Cafe Verde — Restaurant in Bradford

Edited following owner's response: There weren't 4 brownies available, but 2, which is irrelevant anyway. I was not listening to a private conversation, and resent that implication. I was standing at the counter, while two members of staff behind the counter discussed the brownies and tried to find the information. There was nothing private or secret, nor did there need to be. You could NOT provide information on both products I asked about, which is the reason for my complaint. I would not make that up, ever. By law every food establishment has to have a full index of allergen information which they can show to customers. This wasn't present. I also wonder how staff can remember how many brownies were available when this was so long ago. Such a shame it's been handled this way rather than a simple apology.*

AVOID IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY - This lovely cafe is let down by the total lack of allergen info available and near miss I had. My Mum and I stopped for a pot of tea and J20 which were fine. We decided we wanted to takeaway brownies so I asked if either of the brownies had nuts in as I am allergic (there were two different brownies available.) The server wasn't sure and asked another lady who said she thought it had hazelnuts in. He said he thought it was the carrot cake that had nuts in, so they got some cards out to check. There was no clear allergen folder (which has been a legal requirement to show to customers for a while now), just a jumble of cards. They couldn't find anything about the gluten free brownie (no info at all!) But said the other one (super dark) was okay. I said are you absolutely sure and she said yes, only potential allergen was flax seed. We got two and a few hours later, came to eat them. I asked my Mum to try hers first to double check and she said there was definitely something not right. She found several hard and crunchy things and she said she is 99% sure they were walnuts. This is really bad and if I'd eaten it I could have had a severe reaction. Café Verde needs to majorly reevaluate their allergen policy and info and be compliant with law. (I will add that on the off-chance there weren't nuts in the brownie, it's still unacceptable to have no idea of the ingredients/allergens in...

As someone who has worked in hospitality, I know it’s hard to keep up a smile. However, the staff at Café Verde are straight up cold! The last time we visited Howarth, my friend politely asked if they had a gluten free menu, and she was told ‘no’ without a kind smile or apology. This time, the group had no allergies, so we decided to try Café Verde again. Upon walking in, there was no welcoming greeting – which I observed happened every time a customer walked in – and we were almost shooed away by staff since there were no available tables. Luckily, we waited 30 seconds and somebody leaving offered us theirs. Although a sign said ‘pet friendly’, the manager seemed annoyed by our dog’s tail being slightly in his path. There was no music, and no atmosphere. It actually felt a little tense – like other customers could feel similar awkward vibes. I joked that it felt like we were eating in the primary school dining hall after a big telling off. All the tables were full of people’s plates and rarely cleared – I get it can pile up when busy, but some were left for ages. The food is pretty decent with some flavour (unlike some British cafs), but the service is lacking any warmth. I’d only recommend Café Verde in summer, as the outdoor seating is in a fabulous spot, and you can’t go wrong with a coffee whilst peoplewatching in the sun. Just be prepared to clear...

Unfortunately I had a very unpleasant experience at this cafe. The menu had a lot of dairy on however I did notice that there was some poached eggs on the menu which stopped being served at 12pm, it was around 12:15. Our friends ordered first (we didn’t think anything of it) and then I went to order, I first stated that I have a dairy intolerance and with all of their sandwiches containing dairy (I’m vegetarian, therefore don’t eat meat or fish) could I please have the poached eggs. The response from the chef was straight away “no, it’s after 12” I even stated “even though I’m dairy intolerant and all your other items on the menu contain dairy” a reply of “no”. I understand that it was pass the time they had stated, but I would have expected some compassion, there was no alternative suggestion from the chef as to what I could have. So as a result, I had to sit with a coffee whilst the other three members of our party were able to eat and I got to snack on their crisps with these being ready salted.

If you any intolerance or allergies here, please speak to the staff first before making your order. It’s very rare for me to have experienced anything like this, but I just want to put the warning out there. They do have some awareness of dairy alternatives as they had oat milk, but there wasn’t anything in...