Bakers + Baristas — Restaurant in Maidstone

I went to lunch with my boys and we were seated at a dirty table, still cluttered with used plates, trays, cups, crumbs and spills from the previous customers. I requested that the table be cleaned before we sat down. The Asian man attending to us asked us to sit and said he would send someone over to clean it. We cooperated and sat down, even cleaning the chairs ourselves since they were also covered in food crumbs.

The next thing we knew, this man was passing our food plates to us from his till through the barriers. I reminded him that the table hadn’t been cleaned and there was no space for our food because of the leftover items. He started yelling at me and insisted I take the food from him. I refused, saying there was no way I would eat at a dirty table. He yelled again, took the food back and sent a young lady to clear the table. However, she only removed the plates and cups but didn’t clean the crumbs and spills. They also didn’t say anything about our food.

After a while, a mature lady who seemed to be the manager came around, saw our messy table, apologized, cleaned it and brought us our food.

I can’t stop wondering why the Asian man treated us that way. I keep asking myself if it was because we were a black family. The treatment we received was appalling and made me feel terrible for my kids. It was truly a heart-wrenching experience...

Drinks and food are nice, and I normally have pleasant experiences here, but today 1 staff member made it unpleasant and awkward for me and a friend when she came over and loudly snapped at us: “you can’t sit here this end is closed off for cleaning, there is a sign over there didn’t you see it?!”. We of course would’ve apologised and happily moved and if she came and spoke to us politely, but the way she snapped it at us and in front of other onlooking customers was quite rude and embarrassing. There’s no excuse to snap at customers who were nothing but polite and accidentally sat somewhere without seeing a sign. Which turned out to be a “wet floor” sign with a piece of paper on it. And what also confused us more was she only said it to us when there were at least 8 to 9 other customers sitting in the same area where we were, so why were we the only ones singled out and snapped at to move?! And when I asked that I didn’t get an answer. In future if the end is closed for cleaning, you should make sure NO CUSTOMERS are sitting in that area at all, instead of singling out one or two customers to move. So, safe to say we most likely won’t be stopping here for lunch again...

After trapsing around 5 different food shopd to find a gluten free option that was not sweet. I popped in here as i have eaten the gluten free muffins from here before and they were delicious. When looking at the sandwiches on offer i noticed there weren't any gluten free options. I asked a lovely member of staff who said there are no gluten free options there but if i would like a sandwich or a toasty he would go and make it fresh for me. I watched this member of staff come back with my sandwich in a piece of grease proof paper and he ensured it did not touch the same surface as the gluten. He ensured the knife was cleaned before cutting my toastie. I was delighted to be able to eat safely and also enjoyed one of the amazing lemon meringue muffins. I thanked a member of staff after i had eaten to be told of all the gluten free and vegan options they offer when asked. Such lovely staff an over all great...