Libby's Bread & Wine — Restaurant in Stockport

I was really excited to try this place, I know it’s been featured a lot on social media so maybe they are just very busy at the moment and people should wait for the hype to die down a bit before visiting at a weekend.

We went around 11am on a Sunday, the cake display and pastry display almost bare. We waited for 5 mins to be seated whilst the two members of staff talked about tables, and then were given a table for two, for two adults and a 3 year old. To be fair we were happy with this at the time but on reflection it was too cramped and I didn’t realise there was an upstairs with much more space and wish that had been mentioned to us (even if it required a little wait - though I’m sure they were just trying to be accommodating). Downstairs was really cramped and loud and with a toddler too it just made for a really tense unrelaxing visit. There was one vanilla slice on the counter so at ordering (which took 20 mins to take our order) I asked as it was the last one could I order it now to take away, as it’s a favourite of mine, and the guy taking our order said yes and he would put it in a box. Another 20 mins to wait for food (we were told about the wait for food but didn’t realise it would be that same amount of wait to order too). My partner ordered the waffles, but then told the waffle machine had broken so after waiting 20 mins to order had to relook to pick something else as it wasn’t mentioned when giving us the menu’s. I ordered a herbivore breakfast, they have potato cake on the menu twice so I thought there would be two different types - there was only one. It also said wilted spinach on the menu, there was none, but there was half a plate of mushrooms which I don’t even like, it was not mentioned to me that they had ran out of any of the items for this dish. When it came to paying we asked about the cakes and it turned out they hadn’t boxed the vanilla slice and sold it to someone else, they did apologise and offer something else but there was such little left and it was the only thing I wanted which is why I specifically mentioned it being the last one so wanted to order it at the beginning. I think they did give my husband his brownie for free, as way of apology. but I left empty handed.

The people working there were nice but clearly overly busy, there were none of the nice pastries posted on their social media, the atmosphere was loud busy and tense. I’m sure if it was quieter and better stocked it would be a lovely experience, so if you are there on a week day and it’s calmer and better stocked I’m sure you would have a lovely time. Ive gone back and forth with whether to give it a 2 or 3 star, because there is lots of potential there, but if I’m to honestly reflect my experience it is 2 star. Not sure if it’s an element of being a victim to its own success. If it had just been busy I wouldn’t be leaving a poor review, as I appreciate as someone who has worked in hospitality you can’t sometimes control how busy it is. But I ended up leaving over £50 poorer and a lot more stressed, and disappointed due to the cake situation. Not how I’d choose to spend my money or time to...

Dreadful experience, food lovely, waiting staff good. I believe it was the owner who was cooking and shouted at us when we complained, he is obnoxious, rude and bad mannered. We had booked for 6:30. We sat at that time and was served lovely food. At 8pm we ordered some more drinks. 6 of us, ladies in our 50s, not kids. The wine arrived for 3 of us and the waitress poured the whole bottle into 3 glasses so they were totally full. A bit odd, but never mind. She came straight back to the table and said we had to move to the bar area as they needed to get the table ready for the next people. We said we had just got our drinks and had the table till 8:30. She went away and came back insisting we had to go to the bar area ( which is about 6 stools) we very reluctantly moved. We stood being jostled between the toilet and kitchen door. The people who were going to out table was drinking at the bar and didn't moved. We spoke to the waitress and said this wasn't on!! She suggested we took our drinks next door to their other bar, we said no. By this time it was 8:15 so we decided to get the bill. We complained and said we were not paying the full amount as we had been told to move and stand where there was no room. The guy behind the bar said we could have had the table till 8:30 which would have been fine!!! We told the waitress to get the manager. We think the guy was the owner. He was so rude. Said what's the problem, asked what we were moaning about and said we would have been told we only had the table till 8pm when we booked. We were not. We told him the bar man said we could have had the table till 8:30 and he just said he was wrong or we were liars! He then screwed the bill up threw it in my friends face and said pay what you want and stormed back into the kitchen. We should have paid nothing. We paid £130 instead of £148. We then took our wine as suggested to go next door. He followed us out of the restraunt, called us tramps, took the wine off us and poured it in the gutter saying we hadn't paid for it. He is a total nutcase! I followed him back inside and said how dare he speak to us like that and said it was your staff who suggested it. He then shouted at 3 of his staff saying did you say that? They all said no, obviously fearful of saying yes or loosing their jobs....and he spat at me saying I was a liar and get out. I will never set foot in the place again. He is horrible. Since last night other people have told me they have had a similar experience when they complained. It's OK if all is OK. ...but if it's not, just...

Overpriced & Disappointing

We’ve eaten an evening meal at Libby’s before and knowing its reputation we were looking forward to a nice brunch. We’d made a reservation for 11.30 on a Saturday so expected it to be busy, albeit not as chaotic as it was.

We stood for just short of 10 minutes before anybody acknowledged us, despite them serving people who had come in after us for pastries. The tables are quite packed in which meant we struggled to get our pram through, without any assistance from the staff. It was also uncomfortably hot in there, which I appreciate isn’t completely within their control given the open kitchen, but didn’t make for a pleasant atmosphere.

Our order was taken without too much delay and the wait for the food and drinks was fine. The food was a big let down, especially given the price. Having asked how we’d like the steak cooked for the steak and eggs, it was a frustrating to receive it really overdone. The full English was extremely bland and unseasoned. There was no salt and pepper on the tables and nobody paying enough attention to ask. The toast was cremated, the eggs were like rubber and the bacon was completely undercooked. We’d have probably had more drinks if anybody would have bothered asking us.

After paying for the meal and preparing to leave, they then informed us we’d paid for the wrong table, so we had to wait around whilst they tried to rectify the bill (initially telling us we’d overpaid and then underpaid by £1). This was all whilst the other table they’d mixed up the bill with were lodging complaints about cold and missing food. Also just before paying we asked for two pastries, but when we got home there’s only one in the bag - due to the confusion whilst paying we have no idea if we paid for one or two!

We had high hopes for this place and were really let down. The staff were pleasant but clearly out of their depth. I understand they were busy but you’d hope somewhere with such a previously esteemed reputation would be able to manage themselves better. I only checked the reviews after having visited and it seems our experience wasn’t an isolated one. Regrettably, we probably won’t...