Lucy's Tearoom — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Really nice scones and loose tea but strange behaviour from the staff. It was as if they really didn’t want to seat us. Once they did, noticed 3 of them looking over and talking about it. Was probably not personal but very uncomfortable and they almost seemed annoyed/angry. They said they aren’t seating people in the courtyard that day, because it’s too cold but it wasn’t that cold at all, actually quite a pleasant day (29th Oct23, you can check!). Also usually the customer is given the choice to sit outside and decide for themselves if it’s too cold or not? We were initially a party of 7 but the initial waitress greeted us coldly, saying there was no space and gave a wishy washy option for us to wait, stating “don’t know how long it will be” almost like she were trying to deter us. Our husbands said they’d sit it out just so we could have a better chance at being seated as my friends child was hungry and we really wanted the cream tea, so we went back in and waited. When the lady took our order, she wasn’t so friendly and seemed irritated when we added an extra two drinks at the end of the order (although maybe I read her wrong and she is just a little awkward). The lady who brought our teas over was fine. We were Pakistanis (British-born and bred) and Polish, and my friend even questioned me if maybe that was the issue? We decided surely not, it can’t be can it? As we’ve never had that experience before and just put it down to poor customer service in the end. We love cream teas but don’t think we’d be back to this one again. Please train your staff to be more kind and patient, because it was a strange and uncomfortable experience for us. Also we didn’t mind the wait at all, just wanted to highlight that before a reply from the cafe may tell us the cafe has a long wait during busy periods etc. We honestly understand and don’t mind that.

Reply to owner: thanks for your reply. I’m glad they are warm and welcome to you but that doesn’t really help us. It’s a real shame we didn’t experience this from them. Also as mentioned above we really didn’t mind the wait for a table or for food, it was the way they acted towards us, but you seem to have dismissed my review in your opening statement and then gone on to discuss wait times which we didn’t mind, and fair enough about not being able to sit in the courtyard, that wasn’t that big an issue for us anyway, the main issue was the welcome and coldness from staff but it doesn’t seem you want to...

I am afraid I have to write very negative comments which is something I almost never do. I can see there are many positive comments here so I guess I was unlucky with the person on duty at the time. I had been recommended by American contacts to go here for breakfast. I checked carefully online before leaving that it would be open when I was due to pass Stow. I left home early without breakfast so I would be there before the end of breakfast time. I arrived about ten past nine when the tearoom's website indicated it was open. When I went in the lady on duty said they didn't start serving breakfast until ten - I pointed out that the website said they were open and had come specially. She was just about to show me a table when a man came from behind the curtain and said they were not open, although this was clearly not correct. Incidentally it was raining hard so although I had been lucky enough to find a two hour parking spot just outside the tearoom I was a little wet. The man started talking to a lorry driver who had just come in and then picked up my bags and dumped them outside the tearoom in the rain. Stow is an up-market down but so far as I can remember I have never met with this sort of inhospitality, rudeness and aggression anywhere, accompanied with sarcastic remarks about going back home for breakfast - I am 77. A really nasty experience which unsettled me for several hours. I was able fortunately to buy a pasty at a garage so I didn't go without breakfast - I checked the website again about five minutes after I had left and it still clearly indicated the cafe was open. I will call in again when I next pass Stow to check out my American contact's recommendation and I hope I receive service and a...

Really disappointed if you need gluten free go to huffkins instead! I have coeliac disease and so require gluten free food which can be quite difficult as it requires somewhere who understands this and can be safe. I found online this place supposedly catered for my dietary requirements so I was extremely excited. I did however check the trip advisors reviews and someone had stated they were really upset with their service and left crying. Thinking maybe this was a one of I thought I would try here. But I now understand why she felt that way. It is great that you cater for gluten free and I was thrilled when I found this out, however the customer service was terrible and lead to be leaving and not ordering and now writing this review.

The staff member I spoke to belittled me and made me feel extremely uncomfortable about the food as she made it very clear ‘flour’ is everywhere and that I should ‘think seriously’ about eating here as she ‘really couldn’t say it was safe at all’. I ended up going to huffkins next door and enjoyed a lovely meal( they answered all my questions about food and ingredients and made me feel very safe and at ease).

If your starting to open up to serve a wider audience and cater for more people like me I really think that’s fantastic! But what you need is some clear guidance with your staff as to how it is cooked and kept and then communicate that with them. Also maybe a conversation in customer service wouldn’t go a miss either as I was very disappointed with her attitude that day. I work in retail myself and I wouldn’t speak to customer the way she spoke to me. Thank you for reading and I hope this helps to further your understanding for future allergies/ intolerances or coeliacs...