Courtyard Cafe - Carte

So impressed with staff, service and food today. Husband in wheelchair and staff were very attentive, friendly and helpful seating us and making us feel welcome. Food was prompt and delicious. Really recommend it as a place for wheelchair users.

Lovely staff, delicious for brunch or a carrot cake muffin and you can enjoy the courtyard cafe, gift farm shop without needing to pay an entry fee; Castle Howard is still one of our favourite travel stops (and well worth the entry fee if you have time to browse and enjoy the vista from the gardens too). Great coffee but can be very busy around 1pm (as expected).

OMG. Castle Howard management are clearly are not bothered. The previous reviews are my same poor experience as well. Got shown to a table and that was it. Staff stood about chatting with no attempt to take our order. We left after 10 minutes, and they just watched us go and said nothing. We went down to Rievaulx Abbey and had a bite here. Staff here very attentive and chatty. HC management, sort out your useless staff, they are costing you money. Voir le carte

This is more of an observation than a negative review. Castle Howard is a fantastic place to visit, and great for persons of all ages. In general the food we had at the Courtyard cafe was nice, if a little overpriced, and staff were friendly helpful. However, although not that busy, the food service seemed a little slow, the wrong wine brought for my partner, and the portion of chips was full of overcooked bits of potato. Not good value for money at all. See attached photo.

Awful over priced food. As a family, of four we had lunch and a drink each, it came to over £77.. which on the face if it is expensive but you don't mind if the food is good...it was far below average. We had a full breakfast which was undercooked and tasteless, a beef baguette which was small with dry over cooked chips, and overly sweet gravy, a burger which was tasteless with dry over cooked chips and a smoked salmon and eggs which was ok.. all told we will definitely not return. The staff were friendly and helpful so thats why this is a 2 star review and not a one star

The perfect little spot for a tasty brunch! All of the staff are amazing, nothing is too much hassle for them and they were so accommodating (I'm a fussy eater). When our food arrived, it just looked beautiful and then of course, it also tasted amazing. The quality of the ingredients used are clearly the best around and no expense has been spared. Such a credit to Castle Howard! Would really recommend this to anyone in the area looking for a special lunch, even better that you don't need to pay into the house and grounds to go here. Lovely terrace out front for you to sit and watch the world go by. Voir le carte

Absolutely awful service. I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said by other reviewers. The staff are completely uninterested in guests, are unapologetic, and seem unwilling to do basic things like take an order or even give you a menu. And Castle Howard are clearly not bothered about their guests’ experiences or improving the service as this seems to have been going on for years. I’d go as far as saying that our experience in the cafe ruined our day out at Castle Howard. We won’t be returning, and we urge you to try somewhere else in the area for food instead or bring a packed lunch and save yourself the upset.

So in the unlikely event that anyone from Castle Howard actually reads these reviews... 4 years after my last terrible experience here, I ventured in again today for lunch, in the hope that there had been a staff turnover or a cultural overhaul at the very least. Sadly, no. We saw there were only a couple of tables occupied so asked the waitress if they were still serving food. She confirmed they were and we were shown to a table. And that was the end of any form of customer service whatsoever. 15 mins later, we gave up waiting for anyone to return to take our food or even drinks order. Unbelievably other customers started arriving and being shown to tables. We resisted the urge to warn them...

What has happened to the courtyard cafe? For some time now the service has been non existent. It has become so bad that even though we are members, we have stopped going. On our last visit, we stood at the entrance whilst being ignored. Finally we were given a table and a menu and order taken. Our meal arrived and basically that was it. There was absolutely no interaction with us after that. We finished our food and waited for someone to clear our plates and ask if we would like dessert. After 30 minutes still no-one had approached our table. I looked around and several tables were in exactly the same position. There were plenty of staff but they are either chatting at the coffee machine or... Voir le carte