Coffee#1 - Cherwell

Biggest thing to compliment this place on is the customer service. I was very impressed with all members of staff serving on the 3 mornings I visited for a pastry and coffee breakfast whilst staying nearby. Friendly, efficient and I watched them acknowledge regulars by name. If I lived nearby this would definitely be my choice of place to go in Bicester. Coffee was very good. Had decaf flat whites, regular flat whites and a lovely piccolo coffee (slightly larger than a macchiato). Tasty range of pastries (I especially loved the raspberry croissant). Totally recommend you give it a try.

Ordered toast and drink, apparently they ran out of toast and instead of cancel the order or contact me through the app like other restaurants, they just assumed I want the drinks and no food. Now I can’t just order food from other places because i don’t have time to wait another delivery and without the drink I am not hitting the minimum threshold for the order. Also I still got charged the whole amount of food and drinks, instead of refund £12 of food like other places, they kept the order and offer 1 free drink in my next visit. Scammers. Useless response when I tried to call, this small thing really ruin businesses one customer at the time Coffee#1 get better and at least train your staff to know how to respond to a complain.

Having been here before during the week in work hours and the coffee was ok I decided to give it another go when visiting Bicester on a Saturday. The wait for an iced coffee and a tea was over 20 minutes with a queue out the door as they were massively understaffed. Having lived in London I am absolutely fine to wait in a queue for a popular place however the coffee was not good and no apologies were made. This could be a great coffee shop if they were adequately staffed over 7 people queuing left because of the wait. Disappointing as I recommended the coffee shop to a friend also from London. I would recommend walking a little further and going to another coffee shop.

Visiting Bicester recently, I decided to give this place a try as I'd enjoyed the coffee at the Banbury branch a month or so ago. Although fairly busy, I couldn't complain with either coffee or cake; the coffee was satisfyingly strong and the cake was really fresh. For the price, it was well worth it and I would visit again if in the town.

A great venue to sit and catch up with friends over coffee and cake. The atmosphere is relaxed, friendly and welcoming with plenty of beverages and food to choose from. Dairy free and other preferences available. Also dog friendly. There is usually a small queue to be served but it is worth the wait :