Costa Coffee — Restaurant in Scotland

Oh dear - I'm sure Mr Costa Coffee at head office wouldn't like this franchise. We chose this as it was the least smelly coffeeshop in Helensbrugh, but it still had a little smell. My partner was off to an interview and didn't want to smell of the other greasy coffee shop in town.

On the surface, this looks like the place to be. It was busy and all the tables were occupied, which presents itself as "the most popular in Helensburgh", but this success has made them lazy. If you did find a table is was filled with dirty cups and rubbish and it seems no-one cared. The floor needed a real good scrub and, for a tiny town like Helensbrugh, I'm sure there are quiet times so there isn't really an excuse. If you visit Costa Coffee in, say, London, which is a much busier City, their floors are spotless. Just saying.

Anyway, the coffee is good and the cakes were correct but the atmosphere was not at all relaxing. It was like sitting in a train station at rush hour, with dear old ladies squeezing past the back of your chair, kids screaming and it wasn't at all very well lit (Probably to hide the dirt?)

However, I felt that this place was a 4 star place, but only for this town. If this franchise had serious local coffee competitors it would score a lot lower, and wouldn't score at all in a city.

All in all it suits...

Yet again another poor visit to yet another costa that never seems to have butter or skimmed milk or bread! Even at 10 am they all seem to have no concept of ordering foodstuffs before they actually run out? And as for the absolute nonsense trying to do there version of track and trace ! What an absolute farce, other cafes and restaurants you go into only requires a name and contact number on a bit of paper, I know we are living in difficult times as far as being patient but come on !! And then after waiting all that time doing this ridiculous track n trace system they have you put an order in and the first thing they say is we don’t have the most basic of ingredients for what you wanted to order in the first place! So much so that we definitely won’t be going into another Costa ever again, just not worth the hassle, and this is not just confined to one particular branch, its all over Scotland? Absolutely shocking management skills for not having plenty of foodstuffs on a weekend and early...

This is by far some of the best coffee in Helensburgh. Not normally one to support large chains, I went into Costa after having to pour into the ground a coffee purchased from another coffee shop only a couple of hundred yards away. I wasn’t disappointed. The shop front is attractive and there is a good atmosphere. Staff could not be more helpful and the coffee is consistently good. They don’t close early, label their drinks well, and the team are friendly and work well together. They went above and beyond for me one recent evening; which not only stood out anyway but unbeknown to them made a world of difference to me after a difficult week. There are a couple of equally friendly and really nice coffee shops along the seafront, which also have fresh tray bakes . Perhaps slightly smarter as well. But for the centre of Helensburgh and convenience, Costa has earned its place. It is ideal for casual coffee and take-outs with a good sized space inside. This coffee company beats Starbucks hands...