Fox Cafe — Restaurant in Nottingham

I recently revisited this café in Nottingham city centre on Saturday 6th September 2025. I’ve been before and always enjoyed it, but unfortunately this experience left me very disappointed – not because of the barista, who was polite and apologetic, but because of the manager’s behaviour.

I ordered a cappuccino with oat milk and an extra shot. What I was served was made with dairy milk and was very weak – more like milk and water than coffee. Mistakes happen, and I explained politely that I had ordered oat milk and paid extra for a stronger coffee. The young barista immediately apologised, but the manager (a middle-aged lady) stepped in and was unnecessarily defensive and dismissive. Instead of acknowledging the mistake, she insisted that their cappuccinos are “standard” and suggested I should order a cortado if I wanted something stronger. That in itself showed I wasn’t the only customer raising this issue, yet she offered no apology for the incorrect order or the fact I was given dairy despite being lactose-sensitive.

The barista then remade the drink, but again forgot the oat milk until I reminded him. By this point, I expected at least an apology, a refund of the price difference (as a cortado is cheaper), or some small goodwill gesture – none was offered. When I later mentioned this casually while asking for water, the manager reacted with hostility, raising her voice and saying I was the “first rude customer today.” This created an uncomfortable atmosphere for everyone around, and I felt unfairly blamed for simply pointing out that I had not received what I paid for.

What should have been a nostalgic and enjoyable return to Nottingham turned into a negative experience. The manager’s attitude was confrontational, dismissive, and completely lacking in customer service skills. She undermined the good intentions of her staff and, in my view, is a detriment to the business. A café is about more than just the coffee – it’s about how customers are treated – and this experience has sadly put me...

Fox cafe used to be my favourite cafe in Nottingham, because their smoothie is great. However, I had a very bad experience with staff members today, so I no longer recommend the place. I took my mom and aunt there and asked the staff members (two times) if we could sit around the indoor tables because the stools were too high for them. They said that only two people were allowed per table. That was a bit inconvenient considering that there were three empty tables next to us, but I liked Fox cafe so much that I convinced my mom and aunt to stay there and sit on those high stools. Then I accidentally ordered panini “number 4” instead of panini “number 14” for my vegetarian mom. After a long time waiting for the food they brought all our dishes, but my mom’s order was wrong (a non- vegetarian panini). I apologised and asked if they could bring the correct panini for my mom as she is vegetarian and we have waited for very long for the food. They said that it was my mistake so we would have to pay for the wrong panini and then pay extra for the new order (and of course wait for a long time again for the new panini). I understand that I ordered the wrong thing, but they hadn’t even double-checked the order beforehand (e.g., simply repeating the order out loud to us), which is a big flaw in their customer service. In addition, they didn’t allow us to sit around the tables, making the experience even more frustrating. If you go to fox cafe, take a lot of care to not choose the wrong item accidentally. Otherwise, they won’t be friendly and try to help you. They are just worried about making money, not worried about losing customers. Enjoy the £8 paid for the panini. I am sure this will make Fox cafe very...

Sandwiches nice and girl who served us was pleasant but coffee overpriced and awful. Ordered 2 regular cappuccinos both were so milky and pale were more like lattes and you couldn’t even taste coffee. The manager came out and said if we wanted an extra shot of coffee we should have ordered the large for 30p extra and that would have had 2 shots of coffee instead of 1, but because we didnt order the large and asked for the extra shot to be put in the small we would have to pay 1,25 per coffee extra so basically it cost £5 for each for a small cappuccino to have any taste of coffee and it still wasn’t great. There are loads of places to get great coffee in Nottingham, Fox cafe is NOT one of them, I usually go to other independent places and the coffees are great, so is the service. Visiting Fox was a big mistake, it will be the first and last time I visit. The manager was not at all customer focused and quite abrupt didn’t care or even accept or acknowledge that the coffee wasn’t right, they clearly dont t have any respect for customers as to act this way in a hospitality business is shocking. I have never experienced such a situation where you are forced to pay extra for a coffee to even remotely taste like it should. I suspect they are not tamping the coffee properly when making them either that or they’re using very low quality beans. Do yourself a favor and take a walk up the road you will find better service and produce and not be treated with contempt and their £5 sub standard drinks aren’t worth £2, Greggs would do...