Visiting from Florida, USA (24 July 2011)

My husband and I stopped by as the Tea Room was listed as a must in a walking tour. We were pleasantly surprised with the service and food. I would not suggest the lemon meringue dessert unless you are hungry and do not mind making a mess as it is very flakey.

N Bhowmik (20 September 2007)

My fiancé and I popped into the Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehal Street wanting a small bite to eat. We were the first in queue and had to wait on a table, which was acceptable for it being the end of lunch rush time. While we had to wait, two tables paid and left but it took the staff about ten minutes to clear one of the tables. We were finally seated and read through the menu, decided on what we wanted to have. We waited about twenty minutes for someone to come take at least a drink order but everyone was in their own world, doing things at their own slow pace. Then it came to my attention that the table behind us were seated about ten minutes after us, but had by now had their order taken and food served to them, which angered us. We decided to leave since none of the unhappy looking, and very slow staff seemed to be bothered about us waiting to be served. The incompetence and lack of enthusiasm of the staff showed when no one batted an eyelid when we got up and left.

Having worked as waiting staff myself it’s not too much to ask for quicker service when there are about four to five waiting staff and proportionately less number of tables to wait on, compared to other larger places. This seems effortless handling of a very fast and large turnover of customers everyday with fewer staff. The atmosphere at a mortuary would have been livelier than what is it was at the Tea room. It is quite sad that what should have been a great experience turned out to be very annoying and miserable.