Valero Lounge — Restaurant in Braintree

I have visited Valeros on multiple occasions and always found the staff and experience really good. Last night (22nd July 2025) I visited with a friend, on their maiden visit, and my pooch. We were greeted enthusiastically, especially the dog, and shown to a table for “2 and a half,” to quote the attentive chap, quickly. Instantly another staff member as they walked past offered to get a bowl of water for the dog , and the first helpful chap returned a bit later to smother the dog with attention and offer treats (with permission from fur babies owner ) We had a very enjoyable evening. Tapas Tuesday was a hit for us , and the Raspberry Mojitos were amazing. Again thank you to the staff member who mentioned the offer on the same 2 cocktail drinks. As my friend commented , there are dog friendly places , and really dog friendly places. Credit where credit is due , Valeros stands well above the norm on its acceptance of 4legged friends. They are included and treated as one of the family , and not just expected to sit in an outdoor space like other establishments. A big thank you to your staff last night, and kudos the companies...

Absolutely disgusted by the service here. The evening started fine the restaurant was quiet on arrival we sat down ordered food and drinks and paid via their app. The drinks came over fairly quickly but unfortunately the waitress didn't have a clue how to hold a tray and managed to spill a whole pint of drink over me, my handbag and present bag. Mistakes happen however she hardly apologised and was more concerned about wiping the table down! I had to ask for tissue to wipe myself and belongings! So the rest of the evening i was sat soaked through. Our food then arrived to which the man who served us joked about the drink incident again no apology... we asked for mayo to which we then had to remind the same person who had forgotten upon serving our food, half way through the meal. After our food we sat talking for a fairly long time before we decided it was getting late but our table still hadn't been cleared. I understand accidents happen but there was no apology initially or after and, no offering of a discount to return, complimentary desert, drink nothing... so over pretty...

I usually adore Valeros, and it’s my go to for a breakfast or brunch. However, I was really disappointed with the service today. I ordered the berry pancakes and was really looking forward to them. However, when they arrived, they were drenched in berry compote, to the point I could not see the pancakes underneath it! It was slightly sour and just ruined the entire plate. The pancakes were soggy, and all I could taste was the berry compote. I took two bites and made my partner try them also. My partner then ordered me something else. Although this could have been fixed, I couldn’t even speak to a waitress considering we were walked past about ten times and never asked if our food was okay! Even though you could see one of our plates was barely touched. If someone had checked back on us, I’d have felt comfortable to ask if I could have less compote or something, but it was simply too uncomfortable to chase one of the waitresses or complain publicly, as I didn’t want to embarrass them or seem rude. Just slightly saddening, as it was once a favourite...