The Guildford Townhouse — Restaurant in Guildford

11 April 2023 - A first, lunch-time visit to this much anticipated addition to the Guildford dining scene, no doubt angling to pull in regulars from The Ivy, Cote and our established independents. Initial impressions were excellent with a genuinely warm Coppa Club welcome. This theme happily continued with friendly and professional service throughout. Once seated, we chose some "nibbles" to accompany our Aperol Spritzes - Zuchinni Fritti, crisp, well-seasoned and very moreish, together with Warm Seeded Sourdough with date and sea salt butter which was fresh and delicious. The nibbles arrived before the spritzes, so we were glad to have already been provided with a complimentary bottle of water. We decided to keep it simple for our mains - a Margherita Bufala pizza, classically done, nicely balanced if a little hard to cut (well spotted by our server who proactively brought us a steak knife); and Plancha Grilled Herb Chicken which was super tasty, with an accompanying mint- and radish-infused salad and perfect fries. Mid way through the mains we threw caution to the wind and asked for a couple of glasses of the house white wine, a light and zesty Italian Veneto. It was indeed light and zesty and a good lunchtime choice, albeit arriving at the table moments after we finished our mains. After settling up, we had a quick peek in the top floor cocktail bar which looks fantastic - definitely somewhere to return to for a sophisticated evening out. Finally we had an un-hurried coffee in the light-filled downstairs cafe, with a seat by the windows perfect for people-watching on the High Street - we both felt that this space offers something special that you don't get elsewhere in Guildford. Having been fully open for little more than a week, we anticipated that we may encounter a few "teething problems". In our case, we were a bit disappointed with the table we were initially offered; we moved to a slightly better one, but still felt somewhat "side-lined" (note to self: request banquette seating or a table near the windows for future bookings). Also, our bills in both the restaurant and cafe had to be re-done due to minor errors - not ideal if you're in a rush, which fortunately, we weren't! - but these small issues were quickly resolved. Overall, we left The Guildford Townhouse with a warm and satisfied feeling - charming service, well-executed food and a classy, relaxing environment. And plenty more to discover on...

I really don’t like leaving bad reviews, but it’s my second visit to Coppa Club last night and it was just as bad as the first time. I find it baffling that a well-known chain which presents itself as upmarket & no doubt markets itself well, pays so little attention to its actual guest experience.

The staff, bless them as they all look like they’re straight out of school, have not an ounce of training between them so your starters are cleared before you’ve finished and mains are already on the table. Not a manager or senior member staff in sight holding down the fort, stopping them all from chatting in the kitchen or by the tills when they should be serving customers. The front of house girls look lost - we were a table of 10, but given a table with only 8 chairs. When we asked the girls for an extra two chairs, it sent them into a spin and we eventually found our own chairs 10 minutes later.

The food is some of the worst I’ve had in Guildford. The beef ragu was just a plate of plain, overcooked pasta - not a piece of beef in sight. The texture of the flash steak was more like a burger than a steak, and the zucchini fries were basically the crispy leftovers from the fryer covered in way too much salt.

The birthday dessert was bought out with a candle….but we had to wait 10 minutes for a spoon. Honestly I could go on, and luckily we could all laugh about it last night, but I’m afraid I will not being returning to Coppa club again. There are far better places to spend an evening, and restaurants who work hard on their customers service and their food - such as Theion or Positano - who deserve your money more than Coppa Club. They are relying on their reputation elsewhere and their monopoly on the high street to give a sub-par offering at a relatively high price point. I really hope whoever is in charge reads the reviews and listens to feedback, and addresses the major issues being presented by many of the customers.

The one star is for our server Rhys, and for the barman who served us our first drinks while we waited for our table. They were friendly & doing their best under the...

Feedback on Rude and Unprofessional Service, 12/07/2027

Dear Manager:

It is 17:24 on 12/07/2027, and I am currently sitting at your establishment, Coppa in Guildford, having a cup of tea on my own.

When I arrived earlier and stepped through the door, a young waitress with one plait, light brown hair asked me abruptly, “What do you need?” — which I found quite strange and unwelcoming. I replied that I’d like to have a cup of tea. She then pointed to the corner by the window with some bar chairs and said, “Can you go sit there?” — without saying please.

Then she ignored me until I called the service, later she began cleaning the table in front of me, spraying cleaning solution carelessly, and some of the spray landed on my trousers. I told her, “The cleaner is on my trousers,” but she didn’t even apologise — she just walked away.

I am shocked by her rudeness. Is this supposed to be a high-end restaurant bar in Guildford? Does she always behave like this when the manager is not present? I came in just for a cup of tea today, but I am a local resident — I might have a party here in the future or may already have been a customer before. Where is your sense of hospitality?

I’m sorry to say this, but the staff you hired today were very rude —same time a young tall and thin with a little facial hair waiter was also impolite. For me, good service is just as important as food and atmosphere — and without good service, everything else is meaningless. Today, I would rate your food and atmosphere as zero, because your service was zero.

I’m not surprised if I’m not the first customer to complain about the service, and there will surely be more complaints from other customers in the future if you don’t take action to improve it.

I hope you will take this feedback seriously, take a investigation on who has served me and improve the training and behaviour of your staff.

Yours...