The Grounds of Alexandria

Grounds are very pretty but the man working at the lemonade stand is very very rude to customers. I would never give my money to him again. Unfortunately the service has gone downhill since the new owners.

I will start by saying I am a loyal Grounds fan as the food is fantastic and the staff are welcoming, friendly and clearly very, very hard working particularly during the silly season.

I come to view the christmas decorations each year with family and they are always exceptional and "out of the park" ideas...Naughty or Nice (2022), Gingerbread Lane (2023) and Sugar Plum Fairy (2024), which were all absolutely amazing works of art. The Grounds is known for setting the bar high!

This year's Tartan theme is boring and has lost the spark and charm from previous years. Sadly, it didnt meet the usual "wow" factor. It was very basic and what feels like a low budget and penny saving, possibly last minute plan. The decor hasnt been up long and already looks tired. Its still a month until Christmas!

The Tartan is faded, the trees and their velvet bows are limp and the plastic flooring / wall tiles just were not very inspiring. There were many seated photo opportunities with saggy chair seats that were not inviting to sit out. I can only wonder what on earth has happened, as the standard has dropped. I wonder if anyone else was shocked by the standard of decor this year?

Adding insult to injury, you must now show a receipt for food purchased onsite to even enter the laneways!

I am really hoping that the standard improves again next year as its a family tradition we want to keep going!!

Ps. The Banoffee chiffon cake is an absolute MUST.

I love this place for the environment alone. There are so many different corners and spaces, so you can always find a spot that fits your mood. Whether you want something busy and inspiring or a quieter table to focus. It’s actually great for working on a laptop for a few hours. Beautiful setting, good energy, and easy to stay longer than planned.

The inflatable playground event during these Easter school holidays was a great experience for children. Linseed House is a good venue though it could do with more tables and chairs indoors for parents/carers to sit while the kids play, without having to step outside Linseed House. There was only about 4 bar tables with chairs, a few dining chairs and 1 lounge. The bar stools at the bar are right in the entryway and entrance to the toilets pretty much so lots of foot traffic.

The outdoor play area is decent, plenty of space for children to run around but the white artificial grass and flooring felt damp. Inside, it smelt likely due to poor ventilation (the ceiling duct didn’t appear to be working during our visit). Proper ventilation is essential to keep the space from becoming too hot, stuffy, and unpleasant. It’s also quite dim inside.

Service was great - staff very helpful upon arrival.

Gorgeous place!! Definitely instaworthy😊 theres free wifi, toilet, awesome ambiance, easy to find, huge place loads of seats. Theres one part cafe (only drinks can be ordered here), another is restaurant for brunch & for lunch & dinner. The cafe area closed super early when we came. Probably the coffee machine was broken. So we gotta go to the long queue of brunch area for take aways. Long wait. Overall good place for cool cafe vibes. Theres a cute pig and chickens too

Having been captured by the beautiful and immersive displays over social media and an impressive selection of fine cakes and food I was eager to visit before leaving Sydney.

To say disappointed is an understatement.

Permanent hearing damage to staff is inevitable.

Awful experience for diners with blaring pop music drowning out any opportunity for meaningful conversations or experiences - at 8:00am on a Saturday morning.

My friend who is an AV engineer was mortified by the lack of consideration to small children, older patrons and the attempt to drown out conversation by increasing the volume of mid 2000s one hit wonders only further encouraged people to yell louder. This prompted her to pull out her SPL meter and detect extremely high levels of noise pollution- I had earplugs in and still could not enjoy our experience. I then walked through the venue and found that on average, the venue sits between 85-95db.

The wait staff couldn’t hear us. It was a struggle and you could sense their frustration.

The female wait staff were sharing their annoyance that they have asked repeatedly for the music to be turned down at work by themselves and patrons, but management will not oblige and stressed they are afraid they have been impacted by the lack of appropriate accommodations to their own hearing - they urged us to write a review and complain.

The male wait staff were rude, stroppy and one grabbed my friends arm asking us where we moved to. This is not ok. You do not touch another person without their consent

I tested the noise levels inside, even near the toilet - consistent from 89-95db.

We witnessed several instances of patrons not getting the correct order and long waits for service and food. When this was raised, they were snapped at and corrected saying it was the patrons mistake or that they weren't clear enough - the obvious solution would be - turn the music down.

We suspected having made the welfare of the staff known and also having expressed our gratitude to the wonderful woman at the front - completely cool and collected and very positive that we were then being watched…..quite hilarious.

We were followed through the complex by what we assume to be whoever the floor managers/grounds managers are? We were told that we were not allowed to enter the new "lavender garden" due to not having a receipt - we just finished brunch? NO OTHER PERSON was asked for proof. I stated they could see my bank statement and the photos i took of the dishes. This prompted the member of staff to let us go through after i raised the animal welfare issue and suggested they focus on that. Absolutely disgraceful. It is clear the welfare of the goats is not a priority - exposed wiring was found in the pen. After a firm discussion this appeared to have been removed- partially - with wiring still left behind.

Looking forward to the report to Safework and also to RSPCA and animal welfare groups to investigate the working conditions for the clearly stressed out and ignored staff and the goats.

Whoever owns grounds - do better.

The Grounds is riding the coattails of Instaworthy venues having lost its pizazz from its glory days.

Trying to draw people in with Gatsby like Instagram influencer trash - an exhausting cash cow, slaughtered to death that’s having its offcuts sold onward, months after the kill is just not on. Regroup, take on the feedback - or sell to operators who know what to do with the neglected space

I noticed some people already mentioned a few staff in the grounds cafe didn’t treat customers equally. I had exact same experience. The photographer working on the laneway is extremely rude towards kids. I felt like my family has been discriminated too.

My wife and I visited this place to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. The ambience, service, and hospitality were excellent, and the staff was quick and attentive, which made our visit special.

However, the air conditioning was not working properly—it felt like it had completely given up. This is something that really needs to be fixed on priority, especially for a place with such a nice ambience.

The food was okay. Considering how many people are now shifting toward vegetarian options, I believe the menu could be improved by adding more vegetarian choices.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and a memorable occasion for us, but a few improvements would make it even better.

The food was amazing as well as the cocktails. Wasn't able to take a picture of the cake, but highly recommend that blueberry cake as well. I think what made it better was the service as well, the people working there are extremely nice. Would recommend! :)

The food was ok! It was a really hot day and they were definitely not prepared for it, I had food at the garden, the food was alright, they said they had AC but it was definitely not working properly bc it was still really hot. The fact they are checking your receipt to be able to see the laneway idk it made feel everything so commercial and not welcoming how it used to be. It is supposed to help control the busy periods but I’m sure most of the people that goes there ends up eating something so idk how is it that supposed to help.

Food: Thumbs up 👍🏼

Environment: Despite of crowded place the environment is pretty, it looks like a botanic garden.

Coffee: Really? Guys if there is one thing that a business like a Cafe must pay attention is the coffee quality specially when you have your own brand!

I ordered a late and it was tasting a burnt coffee. I was told that my coffee would take 10 min which I understand because was busy but it isn’t excuse when the barista is good even working under pressure I would rather wait 15 min and have a good coffee than wait 10 min and have a awful coffee.

It was great to visit, definitely a place to visit if you are in the area. Beautiful areas of the place to capture in the morning when it's not too busy yet. The later you are, you're lucky to get a table in the restaurant!
The seat is awesome too, however the letterbox the prints out your photo wasn't working when we went, so we were a little let down we couldn't bring something back from the beautiful place, but other than that, amazing!!

Just wanted to reach out and say a massive thank you to the staff working on Sunday 1/6/25 afternoon for your incredible service and hospitality. When my son had an accident and bumped his head outside, the waitresses came and brought paper towels for his small laceration and ice packs, without any prompting at all. Thank you from a very grateful mum of two little kids!

Came here 03 November and wanted to dine in at the cafe but ended up going elsewhere as the maître D girl was very rude. Made me stand in the sun with my baby and told me off for wanting to stand in the shade (in the queue to the cafe). work on your customer service!!!! She should not be working in hospitality!

The photographer working there is very rude. The way he talks to clients is just disrespectful , like bullying.

We were served and managed to place an order before we were long forgotten.

The table next to us got their table water twice before we did.
We requested a cup of hot water 4 times in the span of 45 mins and even had a waiter tell me it isn’t her responsibility and that I need to speak with someone else about it.

I really appreciate some of the staff that’s working extra harder because the other staff just seems unbothered.

Food and drink very standard, nothing special BUT their large strawberry cream cake was the star of the day. The sponge part was soft and bouncing with whipped cream in between and sprinkle of strawberries. Delicious.

Just disappointed in the service that I received today. Expected better.

It seems the popularity of this place has left the staff hating working there and the service is reflective of that. Not a smile to be seen from anyone.Haven’t seen a place with many workers who genuinely looked miserable online time.. Food is good but expensive for what it is but I suppose that the Sydney hipster tax.
Wouldn’t go back felt depressed just being there.

Second time I’m here and it’s really crowded and nice and the staff is really love their job but please update the correct info about working hours!!! Came here as The Grounds Of A advised it’s open till 21:30 with their menu but found out it’s closed and completely other restaurant is open for later hours with different menu, which also is not updated in Google. My avocado toast hopes completely destroyed today (

In short: nice aesthetic but really needs service improvement

Despite having made a booking, we were still directed to wait in a line for a table to become available and all servers were avoiding eye contact. We were almost considering leaving but we had a nice staff member (James) who got us a table and talked us through all desserts on offer.

The food and drinks came out within 5 minutes of ordering which was awesome but we didn't see our server after this. The cakes were quite rich and on the pricier side so if that's not your preference, I would suggest trying elsewhere.

By the time we were ready to leave, I had to ask the girl working out the front of The Gardens where I should be paying. She said she'd find someone to bring an eftpos machine to our table then went back to talking with a co-worker. Now usually I'm not fussed about this however quite some time went by and we still hadn't paid our bill. I had to get up again and ask her. Finally she got her co-worker to put our order through.

For a cafe that's as busy and popular as this, I'd really expect better customer service and interaction. So overall the experience here was ok but could definitely use some work.

If you're just here for photos, be warned it can get pretty busy and you may be waiting a while for that perfect shot as the crowds just kept coming.

If you are thinking of having your wedding here DO NOTTT!! Don’t be fooled by the beautiful venue because that’s all it is. From the packages to the wedding planning services it was absolutely horrible and made the process so stressful. The value for money is not there. The staff working on the night of the wedding were amazing but everything leading up to the wedding was terrible.

WEDDING AT THE GROUNDS REVIEW:

I recently got married at the Grounds of Alexandria (The Garden) and I would like to let other couples know what to expect.

PROS:

- Food portions were excellent (alternate seated meals - entree, main, dessert), no guest went hungry
- Food was absolutely delicious, and came out promptly.
- Fairy lights in the archway looked beautiful
- Email correspondence with venue was fairly prompt with questions generally being answered within a week.
- The reception fit 110 guests inside on tables comfortably with no squishing.
- I was given free cocktails as the bride, and they were very tasty and appreciated.
- Guests had a great time.

CONS:

PRE-WEDDING:
- They don't allow you to talk to the Grounds' florist or baker until shortly before the wedding. By that time, every other baker (for wedding cake) and florist are already fully booked for your wedding date, because they book out a year in advance.
So at that point it's either go with the Grounds' baker and florist or have no cake and no flowers.
It's incredibly manipulative, especially considering that both their florist and baker charge about 3 times what any other baker or florist in Sydney charge, and even if you do find a baker from outside the Grounds they charge a $3 per person 'cakeage fee'.
- The 'tasting menu' event the Grounds holds is $190 per person, but instead of letting you try a little of everything off the menu, they give you full portion sizes of only a couple of the dishes. That's not a tasting, that's an expensive dinner where you don't choose your meal.

DURING WEDDING:
- The Bridal suite's toilet was horrifying. The lights didn't work and so you had to leave the door open to be able to see, and use the toilet with everyone able to see you. The floor of the toilet was filthy, wet, and had a dead cockroach in front of the soiled toilet. There was no toilet paper or paper towel. The Ground's coordinator let us in and said they'd get someone up to clean the toilet, but it never happened.
- There are only 20 chairs provided for guests for the ceremony, everyone else needs to stand. With 110 people it was cramped, with less guests it would be fine, but 110 is the minimum the Grounds allows. We knew this beforehand so this wasn't an issue for us but it's useful to be aware of it.
- There were 3 chandeliers in the archway but two weren't on/working. If they were broken or not part of our package that's totally fine, but take them down, because it looks bad when only 1/3 lights are working.
- The right hand side of the reception area's fairy lights weren't working, which also looked bad and detracted from the overall environment.
- There was a giant, dirty, mouldy sponge floating in the fountain the entire time.
- We brought our own 'photobooth this way!' sign with us. I had previously talked to the coordinator who said she would try and find an easel for it. If she told me she couldn't find one that would be fine, because I would have brought my own from home, no worries. But because she didn't tell us, the photobooth sign was left on a ledge against the bushes where nobody could see it (and it kept falling on the floor), and as a result, half the guests didn't know the photobooth was there. We had paid a fair amount of money for the sign and photobooth, and it was so disappointing to not have it noticed or used.
- Finally, we paid $10 per person ($1100 total) to upgrade to the premium drinks package to avoid the standard Peroni Red. How disappointing then, to be told during the reception that they'd 'run out' and that Peroni Red was the only option left for beer. All guests were drinking responsibly with RSA. The venue should not have run out.

POST WEDDING:
- A packet of high quality (expensive) magnets, the photobooth sign, and two flowergirl baskets were left behind. When I asked about them, the Grounds said nothing was left behind. I called up all guests, none of them had taken them. The magnets and sign I can live without, but the baskets have sentimental value.

Good luck on your big day!

No Fried Eggs!
Beautiful setup, Gardens are lovely.
Went for breakfast, very quaint, however girl on front desk was rude and obnoxious, you’re working front desk, drop the attitude.
Ordered breakfast, asked to swap poached eggs for fried, apparently chef can’t do that.
Absolute Joke!!

I went the grounds of Alexandria more that 5 times but I haven’t received a good service of stuff and got their eyes to look down asian person. They didn’t satisfy for customer service why they are still working there. 😒

In addition, foods and drinks are normal test as well. The only one thing that makes customers still go there is the decoration of event other than that there are not thing special.

I ate at the Cafe recently and had an absolutely amazing experience! Our waitress was Farah and she was so friendly and professional. She gave us the best recommendations and really looked after us. I will definitely be coming back and I sincerely hope Farah is working! 10/10

Planning our wedding at Linseed House & not only is the venue spectacular, but the customer service from their events team is unmatched! We’ve been working with Liam, who has been incredibly patient (as we’ve tossed and turned on various dates), accommodating, responsive and overall has gone above and beyond in supporting us as we work through the details of our day. Can’t recommend enough. Thank you!

Terrible service. They kept us waiting for half an hour. We asked them to help us check 3 times and they came back to us in the last check, saying the order was brought to wrong table and the chef is working on it now, not bother to ask if we want to wait. When we want to cancel the food order and find another restaurant, a lady reacted to it very badly and kept us waiting for another 15 mins. As my gf got a stomach problem with hunger and we want to find something to eat elsewhere, she told us if we go elsewhere, we would also need to wait and refused to cancel the order as we request.

We went out on a rainy day and this place dispointed us from the very first visit!

I had a coffee and muffin and was extremely disappointed. Muffin was supposedly chocolate but was a plain dry muffin with over sweetened cocoa icing no chocolate in sight. Lucky i ordered large coffee to wash it down. When i told the waiter it wasn't chocolate and was dry he gave me a ipad to fill in a feedback survey but survey wasn't working. Coincidence or that's how they only get positive feedback. I've eaten here in the past and it was nice but food standard has gone down hill lately.

Rude and condescending. We were at the bbq stand, picking up rolls for lunch when this lady served us at the counter. I was ordering while looking up at the menu, making sure I said the right thing. She said in the rudest and condescending tone “I need you to look at me and talk to me because I cannot hear you”. Okay grounds, do your employee talk to customers like they are lecturing a kid? Actually, even I don’t speak to my child in that tone. When my husband asked if we wanted a drink, she again used that tone and said “so do you want one or not” and stared at us like we were idiots. But I’ll be fair because she was also rude to the customer when they picked up their food. I thought your venue is meant to instil fun but casual vibe. Well it put a sour taste to everything we had that day. She had ash blonde hair in a ponytail and was working 18 March at the bbq stand at 2:30pm

Had to wait 45 min in queue then had to wait further 10 min to be seated for table of 3. Food was fresh but taste was average nothing to rave about. Service was poor staff tried their best not to make eye contact with customer. Self serve water was not working. At the end of meal had to ask staff twice to get the bill.

Ordered tropical juice for take away during the lunch time and the person that was working behind the juice bar does not wearing any gloves, he was touching the fruits directly using his hand and the top part of the straw. You guys need to train your staff better with handling the foods/drinks. Covid is over but germs are still around.

Manager Hem was rude, he banged his laptop infront of his stuff, he is misbehave & rude

the food was good and price was reasonable, I like the vibe of this restaurant. BUT the waiter at the entrance for reservations was super rude and RACIST. If you couldn’t be professional while working, just stay at home:)

It's not about the food or lovely staff in there, but I just want to share my terrible experience when I came there on a trial. After 4 hours working under pressure in the kitchen, I thought that the kitchen for catering. I do not know it's the same owner or a different owner, 4 hours on a trial and it seems like never-ending, so I asked them if I could leave or not. And their behavior felt like ok all good, you could get your stuff and ready to go now. My feelings like: omg did I do something wrong or why they did not explain to me why I could not get money for trial or something else. Maybe I misunderstood something, do I? No meal, no money okay I tried to understand how much hard your business need to go through at this time. But you know what, it doesn't matter who I am, you just lost all your supports and our kindness from my family and my friends! Thank you for that experience I never forget in my life!

Note here, that thank you so much for your reply, and I appreciate that. I also send you an email for further information, provide you date and time when I came and Im happy if you would like to check the record or camera at that time.

Stevo Z !!! Could you be any more racist !!! How dare you call someone “fresh off the boat”
What’s your background ? This venue is incredible, have you ever tried working in hospitality ? The pressure that these people are under every single day !! , getting all sorts of ‘expectant’ customers not unlike yourself.. demanding this and that and finding any excuse under the sun to complain to make themselves feel superior.. I’d certainly hate to come across someone like yourself trying to deal with a customers every whim ! Take a chill pill sir and think about your attitude next time before visiting an establishment that’s doing their best to “serve” you !
Don’t be a self righteous A’hole !
Xx

The place is BEAUTIFUL. I havent had any food i went there looking for some flowers and the girls working on the florist were rude and unhelpful because i went just when they were closing, they spoke to me in a very bad way. Not coming back.

Lovely place among plants, the environment is adorable! Definitely worth visiting, but better during the working days, as weekends get very busy.

The guy working in the carpark was disgusting.
If I spoke to anyone at work the way he spoke to me, I'd be fired. Why? because I said I was getting a coffee and going to lulu Lemon rather than only going to grounds

Security (Wilsons) and parking attendants need replacing. Tried doing a very heavy delivery here and spent more time being harrassed by these three idiot attendants on working Visa's. How about employing some locals?

We had breaky on Anzac day 2021, we were a little disappointed with some of our meals, coffee was great, didn't think much of the service as we had go and find someone to take our orders considering how much staff was working, which i think is pretty poor, thanks Sheryl

We’ve been coming here many times and always have a great experience. Erika is so friendly and welcoming, also working hard ! 😊

What an absolutely stunning place! Although we didn’t get the chance to dine at the café, we spent some time exploring the beautiful grounds, and it was such a wonderful experience.

The entire place is incredibly scenic, with so much charm and attention to detail. It’s honestly unlike any café or venue I’ve ever visited before! Everywhere you look, there’s something beautiful to admire.

The little lemonade stand was such a cute touch, and the gentleman working there was incredibly friendly and welcoming, which made our visit even more enjoyable.

Such a unique and magical atmosphere! We absolutely loved wandering around and taking it all in.

We’ll definitely be returning on our next trip to Sydney, hopefully to experience the food as well!
Highly recommend visiting, even if it’s just to explore the gorgeous grounds! ❤

The service provided from the staff that engaged with my friends and I was average, they were kind (a bit of frustration you can feel from the smiles and short responses) but from working in sales, hospitality & customer experience there is clearly not enough staff. I would not blame the staff on shift, instead the inability to roster on enough staff to cover the floor. I feel if there was a couple more staff to cover this region, it could have created a more memorable and personal experience