Welcome Break

Walked in at 7PM after a long first ²⁄₃ of a journey down to the Wirral, specifically chose this service station for the Papa Johns Pizza which we have had previously. unfortunately as we walked up to look at the menu, the man behind the counter stood and stared at us for a minute and then walked into the back of the shop, slightly disheartened we waited for five minutes while each of the registers stated that the counters were open. It fell to the next door Harry Ramsdens servers to tell us that it was closed. Very poor show from the man who was behind the counter for not telling us himself.
Ended up at Burger King instead as by this point we were very hungry. Unfortunately they missed the BBQ sauce on my burger and I had to take it back. Average for fast food, not hot, over salted and a little tasteless, but I guess that accounts for the salt.
Later that evening the burger came back up to visit at the hotel.
When the initial impression left me less than impressed, I now certainly wont be returning to any burger king lest I want to get sick again.

On an evening drive to England recently, we’d spent several hours on the road before deciding to stop here for a break and some dinner.
The food choices here are of the fast food variety — KFC, Burger King, Papa John’s, Harry Ramsden’s, and there’s also Waitrose and Starbucks. Be aware that Papa John’s closes earlier than the other outlets — at 6pm. With our first choice closed we settled for Burger King. My veggie bean burger meal was predictably mediocre but my burger and fries were at least hot and prepared to order, and the staff were pleasant!

Located at junction ²¹⁄₂₂ of the M74, Gretna services has one of the widest selections of food offerings I’ve seen at a service station. There’s not much in the way of healthy food but at least there’s plenty of choice in your fast food… There’s burgers (Burger King), chicken (KFC), fish and chips (Harry Ramsden’s) and pizza (Papa John’s) available.
You can also grab a coffee, sandwich and cake at Starbucks. There’s a WH Smith for snacks and reading materials, with a Krispy Kreme stand for sugar emergencies. And if you want to endeavour to be a bit healthier or pick up a few essentials there’s also a small Waitrose on site.
As well as the standard toilet facilities there’s also showers for those on a particularly long journey. There’s also the standard petrol station onsite and a small hotel for anyone needing to put their head down for the night.
Gretna is a pretty popular services so be prepared for it to be busy if you stop there during the day, especially at the weekends. It’s much quieter later in the evening so easier to be in and put quickly if you’re in a rush.

I’ve been here a few times here over the years usually when I’m passing through.
With every visit there is something new always changes here, before there was a really bad food outlet that served breakfast to the nearby hotels.
Since I was here last that outlet has now closed and there is now s Harry Ramsden’s in its place also doing the breakfasts.
Inside this welcome break there are quite a few eateries, shops and free toilets, well worth a visit before I would have scored them a ²⁄₅ with the recent changes ⁴⁄₅.

I don’t often stop here on the way south, but have sometimes forgotten to fill the car before leaving Glasgow and found myself short of fuel.
Being a relatively new service station, it’s not actually too bad. Everything is laid out around a central food court area, and there’s a good choice of food places, including Burger King and KFC if that’s your thing. Personally I was more excited by the Waitrose that recently opened, ensuring a decent selection of take-​away snacks.
There’s also a W H Smiths and even a naff Scottish souvenir shop — well, I suppose it must appeal to some tourists. The coffee is from Starbucks unfortunately, but hey, you can’t have everything.