Chapters of Durham — Restaurant in England

Disappointing Service and Inaccurate Orders: A Frustrating Experience

I've visited Chapters on three separate occasions, I'm disheartened to share a consistent pattern of inaccuracies in my orders coupled with exceedingly slow service. It's become exasperating, to say the least, I won't be returning.

My most recent visit yesterday encapsulated the recurring issues I've encountered. I ordered a latte with pistachio syrup, eagerly anticipating a delightful sweet experience. However, after a wait of around 20 minutes, the waitress brought me a praline-flavored latte instead. Politely, I mentioned that I had ordered pistachio, only to have her return 10 minutes later claiming that the drink was now pistachio, despite it being just a plain latte. This prolonged confusion and delay were immensely frustrating. By this point, I found it tiring to go back and forth to rectify the order, especially considering that I had been waiting for half an hour for a simple beverage. With time constraints and the desire to spend quality moments with a friend, I opted to forego the correction and accepted the incorrect order. They seem to never had cutlery either, my friend had to have a cake with her latte spoon ..

While the staff members are friendly, their recurrent oversight in accurately fulfilling orders is disappointing. This is not an isolated incident, as it seems to align with the experiences shared in other reviews. Consequently, I can't recommend this establishment to anyone seeking a seamless and hassle-free dining experience.

In summary, the friendly staff does little to compensate for the consistent mistakes in order accuracy and the frustratingly slow service. If you, like me prioritise a smooth and error-free experience, it might be best to explore other...

This review is about a brunch just after Easter. Having had some lovely brunches here last October, we were excited to return, but were sorely disappointed this time (just after Easter). First, arrived at 9:45am Sunday to find it was shut, so we Googled and found it opens at 10am - the thing was that several staff were sitting at the tables outside and not one of them let us know that they were about to open - nor did we know they were staff till they got up to go inside at about 9:55am. We were about to go elsewhere but thought to check the opening hours on Google - the staff knew we were doing this but didn't offer any words at all. The food itself was really disappointing and not at all enjoyable in comparison to when we visited in October. Our drinks were handed to us by the server, who handled the mugs and glasses by putting their hand over the top of the drink, gripping the top rim of the glass or mug with their fingers. That's extremely unhygienic and a great way to pass on viruses, bacteria, etc. We just visited Durham again this past week and avoided Chapters on account of our experience after Easter. We did risk going in for a hot drink and cake this time, but only because it was pouring with rain and hence it was too wet to walk far. The drink and cake were okay, but I don't think we'll be going back for...

First visit and disappointed, took a menu and ordered a panini for myself and friend and a portion of chips to share. I asked for a pot of hot water and was told I would be charged for a pot of tea (but they wouldn’t put tea bag in) and a glass of rose wine. Found it strange that we are never charged for hot water anywhere else...lesson learnt not to return to Chapters. The waitress brought the paninis and there was potato skins with it, I said it doesn’t say on menu that these are included and she advised that this happens often. I therefore took the portion of chips back and explained to the manager that if I had been told there was skins I wouldn’t of ordered chips, he advised not always are skins available I said when they are you should advise customers, no apology at all was given, I said sorry but I am unable to eat 2 portions of potatoe and that he would have to take them back, he took the chips and that was it. We finished our food and at no point from returning the chips to us finishing did the manager apologise for the misunderstanding. I think he needs to be refreshed on customer service because from discussions this happens often....not a good start to our day at all. Luckily our next stop had excellent customer service and no charge...