Cafe 53 - Cotswold

Cafe 53, which opened in 2005, started as a small 20-seat cafe located behind Domestic Science. As its popularity grew, the business expanded and now offers two entrances - one from the shop and another on Long Street. The dining area is bright and overlooks a charming Mediterranean-style water garden with additional seating. We visited during a busy midweek lunchtime and were glad we had booked a table for 1 p.m. Our reserved seats by the window gave us a lovely view of the garden. Despite the cold autumn day, some diners chose to eat outside. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, including the Ultimate 53 burger and a Saganaki Greek Salad, followed by cakes and hot coffee. While slightly more expensive than its sister branch in Nailsworth, Cafe 53 offers the typical pricing for Tetbury.

As someone with food intolerances, I was happy to see matcha, beetroot, and turmeric latte options with dairy-free milk at this restaurant. However, I was disappointed when I ordered one with coconut milk and received one with cow's milk instead. I didn't realize this until I had already taken a few sips. Fortunately, I don't have a cow's milk allergy or else it could have been a serious situation. The mistake was rectified, but I was not offered a refund or a complimentary drink to make up for it, which I believe should have been the least they could have done.

The restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere and the food, although limited, was delicious. However, it was not worth the high price of £35 for essentially two fancy sandwiches, a small coffee, and a canned soft drink (which was priced at a hefty £3.60!). The staff were friendly but appeared overwhelmed even when the cafe was not very busy. They did offer to take off the added service charge, but we felt it would be stingy to agree to its removal, so we paid it. Overall, it's a decent place if you're willing to splurge, but we won't be coming back.

Nice local cafe for a lunch. Friendly and attentive staff. As menu was somewhat limited, it would be great to have the breakfast options available at lunchtime too.

Found this cafe on Tripadvisor. Very quirky and friendly environment. Very busy on the day we visited. Dog friendly. Lovely Saganaki and Greek salad very impressed. Felt the quality of the burger meat in the burger was extremely poor (cheap) and didn’t reflect the other meals and what I would expect given the environment and ambience. I’d struggle to recommend anyone to choose that dish. Overall if you choose the right item it’s a great spot for lunch.