26.01.12: Caffe Nero, High Street

Published on: 26 Jan, 2012
Updated on: 28 Feb, 2012

Caffè Nero, Guildford High Street, near junction with Swan Lane

This week we have visited the branch of the Italian-style Caffè Nero in Guildford High Street.

The Caffè Nero website says: “We aim to create a continental European coffee house atmosphere; an accessible, friendly place to meet up that has something of a ‘buzz’ about it. We want our stores to radiate a feeling of comfort, relaxation and warmth creating an inviting feeling for all our customers – a neighbourhood gathering spot.”

The Guildford Caffè Nero may well be a small and somewhat narrow space, but it did have that inviting feeling of relaxation and warmth.

We visited one afternoon this week. It was fairly busy with people popping in for a drink and a snack to take away, while other customers were taking time out chatting with friends, or reading the newspapers that are available. In the downstairs section one person had set up his laptop and seemed to be using this quiet space to catch up on his work!

Caffè Nero in Guildford High Street.

Website coffee shop reviews are conducted without the knowledge of shop owners or staff. All scores are out of 5.

Subject	Comments	Score
*Caffe Nero, Guildford High Street*
Coffee	One regular cappuccino (£2.25) and a regular American (£1.85) ordered. They tasted fine, although the bitterness within the cappuccino may not be to everyone’s liking.	3
Cakes	A nice slice of carrot cake was enjoyed – very fresh and tasty.	4
Menu range	There is a limited range of food, although it does include pre-packed paninis, sandwiches, soups, as well as fruit juices and other soft drinks.	2.5
Interior	Typical coffee shop chain interior. There was a mixture of soft and hard-backed chairs, plus a seating area downstairs in the cellar of the building.	3
Atmosphere	Fairly pleasant, although the noise coming from the cooler food display unit at the front of the cafe (where it is quite narrow) was rather loud! Add to this the background muzak playing, you might wish to avoid such distractions and head downstairs.	2.5
Access	Access for wheelchairs from the main door, but some steps further into the cafe.	2.5
Service	Average counter service – but the staff were polite.	3
Information	No table menus – all food and drinks offered listed a on board at the service point and till. Good amount of leaflets, not only about Caffè Nero but also instructions on how to connect to its Wi-fi. Newspapers also available.	3.5
Value for money	Good value for money indeed.	4
Toilets	One male and one female loo, clean and tidy – appeared to be limited access for disabled people	3.5
Opening hours	Monday to Thursday: 7am to 7pm, Saturday: 7.30am to 7pm, Sunday and bank holidays: 8.30am to 6pm.
Address	69 High Street, Guildford GU1 3DY www.caffenero.com

Caffé Nero. On its website its aims include:

‘The linchpin of our brand is our coffee. We place great emphasis and expend copious amounts of time and energy finding and buying the highest quality beans, and then having our craftsmen at our Roastery roast and blend our special, classic, award-winning, Nero blend.

“This blend is then the foundation for our high quality range of espresso based coffee. It takes years and years of experience and knowledge to master the art of great coffee making.

“Our food is inspired by classic Italian recipes. We create delicious food using only fresh and premium ingredients. In collaboration with Italian chef Ursula Ferrigno, our dedicated in-house food team endlessly work on interesting new products and ideas we think you might like, and lots of our food recipes are unique to Nero.”