Giraffe

By far the coolest thing at Giraffe was the giraffe-​shaped swizzle stick that came with my Hippy Hippy Shake smoothie.
If you ask me Giraffe is pretty much the same as TGI Fridays only with better food. Perhaps you could say it has everything to offer that any modern restaurant has that’s trying to package up an experience and transport it to every installation.
I don’t begrudge them this. It is how you make money as a chain. But I reserve the right to see this for what it is: a chain that puts just as much energy into theme and branding as it does into make just plain good food. And I guess, for me, the branding just isn’t anything special.
Still. The food is good. The staff are friendly. It was a Saturday at 1 p.m. and we were seated immediately. I honestly can’t find anything wrong with my visit, but at the same time, nothing superior, either.
We have gluten-​free requirements due to my son’s coeliac disease, and we found the staff here to not be too knowledgeable. The chicken we ordered was on their gluten-​free list, however was cooked on the grill. And when we asked about this, we were told that yes, but it was just meats that were grilled on the grill. Clearly, no one had an idea about the possibility of cross-​contamination. I’ll email Giraffe corporate and ask more about how they prepare their food and follow up later. So despite no apparent cross-​contamination, our confidence is not super high!

After a hard day’s shopping and pounding the streets of Guildford, we came here for liquid refreshment. We had a pomegranate juice, a Giddy Giraffe and a Passionberry smoothie. The Passionberry smoothie was so good we had another! Great for a short refresh. Smoothie prices are £3.50 and the service fast and friendly.

Four stars but only for breakfast really. Other than that there are plenty of better places to eat in Guildford.

It was my first visit to Giraffe and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised though maybe try to go later in the evening as it was full of kids when I was there and I felt as thought I was in a soft play area. That aside, the food itself was different but nice. It was reasonably priced and I would definitely go back. The staff were extremely helpful, happy and attentive.

We went to Giraffe for a post-​hen night breakfast and they sorted out quite a lot of hangovers with their coffees, smoothies and breakfasts. The ‘giddy giraffe’, featuring papaya, mint, banana, orange and lime is particularly fine (‘like grass, but in a good way’). Their breakfast food ranges from healthy options like muesli and fruit to tempting bacon sarnies. For a Sunday morning, the place was heaving, which may explain why the service was so slow — it took a long while to get our table, but the staff were friendly (even if they did make me calculate my own bill?!). Tasty treats though and a nice vibrant place to be.