Dobbies Garden Centre Chesterfield

09.03.2025

We went to dobbies took my mum and the dog we went for lunch the only problem is the hot food is in two different places so two separate queues the tea coffee ect and another the food is not that hot anyway but by the time you have queued for food then a drink and if u want jacket potato it’s a different queue every thing is clock cold I think it all need rearranging so there is one queue for hot food and drinks then you have to go in another queue to pay such a shame as pie was nice but cold

09.03.2025

Really not worth the trip a lot of the outdoor plant area was empty nothing in the way of food to pur have to take away as a lot of the other garden centers have not much for gift ideas. The restaurant was so badly ran waited for over 6 minutes for somebody to come out to serve hot food not only did she take orders get the breakfasts put together but also delivered them to the table poor girl so another long wait to be served then the wait for hot drinks was another 10 mins we gave up and just had water. Generally a bit lack lustre and no reason to return

08.03.2025

Had a hot meal at Dobbies Chesterfield yesterday. Sadly the vegetables were awful as they’d been left on the hot plate for far too long. The carrots were wrinkled, the sugar snaps were very stringy and the cabbage was sold out. We were slightly later but they should never have offered vegetables in that condition. Won’t risk that again

05.03.2025

No problem with the store side of things but the restaurant organising needs a big shake up. Ok there was a problem with one of the hot drinks machine, so drinks had to be served from the centre aisle. But why when there were three staff did the woman on the till keep disappearing to fetch stuff when she could have asked the person who was stood about doing nothing to go,therefore keeping the ever growing queue of people from having cold food.

11.10.2023

Nice place to visit

23.02.2025

Great selection of gardening tools/equipment and outside plants, but I came for the indoor plants which I must say looked very worse for wear. They look overwatered, dull and lifeless :(

22.02.2025

Haven't Been in there for a while and was looking forward to picking up a nice slab of steak and ale pie , but was left feeling uncomfortable! Walking around in the shop noticed the butcher area and the worker behind there looking ove.r then was checking out some of the things on offer like meats 2 for £6 to turn round and notice the butcher behind the counter had sat on the freezer behind me watching us !! I wasn't best pleased and walked out of the shop not buying anything !! I won't go back there in a hurry!

07.07.2021

Some products expensive. Good range of products for home and garden. Can get offers if have Dobbies card. Annual charge for Dobbies Plus card. Plenty of free car parking. Other shops onsite. Dobbies Food court which includes Sainsbury's and Meadowfresh butchers. Restaurant in side garden centre which can get busy and not enough staff to cope with orders. Tables cleaned between use. Indoor and outdoor seating areas. Cutlery could be cleaner and in one rack unwrapped. More staff on recent visit. Some cutlery still not clean. Food prices gone up again. Taps changed in garden centre to touch taps. Used to be no touch taps . Prices still increasing. Food court now mainly Waitrose.Gets very busy at weekends and queue to get coffees etc. Could do with more staff at busy times. Some cakes quite pricey. Prices increased again. Like choice of oat milk. Good cheese scones but fruit ones were very soft texture and would have liked them being baked more . Long queues to pay and hot breakfast meals going cold due to this so would be better going back to staff bringing them out fresh by giving you an order number.Return visit in March 2024. Cheese scones were not as crispy texture as usual and less cheese. Staff helpful especially Mark. Return visit - August 2024. Had cheese scones and while good, not as crispy as usual and less cheese. Trays not always clean as should be . Return visit in February 2025. Long queues to order drinks. Only one coffee machine in use. Some cutlery not cleaned well. Mark helpful in restaurant.

08.02.2025

Went today with my friends had a great time lovely food. Mark served us what a nice friendly man he brought my friend a coffee to the table.

20.01.2025

Roof of the soft play was leaking on several places, children were playing in it and staff didn't seem bothered. Raised concerns with customer services a number of times and didn't even get a response. Health and safety nightmare!

06.05.2023

Good garden centre and coffee shop. Bought a lot of bedding plants after a piping hot drink. Very polite staff.

03.01.2025

Great out of town garden centre with small shopping centre attached. Has a great cafe and wide range of garden products, plants and fish.

28.12.2024

Arrived at cafe, was turned away by a staff member with condescending attitude claiming the cafe was full and nobody was allowed in. Rotated around the shop, entered the cafe via the back, saw many many non-reserved empty tables. Went back round to the front to inform said staff member, was given a stuttering response about how despite that being the case they still couldn't let people in. Seems to me that staff are terribly mismanaged at more busy times. Disappointing.

26.12.2024

The restaurant needs shaking up not enough staff que to get your tea then a long que to pay so by the time you sit down it's gone cold not very good

24.12.2024

Giving it 3 stars because it massively favours Dogs and Fish. Called round to buy cat gifts.. I kid you not, there were 13 stands of Dog toys and half and empty stand for cat toys..half a stand for cat food. If you were hoping to buy your meouw stinkies here, (let alone some funky cat toys)you will be bitterly disappointed by how much love they will show your cat this christmas. What is it with not doings cats eh???

22.12.2024

Took my toddler to see Santa today and it wasn’t as good as last year, the atmosphere was a bit flat and didn’t feel very Christmassy. This year lacked the Christmas feeling, no music in dobbies, hardly any decoration and the Santa didn’t look as authentic as last years. The elf didn’t tell us when he started taking photos so my partner wasn’t in most of them, I had to tell them we wanted us all in the family photo. Will probably go elsewhere next year.

22.12.2024

2nd visit to cafe ...never visiting again...

18.01.2018

Excellent garden centre and cafe Super selection of Xmas products

13.08.2024

Disappointing. Called around 3pm on a Tuesday. There was still a steady flow of customers but only one lady on serving. She was rushed off her feet, poor lass, but still managed to be polite - and that's what has earned you the 3 stars. Lots of dirty tables. Floor dirty. And, although I can't really blame Dobbies for it, there looked like a used nappy under one table that was outside. Tables outside weren't cleared and needed wiping. A second lady did come out later and was working really hard to get cleared up. Did you have a staff shortage that day - or is it a permanent lack of enough staff? So, long wait to get served ( NOT the servers fault!); had to go in search of forks; dirty floors and tables; £3.99 for a small slice of dry coffee and walnut cake (even left some 😕) and those dreadful teapots that pour more over your table and legs than goes in your cup! And who's idea is it to hide the refrigerated scones etc in a cabinet behind the till!! Never saw those until after we'd paid! All in all not a good visit. But it is large and there were plenty of seats both inside and out.

16.12.2024

Really a let down. Wasn’t worth coming. Had a meal in the cafe and feel robbed. Wasn’t worth the price paid. £21 for two mini breakfasts, charged extra for toast and a pot of tea. Not to mention by the time you have got through there stupid ordering and queuing system to pay it’s cold! I really won’t be returning here!

11.12.2024

Can't you go back to the buzzer system for your meals? Although I am a rewards member I have stopped visiting the cafe as your meals are always cold by the time you've queued for your meal, queued to get a drink, queued to pay. It seemed to be a much better system when you sat at your table and waited to be buzzed.

05.12.2024

Had the afternoon tea here with our 1 year old grandson. Was absolutely amazing. Mark the server was brilliant. Thank you.

03.12.2024

Came here today to see the Christmas selection and It looked tacky and poorly laid out. As you walked in you are met with an overpowering smell and some rude staff. When we went to pay we were met with a woman who was happily engaging in conversation with the elderly customers, but when me and my partner were paying she changed her whole attitude. It felt like the younger generation wasn't really welcome in her eyes. When we were leaving we nearly had a car accident with a elderly woman. Due to the road markings being faded to the point where she couldn't see the giveway marking on the floor. Hopefully on our next visit to your store the road markings will have been repainted so it it safer for all, and the members of staff are much friendlier. Towards the younger customers

03.12.2024

Butcher’s counter is next to the wine and the vegetarian freezer. It smells terrible.

30.11.2024

It was a load of rubbish, got our lunch OK waited in queue ages for our tea and pay .There were no forks asked 3 members of staff they said that they were coming, never came, went and asked another staff he said that they would be out in a minute I said need them now as our food was getting cold now, he went and got 2 forks. I later noticed about 20 minets later someone brought aboxfull out,by that time our lunch would frozen.

30.11.2024

Really bad experience with the café, brought the Grandson to see santa at 4.20, time for a drink. Long queue but prepared to wait. The the guy behind the counter at 3.45 shouted we are shutting at 4. Two staff serving, no chance of getting served. Management needs to wake up , they have an opportunity to make things special but total failure. Dobbies Chesterfield is off my places to visit.