to this particular cafe again. As previous reviewers have noted, the queuing system makes no sense at all. You have to queue for hot food or a sandwich then queue again for a hot drink and then queue a third time to pay. Consequently, when it is busy, you find yourself queuing for 15 minutes before you get to the till by which time either your drink or your food (or both) will be cold. The staff were doing their best. I do not blame them. There were no trays to carry the food and the tables hadn?t been cleared. When I eventually sat down to eat (veggie sausages, chips, veg and gravy), the veg was cold, the sausages and chips were dry and chewy and had clearly been sitting under a hot lamp for hours. I wasn?t expecting a cordon bleu meal but I was expecting something tasty and edible. I left most of it. The coffee wasn?t great either. So, after all that queueing, the food wasn?t worth waiting for. Dobbies needs to completely change the sort of food it serves and the way to pay for it. I would suggest they have buzzers which are given out when food orders are placed and then people can get their coffee and fetch the food when it?s ready. Install automatic coffee machines for people who don?t want to queue for a no better than average cup of coffee. Have some pre-made sandwiches available or ready plated salads. If you are going to serve mediocre food you might as well make it quick. I am not sure what sort of image Dobbies cafe is going for but it definitely gives off motorway service station vibes. It?s not a nice or relaxing place to have lunch. Dobbies is a large company which should be able to sort out these problems which are not new and have been reported on before. I was very disappointed.
November 2023 by Joe Gibson
We went to Dobbies Southport to have lunch. We. Ordered fish , chips and peas 1x tea and a Diet Coke. We has a £20 gift voucher and we we?re shocked by the price of the whole meal when it came to £32. The meal was dreadful. The fish had obviously been lying around on the servery because the batter was hard and the bottom was soaked in grease. It was lukewarm and had obviously been sitting around for some time. The rest of the meal was cold/ lukewarm. Not a pleasant meal. The performance of the staff was awful and they appeared to have a couldn?t care less attitude. We drove here from Preston for a pleasant day out and a nice lunch. It wasn?t !!!Avoid this cafe/restaurant like the plague.Terrible expensive food badly cooked and couldn?t care less staffIf I could give it zero stars then I would
November 2023 by Nigel Cooke
Poor service today unfortunately. My wife had to ask THREE times at the till for our Club Card to be renewed before the staff member finally woke up and did it. Not much fun with a queue behind us.
October 2023 by X3371OCjanec
Had to queue three times. First for hot food which was served quickly, but then we had to stand with our tray of hot food, which was going cold, and join the back of the queue for coffee. As there was a number of people in front of us it took a good few minutes to get served. Then we had to queue again to pay. Consequently, we sat down and our food was cold. To add to the poor level of service, my friend ordered a side order of baked mushrooms with her meal. The side orders are £1.50, she was given a single, medium sized mushroom - it was quite funny - but also ridiculous that it was classed as a side order of mushrooms. Won?t be going back.
October 2023 by Ergun Sahillioglu
Very clean all around including the toilets, nice place to window shop, have a gander. Large selection of everything that includes posh sheds. World foods section made me giggle. Would recommend.
October 2023 by Noah M
Stopping kids have a harmless bit of fun not a family place food is terrible hop that it shuts down
