The Botanist, Chester in Cheshire West and Chester

Good food and great atmosphere. Will go back

Location is great, the interior is great, unfortunately that’s it. Had to find staff member on entering to get seated. No welcome. 35 minutes to get a drink, beer was awful. Food came, very ordinary. This was a birthday treat, ruined by the lack of service an quality of food. Won’t be going here again

Understaffed, staff were reasonably helpful

For awful service terrible overpriced and very underwhelming. The owners obviously put money before patrons happiness. Late to sit down over 40 minutes for first drink. Will never return as this was my first night out in Chester not looking to repeat.

The chef’s tasting menu was an adventure of flavors, with each dish more impressive than the last.

Beautiful venue, poor service. Had to ask many times for more water which was forgotten about. Food was fine. Don’t think we would come back due to poor service.

We had work’s Christmas do there on the 15th at 7.30pm and it was very yummy. The kebab had a sauce feature which flows down and coats the kebabs which was a fun feature to see. Food portions were very generous and tasty. It was £35.95 per person for a 3 course meal, which was great! I’d definitely go again. After the meal we also got a scratch card, which was adorable, and a very smart feature to get us to return in January for either 1. Free bottle of Prosecco, 2. Free starter, 3. Free dessert or 4. 25% off. You have to dine in again of course. I’d recommend! Cute place, great food, good portions, no exorbitant prices. Group friendly! We mostly had the turkey kebab which also came with gammon, the roast potatoes were divine! And the vegetables cooked to perfection, soft but still with bite, and the cranberry sauce and gravy were gorgeous, I can’t wait to go again!

Bit of a wait for food but was worth it. Lovely hanging kebab and sauces. Great atmosphere with live singing

We had really high hopes for our evening having booked months ago and providing a preorder for the festive set menu. We then waited an hour before chasing up our starters and were told they were next out of the kitchen. Another half an hour later they finally appeared. Tables seated after us were already on their mains at this point. We did complain to our (lovely) waitress and suggested that she should escalate it to her manager as it wasn’t acceptable. We were offered a round of free drinks to apologise for our wait which we appreciated. We then had the festive hanging kebabs which arrived looking extremely anaemic. The pigs in blankets had absolutely no colour to them and there was no distinction between the ham and the turkey. One of our party barely ate his as it was so tough. As for “all the trimmings” this consisted of some hit and miss roasties (some fluffy and some hard as rocks) a couple of parsnips, some carrots and approximately 618476 sprouts. Pudding was a total roulette. Most of us had sticky toffee pudding. This was nice enough but nothing special. One of our party had the tiramisu and said it was still slightly frozen in the middle and one person had the cheesecake which was so salty and revolting he had to send it back and swap it for something else. We asked at the start of our evening for water for the table. This arrived after 4 more requests for it over an hour. Our waitress was really lovely and it was clearly a very busy night in the run up to Christmas with one very large group in too. We were just so disappointed to have pre booked, pre ordered from a very limited menu, paid nearly £40 per person for it plus drinks that averaged £10 per drink for such a poor meal and experience.

Visited with friends for Christmas meal. Initially all was good and visited the bar before our table was ready. Bar service was good. We had pre-ordered our food. After complaining twice, eventually our starters arrived 1.5hrs later. Starters were good. After another long wait (50mins - 1hr) our mains arrived. Most of us had the Christmas kebab. Everyone said their kebab was not great. Mine had undercooked potato’s, others said the meat was really tough and the veg wasn’t great. The gravy arrived 10mins after the food. It was really disappointing. Puddings didn’t take long to arrive. The sticky toffee pudding was fine, not brilliant. However one friend ended up returning the cheese cake as it appeared to be salty and not pleasant. It was replaced with sticky toffee pudding. Complaining to the manager got us a free round of drinks. Which was better than nothing but didn’t really compensate for the terrible experience. I don’t think we will be visiting again.

Booked online via the website, special request section so in there I added that we also had a pram with us so needed a table with access for a pram. I have been to The Botanist in Chester before so I know alot of their tables are upstairs and we would not get the pram and a 5month old up the stairs. Arrived at the restaurant to be told our table was upstairs, I explained that I did put on the special requests we needed a suitable table for the pram to which I was told the notes don't come through on the system and it just automatically books a table, nothing they could do. We got offered a table in the bar, which was cold, drafty and not suitable for a 5 month old. We left and found a lovely place called Urbano32, lovely friendly staff who were very accommodating with the pram. So please note, if u add a special request it DOES NOT get seen or looked at and it will not be taken into account. A very disappointed customer, who will not be returning.

Great, hot, delicious food. However, service was very poor. We booked our table for 7:30 and weren’t given a table to sit at until 7:50pm. It then took an unreasonable amount of time for us to order. Of course, this is a very busy time for restaurants but it would’ve been nice to be told how long food would be to keep us satisfied as we did have to wait a very long while .

4 of us visited Sunday evening. We were warned by phone that roasts were off the menu but decided a la carte was OK but not ideal. No Yorkshire puddings,non-dairy milk, 3 desserts were off the menu as well as a couple of mains - a case of what was available. Main course arrived cold. The mushroom pie was great,but the vegetables were a measly portion - we did mention this ,but nothing was resolved. Found a better meal elsewhere ( Albion pub) for half the price.

Stopped for lunch here, We had three small dishes to share which was plenty. We had the salt & pepper calamari, Korean chicken and scotched egg. All dishes where excellent.

Unfortunately after looking forward to a Christmas meal with colleagues that had been pre ordered and emails were sent back and forth to clarify everyone's dietary requirements. Frustratingly a very poor meal. We were told that the vegan options for the starter would be served separately not with the meat and it wasn't. When I asked if this could be rectified I was told the manager said "it will be ok" and left us for a further 10 mins or so, before I had to ask to have this rectified again. Eventually the vegans and GF in the group got their starters of pitta bread and hummus, no other options were offered, however we paid the same amount £30 (with main meal) as the meat eaters and they had a medley of 4 starters! Doesn't seem right?? The main meal was a festive pie with 3 types of dried up vegetables. The pie was a lacklustre mushroom (which seem to be processed) pie and tasted like something you would buy in Iceland on a budget. Absolute disgrace and a ripoff again taking advantage of people at Christmas. Extremely disappointing

A good range of food available and always something to please everyone. However, service always seems slow in the week and sometimes feels like they're short on staff. Starters came out quickly, but we waited a while for our mains. I ordered the salmon but was a bit disappointed with the salad and potatoes served, as it just seemed a bit plain. Would recommend if you're looking for somewhere that will suit a wide range of tastes.

Nice space with good cocktails and solid food. We did the kebab, could've been a bit bigger, but it was quite tasty. The drinks were fantastic.

We had a lovely meal on Friday 29th Nov. Visiting Chester for the weekend. Food was very nice , and good service. Great atmosphere with live band..

Great find down a back alley, lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious tapas and puds

Bright place. Good beers. Nice atmosphere.

Great place to eat food is fantastic & reasonably priced. Wide range of IPA beers & also other drinks. Staff as the very friendly this was my second visit but will visit again 10/10

Absolutely fantastic. The botanist is my favourite place for many reasons but tonight has been even more brilliant than usual. Molly and Tom provided exceptional service and accommodated two members of my party especially wonderfully. I could not recommend them/the venue any more highly. Thank you!

Freezing cold in November, expensive food and drinks, watch the bill they add 10% service charge, I prefer to tip the staff in cash personally so asked for the charge to be removed then handed cash to our waitress. The cocktails were ok and the food very nice but they could at least have some heating on!

Had a really nice pre races meal at the botanist. Good food and drink selections and the service was really good. Hanging Kebab always a favourite.

Came here today and was served by a young waiter called cole, he was outstanding and couldn't do enough for us he made my daughters graduation lovely

Lovely place. Only had drinks here and cocktails mixed by the lovely bar lady, who did a great job and mixed 2 fabulous cocktails! Place was pretty deserted at 6pm on a Sunday night bustill really nice place with great staff.

Thomas the barman has customer service and is amazing at making good cocktails definitely recommend

Such a shame. I have been here before and it was lovely but pretty disappointing when you are told they are not taking walk ins (with no reasoning) for just two people when the place is clearly empty.

Great atmosphere, good food, very attentive staff in the restaurant, particularly Hayley and Cole. cocktails and wine a bit pricey.

It's good in here, there's frequently a singer/guitarist playing some decent tunes. Have two pints in here and then two in Wetherspoons and everything will level itself out.

My Mrs and I booked for last night for our anniversary meal, out of all the restaurants in Chester we chose the Botanist, wish me hadn’t to be honest. The food was ok, I had the hanging kebab and my Mrs a dirty burger, the service however was less that required. We were shown to our table, took full advantage of the 2-4-1 cocktails. Bear in mind Monday night only one other group of 4 in the restaurant we were forgotten. When we got our food it was dumped on the table and ran with no question of anything else I can get you, would you like a refill for your empty glasses, it was thrown on the table. We would have spent a lot more money there had we not felt abandoned, this morning reading your reviews it’s clear staffing and customer service is an issue, we told the bar tender when we paid the bill and he said he wasn’t on shift !!!!!!. Thank you we won’t be back in a hurry !

Great atmosphere and vibe. Lovely food and a wide selection of interesting and different cocktails!

Good food, great live music!! Staff are on point!!

went in on sunday, and was served by a lovely, smiley girl called natalia. couldn’t have asked for better service and food. will absolutely be returning

Loved the (dubiously-named) hanging kebabs

Excellent food and drink and service is brilliant too. Great place for a meal or just a drink

Staff really helpful & friendly. The seabase that we had was excellent. The decor was really nice, .

We were looking for a dog friendly restaurant/pub in the city centre for lunch and booked this. Very welcoming to us and brought our dog some water and treats. The waitresses were lovely. The restaurant was warm and cozy. We ordered Sunday lunch which was very good.. will definitely return.

Had a great time. Band had us dancing. Friendly atmosphere.

Food was slightly cold when it came out

DEEEEEELISH!!!!!! Super staff on arrival, pre-ordered meals as we were a large group celebrating 2 birthdays. Not a single complaint around our rather large table and not a morsel of anything left by the end! Brough a cake with us and staff were lively in bringing it out just at the right moment. The 2 birthday bods had a wonderful evening and the staff couldn't have been more helpful. Will definitely be returning! Thankyou everyone at The Botanist Chester for creating a wonderful evening to remember!

All good quality plus the trendy vibe deserves 5*.

Can’t fault it here the food was delicious and they brought it out really fast as we went in a big group for a wedding, staff were amazing couldn’t do enough for you. Really nice venue.

The inside looks amazing. The staff are not very good at their job, there is no customer service. The food is very basic. There was no Sunday lunch vegetarian/vegan even though it was a Sunday. When the food was finally delivered, it was basic and lacking in flavour. There was several part of the meal that was missing but as we couldn't get any assistance from the staff as they were too busy chatting amongst themselves we couldn't get any help or any further drinks until they came to take the plates away. They did offer a round of drinks as an apology, but this was too little too late. Would consider going for drinks but definitely not advisable to go for food.

Great food staff atmosphere live music and value! What’s not to like!!

Decent place for drink but honestly wouldn't recommend the food. Didn't serve what was on the menu - what we chose had an alternate element. Staff didn't listen to requests for food bill - frustrating. I'd recommend going elsewhere if you want good service and the right food served on your plate.

Fantastic customer service and the food was 1st rate. Excellent

Food was good even if it was a long wait for the main and just as long for the afters but we asked for the bill that came in seconds not overly impressed 😒

Myself and my husband booked here because the botanist in York is good , we was celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and my husband getting over cancer , we was served by Cole who really looked after us , and we had a lovely surprise when Hayley and manager brought over a lovely gift and card , this was so kind and we where both touched , thank you for making our night , ohh and the food was great as always

Very disappointing for the following reasons: 1) I had pre-ordered drinks as a birthday surprise for my friend. The waiter forgot them, and I had to ask 3 times for him to check our order. I didn't want to be too transparent about it as it would spoil the surprise for my friend. Finally he checked the order and said "oh, you've pre-ordered your drinks, was it..." and then he reeled off the names of the drinks in front of my friend. Birthday surprise ruined. 2) Only 1 napkin for our table of 2, so I had to fetch a second one myself. 3) Offered water for the table, which should be free, but charged £3.75 for it. I have never been charged for water for the table in any other restaurant, and I think it should be made clear at the point of offering if there will be a charge. I didn't challenge this as I didn't want to spoil my friend's birthday. 4) No plates were brought for our starters so again, we had to fetch them ourselves. 5) The tip was automatically included in the bill, and I had already decided that the service was too poor too warrant a tip. In the interests of not causing a scene on my friend's birthday, I didn't mention this and paid up. The food was ok and it came quickly enough, but it was nothing special when considering how much it costs. To The Botanist: if you're going to charge inflated prices, you really must work on the details of service, and it is very bad form to charge for water and presume a tip will be given. I won't be returning.

Food was as good as last time visited. Missed the onion petal from the menu. It was delicious. Please bring it back. See you next time

Atmosphere and food where great and creative. Cocktails may have great theatrical value but seem light in alcoholic content. Definitely visit again!

Went for bottemless brunch, got served 25 minutes after being seated (meaning we had lost 25 mins of our 90 mins brunch). Drinks were servely slow only got about 3 drinks all together (shocking for the price they charge). Some staff were amazing but others looked at you up and down when you asked for a drink and had an unnecessary attitude while answering questions. There was one brilliant lady with face tattoo and another gentleman who are an absute credit the company.

Booked a table for drinks having heard great things where really looking forward, initially efficient got txt reminder and all seemed in order. We arrived on time for booking, went to bar and told barmaid we had booked for drinks to be told uninspiringly "just help yourself to a table" she did not take the name on the booking or show us to a table. We sat outside and presumed we must order through QR code on table, the table could have done with a good wipe and the area tidied, empty plates and glasses about. Good job we are relatively tech savy as there where no menus on the tables, and the staff upstairs did not acknowledge us or ask if we were ok. Ordered two cocktails through the app and waited, got an e-mail confirmation and continued to wait. 15 mins later i went to ask a staff member (who was more interested in her own phone's What's App than the few customers and cleanliness there), if we needed to collect the drinks we ordered or if they are brought to the table. She said they would be brought to the table for us in a very friendly manner. I pointed out we ordered two drinks 15 mins ago, at which point her face dropped and she told me she would check on them. She immediatley returned with the drinks. Overall disappointing having heard and read great reviews about the place, we intended to have a few drinks before going for food but drank what we ordered and swiftly left. I could fully understand a wait if the place was busy, at the most there where 6 tables in the whole establishment so I could not understand the poor service recieved which resulted in our decision to cut the visit short.

Great food, decent prices and friendly staff.

I have been here twice, first time on a table upstairs with a fab view looking down at the bar. However, on second visit, although placed upstairs, had a brick wall blocking the view. Whilst the food and service were great, this did affect our dining experience, so for that I’m taking away one star.

Lovely atmosphere and great decor. A huge range of unique drinks and lovely bar snacks.

Lovely decor and atmosphere for a quiet lunch spot. The lunch kebab deal was great value and it all tasted fantastic. Staff were friendly, too. The toilets are downstairs, so that might be difficult for some to access.

Bar service from KT was fantastic very nice vibes, I would highly recommend

Great drinks, music, atmosphere

Good cocktails, friendly staff. Lovely atmosphere

Lovely roof terrace, nice sun trap. We haven't eaten here yet, but we will

Looks gorgeous inside. Food is fine, not bad. But not great either, quite overpriced for what it is. Cocktails were lovely. Bit loud from big parties.

The experience was excellent from start to finish. The cocktails were delicious, if a little small. The food was divine! The staff were also lovely and friendly.

The service was excellent for our evening meal - staff were very patient with our table of 16 for my sister's hen party. The food was really tasty and the atmosphere was awesome with live music. I will definitely return if I am in Chester again.

Amazing place and such nice staff can't wait to go back

The staff were very pleasant and polite. We had the chicken hanging kebabs which were delicious!

Excellent staff, service and atmosphere. Would definitely recommend and visit again!

Absolutely amazing!! Couldn't of done more for us. So attentive. Had a low key baby shower and it was perfect. Thank you so much again 💜

Great ambience andgpod view over the racecourse. Spent a dreary afternoon there and turned it into dinner as it poured with rain outside. The food was good and plentiful.

Lovely atmosphere, very busy, very nice food, great menu, recommend the 3 plates for £22. Almost impossible to get a table unless you've pre booked.

Chilled Vibes, with Great cocktails

Very pleasant trip to Chester had a lovely lunch at the Botanist.Food excellent wine perfect service excellent could not fault it

Came in on a Saturday afternoon with a few friends, wasn't anywhere to sit, as told by the manager in a beige blazer, but my feet were hurting in my heels so I leaned on a table that was free. Apparently I was too drunk to be served so I was refused service, didn't argue with the staff member as she'd been told by management not to serve me so it wasn't her fault but we all left. Wouldn't bother going back, we went to bonobo and revs instead where they were much friendlier ☺️

Discovered the restaurant tucked away in a little alley just across from the cathedral. Chose to sit outside on the rooftop due to the weather and enjoyed a very pleasant evening even though the place wasn't busy. The garlic bread is a must ( see pic) and the hanging kofte kebab and goats cheese salad were both excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed it

Excellent food and service, and dog friendly downstairs. Thank you for a lovely dinner 🙏

Food was fantastic and the service top notch. I took my international colleagues here and they all loved it.

Came on a busy races weekend and I have to say it's one of the best in Chester. We came in for a few drinks and it was just great from the start. Amazing drinks, great live music and the decor looks fab!! Also the staff are so lovely. Can't wait to come again!!!

Nice quirky restaurant with great atmosphere. Cocktails and food were really good. Arrived when quite quiet so was seated and served promptly. Food nice and hot, very tasty. Only had 2 waiting staff on so service slowed once it got busy so glad we got in early. Staff very friendly and helpful. Just need more of them!

Lovely staff excellent food a very pleasurable lunchtime meal very happy

Great food, great service, we had the chicken and pork belly kebabs both amazing. Very nearly lost a star for removing the onion petals from the menu and replaced them with onion rings which were boring and basic. Bring back the onion petals!!! The public have spoken! Went today fully craving them and to be told the bosses prefer the onion rings, sod the bosses, the paying public prefer the petals. I can get the kebab chicken style food in other places but the onion petals were YOUR thing and you’ve removed it!?!?!? Guys… come on! Bring them back!

Great ambience, great location, great cocktails

Went on Fathers’ Day for a family lunch and were very disappointed. We were quite a large (11) all age group, but given the restaurant was less than half full, this shouldn’t have been a challenge. However, our meals took over an hour to arrive from ordering, and we didn’t want to buy more drinks to pass the time, as they were pricey, even for softs. Two of our party are vegan, and partly chose the restaurant as vegan-friendly. But after c 40 mins of waiting, a staff member came to say the chef wasn’t happy with the pastry for the vegan Wellington dish, and would they mind having the filling without pastry? Not wanting to hold things up further, they accepted this, but asked if for extra side veg as a substitute. When the meals finally came the plates were barely tepid, most of the food luke warm and the Yorkshires cold and dry. The extra veg requested by the vegans didn’t appear, so they had to ask again. Hubby and my beef was fine, but the portions were very small (2 thin slices each), and the veg for 2 also ‘economical’. Certainly not very much given the near £20 price for the roast dinner. Staff were pleasant enough, but gave no explanation or apology for the very long wait for our food. Overall, a very disappointed family, and we won’t be returning.

Great place, great staff, and was great food, after an evening family meal celebrating my nieces 21st Birthday I was unfortunately awoken at 01.15am coughing and a burning sensation in my throat, I then proceeded to vomit my meal of Crispy Duck back up that I had eaten here, at this point I knew something had been up with the food because this only happens when food is out of date due to myself being allergic to penicillin. I was gutted because I enjoyed the meal and atmosphere here and I never usually complain after being a chef myself for many years. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF GOING

Awful bar service. Waited 20 mins at bar as only one bar person for a busy Saturday afternoon. Eventually served. 2 glasses of wine (one house red and a dry rose) with a coke £27 !!!!! Questioned and was not shown receipt. Manager came down eventually and offered £2.50 back but said if he issued a card drums it would take 6 working days. Really !! I was told it was the service charge for passing me a drink from the bar (noting service was terrible - bar person didn’t even say thank you) Serious issues with pretentious staff, poor service and high prices. Avoid !!!

Great bar spread over two floors down a side street. Been when they have an open mic night and it's crammed. Cocktails are amazing.

Good place to visit. Friendly staff

The staff were lovely, very helpful and patient with us. They helped out with changing our table slot when we got delayed. The hanging basket was so delicious 😋 and my guests that had them loved it. Thank you Botanist.

Great bar , with friendly vibe.

Really sweet processed syrup cocktails and the opening times are not accurate - it’s misleading advertisement.

It was a lovely experience at the botanist. It was for a special celebration after finally finding my wedding dress. Thank you

Food was ok, dog friendly place. We stay there around 2 hours because half of this time we was waiting for waiters between each servings. Very good desserts!

Great bar and restaurant. Came for lunch and it was pretty nice. I had a burger and partner had the chicken katsou who h she said was nothing special. Foods okay from our experience but we've had better. Outdoor area upstairs is tiny, only 6 tables and a sun trap when sunny (no shade) but was nice to try out being our first time here.

Great birthday dinner! I shared a hot board, chicken kebab & cookie dough with my boyfriend. The food was lovely and really beautifully presented. The selection of cocktails is great here too, some really unusual ones. The service was good too, especially for a busy Friday night. There was a couple of guys playing live music which made a lovely atmosphere. There was lots of seating inside, I’m not sure if they had an outside area.

Very slow bar service & bang average food… Shame really because the Botanist bars in Leeds & Manchester Media City have both been fantastic

A really lovely bar and restaurant in the heart of Chester Centre. Catering for parties of all size, in a relaxed and social environment, and a great selection of food and drink. My party and I were looked after, by Hayley and her colleague (unsure of his name) and they both provided excellent customer service, throughout our visit. We found Hayley to be a confident and professional waitress, who helped to make our visit such a pleasure to enjoy. We will return in the future!

Had a fantastic meal, salt and pepper onion petals for starters absolutely delicious. Followed by hanging chicken kebab. Service was great, can't fault anything. We will be back 😊

Perfect place for a treasured Friday afternoon catching up with a good friend. Service and food excellent. We were sat outside with staff checking up on us regularly if we needed anything. We had the steak pie best pie had In years. Full to the brim with meat, perfect pastry.

Came here again for anniversary meal, following last year's great experience. Food was amazing again, we shared the camembert starter, then had the specialty kebabs: one pork belly and one lamb kofte. Can not recommend enough, all were fantastic. After eating, we moved downstairs to join in the musical bingo again....another great night. "Irish Kev", the compere, made the atmosphere fun and enjoyable. We even won a couple of prizes! Can't wait til next time! Highly recommend to anyone who hasn't been.

We came last year for our anniversary and loved it so much we decided to come back again this year to eat and play bingo! Food was absolutely superb, staff were all lovely and we had a great time playing bingo, Kev was a great host. We will definitely be back again next year.